Last Day of BASI 2, X Games Tonight and a Great Past Week…

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Hello again from sunny Val d'Isere,

Since my last post we have had a pretty busy week. The BASI guys are in their last day of exams and having been up with both groups this week, I have to say they are all doing very well. It's now a matter of hours until we hear the results, fingers crossed and bring on this evening. Tonight we are off to the X Games in Tignes to watch the final of the womens and mens superpipe. I'm very excited about this having seen the slopestyle yesterday (photos will show how crazy the compeititors are). Some of the snowboarders went the other night to watch the mens superpipe and were fairly gobsmacked with Shawn White's performance. For those that haven't heard of Shawn White, he is the Kelly Slater or Tiger Woods of Snowboarding. He's a different level to everyone else and his performance in the pipe is like no other. Steve Roberts even got a cheeky handshake in, an insirping moment for those snowboard obsessed. So tonight should be a great evening and it will be a great chance for the group to relax and celebrate our newly qualified instructors…

Aside from BASI, everyone else has been having a ball on the slopes. The improvment in everyones ability has been a joy to watch over the last 10 weeks and I am stoked to see completely different skiers and boarders compared to when everyone first arrived. This makes it sound like its all over, however we do have a another week ahead. It's freestyle week and we have drafted in Val d'Isere finest coaches for a week of tricks, spins and of course freeride. It's going to be a really fun week and I am looking forward to capturing everything on camera. 

It's apparently going to get cold this weekend and hopefully snow. As much as I love the sun and warm weather, it does trick you into thinking that the season is almost over. Yesterday I realised we still have 6 weeks until the end, so bring on some fresh snow and colder weather in time for next weeks coaching. 

I'd like to mention that Elliot Stone and Phil Mills have been offered coaching jobs over in Italy in the next couple of weeks, well done to the both of you. It just shows that if you put your mind to it the BASI qualifications can be very useful and do set you up very nicely for a career as a snowsport instructor. The experience in Italy for these guys will be extremely worthwhile with regard to networking and teaching and will set them up for future jobs. 

As the end of the week draws in I can only say what another fantastic few days we have had and bring on a weekend of X Games, skiing, partying and enjoyment. 

Enjoy the video and pictures. 

Until next time,
Tom