The Scoop

Alpine Level 3 Certification Changes by Jonathan Ballou

Dear PSIA-RM membership,

We hope you are enjoying the great early season conditions that are present in resorts throughout the region.  Those of you who have aspirations towards Alpine Level 3 certification are likely in the planning process or well into training towards this goal.  The purpose of this communication is to provide you with pertinent information regarding updates and changes to the Level 3 skiing module.

The current ski module, consisting of three sections that must completed within a three year time period, was introduced in the 2011/12 season.  This module was designed to create a more engaging environment and offer a more holistic view of candidates than the previous station format, which left examiners in one place, viewing set tasks.   While this format was a step towards this goal and has returned positive results in both results, reviews, and examiner behavior, we believe that we can do better.

We believe that we can create a more engaging environment, one where candidates and examiners can get to know one another and spend more time exploring skill sets.  An environment that provided more flexibility with terrain, timing, and can be tailored to the conditions and needs of the candidates.  Because of this, we will be rolling out a new Alpine Level 3 ski module in the 2019/20 season.

The new module will mirror the current module in the use two examiners to evaluate three sections; Highlighted, Basic Blended, and Applied tasks. The two primary changes are that:

  1. all sections will be evaluated by the same examining pair, giving the ability to see the participants ski throughout the day and arrange the day based on changing conditions and candidate needs
  2. successful completion of the Level 3 ski module will be based on completing all three sections in one day

It is our belief that this new process will create a more consistent, holistic, adaptable, and engaging exam experience without sacrificing any aspect of the standard.

In keeping with past roll-outs of significant changes, this change will not take place until the 2019/20 season.  The Level 3 ski module will remain unchanged for the 2018/19 season.

For those who are in the Level 3 ski module process during the 18/19 season, the primary question to be answered will likely be how do they transition to the new process?   Our goal is to honor the current process and allow completion under the current policy while fairly transitioning candidates as modules expire.  Below

Transition Process and timeline:

  • 18/19 change to format of current ski day and announcement of process change in 19/20
    • Format change: Highlighted and Basic Blended will be combined into one group and will be scored in the morning or afternoon. This will provide a less hectic day for the candidate and give the examiners more time with the candidate to allow them to assess a greater body of work. This will eliminate required event logistics that take away from the day and allow the examining pair to see more “skiing.”
  • 19/20: New process rolls out
    • All new L3 candidates or those whose partial passes have expired will enter the new single-day format.
  • 19/20: Process for people with current partial passes:
    • Those members who enter the 19/20 season with remaining partial passes will retain their partial passes until they expire or they complete the skiing module.  If partial pass(es) expire, they will enter the new process and will be required to pass the entire ski day.
  • 20/21: Process for people with current partial passes:
    • Those members who enter the 20/21 season with remaining partial passes banked will retain their PP’s until they expire or they pass the skiing day.  If their PP’s expire, they will enter the new process and will be required to pass the entire ski day.
  • 21/22: three-year cycle for current Level 3 ski day is complete, sun-setting former process

We recognize that this represents a significant change from the current process and that members currently in the Level 3 process may have a number of questions and we are here to answer them.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to the office or Alpine Committee members for more information.  Additionally, complete information on the transition will be available at all Level 3 exams this season and the office will send personalized information to each candidate in-process at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Regards,

The PSIA-RM Alpine Committee

New Telemark Norm (NTN) by Jim Shaw

I hope today finds you sliding and enjoying some of the best early season snow we’ve had in years. The snow is even softer and deeper when you telemark!

If you haven’t telemarked before or even if you have hopefully you’re on board with the latest gear. Telemark has undergone a significant change with the introduction and acceptance of NTN (New Telemark Norm). The format has taken some time to gain acceptance and it has significantly changed the sport. While I doubt you would easily notice the difference if someone ski by the benefits and advantages are very real.

First, and I believe foremost, step in bindings with brakes! At least on the 22 designs Outlaw. The NTN uses a different attachment system that holds the toe of the boot and again under the midpoint of the sole of the boot rather than a bale around the heel. This is a little different and it’s much easier to understand when you try it. Add ski brakes and the inconveniences of bending over to put the skis on goes away with no compromise to the telemark skiing!

In addition to enjoying the step in bindings there will also be a significant improvement in performance. The attachment under the midfoot greatly increases lateral stability and ski performance.

For those of you that call this cheating, I will remind you that leather boots changed to plastic (Alpine and Tele), straight skis to shape skis, long thongs and cable bindings to step-ins and 3-pins (remember pin heads?) to cables and now step-ins! It’s all about having more fun more of the time. If the NTN is about step in convenience and more performance without losing the grace and beauty of telemark, count me in!!

It’s a great season to Telemark with great clinic opportunities. Along with a Certification Festival at A Basin at the end of the season (we had 27 participants last time!) There are steeps and bumps, all mountain, a spring symposium at Sun Valley, learn to NTN J at Spring Fling and the National Tele Academy at Big Sky!

The Only Constant is Change – by Chris Rogers

For the last couple of years, your Snowboard Committee has been in the middle of a huge update and overhaul of our exam processes. We started out with small tweaks and updates, but 2018-19 and 2019-20 will see a slew of bigger adjustments that will change our exam experience.

These changes are exciting, they’re needed, they make our exam process more humanistic, and they set us up well to align with the future of PSIA-AASI. Our adjustments fall into three general categories: Updates to provide better feedback through the existing process; updates to align with National Standards, other divisions, and other disciplines; and updates that lay the foundation for future changes.

Here’s a high-level overview of what’s new for this year:

Assessment Forms

  • We’ve adopted averaged scoring for certain components at Level 1, 2, and 3. This means you can receive a 3 in certain areas as long as it’s averaged with 5,s and 6,s to an overall passing score. A score of a 1 or 2 cannot be averaged into the overall score.
  • All scorecards have been completely revamped to better match the line items with what we actually do on exam day.
  • Level 2, 3, and RMT have new 3-page Assessment Forms, completely redesigned to provide more room for written feedback.
  • Level 2 and 3 riding assessment now better link movements and performances with outcomes and tasks. Tasks are chosen by the examiners from a set of available tasks and are written in on the exam day.
  • The new L2 and L3 task chart has groupings of tasks possibly used for assessment, while specific tasks will be chose on the day of based on the mountain, terrain, conditions, etc.
  • There are new Exam Standards and Overviews, Examiner Outlines, and supporting documents, as well as new MA tests to accompany them.

Exam Day Timeliness

  • Once piece of feedback we’ve heard from you is a desire for more accountability to timeliness during exam days. While there are unavoidable situations that sometimes arise, we agree that we can do better.
  • We’ve updated our daily examiner outlines with much more detailed timeframes, including examiner morning meetings, on-snow time, end-of-day wrap up, and certification results.

Paired Examining

  • Level 3 exams are now conducted with a pair of examiners like the Level 2 has been for the last few years.
  • All three days of Level 2 and Level 3 will have two examiners present.
  • We do our best to keep the same two examiners through each exam group, but do not guarantee it.

Movement Analysis

  • If you’ve been to a Level 2 or 3 exam or preview in the last few years, you’ve probably experienced some time sitting at the bottom of a run waiting for suitable riders to show up so that you can get your MA on. Starting this season we will be conducting the Movement Analysis portion of our Level 2 and 3 exams using riders from the group.
  • The expectations and standards for MA have not changed, just the on-snow process.

Teaching Scenarios

  • Many of the best mock-teaches we see during exam days include focuses on student profiles. This season we are adding a student profile component to all Level 2 and Level 3 teaches to assist candidates with painting the picture.
  • At the Level 2 Exam, candidates will be provided with a student profile along with their “Intro to” topic and Board Performance focus.
  • At the Level 3 Exam, the examiner will facilitate a group discussion at the beginning of the day. Candidates are expected to draw information about their peers from this conversation and use it during their teach later in the day.

Pipe

  • This has been a hot topic for years. As of right now there has been no change to the national standard, but the Snowboard Education Taskforce has been working on it.
  • In the meantime, all divisions have agreed that change is necessary, and are addressing it in a few different ways.
  • For 2018-19 in RM, pipe is now one of several possible freestyle tasks but may not always be evaluated depending on the mountain. This opens up the opportunity to run Level 3 exams at mountains without superpipes. This year we have scheduled a mid-season Level 3 a Taos and a late-season Level 3 exam at A-Basin. These exams will focus on airing off transitional features and will have a bigger focus on steep terrain.

CS Pre-Req for L2

  • Snowboard is adopting Children’s Specialist 1 as two of the three days of pre-reqs clinics for the Level 2 exam. A candidate must also attend at least one other day of the existing preview clinics, or other prep-style clinics we may add in the future. Candidates are welcome to attend additional days of the preview clinics as needed.
  • This year during the transition, candidates may choose to use either route, CS1 +1 day of clinics, or attend all three days of the Exam Preview.

