Why Certification?
Is it Really Necessary?
by Don Meyer, ULLR Snowsports
March 2004

Setup -- Perfect exam conditions. Blustery, snowing but landing as glop, all day, goggles fogging after the first facial, gloves and butt getting wet, 8-12 inches of nice new mashed potatoes on top of old bumpy crud. Stevens Pass is always a challenge at this time of year. Only four Snowboard Level 3 candidates and 2 examiners so they can really focus on us. The other candidates (wimps) are taking exams at Mt Bachelor next month.

Exam - All morning off-piste on the steepest, bumpiest, nastiest off-piste available. Afternoon, 180 combos, jumps, linked toeside and heelside air and nose/tail roll 180s and halfpipe. My legs are still burning from the morning. It is hard to get my 210 pounds off the snow.  More steeps (7th Heaven) with 3-4 foot deep moguls covered in mashed potatoes and still more 180 combos, jumps and the halfpipe.

I thought I did well in the morning but as the afternoon wore on, the anticipation and the conditions wore me down and I was no longer performing as well as I wanted to. Still, I worked at it and tried throwing in a little extra here and there. Once, coming out of the woods, I had to take a foot out and push; the group was getting ahead so I left it out and cruised the rest of the run with one foot loose, down a nice slope, over a small jump and up and down the walls of the baby halfpipe and back to the chair. The other candidates noticed and were impressed.

It's Over - So finally 3:00 in the afternoon, the examiners asked if we wanted to redo anything -- no one said yes although we all had things we thought we could improve. So once more, just for the fun of it last run, to the top, down the crap, over the jumps, through the pipe and back to the bottom. Yakity, yak, great day, thanks, what's next, they leave us to talk, fill out their forms, and get ready to give us feedback.

I am feeling like it was a good exam check (didn't achieve to my potential) and I'll be practicing at Whistler next week and then doing the exam over at Hood or Bachelor at the end of April.

I take my gear off, do some necessary things, and then run into an old riding and Mountaineers Lodge friend. She invites me for a brew with some other Stevens employees. I go tell the examiners that they can find me in the bar. The other three candidates are taking the teaching portion of the exam tomorrow (I passed that 2 years ago) so they aren't getting their results tonight. I pour down a couple glasses of water and a couple Mac & Jacks and have fun talking the talk with my old and new found sliding buds.  Great people everywhere in the mountains.

The Results - About an hour later, the examiners come in looking (I thought) a bit grim.  It was a hard day for them too. They invite me to an empty table to talk. First they ask, do you want the good news or bad news first. Heheheh, well, the good news first.

The Good News - They say they were quite amazed at the level of my riding, particularly in the morning in the steep and crappy stuff on the back side -- way above the level when they saw me at last month at the Freestyle Level 1 Accreditation and the other times that they've seen me over the last couple years. Starting to sound good. Riding the fabulous Crystal Mtn. steeps for the last two years has really paid off.

The Bad News - Then they ask, how do I feel about how the day went. I said that I felt quite good about the morning and then described in some detail, my issues with the freestyle maneuvers in the afternoon. They said I was right on with my riding and movement analysis and they went on to talk about a number of things that I could do to improve my riding. They say that I have a ways to go yet with freestyle which of course is true and that one of the key things is my lack of pop off the jumps. And yes, I am still a bit reticent after blowing my ACL off a jump 2 years ago and of course Crystal not having a park or a serious pipe doesn't help (excuses while perhaps good does not improve those skills).  Something to really focus on next year -- perhaps ending with the Level II Freestyle Accreditation.

And then The REALLY GOOD NEWS - Then they pulled out the Gold Pin and my evaluation sheet. WAHOOO! First they congratulated me heartily and then we talked some more about snowboarding and life and stuff. Near the end, they asked how old I was (as if that would make any difference, heheheh) -- only 52 on April 19. I hope to be riding still at 102!!! They thought perhaps that it makes a difference. I also believe that it does make a difference but that it can be mitigated with more time on the snow and also a serious exercise program outside of snowboarding (and somewhat lacking this year for various reasons).  Again, something to focus on next season.

Passing the Level 3 exam at Stevens Pass in spring snow conditions requires hard riding, all day, at high energy levels which means you need to be in, not just good, but great shape physically and emotionally.

Wow, crazy, fabulous!!  I told them that I really appreciated the opportunity to ride with a group of great riders, learn more again about great riding and also that I appreciated how hard they worked to provide a great exam experience. They were on our side the whole day examining but also teaching through demos and feedback and additional opportunities.

I also said that in the morning, I felt as if I passed the exam but in the afternoon that I felt as if I had not earned the Gold Pin. They said it was obvious that I had really been working hard for the last couple years and that they had not given me anything and that I had earned the Gold Pin. I am pleased, very satisfied and still amazed. It really was a great experience, once again showing what high level instruction (even in an exam setting) is all about.

The Impact of Getting the Pin - The Gold Pin represents a level of knowledge and capability -- it isn't the end but rather opens up another future, full of opportunity.  When I received Level 2, I was starting to ride more with people at Level 2. It showed me how much better yet that I could get. Now riding more with people at Level 3, I see again that I have reached the bottom of the another learning slope and still have a lot to learn and experience before I reach the next level of knowledge, teaching and technical skills. It once again resets the bar and makes me want to get more training and also practice more on skills that I have not yet fully mastered.

At Whistler the next week, I rode for 5 days dropping a bit over 105,000 vertical. I rode several different snowboards. It wasn't great snow but it was a great riding week. The things that I have learned over the years made me safer in all snow conditions, able to survive and even have fun on ice and crud and slop.  In past years, I've done as much as 230,000 vertical at Whistler in a week but probably made fewer turns than the 105,000 this year due to the conditions.

