At the Spring Symposium Awards presentation and dinner at the 7th Mountain Resort in Bend the following individuals received service awards and recognition.

Larry Linnane Skiing Legends Award recipients Wayne Nagai and Hans Reifer

Winners Wayne Nagai and Hans Reifer. This award recognizes those senior members in good standing who give a lifelong commitment to the development and/or history of snowsports including instructing, service on the board of directors, writing technical or feature articles for publications, etc.

Wayne Nagai

Hans Reifer (left)

Dennis Burkhardt

Jean Lyon Service to Youth Award recipient Dennis Burkhardt

Recognition of an instructor with exceptional dedication excellence in teaching children and youth snowsports or to race.

Michael Peterson (right)

Art Audett Outstanding Service Award recipient Michael Peterson

Designed to honor our members who have a sustained history of distinguished service of lasting benefit to PSIA Northwest, their ski school or the local community or have performed an exceptional act worthy of special recognition.

Jon Matsushita (right)

Ken Syverson Instructor of the Year Award recipient Jon Matsushita

This award goes to someone who is actively involved in teaching skiing to the public and demonstrates a positive role model. He must exceed the normal criteria for teaching excellence and must demonstrate a prolonged history of service to the public, his ski school and PSIA Northwest.

Membership dues are due June 30. You can pay your dues on-line at the National website by clicking the button below or you can call the office to pay your dues over the phone. A dues renewal notice will be mailed to you as well where you can also pay by way of check by mail.

PAY YOUR DUES ON-LINE NOW

Unbelievably it’s that time of the year again, taking the travel box off the car, placing that final thick coat of protective wax on the gear for the summer months and membership renewal. When renewing your membership be sure to look over your member information and verify the following are accurate:

• Your school affiliation
• Your region – this determines where you vote (turn over for region listing)
• Your mailing address and your email
• If you are under 23 and are a student, phone before paying your dues

Much of this information can be updated on the National website on your membership profile page.

Upcoming education events are:

• Summer Ski Camp at Timberline, July 13-15
• Summer PDS Camp at Timberline, July 13-15
• Fall Seminar in the three areas, Spokane, Portland and Seattle, in October – check back for details

We appreciate you and your dedication to creating lifelong snowsport enthusiasts! See you on the hill.

Fitness tip text, photos and demonstrations by Jenn Lockwood

Dorsiflexion at the ankle and leg rotation are the topics of this issues fitness tips! Brad Jacobson, shared with us how we activate the tibialis anterior to dorsiflex the ankle, helping to maintain equal angles at the ankles and shin to cuff contact when we ski, during our January training. Here is my favorite way to condition this muscle for the skiing – TOE TAPS. Our goal will be for muscle endurance of the tibialis anterior.

Toe Taps – Click image to zoom

Toe taps: Feet hip width apart, place the right foot ahead of the left, bend your knees and place both hands above your right knee (keeping the right foot anchored to the floor). Lift your right ball of foot up toward shin as high as you can (keeping your heel on the ground) and then tap your right foot to the floor, repeat – lifting your right ball of foot as high as you can and tapping it as fast as you can. Continue for 30-90 seconds, switch feet.

At Winter Blast, our group worked with National Team member, Matt Boyd on off-piste terrain. Our groups common deficiency on the steeps off-piste was to square our hips with our ski tips through the finish of our turns. Our focus to correct this inefficient movement was to relearn how to stabilize the hips (upper body) to facilitate tipping and steering of our legs from apex through finish of the turn – allowing us to better shape and manage pressure through the finish of the turn and allow our body to move over our equipment into the next turn initiation.

For a great article going over leg rotation refer to Help Your Legs Assert Their Independence by Robin Barnes in the Winter 2011, 32 Degrees, pages 74-79. Below are listed a few of my favorite exercises for strengthening muscles that facilitate leg rotation.

Leg Rotation – Click image to zoom in

Leg Rotations with paper plates and/or Fitter Discs: Standing in your athletic stance (feet hip to shoulder width apart) w/fitter discs placed under feet and standing in front of a mirror – perform the exercises that Robin describes on page 75. Tip: focus on stabilizing your hips (part of your upper body) and/or even rotating them in the opposite direction of your feet. These exercises will target the strengthening of the internal and external rotators of the legs with goal to facilitate the femurs turning in the hips socket while the hips are stabilized.

Charlie Chaplain – click image to zoom in

Charlie Chaplain Pose: Rotate legs/femur to the right and left with opposing rotation at the hip and femur. Leg rotation may be limited due to tight hip & gluteal muscles – refer to Stretch Your Performance through Hip Flexibility by Robin Barnes in the Winter 2011, 32 Degrees, page 79.

