PSIA-certified Level III alpine instructors must be able to ski all terrain levels (double black where available) in most conditions. PSIA-certified Level III alpine instructors are expected to teach adults and children through the Advanced Zone (level 9 skiers). According to the PSIA Alpine Technical Manual, “Skiers in this zone range from those who can handle the easiest groomed black runs to experts who can apply a variety of turn shapes to control speed on any type of terrain, in any snow condition.”
The Alpine Level III assessment is three full days on snow and is a comprehensive assessment of all areas of the PSIA Alpine Certification Standards (Level III).
Prerequisites to go to the on-snow assessment (can be taken in any order)
- Online written test (needs to be passed once)
- Attend 2 of the following 3 NRM held clinics (24 CEUs) within a three-year period (recommended to take all but not required) :
- Mock Assessment Prep- 2-days
- Teach/People Prep- 2 days
- Tech/People Prep- 2 days
If a candidate fails the assessment, they must retake one of the above clinics before attending another assessment.
The Alpine Level III Professional Knowledge Exam is now handled on the PSIA-AASI website. You will then see the exams that you are eligible to take. Remember that professional knowledge exams must be completed successfully before signing up for any on-snow exam.
To attend the assessment, you must take 2 of the 3 NRM offered preparatory courses within a three year period. Below are the descriptions of the offerings:
Mock Assessment Prep (1 assessor)
A two-day mock assessment runs as an assessment would be (including feedback as would be given in the exam). Facilitated by a leader who will fill out the assessment form scoring as they would for an assessment with all the feedback needed for the candidate to train toward a successful outcome. Candidates will score themselves using the assessment form throughout and submit their scores to compare for self-assessment purposes.
Teach/People Prep (1 assessor)
2 days, where the focus will be on Teach & People Skills.
All candidates will teach at least two times. All teaching will be within the Alpine Level III expected zone and have the same time frames as the assessment.
The leader will score the assessment form for both People and Teach. Candidates will score themselves throughout and submit their scores to compare for self-assessment purposes.
Technical/ People Prep (1 assessor)
2 days, where the focus will be on Tech & People Skills.
All candidates will do shorter teach/MA segments at least two times. These segments will consist of verbalizing what they are focused on, what they want to see, describing personal performance to those outcomes, describing other performance, and giving feedback to the other candidates that create identifiable performance changes in individuals in the group.
All demos and tasks are skied through.
The leader will score the assessment form for the Technical, Skiing, and MA sections. Candidates will score themselves throughout and submit their scores to compare for self-assessment purposes.
The on-snow portion of the assessment consists of a three-day interactive assessment focusing on teaching, understanding and performing effective movement patterns in skiing. This will involve demonstrations, tasks, free skiing and teaching segments. The tasks, demonstrations and teaching segments are designed to allow every candidate the opportunity to demonstrate that they meet the PSIA Alpine Certification Standards (Level III).
The assessment teaching segments will involve teaching the other members of the group.
All parts of the assessment are scored and you will be given written feedback at the end of the assessment. Assessors are available for additional feedback, if desired, either in person after the assessment or via contact information (phone/email) distribution as requested by the candidate.
Related Documents
- PSIA Alpine Certification Standards
- PSIA Certified Level III Assessment Forms
- PSIA Certified Level III Alpine Professional Knowledge Exam
Reference Materials
We recommend that you take a look at the online store on the PSIA-AASI website. The following books are extremely helpful to your career and professional development as a ski instructor:
- Alpine Technical Manual
- Core Concepts Manual
- Teaching Snowsports Manual
- Children’s Alpine Teaching Handbook