National Assessment Forms

  • All 8 divisions have committed to working towards national assessment forms in the next few years. The committee is proud of our spiffy new 3-page assessment form design, and feel that it will help provide good framework to the design of national forms, but be prepared for additional changes in the next few years.

Changes to our RM certification process are not taken lightly, and we know there will be bumps along the way. Our Examiner Fall Training and Resort Trainers events were primarily focused on getting familiar with these adjustments, and our education team is ready to help people understand what is changing and why. Exam Previews will address the new processes, but Examiners will also go over changes to the process at the beginning of each exam for anyone who took the Previews last year.

One key point I must stress is that the bulk of the changes are designed to provide better feedback and create a more humanistic environment – NOT to change the exam standards. I feel confident that if you were successful or unsuccessful in the last couple of years, you would receive the same results with our new process. However, with the new process, I also feel that our team can provide better feedback, and create better outlines for training to movements and skills, rather than tasks. In the long run, a more understandable, consistent, and humanistic exam should lead to higher pass rates and satisfaction with the exam process.

Finally, I have to include a shoutout to the AASI RM Committee: Christina Bruno, Nick Harris, Jonathan Hershberger, Chuck Hewitt, Mark Lawes, and Tony Macri. Their passion, commitment, and dedication to improving our process is truly incredible.

The committee puts in long hours, and has many more to come as we look to better alignment with the other divisions and disciplines.

Change is not always easy, especially if you are mid-way through a process. If you have questions or feedback about any of the changes, I encourage you to reach out to me or any of our committee members or current examining staff.

Thank you,

Chris Rogers

Committee Chair, AASI-RM

chris@getawsm.co

 

Scoop Interview with Joel Munn

Joel Munn recently finished a thirteen-year stint as a member of the PSIA-AASI Board of Directors and nine years as President and Chairman of the Board as well as Representing RM on the PSIA-AASI National Board of Directors.  We have done a number of interviews with Joel over that time.  He has always given us clarity as to the direction of the organization as well as why and how decisions are made by the Board of Directors and our leadership in general.   With his retirement, The Scoop thought it would be appropriate to take advantage of Joel’s institutional knowledge by doing one more interview…and to thank him for his long and dedicated service to all of us.

Scoop:  First Joel, we want to say thank you for your leadership and service to RM.

Joel:   I can assure you it has been a pleasure and a labor of love.  Since my first lesson in 1966 at Whiteface Mt. in Lake Placid N.Y., being a ski instructor has been the primary motivation in my life…I will never regret it.  The life I’ve lived, the people I’ve met along the way, and the joy and fulfillment I have reaped from our vocation have helped me become the person I wanted to be.  What more could a person ask from their professional life?

I’ve been lucky enough to have lived my career in three countries and four divisions within the United States.  My involvement with PSIA-AASI, especially within Rocky Mountain, has been one of many high points.  It has not always been easy, and we have been presented with many  challenges along the way.  At the same time, it has always been rewarding and educational on many levels.  I owe a lot to my involvement with PSIA-AASI and will always be grateful to the organization, and to the many people who have made it what it is and continues to be.

Scoop:   Now that you have stepped down from leadership within PSIA-AASI, how would you describe the state of our organization at present?

Joel:   That is a more complex question than you may think.  From a membership perspective, I can only respond from an RM viewpoint.  And from there, I would say there has never been a better time to reap the educational benefits our organization has to offer.  That said, we always need to look at the health of the organization as a whole, as well as the stability and well-being of the individual divisions that contribute to making us an overall national entity.  While it is sometimes a sensitive subject, we all need to realize that PSIA-AASI, is actually a group of nine separate and independent companies.  Each of the eight divisions has an agreement of affiliation with PSIA-AASI or “National.”  The agreement addresses use of the Logos and Marks and spells out the responsibilities and limitations between the parties.

Contrary to common belief, there are no formal agreements between the divisions themselves. Therefore, communication, cooperation, and collaboration between all parties is essential to our overall success.   Whether this is the ideal structure for an overall national entity is certainly a subject for healthy debate.  Yet after many years of discussion and query, this structure seems to be what we will be using for the foreseeable future.  We have to work collectively for success nation-wide.  I see a steady move towards better inter-divisional relationships.  With this mentality of teamwork, in conjunction with a welcome openness from the National organization, our overall organization is moving forward and gaining positive momentum.

In the end, it is really up to our leaders as to how our organization evolves and how successful we will be as the industry changes.  I can only say that as we continue to find common purposes, consistent mission statements and goals, and subsequently work together, the entire entity nationwide becomes more stable and respected.  As this happens, our common membership across the country benefits from higher quality services, and our stakeholders within the industry view us as relevant and useful.

Scoop:   And from a divisional perspective, how do you see things?

Joel:  From a divisional perspective, I think most people know that Rocky Mountain has a long history of pride in the educational and certification services we offer to our members and member schools.  This has been an ongoing effort over six decades.  Over this past decade, we have worked diligently to create financial stability, build our asset base, focus on our administrative infrastructure, and invest in our human resources.  We have done so in order to continually improve; to be the best we can be.

From a personal perspective, I have been fortunate to have known, and been involved with, seven generations of leadership within RM; the people started our division, the people who moved it forward, and our present leaders who, in my opinion are unmatched across the industry.  From experience, I can clearly see an awareness within each generation of responsibility to their predecessors.   A long history of talented, caring, and introspective leaders within RM have created a time tested, and incredibly strong culture; a culture of continually striving for excellence on every level.

That said, we need to realize we are blessed by an influx of talent that migrates to RM from every division within our organization.  We are also very fortunate to have the financial means, capital resources, and alpine environment that allow us to improve at the pace, and to the extent we are willing to commit to.

Our challenge within RM has long been, and most likely will continue to be, finding a balance between evolving at the pace we aspire to, and working collaboratively with our partners so that everyone across the nation, members, schools, and our guests get the best possible education and experiences on their mountains as possible.  In the end, we have a responsibility as individual divisions, and as an organization collectively, to continually pursue this goal.  All we can reasonably ask is that everyone give it their best.

Scoop:  That’s a pretty big statement.  Would you care to elaborate in any way?

Joel:  It is a big statement.  One of the benefits of each division being a more or less independent entity is that it allows for agility and diversity in how they choose to, and quite often, must operate in order to best serve their members.   Geographic differences, client demographics, resort size, alpine variations, and many other things require our divisional organizations to be flexible in their educational programs and business models.

Believe me, RM leadership has a ton of respect for this reality.  As I see it, our educators and our administrators are doing everything possible to share with other divisions if and when they want our help.  We also borrow best practices and process from each other and seek improvement through teamwork.  I firmly believe this is done with respect and thus we are moving to an area where this sharing is non-threatening and beneficial to everyone.  You can be assured that RM leadership is committed to contributing to a healthy and respected holistic organization.

Scoop:  Is it fair then to say you are optimistic about the “state of the union” going forward?

Joel:  Certainly.  We are in a great place right now.  We have a great leader nationally in Nick Herrin.  He has incredible energy and dedication. He is a man with vision and patience, and he exhibits all the leadership skills necessary to bring us even closer nationally.  Dana Forbes, our CEO, is recognized and trusted by the entire group of Administrative Leaders across the country.  RM’s Educational Leaders carry a strong and respected voice at the highest level among the Educational Leadership across the country.  This group has come together in a way I’ve ever seen in a nationwide effort and are making progress we should all be proud of.  They are working from a big picture perspective and then taking it to the grass roots so a majority of members can benefit.  I could not have more respect and admiration for not only our present educators, but also our up and coming educators nationally and divisionally.  We have a wide range of talent willing and able to grab the torch and move us into the future.

In the volunteer leadership realm, I see the Board of PSIA-AASI moving towards a more consolidated relationship with Presidents across the country; even to the extent of considering different business models.  Divisional Boards are seeking consistency in their governmental practices, both internally and inter-divisionally.  I continue to feel optimistic that national and divisional leaders are understanding the value of closer relationships with our member schools, their resorts, the NSAA, and the many other stakeholders that directly and indirectly affect, and are affected by our pros.

Things are pretty darn good right now.  Yet I would add a word of caution.  The industry we all rely on is changing rapidly.  We need to constantly be introspective, and open to change.  We cannot be dogmatic and we must be open and flexible in our processes, practices, and procedures going forward.  I have my concerns about how the present industry movement towards large conglomerates is going to impact our pros as individuals, PSIA-AASI as an organization, and RM as a business entity.  In my opinion, its all up in the air right now.

Within RM, we are well beyond striving to be “relevant” to the industry.  We are now making significant progress towards becoming “necessary.”   From our perspective, if we are not necessary to the resorts, they may seek other ways to educate and credential their employees.  If we are not necessary, we could very soon become redundant; or perhaps, which I find dangerous, need to find a different purpose.   My senses tell me change is on the horizon.  As I step away, I challenge our leaders to be sure our education is at the highest level, that it is consistent with what will bring success to resort guests, and thus the resorts.   And always please be sure that we educate and verify our education by modeling the behavior we expect our pros to show their guests.

