Taking the PIS

Firstly, let me apologise for keeping you waiting for the promised ‘drip feed’ of information but I ran into some difficulties when I started asking certain questions relating to the Osterreicherschilehrerverband. One would have thought the Austrian authorities would be pleased that an internationally renowned authority, such as myself, was showing interest in the innermost workings of their ski school system.
I began by writing to the world famous Arlberg Ski School, St. Anton a. A. asking if they would provide me with some information about how their school was set up, who was in charge, what profits they were making and who decided what the rules were?
Their response – a resounding ‘no comment’
I then sent a mail to the Austrian government asking if they could provide me with a copy, in English, of the Law covering ski schools in Austria.
Their response – Austria doesn’t have any laws governing ski schools, each of the 9 regions in Austria pass their own laws.
I remarked that this seemed unusual and asked for a copy, in English, of each of the 9 regional laws governing ski schools in Austria.
Their response – an even more resounding ‘no comment’
Could it be they had something to hide? My further investigations lead me into a sinister world of restricted practices and flagrant profiteering, I cannot pass on all that I found out for fear of placing you, my faithfull acolytes, in unnecessary danger, to coin a phrase I thought I was ‘taking the pis’ but these boys have got it down to a fine art.
Here’s a brief resume` of my findings, each regional governing body (Schilehrerverband) is made up of the heads of the existing ski schools in that region. Using their influence in local government they have developed their own laws under which all ski schools and ski instructors must operate. These laws ensure competition is kept to the absolute minimum, if not eliminated entirely and should anyone have any complaints about these restrictive practices they have to take these up with the regional governing body (Schilehrerverband).
It reminds me of that old song ‘I’ve got a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza’.
Originally they even had ‘a law’ which prevented more than one ski school in each village, this was challenged in the late ‘80’s by Franz Klimmer in St. Anton and as a result the law was revoked. Many villages, including St. Anton, saw new ski schools emerging, perhaps the best example was Kitzbuhel, home of the famous Rote Teufel, almost overnight it had four new competitors. Curiously by the year 2000 they had all ‘decided’ to amalgamate and today only the original school exists, funny that? If you look at other villages, including St. Anton, you see a similar pattern emerging but no one in authority seems the least bit concerned, least of all the regional governing bodies, who are supposedly policing all ski school activities.
Here is a question I put to the Schilehrerverband in Tirol:
Why do you have to hold an Austrian qualification and be employed by an Austrian ski school to teach skiing in Austria?
Their response – surprisingly, no comment.
I have it on good authority they’d have you believe it is to maintain the highest levels of safety, technical ability, teaching ability and to protect the established tradition in skiing and snowsports for which Austria is famous, however my research suggests something quite different.
Each of the regions runs instructor courses for which they charge fairly considerable fees.
The Antwoerter (500 – 800 euro) – literally translated it means ‘Candidate’ anyone completing this basic course can teach beginners provided it is within the confines of a properly affiliated ski school.
There are two further qualifications, the Landeslehrer and Staadtlicher, but unless you started ski racing as a child it is unlikely that you would qualify as either of the latter as a race time is obligatory. These three courses are a main income stream for the senior instructors and each of the regional organisations, and surprise, surprise the most lucrative by far is the Antwoerter course.
What do you make of all this? You have to take an expensive course which is conducted in a language you don’t understand but remarkably almost everyone passes.
Could the real answer be that ski schools charge between 300 and 400 euros per day for an Anwoerters’ services, of which he or she gets between 30 and 40 euros per day? No surely it’s all about technical ability, teaching ability, safety and tradition?
Let me assure you that when the Psychoanalytical Institute of Skiing is accepted as the ‘New Father of modern ski instruction’ we will be adopting far more sophisticated methods of ‘turning over the punter’ than our Austrian predecessors and that’s a promise.

Mum’s the word

Dr Ski