Every time I get to another level, it significantly increases the quotient of fun!!!  Fun is why I started snowboarding in the first place! Teaching others and being taught myself with a certification goal helps drive me toward getting better.  Being in the mountains, sliding downhill and being people who love to slide is fabulous by itself but also for me, continually improving is a big part of the fun as well.

The journey to certification - This journey started for me one month before giving my first snowboard lesson nine years ago. I wasn't a great snowboarder, I didn't know much about teaching people, and I had no formal training but still I wanted to be the best instructor I could be so I could help my students have more fun and avoid pain. For me, that meant study and work but of course, the study and work also translated into more and more fun for me. There were lots of great people to help me along the way, many of them the past and current leaders in AASI Northwest. Every lesson I took, everyone that I rode with, every day that I rode, I tried to learn something, to be better at some aspect of riding.

An image of excellence to work toward - Three or four years ago, Crystal was still open in May. A couple friends crapped out on me so I went by myself anyway. I arrived early, the snow was horrible, sun cupped, hard, icy and I had no one for encouragement. The conditions were beating the desire out of me and I was wondering why I was there. My technique wasn't improving so I tried changing binding angles and moving them forward or back to see if that would help my riding - it didn't.

I was sitting 2/3 of the way down Green Valley, adjusting my bindings when I saw three Level 3 snowboard instructors that I knew from Stevens Pass drop over the lip. In the area where the hill was beating the snot out of me, they looked like water flowing down a stream bed. While the snow has bumpy, rough and hard, their upper bodies where smooth and steady. Their legs moved in a rhythm with the snow cups. They went as slow or fast as they wanted to in unison. They explored and played with the terrain. But most of all they were chatting and having FUN while I was having a miserable experience. They weren't sweating or working hard at all. I watched them flow top to bottom. I watched their technique and attitude and then I tried emulate that. It didn't make me as good as them but it did start to make it easier trying to apply that image to my riding.

That experience is burned into my brain forever. Now when I feel that the mountain is beating me up, I will stop and focus on that image of fun and fluidity. When I start moving again, I am working with the mountain rather than against it. It is now my friend rather than my enemy.  It helps me by providing nice places to set and change edges. I am acting rather than reacting. My attitude changes -- life is easy, good and fun again as it should be!  There are no bad snow conditions, only technique and mind set that needs improvement.  Differing snow conditions provide the opportunity for improvement.

Providing an image of excellence for others - There is an aspect of stroking one's own ego while providing a riding image that people notice but it also provides that expert image for others to try to achieve. That image is what drives a lot of our students, even more than the wonderful sliding feeling, being in the mountains, or having fun with friends.

Personal Story - At the last day of snowboard lessons, a friend from work who I had given beginner snowboard lessons to a few years ago happened to be coming down Crystal Mountain's Downhill run just behind my class. We were working on some freestyly fun stuff and had stopped on last big rollover to yak and feedback before the getting back on Forest Queen. My friend pulled up and in front of the students said, "I don't mean to interrupt your class but I had to say that your riding is so beautiful, flowing and free, just amazing!" I thanked her and went on with the lesson. The impact on the students was visible.  They appreciated the verbal as well as visual image of fun and flow and worked harder to try to get there too.

Another Personal Story - The 7th week of lessons, I freeriding down Queens Run between lessons, working on my toe and heel 180 nose/tail rolls and airs. Under the big rollover turn, they always have the slow Family Zone sign and Mountain Helpers. As I came by (I was on a fabulous run of air and nose/tail roll rotations), one of the Zone volunteers said as I passed, "You make that look so easy!" I smiled inside and out and also thanked her for the kind words of encouragement. If my head gets any bigger, I'll need a new helmet but also it provided feedback that I was closing in on the skills needed for Level 3 Accreditation which is why I was working so hard on those skills.  I could have been just lazy cruising or sitting in the lodge.

Conclusions - There is always someone with more skill. One can always improve. Images of skill, freedom and fun is extremely helpful to others. An instructor's job is about providing the image, plus the technical, mental and spiritual guidance to help people understand that they can reach any level that they wish to achieve with instruction and personal work ethic.

That free flowing, downhill feeling is still driving me to want to improve more. Helping others improve also drives me to want to help each of my instructors improve. I saw growth in every instructor and every student this year and that makes me happy but we can do better. Some lacked a burning desire to improve and had lesser growth and a higher level of frustration. There is always room for physical and mental improvement but the desire to improve and then an improvement work ethic are the key elements required to get to the next level.

I'll keep working at it and hope to see you all again next season. We all don't need to have the same goals but as instructors, I believe we all need improvement goals and that Certification provides a measuring stick for those goals. Personal achievement potential is enhanced when there is a measuring stick.  For instructors, riding with those with more skill, going to clinics and taking exams provides a skill improvement focus.

Ramblin' to a finish here. Thanks to all who have been pushing and pulling me, making me think about things and try new stuff and most of all to those that keep reminding me that this is about having more fun!  When you have more fun, you learn more and when you learn more, you are safer and when you are safer, you have more fun! The focus on having more Fun has translated into riding more terrain and snow conditions.  That in turns has helped helped me achieve the AASI Level 1, 2 and now 3 Certification. The feeling, capability and achievement is more than worth the effort!

Certification - Is it really necessary?  Yes, necessary and fun too!

Happy riding,
Don Meyer,
ULLR Snowsports