LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - An email has come in from the Irish Ski Club PR people to tell TGU readers that they’ve a big weekend coming up! Oktoberfest is the Irish Ski Club’s annual celebration of skiing and snowboarding taking place over the last weekend in September when the dry slope re-opens.

There will be music, demonstrations and instructors from the Wilderkaiser Ski School in St. Johann who bring a unique Austrian flavour to the event.

Lessons are available at 11.00, 14.00 & 16.00 on both days. Three different standards of lessons are available over the weekend - Beginner, Advanced Beginner and Intermediate/Advanced. Ski lessons are available for adults and children aged 7 or over. Snowboard lessons are available for those aged 13 and over.

Call the Ski Club Office on 01 295 5658 to book lessons.

-Robin-

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - A tip-off today (thanks to reader KM!) alerted TGU of two upcoming courses being run by the ‘Irish Association of Snowsports Instructors’. While we don’t have exact dates, details or costs yet - we’ve been promised the press releases are on the way:

* Dry Slope Instructor qualification courses in October in Kilternan.
* Snow based courses in Chamonix & Hintertux.

IASI is the national accrediting body for snowsport instructors in the Ireland. If you have ever thought of becoming a Snowsports Instructor then you have come to the right place. Whether you’re taking your first steps up the qualification ladder or building on the qualifications that you already have, IASI provides a comprehensive list of training and assessment courses to help you gain your qualification.

The IASI system is designed to take instructors from Artificial Ski Instructor Level 1 through to internationally recognised instructors Ski Teachers (Level 3) and National Ski Teacher (Level 4). You move through the stages:

Level 1 Artificial Ski Instructor
Level 2 Ski Instructor
Level 3 Ski Teacher (ISIA)
Level 3 Performance Coach (IVSI)
Level 4 National Ski Teacher
Level 4 National Ski Coach

Watch this space for course details or visit their site at: www.iasisnowsports.ie

-Robin-

(Image Credit: Irish Ski instructor shown on IASI Homepage)