Scoop:  As always Joel, you give us things to think about.  One more question if you don’t mind.  Now that you are, as you often say, “riding into the sunset,” what is next for you personally?

Joel:  Thanks, and I appreciate you asking.   Of course, I will continue to ski.  But I have found another passion as well.  I started spending more and more time in Ecuador the past few years.  It is a beautiful country with people who are even more beautiful.  I am struck by the poverty that surrounds me and simultaneously awed by the gentleness and visual goodness of the people.  Like most Central and South American countries, there is no “safety net” where the less fortunate can find assistance.  The number of disabled people, children and adults, who I see in the streets, and the number of very old people seeking a hand out simply for survival overcomes me emotionally.

When I decided to spend more time in their country, I knew I had to do something to help some of these people if I could.  I have been developing a project that has found a place in my heart working with the few charitable organizations that do exist in Cuenca, Ecuador.  Without government assistance, charitable organizations find it very difficult.  They need a lot of help, but in reality, what they need most is money.

I have established a 501 c-3 called Snow Angels in Ecuador.  We are a non-profit organization based here in the United States.  We hope to provide and manage and administer funds directly to a central hub and subsequently to the charitable organizations within Ecuador.  With revenue that is more available here in the U.S., we are working in conjunction with Global Giving and directly with the Hearts of Gold Foundation.  They are the most established, yet within our standards, still a very small charitable foundation in Cuenca.

Our plan is to establish an administrative and educational infrastructure, similar in some ways to RM, that will take advantage of economies of scale, and thus service and bring sustainability to the small and struggling charitable organizations in the region.  These organizations include a school for impoverished indigenous children, an orphanage for severely disabled and impoverished children, a “soup kitchen” that provides meals to poor street people and Venezuelan refugee families, and a project for women and children who are victims of violence.  More will come under our wing as things progress.

I will be working this winter to raise funds.   Any help we can get from interested pros and/or their guest who may find this a worthwhile effort will be greatly appreciated.  We will invest our donations wisely with the development and future independence of the organizations we are working with as a primary concern.  I’ll leave it at that for now, with the hope that I have some curiosity within our pros.  Perhaps they will create awareness of the project with their guests as well.  If so, find us at snowangelsinecuador.org.

With that said, please know I will always be a ski instructor at heart and as always, I encourage every snowsports pro to live their professional lives from their hearts…from there you cannot go wrong.  My best to everyone!

Scoop:  Our thanks to you as well Joel…and God Speed!

A Few Simple Tricks to Make Wedge Turns on Cross Country Gear Easier! – By Patti Banks

Over the years I have found one of the most confusing techniques for Cross Country skiers to learn (and for Cross Country Instructors to teach!) is the wedge turn.  Here are some tricks to make the wedge easier, more efficient, and less mysterious on XC gear.

To establish an effective wedge:

  • Center your body over the middle of your feet (front to back) by flexing your ankles—a lot!   You will know you are in a good place when you feel as much pressure on the ball of your foot as on your heel.
  • Keep your skis slightly edged using your feet, with your knees aligned side to side over them (as if you were riding a horse). Do not allow your knees to collapse to the inside creating too much edge!
  • Keep both feet equally weighted. Make the wedge shape with your skis by simultaneously sliding your feet apart and turning your legs in.  This makes your skis look like the head of an arrow.

To turn in your wedge:

  • Progressively point BOTH sides of the arrow in the direction you want to go by turning your legs and feet
  • As you turn, let the pressure build on the outside leg while the inside leg actively determines the shape of the turn.  Think of your outside leg as the “Brawn” (it gets heavy and strong) and your inside leg as the “Brain” (it shows the “brawn” where to go)
  • Keep your skis as flat as possible, though still edged
  • To turn in the opposite direction, switch the roles of the legs and repeat.

Staying centered, keeping your skis flatter, turning with both legs, and letting the outside leg become the supporting foot after the turn’s start should make your wedge turns smooth and efficient.  By the way, these tricks will make your wedge turns easier on Alpine and Telemark gear as well!

The Teaching/Learning Cycle by Ellen Post Foster

In PSIA-AASI’s new multi-discipline teaching manual, Teaching Snowsports, a framework called the Learning Connection organizes information into 3 domains: people skills, teaching skills, and technical skills. The extensive material found in the teaching skills section is divided into 2 chapters: Learning (theory and concepts) and Teaching (process and application). Within the Teaching chapter lies the Teaching/Learning Cycle, which is the topic of this article.

Over the years, the Teaching Cycle has been revised many times to accentuate evolving beliefs about teaching snowsports. The current title change to Teaching/Learning Cycle reflects the philosophy of the Learning Partnership, which is characterized by the shared responsibility and combined effort of the instructor and student. It is a collaborative relationship, filled with active participation by the student toward achieving outcomes that are agreed upon for the lesson. Contemporary learning theory provides the basis for the Teaching/Learning Cycle, and supports characteristics of effective learning: collaboration, linking new learning to known experiences, connecting understanding to feelings and sensations, and structured reflection. These characteristics are woven into the phases of the Teaching/Learning Cycle.

The Teaching/Learning Cycle has also changed to provide a simpler representation of the essential interactions between instructors and students. It is a structured yet adaptable process to manage the snowsports learning experience. With this methodology, instructors constantly assess personal and performance needs, adjust plans and goals, create purposeful experiences, and guide practice. They check for understanding every step of the way.

To take a closer look at the content and depth of the Teaching/Learning Cycle, let’s examine the phase, Create Experiences for Learning. Like all the phases, it has a list of objectives. The nature of the objectives reflects a departure from the message of the past heading: Present and Share Information. It contains more elements of experience- and collaborative-based learning.

Create Experiences for Learning

  • Organize students and the lesson environment.
  • Choose appropriate terrain and snow conditions.
  • Use experiences to target change in performance and understanding.
  • Engage students in a process of reflection.
  • Introduce new experiences and information based on student readiness.
  • Provide descriptive instruction that’s easy to understand.
  • Promote group engagement, interaction, and support.

In Teaching Snowsports, each phase is color-coded and has pages of support material that provide direction on how to achieve the objectives. For example, under the objective, Use Experiences to Target Change in Performance and Understanding, there are the following subheadings. Each subheading has further information about best practices that bring to life essential interactions between teachers and students.

  • Use different strategies to introduce new experiences
  • Highlight what before how
  • Target feelings and sensations
  • Confirm students’ understanding of feelings and sensations
  • Always return the focus to the desired outcomes
  • Provide outcome-based feedback

Think of the phases as being made up of different tiers of information into which instructors can delve as deeply as they choose. For new instructors, the phases provide guiding steps and promote an orderly flow to the lesson. Experienced instructors can read their students and identify when and how to adjust a lesson. The process still flows, but the instructor determines if and when phases need to be revisited as they continually check for understanding and work towards the mutual goals of the lesson.

The Teaching/Learning Cycle provides an in-depth resource for teaching snowsports, but it is only part of the wealth of information contained between the covers of this book-sized manual. Other chapters besides those related to the Learning Connection are:

  • Creative Learning Environments
  • Managing Risk in the Mountain Environment
  • Sports Psychology – Mental Skills for Performance
  • Physical Fitness and Conditioning
  • Service Relationships
  • Professional Development

Teaching Snowsports is designed to be a resource you can reference throughout your career. Turning the pages, you’ll find tactics for creating open and collaborative relationships with your students, strategies for teaching, and ways to address technique through a lesson filled with purposeful experiences.

PSIA-Rocky Mountain-AASI Bylaw Changes

On September 20th, the PSIA-Rocky Mountain-AASI Board of Directors approved changes to the organization’s bylaws. Please click the link below to view the tracked bylaw changes. Should any member have questions or concerns regarding the changes, please contact Dana Forbes at dana@psia-rm.org or 970-879-8335. Should any member have interest in protesting these amended bylaws, please reference page 18 of the bylaws. Deadline for comments, concerns, or protests is October 31st, 2018 at 5:00 p.m.

Click here to view the tracked bylaw changes >

NEW Freestyle Experience Log adds awareness and skills for Freestyle Specialist candidates

New Freestyle Experience Log – Tony Macri 

I hope this article finds everyone enjoying their autumn and getting excited for another great season, which is just around the corner. The off-season is always a great time for reflection on the past season and an opportunity to evolve our resources and products for the RM membership. Well, your Freestyle Committee has been busy doing just that. There are multiple projects currently in development right now. However, the one I’d like to share with all of you is the creation of the new Freestyle Experience Log.

