I know. My very not humble opinion is that PSIA should require SafeSport for membership, or something similar, for a number of reasons.
Not yet, no matter how hard I try.You fail an exam?
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The big difference vis a vis SafeSport requirements though is that ski school folks aren't travelling with kids, driving vans to weekend races, staying in hotels with kids, chaperoning 'unacompanied minors/teens' beyond lift spinning hours off site, etc... though I'm ok with anything that makes the USgymnastics mess unrepeatable in any shape, form, or place.
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how is austria even less than us? France listed L4 and not L2, and the equivalent of an L4 in the USA I am actually not far behind them
I’m not sure “fix” is the right word but it would surely forcefully encourage ski schools to hire more experienced/qualified instructors which would in turn raise instructor pay. This is no different than any other commercial venture. That is, if the public demands a certain level of service, is willing to pay for it and refuses to pay for anything less, there will be a correction to the service provided.
Source?
Source?
I know, it would need to be something that is more applicable to instruction vs coaching. Even if it's their own curriculum. Something that holds every instructor to the exact same standard. I wish that we could have not gotten to a point where it needs to be a thought, because to me SafeSport (or any other similar training) is common sense. But I guess that's the world we live in.
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A lot of thoughtful opinions here. Maybe we can get something straight, is it against NFS regulations to pay for an unsanctioned ski lesson, or is it against NFS regulations to give unsanctioned lesson, or both?
Although it's generally frowned upon, there is nothing saying you can't follow your kids around the hill during their lessons. Just don't be that parent that hovers and shouts from the sidelines.. no one likes that parent.
The best was after navigating an interesting entrance to a pitch in a multi week all mountain youth program a few seasons back, one kiddo said, " I'd better not bring my dad here."
Not only is it against NFS regulations, NFS rangers patrol a number of resorts looking for underground teaching and will arrest and charge the underground teacher with theft.
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What did the instructor steal?
Presumably, money from the resort that holds the rights to sell that service, or money from the NFS, because only the resort has paid NFS to be allowed to offer that service.
To further this, almost every special use permit the NFS issues to ski resorts on their property include a fraction of revenue (including lessons) to be paid back to the NFS.
Revenue due the NFS under concession rates with the ski area.
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Ok, so the parent paying for the lesson probably isn't breaking the regulations unless they're accused of buying unsanctioned goods or something like that. So if I'm at the national seashore or whatever and someone is selling paintings without a permit I would still be contributing to an un-permitted activity but it's more the vendor who is breaking the rules.
Sort of like the kids selling lemonade without the appropriate municipal permits. There is a line somewhere and the nfs should enforce their regulations (lol, could turn that political fast) and I agree ski lessons are cutting it close, but it's not the horrific crime some have made it out to be.
Sort of like the kids selling lemonade without the appropriate municipal permits. There is a line somewhere and the nfs should enforce their regulations (lol, could turn that political fast) and I agree ski lessons are cutting it close, but it's not the horrific crime some have made it out to be.
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Basically the victim of this crime is the government and the resort......cry me a river. Both act like you(the guest's) money was there before you even considered to hire that freelancer.
If there was a way to legal obtain that permit with out being the resort operator than there could be legal way to work and government still gets to steal your money to go bomb people in the middle east. Go to keep lockhead martin, and Haliburton going somehow.
I love the quote "breckenridge is concerned about the safety of guest" , no they are concerned about competition.
Again the way I see it is.
You have lift ticket that has payed for your lift rides and use of the land. The only thing preventing legit concession ski school is the government only issuing use permits to one entity and persecuting anyone who does other wise. Its basically stopping tax evasion, which if more people evaded taxes it would lead to less violence and force overall....
The current system is absolutely bad for instructors, and when its too late it going to be bad for resort operators as well. People like the fair wages facebook page just want better wages, but with no incentive and seemingly enough willing bodies to keep filling those instructor uniform wages will not go up. There is no real competition among most ski area on the labor end, and in some parts of the country certain operators are moving towards an effective monopoly. If your a full time line instructor and think the current system is positive for anyone except for the operators short term(i feel its not even good for them long term), that vast majority of instructors defending the status quo here are not in anyway shape or form doing this as their main career.
just to be clear, I am vested into this flawed system, and will continue to follow my local resorts polices regarding employment, but everyone even including them should start to ask themselves, if what is going is sustainable.
Few people know to do so. I suspect that before I became friends with a number of instructors, it didn't even occur to me that there were certifications, or that a mediocre skier could be an instructor.
As I've gotten much crap for saying in the past - a higher certification does not guarantee a good lesson, but I believe it does increase the odds. If I could not request an instructor by name, I would certainly request (in the US) a PSIA level 3, preferably trainer or examiner. But I'd far rather have a name.
Which is still less than half the price of a private at the Colorado VR mountains.
I would think this would help *if* a significant percentage of people actually did this, and *if* they voted with their feet by demanding a refund if their instructor weren't the requested level. Of course, what do I know - if this were effective, I bet the schools would just provide several tiers, with the current price for an instructor with no certs or a L1. And of course, that extra pay wouldn't be passed on to the instructor. (Man, I'm cynical.)
But the fact is that very few people know to do this, and even fewer would just walk away or - harder still - demand a refund.
It would be cool if instructors had their PSIA level on their pin/nametag. Sometimes I feel like it's rude to even ask a person what cert they have.
I wonder how the backcountry schools work - the ones going into RMNP and such.
This is a really good point.
This sort of thing is covered in the print on the back of your ticket or pass. Unmarked manmade and natural obstacles. I'm not saying it doesn't suck.
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