The ISIA, the worldwide Organisation for Professional Ski Instructors, which compris-es 40 national professional Ski Instructor Associations, of which 31 are European and 21 are from European Union member countries, has put its Ski Instructors database online, freely, so that it is accessible to the public. It can be found on the ISIA website www.isia.ski.

The ISIA Database contains the names of all professional Ski Instructors who have obtained the qualifications entitling them to the ISIA Card or Stamp, as long as their national associations have submitted them into the Database.
The criteria and conditions to obtain such qualifications are described in the “ISIA Minimum Standard for the ISIA Stamp and ISIA Card“ (see https://isia.ski/isia-congress-2008-and-additional-program/?lang=en) which was established at the ISIA Delegates Assembly of Jesolo, in 2008 (new neame “quality standard” since GA 2018).

For consumers, as well as for ski schools, ski lift operators and authorities, it will be-come easier to identify who has obtained a qualification.
Presently, it is being discussed within the European Commission whether a Delegat-ed Act should be adopted through which the Ski Instructors Training would be brought, Europe-wide, to an approximately identical standard; simplifying the recipro-cal recognition of professional profiles and promoting Ski Instructors’ mobility.

The ISIA has no direct decision-making powers within European bodies, which is why it is attempting cooperation with other organizations which are recognised and heard by the Commission.

To guarantee the quality of the profile of the “Ski or Snow Sports Instructor“, as a pro-fession, in addition to the safety of the consumer, the ISIA is in favour of a Delegated Act. However, this should be based on a “Common training framework” according to the Article 49a of the Directive 2013/55. Within the “Common training framework”, and through transparent procedures, the knowledge, skills and competences that a professional Ski Instructor has to meet, will be expressed, in writing: ISIA – as a pro-fessional organisation – has already achieved such a goal when the “Minimum Standard” document was adopted by the members.

ISIA remains in favour of the ISIA Technical Test described therein, where the refer-ence time is set by 50 FIS points forerunners, as well as the ISIA Safety Test.

A Delegated Act following the Article 49b of the Directive, based on the “Common training tests“, and herewith very concretely on the “Eurotest“, is rejected by the ISIA. 15 years of experience with the “Eurotest”, have shown that such an exam is not a proper tool to establish who can become a Ski Instructor.

So as to facilitate the success of the negotiations in Brussels, ISIA believes that the Minimum Standard ISIA Card, with the Giant Slalom and the Safety Test, remain a solid base for further negotiations.

We are requesting from all representatives participating in the Brussels negotiations that they promote the interests of the Professional Ski Instructor, rather than their own and support the ISIA Minimumstandard as adopted by the Assembly of Del-gates. We believe in the proverb that it is better to have a bird in the hand, than two in the bush.