In the past few years, we have observed participants who come to the Freestyle Specialist Prep and Exam with limited experience. This lack of experience can create a dangerous environment at the prep clinic and even at the exam. We all know that when there is lack of experience performing a task, there could be fear that builds inside you as one prepares to perform it. This fear can increase when you are at a new resort with features that you may not be comfortable with. In addition, the amount of fear multiplies when you are asked to perform in an assessment environment crated by an exam. With fear building, the ability to commit to a movement that allows you to stay safe is more difficult, and as a result, injury can occur. 

To proactively address this, the RM Freestyle Committee has developed a Freestyle Experience Log. This new log is designed to create basic awareness and added mileage with safe, simple movement patterns that will proactively manage fear to produce a more comfortable environment for our participants when they are coached through the exam. In the log, there will be a few sections that will cover a variety of different experiences. They are Terrain Park Experience, Culture questions, and even a section called “Have you ever,” where it’s a simple yes or no answer to each question.

We feel that this simple tool will help get everyone on the same page from a participant’s perspective, as well as the examiner’s perspective. Stay tuned for the official release of this log for more details.

RM-Freestyle Experience Log 2018-2019

Ron LeMaster to lead indoor, off season training – receive CEU credits before the snow flies!

Skiing from the Snow Up: Technique, Tactics and Biomechanics

The better you understand the why and how of skiing, the better a skier and ski educator you can be. The purpose of this pair of courses is to help deepen that understanding. Some of the topics that will be covered are:

Ski performance:
The mechanics of holding, slipping, self-steering, carving and oversteering

PSIA’s Five Fundamentals:
Their associated techniques
The biomechanics of the techniques
Matching techniques to tactics

Boot Biomechanics:
Their effect on technique
How canting and other setup factors work
The mechanics of canting, and how to do it

 

Registration CLICK HERE

Parts I & II
Part I is not a prerequisite for Part II. However, the material in each session builds on the previous sessions, and the
material in the first session is referenced in all the others. An understanding of the material in Part I of Ultimate Skiing,
by Ron LeMaster, will be helpful for those who can’t attend the first session.

PSIA-RM Credit
Up to 12 hours of PSIA-RM education credit is available. PSIA-RM grants 2 hours of PSIA-RM education credit for
each class session, subject to a PSIA-RM administrative fee. For information on how to apply for credit and the
administrative fee, see here and here.

Class Size Class size will be limited to 25

Cancellation Policy
A full refund will be made for cancellations received at least one week prior to the start of class (Sept. 25 for Part I,
and Oct. 16 for Part II).

Questions? Please send a note to info@ronlemaster.com

New Events for the 18/19 season

There is reason to be stoked for the 18/19 season:

 

Performance Based Tuning & Waxing with HWK in Breckenridge (Indoor) – 10/27

  • The focus of this clinic will give the basics of waxing and tuning to prepare and maintain alpine, snowboard and Nordic skis.  We will go over initial ski preparation, side wall cutting, side wall maintenance and waxing.   We will discuss and demonstrate setting side-edge angle, base-angle and how to maintain it.  We will also demonstrate how to hand sharpen and demonstrate sharpening with the new sidewall machines.  Waxing your skis will be demonstrated so that you can wax efficiently and have the best outcome.  We will also demonstrate World Cup techniques and waxes for the interested racer.  You will come away from this clinic with the ability to maintain your own skis, so you have fast and sharp skis all season.

Instructor Teaching Workshop with Horst Abraham (Indoor) – 12/8 – 12/9    Location is TBD. Keep an eye on our website for updated location info.

  • This course is a 2-day workshop design that aims to help instructors and trainers move their working understanding of EE to the next level. The program methodology will be a robust combination of thought exchange, experimentation, examining new and old concepts and practices, and collaborative idea generation aiming to tune up our instructional practices to optimal levels of impact and effectiveness. The desired workshop outcome is to ‘refresh’ what we think we know and believe about our profession, unafraid to change and innovate in the process to serve the workshop mantra of: Simplify, Amplify, Gamify!  

Women’s Ski Summit in Steamboat Springs – 1/15 – 1/17

  • The Summit provides opportunities for industry professionals to train with elite coaches, share ideas, influence the future, and network with women colleagues in cross-industry fields from across the globe. New this season is the exciting location change to Steamboat Springs. Take advantage of having this important event in your ‘back yard’.

Making the Most of the Top of the Turn with Ron LeMaster in Breckenridge – 1/23 – 1/24

  • From arcing carved turns to slithering through moguls to navigating steep chutes and walls, an array of tactics and techniques can be used between the edge change and the fall line that can broaden the range of terrain, snow conditions, and lines that a skier can handles well and enjoy. This clinic will explore some of those tactics and techniques, including early carving, smearing, feathering, stivots, and inriggers. We’ll not only talk about advanced skiing, we’ll investigate how some of these skills can be taught at lower levels to improve any skier’s versatility and overall skiing ability. Approximately a third of this clinic will consist of indoor presentations and discussion.

Interdivisional Spring Symposium at Sun Valley, ID – 4/12 – 4/14

  • We’re ready to put the icing on the cake with this end of the season bash that has been a Northwest tradition for almost 50 years! This two-day educational extravaganza showcases Northwest, Northern Intermountain, Intermountain and Rocky Mountain clinicians in a myriad of topic choices, ranging from everything under the sun, pun intended.

PSIA-RM-AASI 18/19 Event Calendar is HERE

Here it is, the line up of events for the 18/19 season.  This calendar is intended to be used for event planning only, registration is NOT AVAILABLE YET.  We publish this version of the calendar so you can get a jump on planning out your season.  Events will be online by mid September and the event catalogue will be mailed to you in Late September. 

Click Here to view the calendar: Event Calendar for the Scoop 18-19

Board Briefs 9-14-2017

PSIA – Rocky Mountain – AASI

Board Briefs

Salida, CO – September 14, 2017

 

President Joel Munn called the regular meeting to order with the following Board members present: Rick Hinckley, Robin May, Jane Tarlow, Andy Docken, Donnie, Mechalke, Jacob Levy, Andy Docken, Dan Huston, Jenny Cooper, Tom Burch, Ted Champion.  Also in attendance was Executive Director Dana Forbes, Director of Education Dave Gregory, Director of Operations Carissa Eggers, Events & Education Manager Tim Kenney, committee chairs David Oliver, Tony Macri, Chris Rogers, Patti Banks, Stacey Gerrish. Tanya Milelli is absent from the meeting. Carissa Eggers recorded the meeting and prepared the minutes. 

 

EDUCATION REPORT

  • New Freestyle committee co-chairs David Oliver and Tony Macri.
  • New Alpine e-learning module will be in place by November 1st.
  • New Snowboard e-learning module coming as well.
  • National has a new LMS site to host the e-learning, quizzes, workbook, standards, etc.
  • The International Education Taskforce (IET) has been working on relations. AADIDES is the PSIA of Argentina, we are there now holding Telemark exams.
  • Education Leadership Council (ELC) has been active in planning Fall Conference 

 

Alpine Chair Report – Jonathan Ballou: Jenn Metz and Gates Lloyd will be attending Fall Conference on behalf of Rocky Mountain Alpine, Jonathan will be facilitating a group. This year it will be broken down into two groups: one group focusing on creating learning outcomes and the other group focusing on developing teaching fundamentals and identifying key sets for examiners and best practices to train them. PSIA National is currently working with Penn State University to potentially award a degree for PSIA certification. The National team reshot all of the tasks for each discipline that will be housed on the Movement Matrix. Best thing about this is it is no longer on RM’s plate to maintain these videos.

The Alpine RMT process is going through an overhaul. It will be based on a two year process, can complete faster but must be complete in two years. There will be an entrance skiing exam to determine the participants. Non linear pathway with a mentorship program.

New this year for the Alpine Level 1 process if a member is not affiliated with a ski school they must attend a Level 1 exam prep first. It will be $100 for the two day prep and will help out the Level 1 exam.

Snowboard Chair Report – Chris Rogers: RM hired 7 new examiners which is going to help our staffing this season.Last year RM rolled out paired examining at Level 2 and it was very positive feedback from both the candidates and examiners. Hoping to roll out for Level 3, but not sure if RM has the staff to do that yet.

Children’s Chair Report – Stacey Gerrish: Stacey will be attending Fall Conference and Dusty Dyar will be facilitating. Stacey and Dusty have also been tasked with leading the next Children’s Technical Manual. Children’s committee is looking at the National LMS and how that plays into the Children’s workbooks and exams.

Cross Country Chair Report – Patti Banks: Hoping two days of clinics being offered at CCSAA at the National Conference in Colorado will help bring more people and interest in joining. National is taking a more active role in marketing the National Cross Country academies.

No questions on the Telemark and Adaptive reports

Freestyle Chair Report – David Oliver & Tony Macri: FS1 process used to be a 2-day clinic and a 1-day exam but the exam day was very cramped so it will now be a 1-day clinic and a 2-day exam and it will allow participants to come back and re-sit a module piece they failed. Snowboard is looking at coming up with a similar hiring process for Snowboard Freestyle examiners as Alpine currently does. Possibly creating a new online quiz for freestyle.

