Page 16 - Winter 2018 Journal

Ski School

afterwards, and appear poised for another tightening of determined to keep finding good job placements for BASI
the screw. instructors, and believes the US market is a perfect fit.
“I have a staffing shortage of highly skilled laborers for “The message I want to bring to NSAA members is
teaching skiing and snowboarding because it’s not typically that there is opportunity for the US market to benefit from
something Americans do as a career and because there is no Brexit by attracting the British snowsports market and
single visa that the US offers right now that really meets our by employing BASI instructors,” Lockerbie said. “We’ve
needs for hiring snowsports instructors,” Ballou continued. been hearing that the demand for highly trained instruc-
“It’s incredibly challenging from an HR perspective. I’d take tors is high, so there is a recruitment need in the US at
as many instructors with BASI certification as I could get. At the same time as big changes in the European market are
the moment, with our current administration... good luck! ahead of us.”
But this has been a problem for a while and the previous Currently there isn’t a problem, because the UK is still
administration didn’t solve it, either. What we really need, as in the European Union until 2019, but after that the future
an industry, is a visa appropriate for qualified seasonal pro- is unsettlingly uncertain for BASI instructors.
fessionals in the recreation industry. If we can get that sorted “It may be more difficult for BASI instructors, or any
out, the prospects for more BASI instructors coming to work British citizen for that matter, to work in the rest of Europe
in the US are fantastic. There’s no reason it should be this after 2019, so we want to be as proactive as possible in intro-
difficult, but that’s our political reality right now.” ducing the opportunity to US resorts,” Lockerbie said.
BASI’s Lockerbie, who worked as an instructor at Vail in “We’re really looking forward to the opportunity to get out
the 1990s on a team full of international instructors, says he’s in front of NSAA members at the meetings in January.”
cautiously optimistic about his organization’s negotiations to
secure working rights for BASI members in the EU and with NSAA’s Western Winter Conference will be held January 16-18
the US, adding that he believes a diverse international staff at Snowbird, Utah. The Eastern Winter Conference will be
is part of what makes the ski resort experience special. He is held January 30-31 at Mount Snow, Vt.

14 | NSAA JOURNAL | WINTER 2018