From what I've heard, it all depends on who you ask, and which division you're comparing to. Also from what I can tell, the PSIA 3 exam places far more of an emphasis on how well you can demonstrate drills, while the CSIA 3 focuses more on your skiing demos.
IMHO the bar for level 1 and 2 (CSIA) is set to low, yes you may be able to demonstrate skills, but a lot that I have met can’t ski well enough or have all the skill sets.
Relative ability of L3 in both associations... that's a tough one as it's inconsistent within our organization (PSIA). IMHO, the best L3 in PSIA are between CSIA L3 and 4. I think preparing for and passing CSIA L4 is certainly an attainable goal for this group.
I actually did a bit research on this. With all due respect I beg to differ based on my research including official info and feedbacks from people that have passed these exams and some actually have experiences in both systems. CSIA LV3 doesn't even require you to ski double black moguls. They have four skiing tasks, intermediate parallel, short turns, advanced parallel, and moguls, conducted on blue or black terrains. At least in PSIA-E, you need to do all the above plus 5 more, and you need to ski all terrains available in bigger mountains in the East like Killington, Stowe, and Sunday River. In CSIA you don't even need to ski moguls to pass LV2. so it is not equivalent to PSIA LV2 if you ask me. Just check to see how many candidates have failed their PSIA 2 exams just because of the moguls, not to mention other tasks that are not required by CSIA 2. To me the CSIA LV3 is more like a PSIA LV2.5, though I agree CSIA LV4s are harder than PSIA 3s.
MODERATORS: feel free to split this off to a "CSIA vs PSIA" thread.
I’m training for my CSIA L4 and guess what has been some of the most useful material to me that’s available online? The PSIA-RM tasks ... e.g. reading about the fundamentals skills needed for a successful Wedge Christie demo (no longer taught in Canada).
Having researched both CSIA and PSIA extensively, I would agree that it's fair to rank the base standards, from most difficult/rigorous to least, like so:
- CSIA 4
- CSIA 3
- CSIA 2
- CSIA 1
As a CSIA L1 "examiner" myself, I'll frankly remark that the bar for L1 is very low. I see it just as a standardized recruitment, selection and orientation exercise, tied into the Canadian liability insurance regime. It serves its purpose but cannot be thought of as anything more than the entry point for rookie instructors. Furthermore, the ratio of L1-certified people who actually go on to work as instructors is quite low (~50%) ... there are lots of peeps who take it for kicks and bragging rights, calling themselves "instructors" yet they neither ski well nor ever teach. CSIA L2 used to be crazy easy too, but faced with criticisms similar to those leveled (heh) at the L1 standard, the CSIA has tightened it up a bit over the last few years. The jump to L3 and L4 is and always has been exponentially harder. The BC exam pass statistics for 2016/17 season were: L1: 1200+, L2: ~500, L3: 45, L4: 6!!! There were roughly the same number of L1, 2, 3, 4 passes in BC as the entire rest of Canada combined.
Now, just as there is a great deal of regional variation in the PSIA, so too there is in the CSIA. You can think of BC & Alberta as PSIA-RM and of Whistler as the new epicentre of the CSIA (it used to be Quebec). Whether justified or not, perceived or reality, CSIA West (BC/AB) looks down on CSIA East (ON/QC), especially for L3 and L4. I've heard stories of numerous Eastern L4s arriving in BC and getting less respect. There was one guy who kept failing the L4 exam in Whistler, flew to Quebec and passed it there, and got blackballed by everyone when he came back. Of course there are the greats from the East who command respect wherever they go, like JF Beaulieu, Sunny Verault, Luc Neron, Sebastien Michel, etc. But there's no denying the general undercurrent of regional tensions and perceived disparities.
The same dynamic exists within BC between the 900-lb gorrilla that is Whistler and all the other small/mid-sized resorts. Having seen this dynamic myself, I will testify that it's more objectively true than not. Someone who passed their L3 in Whistler is definitely a much stronger skier than someone who passed at Sun Peaks, Big White or Grouse. The exams were definitely
much harder in Whistler, to the point that many Whistler instructors would travel to other BC resorts to pass the L3 under easier conditions. However in recent years, CSIA BC examiners started cluing in on this, and have made a good effort at evening up the standards by sending Whistler examiners to other BC resorts and vice versa. In the last few years the L3 pass rate outside of Whistler has gone significantly down. There have been several "unlucky" fellows in BC whose cohorts passed the L3 early on while they themselves were trapped failing the exam again and again after the standard was raised.
Relating it back to CSIA vs PSIA (and having spectated many exams in both systems), I would say that an L3 from Whistler is very close to a PSIA L3. They may not be familiar with PSIA exam tasks, but I guarantee you that the Whistler CSIA examiners are looking for all the same fundamental skills and competencies in a candidate's skiing, demonstrated in similar expert terrain. The pass rate at Whistler L3 exams is <10% (more like 5%), especially at the end of the season where 40+ candidates will contest it and only 2 or 3 pass (I cried in my beer at several of these).
It will be interesting to see what effect the Vail takeover has on Whistler and the CSIA. There've been many top level CSIA-examiners who were on the resort's payroll, but spending much of their time running training, adjudicating exams and directing strategy for the CSIA. Even before the takeover, one of the most prominent leaders in CSIA BC, "Doctor" (not actually a doctor) Ken Paynter, was effectively fired by the resort for doing too much CSIA work. No doubt that the resort gets a lot of indirect benefits from being the centre of the CSIA world, but the focus on revenue growth is bound to put pressure on WB Snow School to offload CSIA-related work.
One oddity, though, is that there is VERY little cross-pollination between CSIA and PSIA, except at the top level such as between the Interski demo teams and ski school / resort managers (especially those attending the "Model for Growth" conferences). The Canadian ski industry is largely staffed by the "Commonwealth" i.e. Canadians plus boatloads of Brits, Aussies and Kiwis who initially came over on working-holiday visas. It's exceptionally difficult (or at least not worth the effort) for Canadian ski instructors to work in the US and vice versa. This is quite the opposite from the racing scene where ACA and USS athletes rub shoulders with each other at NorAm and numerous regional races throughout the year. Too bad -- we have so much to learn from each other.