 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE

  • National is looking at a new database in the next few years.
  • Carolyn Krueger retired at the end of June, Carissa Eggers has moved into the Director of Operations position. Tim has moved to the Education and Events Manager. Rachel Crispino has just been hired as Membership & Events Logistics Coordinator.
  • New products coming out this year are Training Academy 10 day event. Alpine only in November and then Alpine and Snowboard in April.
  • Management Training course during MSM Fall Training
  • Two new telemark clinics this year.
  • Scholarships will continue around the same as last year, deadline September 30th for most of the annual scholarships with some scholarship deadlines later. The membership scholarship was completely underutilized so we changed the deadline to mid-January. Only about 8 schools participated.
  • Alaska division has now dissolved and Northwest has absorbed them.
  • This year’s biggest budget change is going towards supporting the education staff and increasing pay for CS1, Level 1 and FS1, increasing per diem for lunch, changing travel pay for those travelling more than 180 miles, increasing training pay for ed staff to 12 hours instead of 10
  • The discount for members who joined after Feb. 15th is no longer.

 

MOTION

Donnie Mechalke moved to accept the minutes from the previous meeting. Rick Hinckley seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

There is an application from Peter Donahue for NSCD Taos Winter Sports Team S.O. Ski Camp.

MOTION

Donnie moved to donate the total $2,500 scholarship to the NSCD program. Tom seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

MOTION

Joel makes a motion to accept the change in title from Executive Director to Chief Executive Officer.  Rick seconded. Discussion. Motion was denied.

MOTION

Donnie moved to adjourn the regular meeting of the RM at 4:59 p.m.  Jacob seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

 

Non Verbal Communication by Nick Alfieri

As snowboard instructors and trainers, we often find ourselves talking and talking and talking and talking—you get the gist. However, I think if you can force yourself to be conscious of the way you and others communicate nonverbally, you will find that you are able to not only communicate better with students and trainees, but also you will be able to pick up on how your students are truly feeling and understand them.

 

First, let’s look at some different types of nonverbal communication:

 

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS – We as humans are constantly making facial expressions whether we want to or not. We can communicate many emotions through this form of nonverbal communication without saying a word. Unlike other forms of nonverbal communication, facial expressions are universal—no matter what the culture, the facial expressions for fear, anger, happiness, surprise, sadness, and disgust are all the same.

 

BODY MOVEMENTS AND POSTURE – Think about what your first impression is of someone by how they hold their head, the way they walk, sit, or stand up. The way people move and carry themselves holds a wealth of information. This includes posture, stance, and other subtle movements.

 

EYE CONTACT – Eye contact is an especially important form of nonverbal communication. The way someone looks at you or you look at them can communicate many things—from anger or interest to attraction. Eye contact is very useful in keeping a steady flow in conversation and gauging the person’s response to what we are saying. This is very useful for us as instructors and trainers when we are communicating an important topic or skill.

 

TOUCH – Try to imagine someone giving you a weak handshake versus a strong one and how you interpret that. Many things can be communicated through this type of nonverbal communication—such as assurance and comfort level. Think about a big bear hug or a controlling grip on your arm and what you interpret that to mean.

 

SPACE – We all have had moments where we felt like our personal space was being invaded by someone in a conversation. We all need a certain degree of personal space, which varies depending on the situation and who we are around. You can communicate things like intimacy, affection, aggression, or dominance by how much personal space you keep.

 

GESTURES – We all wave, point, or use our hands to communicate something more effectively. This type of nonverbal communication is different from culture to culture, so it is important to be aware of the gestures you are making and not offend anyone.

 

VOICE – We say much more than just our words—it’s how we say our words that is important. When we put inflection on our words, we are trying to communicate a specific emotion or attitude toward what we are speaking about. Therefore, we can read people’s voices to better understand them. This includes the pace, timing, and volume at which they speak. You can convey interest, disinterest, happiness, anger, and many more things with your voice.

 

We all communicate nonverbally whether we want to or not. These things affect our interactions with every person we meet. If we can learn to use this type of interaction in a positive way in snowsport instruction, it will greatly improve the quality of our lessons and clinics. But how can we put this knowledge of the various types of nonverbal communication into use in our lessons and clinics?

 

READ YOUR STUDENTS

 

We can read nonverbal communication before we even meet our students. It is possible to learn a lot about a person as they are walking up to you. Try to look at how the student is walking. Do they appear tired? Maybe their shoulders are slouched and they are taking very small steps—this could be a sign that they did not sleep well or are very tired from traveling. From this you can tell that the pace of your lesson may need to be slower to accommodate the energy level of your student.

 

What is the facial expression of the person as they approach you? Are they smiling? Maybe they are excited to be there. Now you know that it won’t be too hard to sell them on the idea of snowboarding, because it is clear they want to be there. What if they are frowning or have a scowl on their face? Maybe someone has put them in a lesson that they really don’t want to be in. You might have to get them in a positive state of mind about snowboarding for them to really give it their best shot.

 

Just from watching this person walk up to the lesson, you have already begun planning a successful day.

 

When we introduce ourselves to our students, we continue to make more observations about how and what they are communicating nonverbally. This is the first time that we are interacting with them, so it is very important that we are aware of our own nonverbal communication. Try to observe things like eye contact, physical touch, and closeness of personal space. If someone doesn’t look you in the eye, keeps their distance from you, and doesn’t offer a handshake or some sort of acknowledgment, it is very possible they are nervous about the lesson. In which case, it will be important for you to address their concerns and make them feel comfortable.

 

If they approach you with a hearty handshake, look into your eyes, and introduce themselves, on the other hand, you can tell that they have confidence and are comfortable in the group setting. You can use this person to your advantage in the group, maybe by asking them questions first to help set the vibe of the group for the day.

 

STUDENTS READ YOU

 

When we introduce ourselves to our students, they will also begin to make judgments about us and how the day is going to go. Typically, nonverbal communication is what is read first by most people, so the better we can present ourselves nonverbally, the better our words will be received.

 

First, think about the way you would like to be perceived by your students. Do you want them to read confidence, leadership, friendship, or dominance? How you choose to present yourself nonverbally will be a large part of how people will interpret you. Then, when you read someone else’s nonverbal communication, you will be able to adjust yours to fit the needs of the student.

 

As human beings, when there is a disconnect between what words and nonverbal communication say, research shows that we naturally choose the nonverbal. When we pick up on a disconnect, it makes us mistrust the person. As snowboard instructors and trainers, it is very important that our students and trainees trust us and what we are saying—so we need to make sure that our words match up with our nonverbal communication.

 

Now, sometimes we misread nonverbal communication, so it is also very important that we use reading it as a tool but not make too many assumptions. Sometimes a student will have had the day of their lives but may not be jumping up and down about it. If we interpret this as them being unhappy with the lesson, we might be wrong, so it is very important that we tune into people on an individual basis the more we get to know them, and not lump everyone into the same category. We all have friends or loved ones who we can read better than most other people, so we know when they are being deceitful, happy, or grumpy—all by the way they are nonverbally communicating. The better we know someone, the more we will be able to accurately read them. This is why the more time we put in getting to know our students, the more accurate our reading of their nonverbal communication will be.

 

TUNE IN TO NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

 

As we go through our lessons, we can use our ability to read nonverbal communication to help us know if what we are saying and teaching is being received well. For example, someone will probably show signs of fear nonverbally before they ever speak up about it. If we can tune into this we could pick up on it and address it before it ever becomes an issue.

 

The more we are in tune with our own nonverbal communication, and the more we are aware of others’ nonverbal communication, the more efficient we will be at communicating our points and understanding others. This is a skill that we can work on and get better at as time goes by. So why not try to become aware of how you are communicating and how you read others in your next lesson? The better we become at this, the better communicators we will be—and that’s good for every instructor and trainer.

Board Briefs January

PSIA – Rocky Mountain – AASI

Board of Directors Meeting

Frisco, CO – January 9, 2017

 

Board Briefs

President Joel Munn called the regular meeting to order with the following Board members present: Rick Rodd, Rick Hinckley, Robin May, Jane Tarlow, Andy Docken, John Kirchner, Donnie Melchalke and Jacob Levy.  Also in attendance was Executive Director Dana Forbes. Dave Gregory joined the meeting in progress. Sarah Katherman recorded the meeting and prepared the minutes. 

 

Board Membership

With a few board members recently leaving, the board addressed whether to fill the vacant spots or wait until the election next Fall to do so. Nothing was decided however the board will look outwards to the membership to see if there is any interest within the regions we have vacancies. 

