Nordic level 3 ISIA Qualification

One of the pre-requisites for the Nordic Level 3 ISIA Technical or Teaching courses is 200 hrs Teaching Experience. These hours must be completed between successful completion of the Nordic Level 2 Ski Instructor Qualification and commencement of the Nordic Level 3 ISIA Technical or Teaching courses. It is strongly recommended that the majority of these hours are completed in an outdoor environment and that some or all of these hours relate to the Nordic discipline.

Please Note: The 200 logged, signed teaching hours (shadowing hours will not be accepted) must be on your Snowsport School headed paper or other official document and signed by the Snowsport School Manager or Director to demonstrate proof that you have completed this requirement. 

If all the signed teaching hours are not recieved at the BASI office TWO weeks prior to commencement of the course, then you will not be eligible to attend the course and there will be no refund.

The Evolution of BASI is an online course which is split into two parts and can be accessed via your member area, or via this link ,  free of charge.

The course consists of an Interactive PDF module, for any BASI Member to access and read through and an online quiz, which is a requirement to complete the Level 3 ISIA qualification.

You can access the Evolution of BASI course through the ‘Online Courses’ section in your Member’s Area, at any time during your BASI journey. The quiz will be a module requirement for the BASI Level 3 ISIA qualification, for any BASI Member who has yet to begin the Level 3 ISIA journey. If you are already working towards your BASI Level 3 ISIA qualification, then this module will be optional, but we recommend taking it for your own personal knowledge.

Course Price: £435

This is a 5 day on-snow training and assessment course, complemented with in-depth lectures and seminars.

The following aspects are covered: 

By the end of the course, the student must demonstrate the knowledge, ability and understanding necessary to teach Cross-country skiing through the modules of Skating and Classic training in a variety of situations. 

Course Price: £435

This is a 5 day on-snow training and assessment course, complemented with lectures and seminars.  

The following aspects are covered: 

The aims of the courses are to increase the student’s technical competency and understanding of Cross-country skiing through the modules of Skating and Classic training. 

The ISIA minimum standards require a second discipline as part of the Level 3 ISIA Qualification. 

Successful completion of the Level 1 Instructor course in any of the BASI Disciplines is the minimum standard for this requirement.

Course Price: £505
This a 6 day course conducted in a mountain environment, starting on a Sunday.
The objective of the course is to train and assess instructors to lead parties off piste within the ski area boundary- beyond that is the realm of the ISTD or Mountain Guide. Terrain used will be non glaciated with no planned use of the rope, axe or crampons. For full equipment list click here

Practical instruction is given in:

• Equipment selection for off piste use
• Choice of route and leadership techniques
• Use of skins or snowshoes for short uphill sections
• Off piste technique
• Group management and emergency procedures
• Avalanche assessment
• Use of transceivers and navigation

Theory lectures are given on:

• Snow and avalanches
• Navigation
• Mountain weather
• Hypothermia
• Emergencies and responsibilities of a leader

The assessment may be continual through the week however if 2 groups are running together then there may be a swap of trainers for 2 more formal days of assessment at the end of the course. 

The Second Language test is an oral and aural test designed to assess your ability to communicate in any of the following languages; French, German, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian and Japanese.

The test can be done either over the phone or in person with a member of staff or a trainer. The assessor will be bilingual and/or have a degree in the chosen language to be tested.

If you are on a course and your trainer is one of the nominated language assessors you may do the test if he/she agrees during your course.

The assessment test usually lasts 10 – 15 minutes and there is a charge of £10 per test. Please Note: This amount will be charged regardless of the result.
If phoning the office the payment can be made with credit or debit card just before the arranged time of the test. If face to face with a trainer then you pay him/her direct.

The main topics that will be assessed are based around safety, getting to know your clients and teaching.

Within the safety element of the test (which has the most weighting) you should give as much information as you would expect to give in an emergency situation to the emergency services. 
This should include a minimum of:

• Where you are on the mountain
• How many people are involved
• What you suspect the injuries are and how they were incurred
• Give your understanding on the scale of gravity
• You should also be able to explain how and where you would contact the emergency services in the event that mobile phone networks were not available

The test will progress to your ability to relay information to any next of kin or contact persons within the resort. This leads on to getting to know a client, which is gaining information relating to understanding what sort of learner they are and creating a pleasant learning atmosphere with your client whatever their age. People are always ready to talk about themselves and their interests and hobbies so you should be able to ask about these and understand their use for your teaching.

The last part of the test will involve you giving instructions on how to use the fundamental elements to create the manoeuvres within the Central Theme. It will also require you to demonstrate your vocabulary relating to the equipment.

The above are just examples of the type of questions you might be asked.

BASI has developed a module to help give students an idea of what they can expect to be tested on during their second language test. Please note, this module is a help-guide to get students started with some of the vocabulary they’ll need to know. However, knowing these phrases alone will not be enough in order to gain a pass and they must be able to hold a conversation with the examiner.  To access this module click here  

Course Price: £435
The BASI coaching Pathway is designed to equip the BASI instructor with an understanding and ability to adapt their education gained through their discipline specific instructors’ pathway to the competition environment.

The five-day coaching course is for the instructor to have the sound knowledge and competences to run competition training autonomously within the remit of the instructor qualification held.  For Snowboarding, this will be centred around freestyle as this is the predominate pathway for many entrants to competitive snowboarding.

View the equipment list for the Coaching - Ski course here. Please note there is no additional equipment required for the Coaching - Snowboard course.

In specific cases, such as course content not able to be completed on snow due to adverse weather, the trainer may ask you to complete the BASI Coaching Log Book which can be found here (with guidelines). (Do not feel restricted by the number of pages provided in this template; add more as you need to ensure you have a complete recording of all your experiences and learning.)

Students are required to submit a research project, as part of the Alpine Level 4 ISTD Qualification or the Snowboard, Telemark, Nordic and Adaptive Level 3 ISIA Qualification. 

It will be marked on the following areas: 

• Length (3,000 to 4,000 words)
• Bibliography
• Quality of print
• Grammar
• Presentation
• Layout
• Drawings/diagrams
• Research
• Accuracy
• Originality
• Personalisation
• Conclusion 

The subject matter for your project needs to relate to the Snowsport industry, but it also needs to be something that would be useful for your peers to read and should relate in some way to the profession of Snowsport teaching. 
If you are in any doubt about the acceptability of your chosen subject matter, please contact the office and we can advise you. 

Exceptional projects may be published in the BASI News. Please send your research project via email to basi@basi.org.uk and it will be passed on to the correct department for marking. 

BASI reserves the right to reproduce any submitted projects for the purpose of publication, research, (copyright remains that of the author).

The marking of the project(s) can take up to 3 months. If possible, it is best to try to submit projects in the Summer rather than Winter.

Written projects submitted for the first time will be assessed free of charge.

The marking of re-submitted written projects will be charged as follows:

• Second attempt £30
• Subsequent attempts £30

Click Here for Project Conditions

Click here for the Written Project marking sheet