VOLUNTEER
Are you looking for a rewarding experience, and FUN!?
VASS delivers ski, snowboard and sit ski lessons to people with a disability in the Lower Mainland. All lessons are 100% coordinated and taught by volunteers. VASS enables people to contribute to their community while having fun in an outdoor, recreational setting.
RETURNING VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES WITH VASS – SIGN UP
NEW VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES WITH VASS – Scroll down to Volunteer SIGN UP below.
Volunteer Opportunities
- - Ski & Snowboard Instructor
- - Committees (i.e. fundraising, marketing, volunteer management, website, equipment, etc)
- - Coordination of social events
- - One-off tasks (i.e. attend a show to market VASS, deliver a presentation, help organize one event)
Volunteer Benefits
As a volunteer, you dedicate your time and energy with our organization. Volunteers are rewarded with benefits which include:
- - FREE ski and/or snowboard lessons for your own skill development offered throughout the ski season
- - A nationally recognized Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers (CADS) certification
- - 6 hour overview of the Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance (CSIA)/Canadian Association Snowboard Instructors (CASI) certification courses
- - Helping others enjoy the thrills of skiing/snowboarding and the mountain experience while having fun!
- - Bringing the physical and emotional benefits of exercise and recreation to others
- - An opportunity to work with healthy active people and make new friends
- - Awesome social events and season-end Party!
Volunteer Experience Requirements
Stand Ski and Snowboard
If you wish to work with students in the stand ski or snowboard program, you should be a competent skier on blue runs. You need to be strong enough on the slopes so that you do not fall and are able to ensure that your student is supported, physically, if needed.
Sit Ski
If you wish to volunteer for sit skiing, you should be a strong intermediate to advanced skier. You should have a strong stance on your skis and must be confident in your abilities. This is not meant to scare people away; anyone can come up and shadow the program once they have their CADS Level I to see if sit ski is the right avenue for them. Students range from needing a lot of help and support (non-verbal and very limited mobility) to progressing towards independent skiing. All our students get enrichment from the experience. These students find snow and ice a hazard in their life, to make it a fun thing is nothing more than miraculous.
The mechanics of helping out a beginner sit skier means you may be in close to the sit ski to offer support. For new sit skiers you need two assistants: one seasoned and one new. We always have a mentor on the team to help transition the new team members. The second assistant works as the brake-person and must be able to adjust to what is unfolding in front of them. This can mean applying hold back power to the tether to slow the student down or do a quick hockey stop to stop the sit skier and 1st assistant before they enter a danger zone (tree, fallen skier, child, witless wanderer etc.) We also encourage new team members to role play and take the place of the students when possible to get a better understanding on how the sit ski handles and enhance their training abilities.
If you have questions about your experience on the slopes, please email info@vass.ca to discuss this further.
Volunteer Training
In order to volunteer as an instructor with VASS, volunteers must complete the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers Level I (CADS Level I) instructor certification – The fee is $50. The Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA) and Canadian Association of Snowboard (CASI) Instructors theory is the foundation of this qualification, with additional training on adaptive equipment and specialized teaching techniques. The CADS Level I is a 2½ day course including an indoor session, on-snow sessions on three-tracking and four-tracking, visually impaired; adaptive equipment and sit ski training, and has a written test. Six hours of CSIA/CASI training overviews (or CSIA/CASI Level I certification) is a prerequisite for this course. VASS offers both the CADS Level I and the prerequisite CSIA/CASI training in the early winter each year.
Returning volunteers refresher course at Grouse Mountain on Sunday, December 11.
Two 6 hours of CSIA/CASI course overviews are scheduled for the season 2011/2012: The first course runs on Saturday, December the 17th and the second course on Sunday, January the 8th. (This is an overview and not the CSIA/CASI certification).
Two CADS Level I courses are scheduled for the season 2011/2012: The first course runs on January the 6th, 7th, and 8th and the second course on January 13th, 14th, and 15th.
If you already have your CADS Level I, VASS supports progression through the CADS instructor certification framework outlined below.
CADS Level II is a 1-day exam, which includes a ski-off of 4 skiing maneuvers and a practical teaching exam. All volunteers must have taught skiing to persons with a disability for one full season after obtaining the CADS Level I and have 18 hours CSIA/CASI training prior to being eligible for this level.
CADS IIa
CADS IIA is the sit ski instructor certification. Candidates must have 1 season of teaching skiing to persons with a disability after obtaining their CADS Level II. This one-day exam includes a ski-off of ski maneuvers in a sit ski and a practical teaching exam.
CADS III
All volunteers interested in their CADS III, Examiner Level, must have taught for 3 seasons after obtaining their CADS Level IIA. Candidates must apply to the BC Technical Committee to become a Rookie Examiner. They must attend, teach and examine with a senior examiner at a full Level II course.
CADS IV
The highest level within the CADS certification is a Senior Examiner. Candidates are appointed by the CADS board based on the individual’s resume of experience teaching skiing/boarding to persons with a disability. Candidates must have CADS Level III.
To be a Volunteer Instructor with VASS, you first must:
1. Join the Disabled Skiers Association of BC (DSABC) ($40 membership fee). Your annual Volunteer Membership in DSABC covers your general liability insurance while you are instructing for VASS or DSABC. - Sign up
2. Have a current Criminal Records Check (CRC). The CRC must be done by the police or RCMP where you reside. See further information at http://www.vass.ca/registration-criminal-records-checks or by using BackCheck http://www.backcheck.net/vass/
3. Decide which of the following programs you wish to volunteer for:
- - Monday night snowboarding from 5:45 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- - Tuesday night skiing from 5:45 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- - Race program -Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. & Saturdays from 7:20 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- - Wednesday night skiing from 5:45 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- - Thursday night sit skiing from 5:45 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- - Saturday morning sit skiing from 7 :45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
- - Saturday morning skiing from 7:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
- - Sunday morning skiing from 7:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
- - Sunday morning snowboarding from 7:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Note: The Sunday morning skiing and the Saturday morning skiing programs are short of volunteers. Please consider this during your registration!
Most of the programs begin mid-January and run for 6 weeks.
4. Register for your desired program HERE
To support VASS in another way please email info@vass.ca