Side Lying – click image to zoom in

Sidelying clam shell with or without resistance: Lie completely on your side positioning the hips flexed at 60°, and the heels in alignment with the back. Slowly raise the top knee as high as possible while keeping both feet together, and keeping the back from moving with the knee. Lower the knee back down ¾ of the way so that there is constant tension. Place your hand on the muscle of the butt, and focus on creathing the contraction at the point of contact while performing the exercise. For added challenge you can add a resistance band around your thighs.

Monster Walk – click image to zoom in

Monster Walk (Hip Abduction w/superband): Begin in an athletic stance, rotate your legs outward and forward in large strides for 20 steps. Stay low. Repeat the movement moving backwards for 20 steps.

Resistance Band Leg Rotation – click image to zoom in

Resistance Band Rotation: Assume a half-squat position and wrap a resistance band around your legs above the knees. Keeping your left leg stable and your hips and shoulders pointed forward, move your right knee back and forth. Switch legs. Go to the PEAK Fitness NW youtube page to see a demonstration of each of these exercises: www.youtube.com/PEAKfitnessNW.

Jennifer Lockwood is an Alpine Level III instructor and Trainer at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort, Oregon, and a fitness trainer at Peak Fitness NW. Email her at: jenn@peakfitnessnw.com or check out her website: www.peakfitnessnw.com

This has been a large topic of debate over the past few seasons in the snowboarding world and everyone seems to have a differing opinion on which is better. This article will shed some light on the benefits of each for you and your students and help you decide which type of board is going to fit best for your riding style. I will be sharing with you what I’ve learned and experienced over the past 12 years of coaching snowboarding and give you some insight on how I help my students choose the right gear.

Ideally we would all have a different set up for each type of condition we’re riding. Unfortunately that’s just not financially feasible for most of us so we need to narrow it down to our personal riding style and how we want our board to feel.

We will be exploring three different board shapes in this article, only looking at the most common of board designs that are in the market right now. These shapes are camber, reverse camber, and rocker with dual camber. The easiest way to think of these is that camber looks like a sad face, reverse camber (or rocker) looks like a happy face, and the rocker/camber combo looks like a mustache, each one having its own set of benefits and limitations.

Let’s start with the benefits and limitations of traditional camber

This is our tried and true technology. When you step onto this style of board you generally feel pretty stable. This is because your contact points are at the nose and tail of the board and it gives you a larger platform to stand on. Think of it like standing on a balance board (photo 1). If your feet are close together it can be very hard to stay balanced, but when you move your stance wider you feel much more stable. It’s very easy to load the nose or tail of the board without losing balance, sometimes making it easy to move too far forward or backwards and losing a centered and balanced stance.

If you’re into boardercross, banked slalom or GS this is probably the right board shape for you. Other than being more stable there are some other great benefits to camber, and also some downsides. On the icy hard pack days the average rider may find using a cambered board can be more effective. That extra stability can help give you the edge you need to keep from sliding out and falling. This is because of a reduced ability to pivot the board underneath of you, which might not be ideal when riding the steeps on a “pow” day or trying to perform maneuvers in the terrain park. The ability to pivot the board can be an essential step to a new student’s success in learning their first skidded turns.

Because of the shape of these boards the nose is going to constantly want to dive down into the snow forcing you to need a bigger board to ride some of our heavier Northwest “pow” days. When forced to ride a board that is too big we tend to lose some of our ability to move. When riding steep tree lines I always want to have confidence that I’m able to move in and out of every situation.

Now let’s move on to reverse camber commonly referred to as rocker.

While it’s not necessarily new technology it has certainly made a giant comeback over the past few years. This is probably the least stable board design out there but it can also have some tremendous benefits in certain situations. I would not recommend this board shape for icy hard pack conditions, but when there’s two to three feet of fresh snow this is among the best board shapes you could be riding and could be even more beneficial for kids.

Have you ever taken out a ten year old on a deep snow day only to find that you have to throw them over your shoulder and carry them down the hill because it’s just too deep? Well this board shape allows even kids to get out and have fun on those days. The nose of the board wants to shoot up and out of the snow making it ideal for these conditions. Not to mention the added ability to easily pivot the board and make fore/aft movements, giving the average snowboarder a better riding experience when the snow is deep.

On that same subject, children don’t have the fully developed muscles that an adult does, making it very difficult for them to make some of the essential movements on a traditional cambered board. When we put them on a “rocker” snowboard, we’ve made it much easier for them to experience some of the movements that are key to good snowboarding; specifically those fore/aft and pivoting movements which are essential to riding steeps, bumps, park and halfpipe. This design can more easily allow a child to blend movements as it has a much looser feel on the snow and doesn’t feel like it’s glued to the ground below you. The earlier we can get a snowboarder to learn and experience good movements in riding, the more successful they are going to be in the long run.

