What to think about when booking your stand alone BASI Courses?
For many people, choosing a BASI course is not a spur of the moment decision. Lots of factors can play a role in you making your final decision and location is usually one of the main points to think about.
Not everyone that books on to a BASI course is in the same position, we have a huge variety of people that book on to our BASI courses, from school leavers to career breakers. Some people are looking for extended courses whereas others are just available for short periods of time. Spending time weighing up the options for taking your standalone BASI courses can result in you making better choices and in the long run could save you money.
BASI 1 and 2 Courses – UK or Abroad?
The BASI Alpine Level 1 qualification enables you to teach in the UK in an indoor environment and is the only qualification that you can take in an indoor environment in the UK.
If you feel that you are ready for the exam and don’t need any prior training, taking your BASI Level 1 in the UK can be a great option if you live near to a snowdome or dry-slope that offers the BASI Level 1 exam. You can save a great deal of money if you do not need to pay extensive travel costs or book accommodation for the duration of the course. However, if you are planning on visiting a resort during the seasons anyway, it could be worth investigating first which resorts you can take the exam in and the dates. All BASI Level 1 dates can be found on the BASI website.
The BASI Alpine Level 2 exam can also be taken in the UK however, this would need to be taken in Cairngorm as it needs to be taken in a mountain environment.
Things to consider when thinking about where to take your Level 2 is that you need to have completed 70hrs of Ski School Experience in between taking your Level 1 and Level 2 exams. This is quite a lot of hours to complete in the UK, especially if you are not based near to a local dry-slope or snowdome. Finding an exam that has some prior training can help to solve some of the difficulties of gaining your 70hrs of SSE. Courses such as our BASI Level 2 Training and BASI Level 2 packages would allow you to build up 35 of these required hours just before the exam meaning only 35hrs need to be completed in the UK.
BASI Level 3 and 4 Courses – Which Resorts?
The BASI Level 3 and 4 Tech and teach exams need to be taken abroad but again you have a big decision to make in where you take your exams.
One of the first things to think about is where are you going to be based for the winter? The majority of people that are looking to take their Level 3 and 4 exams spend their season training towards these. A good thing to look out for when looking for a training course is whether the resort you are training in offers the BASI exams. This can make a huge difference on the amount of money you have to spend to attend the exams, such as accommodation costs, travel costs, lift pass costs etc. BASI offer Level 3 exams in a select few resorts and we are very lucky that our training courses are also run in some of these; Courchevel and Val’D’Isere. Likewise, with the Level 4 Tech and Teach exams, BASI select a few resorts that are suitable for the exams, one of these being Verbier where we run our seasonal ISTD programmes.
Knowing a resort well can also make a huge difference to your confidence during your exam. If you have been based in a particular resort for an extended period of time you get to know the slopes and feel more comfortable when skiing them. Likewise, training on slopes that are used in the exams can also give you a good insight into what to expect during your exam week and again boost your confidence.
Timing is another key factor for choosing your exams. If you are starting your season having just passed your BASI Level 2 it is likely that you will not feel confident enough or ready to take your exams in between November and January whereas if you have already trained for a full season towards your Level 3 modules, you might be keen to take your exams as early as possible during the winter. BASI Tend to run BASI Level 3 exams in Zermatt right at the beginning of the winter, Hinterux at the end of the winter and then Morzine, Val’D’Isere and Courchevel in between. For the BASI Level 4 BASI tend to run courses in Val’D’Isere in January, Verbier in March and Hintertux in April. Your trainers should be able to give you a good indication of when you would be ready to sit your exams and which of the exams you should go for.
For more information about where and when you can take your standalone BASI courses, just follow the links below:
