Don't know if you asked about it while you were out here at SV New Hampshire, but the next time you come around we would be glad to give you any info that you need. This is Brian Wilson from SV New Hampshire here and though you might have seen me as well as some of the other senior instructors here doing basic training with some of our new instructor candidates, none of us are or claim to be IBA examiners. What we basically do is introduce our new people to movement in the tunnel and a basic set of flier control and spotting skills. When we feel that our candidates have a good grasp of the basics we usually bring in someone like Joe Winters (one of the godfathers if not THE GODFATHER of the tunnel world) to iron out their skills, introduce advanced spots, and help us decide if they are ready to be granted the full instructor title and responsibilities.
That is how we usually handle the preparation and final sign off of new instructors here in New Hampshire. As other posters replied to your post, some tunnels are directly affiliated with the IBA and do things in direct accordance with their specific program and guidelines, as well as expecting instructors to either pay directly for their ratings which will run into the thousands of dollars, or to commit to somewhere around 2 years of work at the tunnel of their training to make up for the tunnel's initial investment in the instructor's training. Each tunnel does their own thing so you would have to check with each individual place to see how things are done. As I already explained here, at SV New Hampshire we are not directly affiliated with the IBA and thus do portions of our training in house, but all of our instructors have IBA ratings of various levels, so we are kind of a mixed bag.
A tunnel instructor job is not without it's trials, it is some of the most physical work you will ever do, but it is very entertaining and rewarding so I encourage you to follow it wherever you might decide to do so. Next time you come around we'd be glad to share any info that you might need.
Blue skies,
Brian Wilson
