Post Cards From the Edge

 By Randy Malikowski

Tech Team

Spring 2001

 Exam season is now all but over for this spring. You have either passed or you are formulating a plan to sabotage the entire world of snow sports. Well, that is what I was planning to do after I failed my Level III exam the first time. I also threw a perfectly good pair of Atomic skis off the roof of my car at 65 miles per hour, because it was the ski's fault. If you passed you may have spent the following time partying up your new found glory, or sitting back in a state of confusion.

 The exam brings about many different emotions in people. Your training before you attempted to take the exam's this season will have much to do with your state of mind after the exam is concluded; pass or fail. There should be a standard to meet when preparing and training for exams, but there is not. Some feel that they have trained and prepared extremely well. How does this compare with another who feels they have trained and prepared well also? How much preparation was necessary? Some people will never know because they will never pass the Level III exam.

 There is another factor that is almost as important as the training; why you want the pin. After my fifth year as an examiner I have heard a variety of reasons why people want to pass the exam. I will focus on the Level III exam for the sake of conversation. The Level III is also the final goal in most exam candidates mind and the hardest of the exams to pass. If you truly ask yourself why you want to pass the Level III exam, then you may come up with your answer about your results from this spring. Whether you passed or failed answer these questions to yourself.

 Will you use your Level III certification to move into a training director's position at your school? Will you use your Level III certification to move to a destination resort? Will you use your Level III certification as a stepping stone to train for the DCL or Tech Team tryouts? Will you use your Level III certification as a pay increase when you teach? or Will you use your Level III certification as some type of symbol of your quality as an instructor?

 The above questions should provide you with some understanding (if your confused) about your exam results. When preparing for the Level III exam you must be ready to set new priorities in your life. Exam training will be more than attending clinics and exam check points. It will take you out of your normal patterns of activities. You will cancel previously scheduled events to meet with a study group in town in the evening. You will be volunteering to lead clinics at your school and ask for your supervisors to give you feed back. You will train for the Level III exam like you were preparing to go to the DCL tryouts. You will not waste any turns you have out on the snow, and will be the only one who goes back out into the rain to practice. You will find a way to work out with weights, so that your legs feel stronger than they have before. You will read old ski and snow board articles and books to find as much information as possible. You will spend time at your job contemplating the concepts of turn initiations.

 This may seem outrageous to some, but you are attempting to reach a National Standard. This National Standard is most definitely obtainable, but what have you done to reach this level. Remember, only when you have made this a priority in your life, can you then expect to pass this exam.