Summer Ski Instructor Training – Oregon Style (On Snow!)

 by Scott Valitchka

“Bring It All” said the Ski School Clinic Leader Training event confirmation card. “The June weather in the Northwest can be variable.” The card was right. On Saturday, June 5, 1999, green grass, partly cloudy skies, and temperatures in the 40’s greeted ski instructors staying in Bend, Oregon. Thirty minutes westward and several thousand feet higher, the Mount Bachelor base lodge was cloaked in a cloud bank intent on leaving its sleet and cold rain on the mountain.

 At first glance, the slow misty rain seemed benign. I quickly learned otherwise. The precipitation had a sinister way of enveloping one and penetrating clothing – even the supposedly waterproof stuff. The 100 - 200 yard walk to the Bachelor lodge soaked the jackets and spirits of clinic participants to the point that the event coordinator opted for an hour-long indoor technical discussion in the hope that clothing could dry and clouds would part prior to hitting the slopes.

By Sunday fleece, sunscreen, and warm hats replaced rain gear. We were rewarded with a dusting of fresh snow atop a rock-hard base. Occasional bright sunshine and glimpses of the dormant Cascade volcanoes, were intermingled with strong wind gusts, and mid-mountain temperatures in the teens.

Despite the Saturday weather, 20 some die-hard ski instructors and clinicians clad in amusing combinations of Gortex clothing, garbage bags, and rain hats still managed to ski Bachelor for over three hours. During that time we explored how the “Unofficial Guide to Good Skiing” could serve as the basis for movement analysis and solid teaching progressions.

If you are looking to make the move from level II to level III or desire to become a staff clinician for your ski school, the PSIA-Northwest Division’s annual Clinic Leader program is for you. Held annually at Mount Bachelor around the first weekend June, the program provides a great opportunity to do some off-season, on-snow training with a group of instructors and clinicians who are passionate about skiing and teaching. Rather than expounding on the virtues of the program, I’d like to share some of my notes and the highlights of our on-snow work to create a picture of the experience.

Saturday began with the introduction of the clinic staff headed by Roger Taggert the Technical Vice President of the Northwest Division. During the “hope the rain goes away session,” Roger facilitated a discussion on the US Demo Team’s “Unofficial Guide to Good Skiing” and asked us to use the model to guide our thinking and skiing for the next two days. He added that the guide had become a focal point for the Northwest Education Staff in both its exam scoring work and in the feedback that it provides to skiers. With the “Guide” as an overall framework, Roger also asked us to consider a number of issues that ski instructors face.

Think about the following…..

·         As ski instructors, how many of us see movement patterns well and don’t know what to do to affect change?

·         How many ski instructors don’t see movement patterns clearly or at all and therefore can’t do anything about a problem?

·         Beware of drifting to the “just do it” teaching mode (e.g. edge more, pressure more etc.).

·         Consider the dynamic balance situations (constant and often repeated adjustments in body position and angles) that all skiers go through during a run. Key in on joint flexion / extension, diagonal / lateral movements, and non-judgmental ways of describing movement patterns that you’re seeing.

·         How often do we focus on a static ideal or a movement “snapshot” rather than the combined pattern of movements that a skier uses to maintain balance as he or she moves down the hill?

·         We need to help skiers and fellow instructors by looking more globally at movements. Look for consistency of movement. Too often when doing movement analysis, we pick out that one or two “bad” turns where someone fails to touch the boot cuff or finish the turn.

·         Once we see undesirable or unbalanced movements, how often do we use negative or critical language to describe what we’ve seen?

·         Since skiing is a form of personal expression, we will have a better chance of establishing constructive teaching and coaching relationships if we can use non-judgmental terms to describe how one’s movement patterns affect their skiing. (This is particularly true for fellow instructors who already have put long hours into developing their skiing).

·         Rather than telling someone that their turns lack “pop” you might tell them that you’re seeing extension movements that seem more prevalent than their corresponding flexion movements. As a result they may not feel the sensation of the energy that builds in a turn. (This type of analysis was to become a primary focus for our on-snow clinic groups.)