 

Leadership Summit

Joel, Rick H. and Dana had attended the Summit and made commitments to the rest of the country on behalf of RM. There were three main goals shared by divisions and national as a result of the process. Joel stated that Goal 1 would involve the creation of a Member School Management National Task Force. Dana discussed Goal 2, regarding improving consistency of administration and communication, in detail. Dana also discussed Goal 3, regarding consistency across the country in the products offered as well as the member experience of those products. Dana said that the examiner exchange program, which had been driven by the educators, is a big part of attaining this goal. Joel stated that establishing consistency in the standards would be the most difficult, citing in particular the differences in exam pass rates across the country.

Dana reviewed the meeting of the executive directors. She said that they had set up a monthly call and will start by working on a few smaller projects, citing the examples of standardizing the reactivation process and the policies regarding transfers.

Joel reported that he had proposed that the PSIA-AASI Board be made up of the presidents of each division in order to facilitate the creation of a truly national organization.

 

Education Director Update

Dave reported on the International Education Taskforce (IET) as detailed in his report. He noted that all international events will be processed through the IET to ensure that PSIA-AASI is protected, that its brand is properly represented around the world, and that the processes employed internationally are consistent.  Dave noted that one of the goals of establishing a consistent process internationally is to bring it back to the U.S. so that the domestic processes will be consistent across divisions. Dana reported that a new Member School application process had been developed for the international market to ensure consistency across divisions. This will offer added protection, as well as transparency.

Dave reported on the examiner exchanges that had occurred so far this year and those that are being planned.

Dave reported that he feels very supported in moving forward with finding ways to offer reasonable accommodation for certifications in order to comply with ADA. Dave cited the Adaptive Alpine Standards Exam Supplement that describes alternate tasks.

Dave reviewed that Chris Packert would be assisting with the development of a new Level 1 e-learning program and a plan to develop future curriculum. He said that the e-learning would wait for the LMS being developed by PSIA-AASI.

Dave reported on the First Chair with PSIA-AASI podcast channel, noting that the individual podcasts offered on the channel would be specific to each division.

Dave said that RM would be hiring this year in Children’s, Alpine and Snowboard.

Dave reported that the Education Directors (or their equivalents) from all divisions will try to get together twice per year.

 

Ed Staff position on Board of Directors

Joel introduced the topic of whether a seat on the Board should be designated for a member of the Ed Staff. There was general consensus to further investigate the possibility of allowing an Ed Staff member to sit on the Board in an ex officio capacity. It was decided that next steps would be to consult attorneys as to whether this would pose a conflict of interest.

 

Candidates for the Board Election

Rick H. reported that the rules and processes for background checks vary significantly from state to state, but that RM has now been authorized and trained to use a service which will make the process quite simple moving forward.

 

Award and Recognition nominations

Dana reviewed the national Lifetime Achievement, Distinguished Service and Educational Excellence awards. Nominations are due by the end of February. Joel Munn, Linda Guerrette, Clark Rothey and Brian Dunfey were approved for lifetime RM membership.

 

Scholarship

Dana reported that the individual scholarship funds had been awarded. The deadline for Member School scholarships has been extended.

Regarding the TTP program, Dana stated that impediment to expansion is staffing, particularly in Snowboard. She said that they are tracking who is attending the clinics to ensure that the TTP serves as effective marketing, and as a driver of growth. She noted that membership is up, as are event sales despite a slow start due to cancellations.

 

Executive Director Update

Dana reported that the office staff and seasonal employees are currently very strong and doing a fantastic job.

Dana said that moving forward all expense reports will be done online.

She said that at the Summit meeting of Executive Directors there was a discussion of looking at different database systems.

Dana reviewed the RM budget and highlighted some minor adjustments, as outlined in her report. She mentioned an increase in health insurance costs and legal fees had a larger impact than expected.

Dana reviewed the EF budget, which is projected to end the year in the black. The budget includes the increases in Ed Staff salaries.

Dana reported that Volkswagen would be providing RM with two cars under the new 3-year deal.

Dana reviewed the spreadsheets showing the 8-year revenue projections for different levels of annual or biennial dues increases. Following a discussion of the projections, the Board agreed that establishing a long-range plan was advisable.

 

MOTION

Bob moved to approve the $1.00 increase in RM dues for the 2017-18 season. Donnie seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

MOTION

Bob moved to approve the eight candidates for the ballot, as recommended by the nomination committee. Rick H. seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Rick H. read the names of the candidates. Dana said the election should be completed within 2 – 3 weeks. Rick stated that the at-large position goes to the 2nd place finisher with the most total votes.

Joel, national board member reported on nationals finances. He noted the high cost of sending the Team to Interski. He said that PSIA-AASI is setting aside money towards this, but not enough to cover the cost. He suggested that the return on investment of Interski is open for discussion.

 

Board Elections

MOTION

Bob nominated Joel to serve as President for a 2-year term. Jane seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Joel stated that this would be his last term as President. Really.

MOTION

Joel nominated Rick H. to serve as Vice-president for a 2-year term. John seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Joel stated that Rick R. would be stepping down from the Board, and commended his service as Secretary/Treasurer. He reviewed the duties of the position, noting that the Executive Committee is very involved in the ongoing business of the Board and provides necessary support for Dana.

MOTION

Joel moved to nominate Jacob to serve as Secretary/Treasurer for a 2-year term. Andy seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

MOTION

Donnie moved to adjourn the regular meeting of the RM at 3:30 p.m.  John seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

 

Sliding Sideways with Rocky Mountain

AASI RM instructors,

It’s been an awesome few years for the Rocky Mountain division, and as we plan for the next few, I’m excited to introduce myself as the new Snowboard Education Committee Chair.

First, I want to offer a huge thank you to my friend and mentor, Scott Anfang. Scott steered the ship for the last two years, but after accepting the PSIA-AASI National Team Coach position decided to step down from the committee chair role.

Likewise, I want to thank Spicky, Tony Macri, Jeff Patterson, Ray Sforzo, and everyone who has dedicated time, served as committee chair, and helped drive our organization to where it is now. It is no small task, and it’s because of their dedication that we’re all able to enjoy a career in snowboard instruction.

So what is the snowboard education committee? It’s a question I’ve heard a dozen times in the last few months, and my answer changes a bit every time. Essentially, it’s a group of seven passionate, dedicated volunteers, who’ve been elected by the RM Education Staff to continue the development of our division while holding to the national standards and maintaining the quality we’ve all grown accustomed to. The committee is largely responsible with balancing feedback from our members, member schools, the RM office, and national standards while maintaining a level of consistency, honoring our past, and looking to the future.

The committee seats are selected from members of the education staff, except for one position which may be held by a non-examiner “member at large.” The current Snowboard Education Committee is: Scott Anfang, Christina Bruno (Member at Large), Chuck Hewitt, Robin Kisiel, Mark Lawes, Tony Macri, and Chris Rogers (Chair).

In the last few years, the committee has revamped the exam process at all three levels, recorded new MA videos annually, introduced an e-learning component to the Level 1 exam, created riding standards videos for our exam tasks, redeveloped the written exams, kept the website documents updated, and made hundreds of little tweaks throughout the entire process.

I’m proud of what the committee has accomplished, but looking at the to-do list, know we have even more to accomplish. Our first committee meeting of the season was held at the examiner Fall Training event and we began discussions for some big projects that will absolutely affect snowboard education in Rocky Mountain.

One of the biggest announcements for 16-17 is the rollout of paired examining at the L2 Exams. We’ve added a second examiner to each exam group to evaluate performance on the Ride and Teach days with the goal of adding transparency and creating a higher level of consistency with our standards.

Paired examining is just the start, and I will be asking this committee to be more active, to seek more input, and to become more flexible, fast moving, and proactive. We will be adopting new education tools and concepts from other disciplines and organizations, rebuilding our exam assessment forms, re-evaluating the cert pre-requisite system, designing and promoting additional elective clinic opportunities, hiring new E1s, and snowboarding as much as possible! As such I encourage you to be more active as well. There will be surveys, focus groups, and plenty of opportunities to get involved and have your voice heard. Your feedback is essential to the development of our discipline, our division, our organization, and ultimately our profession.

I believe it is an exciting, fast-moving time to be a part of our industry, and I’m stoked to be on this journey with you all. Please reach out to me, the committee members, or the RM office with any ideas, questions, and concerns.

Welcome to winter… Let the snow fly!

chris-rogers

Chris Rogers

Follow along on Instagram & Twitter: @chrisrogersvail

Board to Amend Bylaws

On November 17th at 6:00 the Rocky Mountain Board of Directors will have a regularly scheduled board call where they will be voting on amending the Bylaws. Below is a link to the proposed changes.  All members are welcome to attend this call by coming to the RM office at 6:00 on the 17th. The address: 2300 Mt Werner Circle Unit C2 Steamboat Springs, CO.

PSIA-RM-AASI Bylaw Change

Director of Education Report – By Dave Gregory

As the final leaves are falling and ski and ride videos are consuming all of my social media accounts, I’d like to let you know about a few educational announcements and reminders.

