Program Reviews

This course reignited my passion for skiing. For the last few years I had turned to predominantly Freestyle skiing for fun. However, the highly professional and passionate level 3 and 4 CSIA instructors brought both a challenge and fun back to piste skiing.

The previous Basecamp alumni that now work in resort were there to give advice and guidance all through the course. Also being able to shadow current instructors while they take lessons really gives a feel for the reality of working as an instructor.

Living centrally in Banff only adds to the experience with the numerous bars and restaurants encouraging a great social scene and the accommodation is very high quality.

All in all it is a life changing eleven weeks. Basecamp is the most well established and best regarded of all the gap year courses at Lake Louise and having completed the course I can see why. All of the skiing cohort passed the Level 2 CSIA Instructor course and a number of the participants (including myself) plan to be back in resort next year to instruct and ignite a passion in the next generation of skiiers.

Had the time of my life out in Canada with these guys! Met the most amazing people who will now be friends for life, skied in a world class resort which was insane, lived the dream of qualifying to instruct with awesome coaches to help and Banff was happily called our home out there. Had days where we hiked to find powder to hitting the park in the same day, the smile was impossible to get rid of. If you're thinking about it just do it, was an adventure of a lifetime.

I cannot quite express quite how amazing my 10 weeks in Val d'Isère were, but I'm going to try. I did the course in my gap year between school and uni, but while most of us were 18-19ish, there were a fair few who did it post-uni. Though age out there didn't really count since we were all out there to improve our skiing; get a qualification and to have a great time. I can say that I got all three out of the 10 weeks. I passed my Level 2 and then went on to teach kids to ski for a couple of weeks with a fellow Basecamper in Italy for a company called Interski. Basecamp has a good relationship with Interski and getting that employment after the course was surprisingly easy with my resort manager Gwil's help.
Gwil was amazing - he was always there if we needed help with pretty much anything and was always keen to organise events for us (e.g. Ice Karting!).
The BASS instructors are also fantastic - I had a number of different instructors who were all equally lovely and willing to tell you about scholarships available to continue on to Level 3 and 4 (something I'd love to do in the future).
I was having such a great time out in Val d'Isère that after a couple of weeks out there I decided that I didn't want to go home after the course but to stay out a bit longer, so after going to Italy for a couple of weeks, I returned to Val d'Isère for a final week and farewell. Loads of people stayed on at the end of the course (accommodation was very much affordable!) so it didn't feel as though it had properly ended!
The only thing that I can even be a little bit negative about is the accommodation which is a bit squished, but wasn't much of an issue because although you're a bit on top of each other, it forces you to get to know everyone really quickly. It was a bit of a shock for the first week, but after that everyone was good enough friends that it wasn't an issue at all.
All in all I couldn't really recommend this course much more highly. It's a lot of money, but SO worth it!

Had a great time on this course training for my BASI Level 2. Overall the course was well thought out with enough of a split of training weeks before the level 1 and 2 exams were booked to fit into the 10 week period. The trainers, examiners and all the basecamp staff were very helpful and good fun!

I had the most amazing winter season with Basecamp. I met friends for life and experienced so much. The coaches and Basecamp staff are great fun.
It is an unreal thing to do and would recommend it to anyone with a keen interest in skiing / being outdoors, or doing a Winter season!
The resort is extremely fun and there are all the facilities you could possibly want such as a gym/ pool/ good bars and clubs/ 3 supermarkets ect!
Amazing experience I just wish I could do it all again!

Basecamp is without a doubt the best program in banff for ski and snowboard instructor courses, basecamp get the best and most central accomodation, the best excursions and they most definitely have the best relationship with Lake Louise ski school. I was slightly hesitant about coming away for so long but it was so much fun it flew by, the training you get is so good, all the trainers are completely dedicated to helping you pass, you get to know some of them so well you end up meeting with them socially something which other programs dont seem to do. The night life in banff is so good, theres a different bar for every kind of scene and the night clubs are so much fun, the hotel is i would reccomend banff and Basecamp to anyone.

basecamp was an unreal experience. A fantastic training program which sent me on my way to a new career. Awesome training throughout the season, which lead to huge improvement on my technical and teaching within skiing.

Personal highlight - heliski get with the instructors at the end of the programe

Coming from Switzerland, I was overwhelmed by the number of british companies that offer 11 week snowboard instructor courses in Canada. It took me quite a while to compare all of them and I finally decided to go with Basecamp since you get the most for the amount of money you pay.

Looking back onto my experience I am sooo happy I chose Basecamp. I had an amazing time, hotel was so close to town, hotel staff became good friends, Basecamp staff is super helpful, resort manager Andrew and photographer Rhodri (who was living with us) are always there for you and the people on Basecamp the best!!

The snowboard training and 1-1s we got with some of the best instructors at Lake Louise have definitely improved my snowboarding a lot and I would have never expected that getting my CASI Level 2 was gonna be one of the happiest moments in my life. I just realized again that I couldn't live without snowboarding and every day at Lake Louise was just awesome and unique. Thanks to former basecampers and fun nights out you also get in touch with a lot off Ski School staff members, which makes you feel like being part of a little family.

I was originally planning on going to university in Switzerland once I get back from Canada. But having spent the best winter season ever out there in Canada, I just wanna come back and teach at Lake Louise next year. I would have never imagined that Banff would become my actual home after these 3 months and I was so sad to leave. So hopefully everything works out with my visa and I'll be back soon! :)

It took me a while to choose which programme I wanted out of the few around. I looked at Snow Skool, EA, non stop and Basecamp. I chose Basecamp because it seemed to include more for less and because it was so easy to call them and ask a million questions!
I'm so glad I did. Accomadation wise it's so central in Banff- very important when it's -30 outside! The training was incredible- top level 3 and 4 instructors.
It has been so easy for me to come back and fit in at the ski school. I love working but Basecamp was better! An 11 week adventure holiday.
It's an absolute bargain for the amount it includes.

I did this course a few years ago. I was 18 and right out of sixth form. I loved skiing and wanted to do something with it...I'd never really thought being an instructor was a possible career, but spotted Basecamp at a career show.

Weirdly, the biggest thing the course taught me was that ski instructing was not a job I wanted for the future...but this really didn't matter at the end of the day. I still qualified as an instructor, had 11-weeks of top notch training, lived in one of the most beautiful countries in the world and had three months of insane fun with a great bunch of people. The course is so much more than just an instructor training qualification. This course is one of, if not the, best experiences of my life. I was able to ski everyday with some of the best skiers on the mountain and have them talk me through my technique daily. I learned transferable teaching and safety skills, which I still use to this day and all while having the best time of my life.

I can't recommend this course enough to anyone looking for a worthwhile way to spend their gap year or for someone who wants to get away from the grind of their job on a career break.