Last but not least, the camber rocker combo boards.

While there are many versions out there I’m going to focus on just one of them for this part of the article. This is the camber rocker, aka; dual camber, C2, mustache shape. These boards are reverse camber dominant but have camber underneath each foot. This one is my personal favorites, giving me that loose, pivot feeling of the rocker board, yet is still quite stable, much like the traditional cambered boards. This is my “anywhere – anytime board” – it is the most versatile of all the options, although it can still be a bit unstable when conditions are icy because of the centered point of contact. Being a very versatile board containing the benefits of camber and rocker, this board shape handles itself well in powder, steeps, park and groomers.

One of the greatest benefits of this design I’ve found personally, and for my students, is that it forces the rider to stay more centered in their stance. Too much movement fore/aft and you’re likely to lose your balance and nose dive or fall backwards. Students are going to have an increased likelihood of discovering how much they should move when there is less room for error. Given that, I would never suggest putting your students in a situation where they are likely to fall and get hurt. Make sure the equipment you choose is right for them.

Conclusion

While there are many different board shapes out there beyond what are in this article, it is up to you as a coach to figure out which one is right for your individual students. Hopefully the short descriptions in the article will give you a general framework for each of these board designs to help guide you in the right direction. I would strongly suggest trading boards with friends at the hill or checking out one of your local demo days and testing out some of the options so that you as an instructor can get a feel for each of these designs and be able to give a good recommendation to your students.

And remember that just because a board doesn’t feel good to you doesn’t mean that it’s not a good board for someone else. We each have our own riding style, body shape and preferences when it comes to snowboarding and it should be our goal to help our students discover these things for themselves and support them moving forward.

Greg Nelson is the Assistant Director and Training Manager at Summit Learning Center at The Summit at Snoqualmie. He is a Snowboard Level III, Freestyle Specialist 3 and Children’s Specialist 1 instructor. Email him at gnelson[at]summiti90[dot]com

Why go from Seattle to White Pass, to Bluewood, to 49° North, to Mt. Spokane, and to Mission Ridge? The more appropriate question for all of us west-siders is, “Why not?”

With this route, none of these areas are more than four hours apart. Think of it as a ski cruise with wonderful people, great food, beautiful scenery, and great skiing at each “port of call”. Between destinations, you’ll see some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world—eastern Washington. Compared to most cruise ship cabins, the rooms, even at the cheaper motels I stayed in, are spacious and don’t bob! If you use your PSIA member benefits carefully, you can keep lift ticket cost to near zero.

Click map to zoom in

Not convinced this should be your next road trip? Read on! We left Seattle for Packwood about 5 pm and arrived about 9pm. There were lots of vacancies in town. But call months ahead, if you want to be on the mountain. They often sell out for the whole season.

White Pass – Click photo to zoom in

White Pass is about a twenty minute drive from Packwood. An early breakfast on the mountain lets you savoir the mountain and lodge coming to life under the gaze of Mt. Rainier. The sun was brilliant and only a small cloud cap briefly topped Rainier. The surrounding hills stand out as a backcountry skier paradise. The new lifts double the terrain and even though we arrived the second day after a storm, there were plenty of stashes in the trees and off the sides of packed powder groomers. Before leaving the mountain, be sure to stop by Davey’s Yurt below the base of chair 4. Maybe the great beer on tap explains why everyone is so friendly or maybe it’s just White Pass.

Click photo to zoom in

Off to Dayton, but leave time for the sites along the way to Yakima, the Tri-Cities, and Walla Walla. Early March or later leaves lots of daylight. There are plenty of wine tasting opps. Wow! Are the sunsets always this fantastic in Eastern Washington? You can’t miss the Laht Neppur (Drink to Life) Brewing Co. and Cellars in Waitsburg. There’s a sign at the main intersection, “Warning: Brew Pub Ahead.” I’d recommend the Toe Tingler Stout, but it will be gone by the time you get there. The brewmeister lost his award winning recipe. But he’ll have something great for you, too, to take along a 34 oz. mason jar or a 32 oz. growler. The Waldon House Inn is a great B&B with large hot tub and free lift tickets with suite or room. There are a couple of motels in Dayton. It’s about 30 minutes to Bluewood. Get there early to get your request in for the breakfast burrito. It’s a local favorite and you’ll need the extra time to eat it all before the lifts open. Check out the ski school for Doug. After the pm line up he gave Chelsea Moore his blessing to show me some of her favorite stashes. In the morning she had pointed out her favorite runs to me on the map after holding the door for me. It wasn’t hard to guess she was a ski instructor. We could all take lessons on the customer service model from her. Take a hike to intersect the proposed new chair line. It’s worth it especially if it’s been snowing all morning! Bluewood is another great area for backcountry enthusiasts, but don’t get lost. It’s only four miles to Oregon!