Alpine and Snowboard Level 1 members are no longer required to attend the Certification Update Clinic. 

As announced last season, we introduced the Certification Update clinic as a required clinic every four years for all certified alpine and snowboard members. Click here to read the announcement. The purpose of the clinic is to keep members who are no longer in the certification process up to date with current methodology and education standards.  After running several of these events over the last couple of years, we have listened to the membership and we have decided to remove the requirement from Level 1 certified members.  This change will allow our Level 1’s to focus on their pathway towards Level 2.  It also will allow us to match experience levels in the CU clinic to make it more productive for all attendees.

Children Specialist 1 Exemption for Alpine Level 2 candidates will expire at the end of the 16/17 season.

When the Children’s Specialist 1 requirement was introduced to the Level 2 alpine certification pathway, we provided a temporary exemption to the CS1 requirement for those members who had previously passed the Teaching module.  This is the last season the exemption will remain in place.  Starting in the 17/18 season, the CS1 component of the alpine Level 2 will be required for all members working through the exam process.

Required Education Credits reminder for all members.

Don’t forget to keep your membership current by maintaining your education credit requirement through PSIA/AASI clinics taken every two years.  This is a great opportunity to refresh your knowledge, try a clinic in a different discipline, share your experiences, and spend time with your peers in our various clinic offerings.

If you are unable to find a clinic that fits into your busy schedule, give the RM office a call and we can discuss fulfilling your credits through our non-PSIA/AASI program.  This is a great option for those who are taking non-PSIA/AASI classes and are unable to make it to one of our clinics.  There is a fee involved. If you are a full time student, see our newsletter section about the new Student CEU Waivers we are offering.

(Inactive member requirement is once every 4 years, 25 year member requirement is once every 5 years and 35 year members or over the age of 70 are no longer required to attend clinics)

Weekend Events for Part Timers

Attending events and continuing your education is one of the hallmarks of being a certified member, but taking the time off to attend those events is not always easy.   For many part-time Pros weekend events are the only option for them.  PSIA-RM-AASI works with our member schools to build our event calendar and therefore we do not host events during busy times or on busy weekends.  We do however have a few weekend events over the course of the season that you may find doable.  Here is a list of those weekend events, please visit our webpage to learn more.

Nov 29-30 Santa Fe, NM & Frisco, Co – Technical Foundations, Alpine MA201, MA301
Nov 12-13 Loveland, Co – Alpine & Snowboard Certification Update
Dec 17-18 Purgatory, Co – Alpine Teaching Contemporary Skiing
Jan 21-22 Aspen Snowmass, Co – RM Academy, Alpine, Snowboard, Telemark, Freestyle, Children’s
Jan 28-29 Sunrise, NM – Children’s Specialist 1
Feb 4-5 Sunrise, Nm – Adaptive Functional Ski Prep, XC Classic & Skate Improvement
Feb 11-12 Ski Apache, NM – Children’s Specialist 1
Feb 25-26 Angel Fire, NM – Alpine Teaching Contemporary Skiing
Mar 4-5 Arizona Snowbowl, Az – Children’s Specialist 1
Mar 25-26 Taos, NM – Southern District Spring Fling: Alpine, Telemark & Snowboard Clinics
Mar 25-26 Aspen Snowmass, Co – Adaptive Ski Bike, Adaptive Tethering
Apr 8-9 Vail, Co – Spring Fling: Alpine, Telemark & Snowboard Clinics
Apr 15-16 Aspen Mountain, Co – Alpine, Snowboard
Apr 29-30 Arapahoe Basin, Co – Alpine, Telemark & Snowboard Clinics
Summer Clinics: DH Mountain Biking Skills & Intro to SUP – more info in Spring 2017

N-Mail By Jim Sanders

Greetings Nords!  Your N-mail is back, just like winter.  You can’t avoid it.  And why would you want to?

I know.  It’s been a while since you’ve had your N-mail.  When time passes, things can change.  It’s hard to keep up, but we must.  And that is part of the reason for N-mail’s very existence:  to help you keep up with changes.  Our team of N-mail writers, editors, and reporters caught up with XC Chair Person, Patti Banks for an interview to find out about changes in the PSIA-RM XC world for the coming season.  Here’s what went down.

N-mail:  So Patti, what’s the biggest change in our division’s Nordic Certification program these days?

Patti:  Well, I think it’s the fact that Exam Prep Clinics and Certification Exams will be held on alternating years.  And, they are guaranteed to go.  In the past, we would schedule both Prep Clinics and Exams every year, but quite often we would have to cancel one or the other (or both) because of lack of participation.  I’m sure this was highly frustrating for Nordic members who prepared for and expected an event, only to have it cancelled a couple of weeks before it was to take place.  Now, even though events are every other year, they are guaranteed to take place, even if only one person signs up.

N-mail:  So what does this mean for members as far as planning and training for certification?

Patti:  It means folks need to think and plan ahead!  If you want to get certified for XC Level 2, 3, or RMT, you need a training plan that spans at least  two seasons, allowing time for the mandatory prep clinics.  That being said, Level 1 Prep Clinics and Cert. Exams will still be available each year, usually in the early part of the season.  Our first XC Level 1 Clinic and Exam will be offered as part of the Nordic Instructor Rendezvous in early December.  It’s coming soon, so sign up now!

N-mail:  What if a group of folks, let’s say 5 to 7 people (minimum numbers can vary from location to location), want a Prep Clinic.  Could they have one set up to order as a Travelling Clinic at a time and place of their choosing?

Patti:  Absolutely!  We just need to get an Ed Staff member for the event (so the date would have to work for them too).  The best way to arrange this is to start by calling the PSIA-RM office!

N-Mail:  What else is new for this year that Nords need to know?

Patti:  Oh, lots.  First, there’s a new PSIA National XC Team, and both members are from our own Rocky Mountain Division!  They are Emily Lovett and Greg Rhodes.  We are very proud of them, and we are excited to have members meet them and take clinics from them, because they rock!  They’re so talented, both as Cross Country skiers and Instructors.  We are really fortunate to have such exceptional talent in our division.

Speaking of talent, I’d also like to congratulate Marianne Osteen from Steamboat, who is our newest Ed Staff member.  Marianne has some great energy (in addition to her skiing and teaching skills) to contribute to our division and members.  Please give her a high five and get to know her if you run into her out on the trails!

Also, we have some new materials available.  I’m hoping folks are already aware of our latest National XC Technical manual, which came out last year.  New for this season, our RM Divisional Nordic Handbook and XC Workbooks have been rebuilt to align with each other and the National technical manual.  Dale Drennan has written a great article about XC Movement Analysis and the new Workbooks, so I’ll leave the specifics to her.  But check out the materials on the RM website.  They are really useful, a great resource!

N-mail:  Thanks Patti! Enough shop talk, what are you looking forward to the most for this winter?

Patti:  Hmm.  I guess I’d say skating on perfectly groomed trails in the mornings, watching the sun rise in the quiet.  This is my moving meditation and sets me up for a successful day!

N-mail:  That does sound like something to look forward to.  Well, you heard it here first.  I guess it’s time to start getting my skis ready for the inevitable change and onslaught of winter.  I hope I see you out there either on the snow, or exploring those canyons while waiting for the change.  Until then, you can e-mail n-mail at hugeglide@aol.com.  See ya’.

 

 

 

 

Rocky Mountain Cross Country Education: continuously moving forward….

By Dale Drennan

During the summer I like to watch professional tennis tournaments like the French Open and the US Open. In junior high I played tennis competitively a little bit and then recreationally for a few years after that before moving on to other sports. My exposure to tennis has been enough for me to recognize that the announcers know the sport so much more deeply than I do. Their movement analysis always makes sense to me once I hear it. Often for up to a set, they accurately comment on and describe what they see a struggling player doing before they offer ideas for changing movements.  They also point out and explain the ideal movements that produce a particular point winner. The commentators, all former professional players themselves, seem to agree on what the ideal tennis shot would look like for a given situation.

This deep understanding of sport specific skills exists in cross country skiing as well; it is an integral part of instructor certification because accurate movement analysis facilitates target instruction. For this reason, our cross country education staff have been working on improving how we train instructors to analyze movement.  Our goal is for instructors to use the Cross Country Technical Model as a tool to facilitate describing skiing in terms of the four elements of the Sports Pyramid: Fundamental Body Position, Fundamental Movements, Timing and Power during the three phases of the Cycle of Cross Country Skiing, which are Pushoff, Weight Transfer, and Glide.

