The opportunity of the CSIA’s 85th anniversary is good reason to update our members on the status of and developments in our venerable organization’s affiliations with the many sport instructor organizations operating both domestically and internationally. Whether you already teach abroad, aspire to, or dream of it, the international value of your membership matters!
International Affiliations
Members who are familiar with Interski will be aware of its world-leading congress of snowsport-teaching nations that meets every four years to demonstrate and compare technique and methodologies. Attendance in Interski is vital for the promotion and development of participating organizations, and ensures their certifications are relevant in the eyes of the global snowsports industry, especially at a time when so many members work internationally.
The Interski organization consists of thirty-one nations and three international specialized organizations. Interski promotes, coordinates, and develops all international matters relevant to snowsport instruction. And it recognizes one organization from each nation: in Canada, that’s the CSIA, where we represent all snowsport teaching organizations within our country.
The three international specialized organizations consist of the International Ski Instructors’ Association (ISIA), the International Federation of Snowsport Instructors (IVSI), and the International Association of Education in Science and Snowsports (IAESS). Alongside membership in Interski, the CSIA is also a longstanding member of ISIA and IAESS, and is in the process of joining IVSI.
Affiliation Benefits
For many decades, Canada’s affiliation with these various international snowsport instructor organizations has fostered our brand recognition globally, and enabled information sharing on trends in teaching methods, technique, and industry best practices.
One new and exciting project underway by the CSIA’s Technical and Education Committee (TEC) involves seeking accreditation from the International Ski Instructors’ Association to offer the “card” level of international certification. This status would offer CSIA members a new and challenging level of international recognition at various levels along our education and certification pathway.
The CSIA has been in strategic meetings with the Professional Ski Instructors of America – American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI) to joint-venture our efforts to offer this new level of international accreditation. You will hear more about this exciting new educational opportunity in the months to follow.
What’s on the Horizon
As you may have heard, the PSIA-AASI has recently been selected to host Interski Congress 2027 in Vail, Colorado. The CSIA has reached out to our partners south of the border to congratulate them and offer any assistance they might need in making this North American event a huge success.
With this announcement, Nigel Loring, the CSIA’s new managing director, has already begun formulating several exciting concepts for our Interski team structure and approach, along with involvement of the Canadian snowsport partners we proudly represent. Our TEC and Women in Skiing committees will play an important role in designing our theme, team structure, and teaching/technical approaches to improve the customer experience here in Canada.
More importantly, we are focused on generating a measureable return on investment for all CSIA members leading up to, during, and post the 2027 Congress. Stay tuned for more about Interksi 2027 in the months to follow.
