Founded in 1938 and incorporated in 1949 as a not-for-profit organization, the CSIA is the professional ski teaching body in Canada. It is a federally recognized teaching institution and it trains and certifies ski instructors to best serve its partners such as ski schools and the Canadian skiing public. My 17 yr old son and I were recently hired by the amazing team at WINSPORT (previously known as the Calgary Olympic Park- home of the 1988 OLYMPICS!!!) on the condition that we pass the 4 day CSIA ski instructors level one training. Sure enough, as of this past Sunday my son and I both became ecstatic graduates, along with most of our fellow students, it was probably one of the happiest moments in my last decade and Ive had some amazing moments! It was not only great mommy/son bonding in a way we have never felt before (ie seeing each other interacting with new incredible and talented people, strangers all of them and yet become good friends after 4 days, dealing with difficult adult demands and education and physical challenges, and seeing each other succeed) but best of all it was a learning and maturing experience far above anything I could have anticipated. Our incredible coach ******* has been teaching skiing for EXACTLY 30 YEARS, and we realized within about 1 hour of meeting him that we were in for a very special treat. Everyone in our class (8 great people, all fabulous skiers) doubled their skiing skills in 4 days. Have you ever seen a man so fit he can literally ski UP A MOUNTAIN WITH NO POLES - QUICKLY! - And NOT be out of breath? He did that a number of times, and then skied back down the hill to where we were assembled and accurately skied BETWEEN the two poles he had stuck into the snow about 2 feet apart. Audible gasping from our class. I took massive notes on my phone with Ill copy and paste in a minute if anyone wants any a) great ski tips b) great teaching tips c) life lessons :) We all had an amazing time and I would recommend this organization to ANYONE interested in skiing and education. Even if you don't have a job lined up like we did, it might quench your thirst for learning something new and perhaps developing it further, and then sending out some resumes, you really never know. And an added bonus was that the COP itself was perfectly situated and staffed and well maintained and PERFECT WEATHER for this training. Check out these photos, wouldn't you love to ski here for 4 days????? The weather could NOT have been more perfect, someone was smiling down at us for sure. Thank you CSAI !!!!! read more