AASI Level 1 Examination

[dirtyjerz]

Hello all fellow instrutors and instrutoras (girl instructors),

I will be talking my AASI level 1 test the 29th and 30th of this month with hopes of passing to recieve my certification. Now i know there are 5 threads on the first page of the "Instructor's Lodge" forum page, but i don't want to comb through all that. So, would any (or all) of you be so kind to let me know what to expect? Am I gonna be breaking my legs to do this riding or should i have no problems? My boss has clinicked (sp?) me quite a bit to get better at the type of riding they're going to be asking for. Just so specifics would be really nice.

Also, other than a cool little pin and a raise in pay, and the option to instruct anywhere, are there any other benefits to getting this official certification?

Thanks for any information you can provide!

Sincerely,

dirtyjerz

(Greg Cox)

[snwbrder3384]

easyer access to proforms, there are several companys on aasi's website that you can order from at any time, mostly softgoods

[DragonUSMC]

^and cars =P

but no the level one is a cake walk. as long as you have the slightest bit of common sense and the ability to remember terminology. Also understanding of body mechanics is a plus. But for serious... you have to be a REAL MAJOR FUK up to fail that test.

Oh and another benefit... you get to pass out your business card that says "professional snowboard instructor" Chicks dig that.

[dirtyjerz]

^and cars =P

but no the level one is a cake walk. as long as you have the slightest bit of common sense and the ability to remember terminology. Also understanding of body mechanics is a plus. But for serious... you have to be a REAL MAJOR FUK up to fail that test.

Oh and another benefit... you get to pass out your business card that says "professional snowboard instructor" Chicks dig that.

alright good, i haven't ridden in 3 weeks, and going from riding/working 4 days a week it's a little weird, and i think it's subaru's but i could be wrong.

i had some business cards earlier in the season, they had my name and the lesson schedule and rates. i got a lot of returnee riders from this (5 dollar bonus)

thanks for the responses.

[gavn]

I got my AASI Level 1 this season at creek and it was definitely super easy. It's a two day exam and the first day and a half was just a clinic where our examiner would introduce Level 2 exam type riding techniques to us. The half day left was just a teaching segment where the entire group breaks down a level 1 progression lesson and teaches it back to the group.

This might not be exactly what will happen at your exam because our examiner pretty much knew everyone taking the Level 1 prior to the exam. He was at creek a bunch of times doing clinics and just riding. The exam was actually a lot of fun and being able to ride with and being taught by a Level 3 rider was awesome. I definitely feel that I became better because of it.

[snwbrder3384]

yea the exam's are differnent for your division, ours is just a one day deal all day. speaking of i have to figure out how many people are taking it this year so i can get the **** sent to me so i can give the exam....

[dirtyjerz]

OK EVERYONE

hi, i'm typing this from my motel room in Hunter, i finished my first day a little while ago and it went pretty well, the riding aspect was pretty easy, and my group and instructor guy are all pretty chill.

TOMORROW i have to teach the group something, anything for riding a snowboard to my group (of 8) for 10 minutes and 10 minutes only, i'm looking for ideas, i have my instructor bible (PSIA AASI instructor manual) with me if you should feel so inclined to reference it. I'll check this several times until i go back on snow at around 8 am tomorrow.

Thanks Everyone!

[DragonUSMC]

Pick a section of your lesson that you speak well on. (they always TOLD me what to teach)

anyway... just walk through the lesson and think about what part you teach the best on.

into / skating / ground work/ gliding

garlands / traversing / falling leaf

garland / turn / traverse...


you have a lot of choices, you just need to figure out which one you dont stumble on, or babble incoherently about.

[dirtyjerz]

I Passed! hooray!

[Fianny]

well done mate!

[DragonUSMC]

good job... told ya it was easy =)

[gavn]

Congrats. What did you end up teaching and who was the examiner?

[dirtyjerz]

Congrats. What did you end up teaching and who was the examiner?

i ended up teaching linked turns, it's something that i know how to teach and have great succes with teaching to my regular students. My examiner was terry duffield, he was pretty good, with the exception that he didnt teach us much, nothing in the park like the other groups did.

it was prety easy, i though i rode pretty well, but i still only got B's and C's on the riding judgement?

and thanks to everyone, and especially to dragon for his quick response on saturday!

[DragonUSMC]

^hey man dont feel bad about the riding thing... that's all i've ever gotten too. You'd be amazed how crappy we all ride when you're being examined by a level 3 who is also a tester... they are VERY hard on the riding aspect for all of us.

[dirtyjerz]

^hey man dont feel bad about the riding thing... that's all i've ever gotten too. You'd be amazed how crappy we all ride when you're being examined by a level 3 who is also a tester... they are VERY hard on the riding aspect for all of us.

What level are you?

To be honest my examiner didn't impress me that much with his riding, for someone as high on the totem pole of snowboarding as himself, i figured he'd be killing it. Like he challenged us that he could ride down this reasonably hard slope and beat us to the bottom, he speed checked and carved the whole time, no aggressive confident riding whatsoever. BUT he was a REALLY good teacher, had really good analogies for everything.

[DragonUSMC]

I still need to get my 3, and i guess there is a completely new freestyle system so i want to take that over again just to have it...

man once you get into this game and log on to your PSIA account you'll see how much extra stuff there is to do. its endless

[snwbrder3384]

yea i ment to get my 3 this year but ever weekend their was an exam i wasnt able to take it off cause there was too much crap going on. the freestyle stuff is a whole different accreditation.

[DragonUSMC]

I think the new freestyle accreditation is A LOT better then what it was 6 years ago. looks like someone actually put some thought into it finally.

[luv2b0ard]

Interesting food for thought...

[tooch]

how much does the cert cost?

ok, so i'm into shiny pins...

[snwbrder3384]

I think the new freestyle accreditation is A LOT better then what it was 6 years ago. looks like someone actually put some thought into it finally.

the funny thing about it is its about what you can do not what you can teach. the price of the exam is different depending on your divison so you need to find the website.

[tooch]

i looked all over the AASI website but couldn't find any info about pricing for the exams.

[snwbrder3384]

call your division office, youll have to find the divisions website, which one are you in?

[tooch]

no clue. i live in mass.

[snwbrder3384]

http://www.psia-e.org/

[tooch]

o. silly me. i was looking here: http://www.aasi.org/01/home/Home.asp

still can't find any pricing info @ psia for the exams. just that it costs $109 to be a member :shock:

[snwbrder3384]

your gonna have to call the office over there to get the price.

[IceCoastChick]

Yay! I'm certified ;)
Now bow down and shine my pin bitch.

Just kidding lol

[tooch]

congrats! and i passed my instructor exam at Wachusett. come visit me some time and we can pat each other on the back!

[IceCoastChick]

Someone named Chris from Wachusett was actually in my group for the exam. Do ya know him?

[tooch]

hmmm. don't think so. there are ~300 instructors there. there were only about a dozen clinicians in ITC. i know all of them, but none were chris. i'm sure i'll get to know them in the next few months, tho!