Technical Program Update
BY LANE MCLAUGHLIN
PSIA / AASI -NW TECHNICAL VP  

Well, the season certainly blitzed along for me and we rallied through many events in the Technical program including a variety of Alpine and Snowboard TD Workshops, Tryout Camps, DCL Tryouts and an Alpine Technical Team Tryout. What was evident to me during my participation in these events, is that the desire to grow as a professional and to develop a deeper technical understanding of our sport/industry is shared among many of you out there and we need to continue creating opportunities on the calendar to get together and grow together. I suppose it’s not a coincidence the Professional Knowledge section of the National Standards includes criteria related to ‘Personal Mastery’ and if we’re not challenging ourselves we’re actually becoming less effective as leaders of snowsports education. With that said, I just wanted to point out a few highlights and observations on the ‘tech’ front.

Brand Spankin’ New DCLs It was advertised early this season that there would be DCL tryouts for both Alpine and Snowboard crews. Since many of our senior snowboard DCL clinicians had moved on to other endeavors, there became need and opportunity to recruit and mentor some fresh talent to help inspire, serve and coach our membership and become that next wave of NW heroes. Dustin Semb and Chris Hargrave put on an early season tryout training session and with the help of Roark Congdon, they held a very thorough, fair and constructive tryout at Stevens Pass in March. Thanks to those guys and congratulations to the following Snowboard DCL’s: Mike Hamm, Devin Mettler, Ryan Pinette and Shawn Semb. DCL’s in training are Ryan Enfield and Don Meyer.

The Alpine crew followed a similar course this season. January’s ‘Tryout Camp’ at Mission Ridge was attended by a cool mixture of those who were “for sure” coming to DCL and Tech Team tryouts along with others who were eager to explore the post Level III world, and perhaps keep an eye toward their future as a DCL. Then we rolled into DCL and Technical Team tryouts at Stevens Pass in March. A big thanks goes out to the selectors, Chris Thompson, Calvin Yamamoto, Nick McDonald, Linda Cowan and Dave Lyon, who put in countless hours in preparation and evaluation. Your new Alpine DCL’s and Technical Team include:

DCL’s: Dave Beckwith, Michael Drake, Diane Robbins-Luce, Kim Petram, Josquin Poirot, Heather Roberts, Dave Rowe and Andy Rubesch. Technical Team: Returning staff Stan Aunan, Linda Cowan and Kate Morrell and new teamer Tyler Barnes.

Technical National Standards And now for something completely different. I did want to plant some seeds of thought for you tech lovers out there to think about over the summer. Having had the opportunity to get back in the trenches with a snowsport school this year, to work a series of indoor sessions for the Certification Training and to wrestle with the Alpine National Standards and their influence on our exam scorecards/feedback sheets, I’ve reconnected with just how much information is out there for all of us to keep tabs on, sort out, and how difficult it is for new and developing instructors (and that’s actually all of us isn’t it?) to navigate through what’s important, what’s right, what’s appropriate and what’s accurate?

One light bulb that went off for me is that the National Standards are a very good roadmap to follow and some of the descriptors in there send you off into related materials and places that’ll do you good. For example, look at some of the following descriptors (just some samples) and see if they help clarify for you your scope of responsibility: National Professional Standards Examples

(Level I)

Define and explain basic skiing terminology as described in the Alpine Technical Manual
Identify effective movements and skill development through the Beginner/Novice zone
Create an activity list for each skill category

(Level II)

Describe changing equipment needs as students move through the Beginner/Novice zone and Intermediate ability zones
Understand how various skill blends are applied to specific Intermediate zone skiing situations relative to terrain, conditions and desired student outcome.
Relate skiing terminology to students in simple language; communicating what, why, and how the terms and concepts apply to individual students

(Level III)

Understand and utilize the controlling elements of skiing movements (duration, intensity, rate, and timing) relative to skill blending
Apply skill blending to tactical choices in a variety of conditions
Seek outside education options to promote a broad understanding of the sport

What stands out to me is just how much challenge there is within these standards for each level. We need to take the time to think about what is being expected and then put some effort into training and drawing conclusions back to these points. While people are very ambitious to become better skiers and riders, and experience helps most people become better with the people skills and leadership skills associated with teaching lessons, developing a thorough and accurate understanding and consequently the ability to communicate your understanding of our sport can lag behind. Are you comfortable presenting to laymen, your peers or perhaps a sage veteran within your school your understanding of biomechanics, skills, learning styles, industry trends and equipment design (among other areas) as they relate to the needs of people you work with the most, be it beginner, intermediate or advanced zone enthusiasts?

Perhaps when you hit that summer drought of ski and snowboard vibe and you’re stoking up for 2006/ 2007, you could crack open the National Standards (the ‘Natys’ for short) and look for some Professional Knowledge (PK for short) items that steer you toward places you haven’t touched as much as you thought. Perhaps you’ll do a refresher with some of the manuals/videos, seek input from outside sources or drum up (and write down!) some ideas on cause and effect relationships between movements, skill blends and outcomes that you want to try once early clinic season comes around. Hopefully these ideas will challenge the “tech lover” in you and set you on a pathway to be a more effective snowsports educator next season.

Check the certification guides on www.psia-nw.org  for the complete list of national standards