·         The following was suggested as a coaching process:

-        Tell people in non-judgmental terms what movement patterns you are seeing in their skiing.

-        Give them a positive or constructive reason to want to change the movement pattern.

-        Provide appropriate instruction or coaching that will help them see and feel / experience the desired movement pattern.

·         Learn to look for and appreciate the intangibles – the touch or feel that a good or great skier relies on to instantly adjust movements as the snow changes.

The On-snow fun….

My on-snow group included clinician Nelson Wingard an examiner and member of the Northwest Ed. Staff and five other instructors from around the Pacific Northwest. Nelson built on the indoor discussion by asking us to observe one another ski. We were tasked with identifying both the effective and less effective movement patterns that our partners used during a run. Then we were asked to use the coaching process describe earlier to provide one another with feedback and recommendations on how we could improve our skiing. To do this, Nelson had us ski for five to ten turns stop and then watch two to three people ski past us doing a similar number of turns. This gave us repeated opportunities to see everyone ski. At the end of each run, each person gave feedback to and received feedback from nearly everyone in the group. Although Nelson frequently had to remind us to remain non-judgmental with our feedback, we quickly found that the multiple observations, discussions, and recommendations on each skier’s movements gave us confidence that we could accurately identify key skiing movement patterns.

Next, Nelson helped us to see the problems inherent in taking a snapshot or narrow view of movement analysis. Several volunteers were asked to intentionally make one repeated and ineffective movement on every turn. In one instance, a volunteer skied every turn with locked ankles. Everyone saw the resulting banking and skidding – the symptoms of the problem, but few of us got to the root cause (the locked ankles) because we fixated on what seemed obvious. This effectively illustrated how and why one must look at skiing movements collectively and why it is important to develop strong mental images of desirable skiing.

Once we had a solid foundation for identifying and describing skiing movements, Nelson turned our attention to a variety of exercises aimed at helping us to see and feel movements that would improve our skiing. Examples included skiing backwards in traverses, turns, and in the fall-line to better experience the sensation of cuff pressure across our boots; one ski skiing; skiing steeps in a wedge predominantly on one ski; and doing slow GS turns with an emphasis on patient, progressive, and subtle edging and pressure movements.

With nice weather on Sunday, we talked a bit less and skied more. Directed “play” with peer feedback became our focus. Nelson recommended the play (e.g. ski backwards or on one ski) especially while skiing across flats and on cat tracks in order to expand our versatility and increase our feel for what was happening under foot. Play also included coaching on how to deal with the icy base, trips to the summit to experience skiing in breakable crust, and time to rip off some energizing high speed top-to-bottom GS turns.

By the conclusion of the event we had received a thorough introduction to both the concepts and mechanics of “good” and “bad” skiing along with some effective strategies and drills for helping our fellow instructors to refine their skills.

If you’re interested in a great vacation that extends your 2000 ski season into the summer and provides PSIA education credit, you will want to look at the PSIA-NW summer training offerings. Clinic Leader Training is scheduled for June 3-4 at Mount Bachelor. Those interested in learning or refining racing techniques may choose to attend one of several PSIA-NW run three or five day race camps scheduled for July on Mount Hood. Another event that I can personally vouch for is the three day Professional Development Series Camp on Mount Hood scheduled for July 7-9. It provides skiers of all levels a chance to improve their skiing in a fun and supportive environment. In July ’97, we were able to ski well over 1,000 vertical feet per run and the warmth allowed for plenty of videotaping work. Contact Barb Darrow the PSIA-NW Office Manager for details and event registration forms. Barb may be reached by phone at (206) 244-8541 and via e-mail at office@psia-nw.org.

Biographical Information

Scott Valitchka is a level II certified alpine ski instructor who resides in southeast Wisconsin. For the past ten years he has spent weekends teaching skiing at resorts in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Three of the ten years included time as the Ski School Director at Michigan’s Norway Mountain. Presently, Scott is a weekend ski instructor and supervisor at Alpine Valley Ski Resort in East Troy, Wisconsin. When not teaching skiing, Scott is employed as an Organizational Development Consultant with Fort James Corporation in Deerfield, IL.