The Cycle of Cross Country Skiing

cycle of cross country

The Sports Pyramid

Sports pyramid

To aid instructors and certification candidates in this type of Movement Analysis, the PSIA-RM Cross Country education staff have developed a new series of certification workbooks that move candidates through the MA process in a step by step manner. Candidates begin by viewing a student skiing video, located at http://www.psia-rm.org/education/cross-country/cross-country-movement-analysis-videos under Cross Country Movement Analysis videos.  A certification candidate (or really anyone who is curious!), can view these video clips numerous times, pausing whenever they wish.  To finish the movement analysis, the candidate then completes a MA rubric worksheet. The complexity of the rubric increases with the level of certification. The full cert/trainer rubric is shown below.

Movement Analysis Worksheet

ItoIartcielFall2016

 

With the information from the MA worksheet, exercises in the workbooks will guide the candidate through the teaching model to create a lesson for the student seen on the video clip.

Admittedly this process is a bit formulaic. However, I can testify that the discipline of taking the time to really try to accurately describe movement within this framework has helped me to sharpen my observations of all cross country skiers from beginners to racers, and including myself!

We invite instructors from all disciplines to view the videos and the workbooks to see what we are up to. We believe that this coupling of videos to online written materials moves our cross country education program forward into the 21st century. In the future we plan to improve the quality and variety of the videos clips. If you are preparing for a certification event please view your level specific videos and complete the workbooks before coming to the event.  This will facilitate discussions and deepen understanding during the event.

Finally, we welcome your feedback. Your feedback will help us continue to improve our educational materials and our understanding of our sport. After all, as cross country skiers we all want to keep moving forward continuously down the track!

 

Alpenglow Ski Safaris adds PSIA credited events in Dec, Jan.

Alpenglow Opus-Avalanche-2

Alpenglow Ski Safaris has added 2 events to their lineup of back country expeditions that are catered to PSIA-RM-AASI membership.  Attend either of the 2 events listed in the poster above and you will not only have the time of you life but you will also receive 12CEU’s for your participation.  Contact globalski@alpenglowskisafaris.com / 970-728-6481 to get more info or to sign up.

SkillsQuest Article By Ellen Post Foster

Skillsquest

This ski season, sign up for an action-filled SkillsQuest clinic to improve your skiing and teaching! SkillsQuest is a U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) program designed to encourage racers to learn to ski well in order to ski fast. This is your opportunity to learn about the technical side of racer development and come away skiing better and with ideas you can use in your lessons. Taking place out-of-the-gates, SkillsQuest is all about skill development.

Scott Birrell, PSIA-RM Children’s Examiner, Rocky Mountain Trainer, and APSI Level 4 Examiner, attended the clinic last winter at Loveland. He summed up the experience by saying, “SkillsQuest was a fun event and added to my bag of tricks for teaching. It was a good insight into what the US Ski Team is trying to achieve with developing athletes and their current team.”

So, what is SkillsQuest all about? It’s a program in the U.S. Ski Team’s Alpine Training System comprised of specific tasks to address pressure-, edge-, and rotational-control skills at different levels of athlete development. It is divided into 6 phases that consider age, maturity, and experience level in pursuit of long-term athlete development. As shown in this table, tasks for each skill increase in challenge as athletes progress:

skillsquest2

In the clinic, you’ll ski through the tasks for Phases 1–4 and some of the tasks for Phases 5–6, and you’ll learn about the requirements for perfect execution. In this regard, Ron Kipp, USSA Alpine Sport Education Manager explains, “Participation in a SkillsQuest clinic will enhance your understanding of ski/snow interaction while augmenting movement analysis expertise.”

These tasks are reference points for athlete performance and provide guidance for coaches. The framework is filled in with other training designed to refine these tasks and apply the skills learned to skiing in and out of the gates. This is also addressed in the PSIA-RM clinic.

Scott Birrell added, “Since completing the SkillsQuest clinic, I have incorporated a number of ideas into my own clinics and lessons. I have used the clinic handouts and online videos with students to supplement my explanations, and as incentive to work on specific tasks or drills.”

During your 2-day clinic, you’ll address balance and athletic stance, upper body discipline, outside ski to outside ski, early lower leg activation, ski-snow contact, pole usage, and more.

In ski racing, “winning or losing is tenths or even hundredths of a second, which is the differences in a few degrees of rotation, a degree or two of edge angle and when the ski is pressured along its length. These are all very small and sometimes imperceptible amounts. SkillsQuest drills allow the skier to learn to make these minute adjustments unconsciously.” ~SkillsQuest Evaluator Manual

Please join USSA Sports Education clinicians and certified SkillsQuest evaluators on your quest to expand your knowledge of skiing through the facet of ski racing.

Josh Fogg

How Rocky Mountain Helped Me Prepare for the PSIA-AASI National Team Selections

-By Josh Fogg

The night before the first day of the PSIA-AASI National Team Selections in Breckenridge, Alpine Team coach, Michael Rogan, addressed the candidates to prepare us for the coming days. He described the event as a series of difficult tasks and events designed to challenge our skiing, knowledge, ability to work as a team, and stamina. This was my third National Selection, and it lived up to Michael’s descriptions as the hardest one I’ve attended. What made it so hard? How do you prepare for a tryout like this? Here are some of the things we did at the National Selections, and how events like the Rocky Mountain Endorsement Trials helped me prepare.

Many of the ski tasks at the National Selections highlighted the skiing that we owned. Something about each task required so much attention to the tasks that it was very difficult to focus intently on your ski technique.  On day one, we had a short warm up, and started the day with one-ski lane changes. We started on our right foot and made 5 short turns followed by a medium turn to shift lanes to 5 more short turns. Then another medium turn back to the first lane, switching skis to the left, and another series of 5 shorts, medium lane change, and 5 more short turns to a finish. What a start! It reminded me of the season prior at the Rocky Mountain Regional Endorsements at Aspen Highlands where my group started the two day selection process with one-ski garlands back and forth across the hill, switching feet after every two passes of garlands. Both tasks got to the heart of measuring our skiing mechanics very quickly and very clearly by keeping us focused on line, turn counts, lanes, and speed, instead of technique. All that was left was the skiing you truly owned.

Later in the morning, my group skied a fall line blue bump run across a double fall line, with our poles crossed behind our backs. While the run itself was not particularly difficult, the addition of pole position made the task difficult. Again, I flashed back to a run back at Highlands the year before where we skied medium radius basic parallel turns in the bumps with no poles to a designated spot, changed to short radius basic parallel turns (still without poles), and then changed back again to the medium radius turns to a finish. The number of distractions along the length of the run leaves you either thinking about the tasks or your technique. But, if you were to succeed, according to Mike Porter, you had to do the task. Again, in both instances, our attention had been drawn to the task and away from our technique.

Day one finished with a fall line bump run down one of Breckenridge’s marquee mogul runs – Mach 1. Starting well above the steep part of the run so that we couldn’t see the slope, we headed down into some very large and irregular bumps. Forced to make split second decisions after a long day of 9 other tasks, we had to do our best, sight unseen. Again, I couldn’t help but remember a similar run down Sodbuster at Aspen Highlands and our final Rocky Mountain Endorsement run down Pallavicini at Arapahoe Basin the April before. With the majority of both runs unseeable from our start points, the Rocky Mountain Endorsements did a great job preparing me and testing me in situations like those in the National Selections.

Over the next three days, I lead several short notice impromptu on-snow and indoor teaching scenarios with open ended prompts like, ”The role of the upper body in alpine skiing,” “Upper and lower body separation,” and “Skill Blending and Ski Design.” Over the course of 15 minutes, I used the prompt to create experiential ski lessons and clinics appropriate for my groups. I felt ready for this challenge after the two days at Arapahoe Basin last April, when we worked through similar situations. Both required quick thinking and a sufficient depth of understanding about skiing to lead a lesson, on the spot, with a message that resonated with the other group members.

After the first three days, the selectors made a cut to 25 finalists and I was so happy and proud to see my name and everyone who had gone through the Rocky Mountain Endorsements the year before on the list. The effort put forward by Rocky Mountain to help us prepare for the National Selections, as well as the additional support I received from the Bergie’s Best Scholarship, was exceptional. While the pathway from Regional Endorsements to National Selections was not a perfect one, I feel that it prepared me and my Rocky Mountain teammates to go to the National Selections and show PSIA- AASI why Rocky Mountain is one of the strongest divisions in the country. Thank you to all of the selectors at the Rocky Mountain Endorsements, donors to the “Bergie’s Best Scholarship,” and members of PSIA-RM for helping me along the way. Lastly, I congratulate all of the Rocky Mountain candidates for a great effort, and my fellow National Alpine Team Members from Rocky Mountain: Jennifer Simpson, Jonathan Ballou, Dusty Dyar, and Brian Smith.

 

You wonder how they do it,

You look to see the knack,

You watch the foot in action,

Or the shoulder or the back.

 

But when you spot the answer

Where the higher glamours lurk,

You’ll find in moving higher

Up the laurel-covered spire,

That most of it is practice,

And the rest of it is work.

 

-Grantland Rice, “How to Be a Champion”

 

Click this link for a list of all the 2016-2020 PSIA-AASI National Team Members

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