Click photo to zoom in

The Palouse is always fascinating to me. Winter wheat sprouting under a few inches of snow makes the fields a patchwork of green lawns and white blankets as the sun melts the south facing slopes. Pillow after pillow of patchwork beauty stretches out before you. Scoot through Spokane where you can hit a Costco just before leaving town. You don’t have a co-pilot with a smart phone to find the cheapest gas? You may find basing in north Spokane an option. We drove the hour to Chewelah through the tail end of the weekend storm. I do have to recommend the Norlig Motel. Friendly owner, operators Paul and Andrea Tredeau offer Adrea’s fresh muffins with the complimentary breakfast and discount vouchers for 49° North for non-PSIA members in your group. Wonderful folks are on staff and in the ski school. When I told the mountain host I wanted to ski trees, steeps and deep, he said, “Let me call Rose.” Chair 5 was closed for winds, but Rose led me through trees off Chair 4 over and over and over! Of course, that increasing, untouched powder off Chair 5 beckoned us back for yet another day. Rose invited us to check out the Prime Timers group which meets on Tuesdays at 49° since we’d decided to stay the extra day. They started signing in early and are enthusiastic skiers and boarders who clearly enjoy sharing the love of the sport and stories.

I was introduced to Sherry, also a mountain host for the day, who had taught and patrolled in the Northwest. She was heading out so a couple of Prime Timers and I joined her. She accessed my skiing across the top of the mountain and decided we should just head out to Roller Coaster. Since it’s the farthest out, it gave up untracked run after run. The rollers on the hill proved it was rightly named. Slight line adjustments proved to create delightful explorations of the powder and terrain. Of course, then we were off to some glades and trees. Sherry invited us to join the Prime Timers for their après ski in the bar. Two dollars for great appies and conversation! Some of the 49° North Prime Timers also belong to the Mt. Spokane Prime Timers. They said we absolutely had to hit Mt. Spokane tomorrow, Wednesday, since it is closed Monday and Tuesday and the snow had been coming down since Sunday. Also Wednesdays are Mt. Spokane Prime Timers’ day.

Click photo to zoom in

Mt. Spokane has condos near the mountain, but it’s only 30 minutes from several inexpensive motels on the north side of Spokane. True to plan, we arrived with two days of snow on the hill and more coming down. The Prime Timer’s came to the rescue, but that’s another story! Brad turned out to be a previous ski patroller, instructor, part-time ski shop salesman, retired firefighter, and proud participant in many heliski adventures. He knew the best tree runs with snow coming down and the best lines off the top as the weather cleared. At lunch a group headed out for some side country and I couldn’t pass that up. Rob, leading the group, cautioned us to pick a partner and never lose sight of each other. As we started off the back side and into a wide glade, Mike and his partner made four turns, cut left into the trees, and I didn’t see them until the bottom.

I headed down the gut of the meadow with a “V” of trees ahead and nothing but untracked ahead of me and the others to my right. As we hit the trees, I imagined the God of Powder had lined them up just for me. I howled with joy, encouraged by the group. To paraphrase Ben Franklin, “Because there’s powder, I know there’s a God who loves us and wants us to be happy.” As we got to the trail back, Mike was being helped out of a creek by his partner. He must have thanked Brad three times on the hike out. Brad had insisted we stick with our partners and Mike knew he would have been in serious trouble with his. I’ll remember those turns and friends forever. Thanks Mt. Spokane and Prime Timers.

Click photo to zoom in

The last leg of our cruise through eastern Washington was the trek on Highway 2 from Spokane to Wenatchee. Truly awesome! Snow on the Columbia plateau is phenomenal as the sun sets in late winter. Stop by Grand Coulee, if time allows. Our wheeled cruise through eastern Washington was a spectacular palette of vistas, valleys, gorges, and canyons. Wenatchee has plenty of motels, B&B’s and restaurants and it’s a short drive to Mission Ridge. Of course, (are your picking up the plan yet?) Mission had been closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and the snow had been piling up. Being early once again paid off. Although I waited 45 minutes in line for the lifts to open, I was 27th out of at least 150 lined up. The locals love their mountain and flock there on a day like this. I followed a group of four that looked serious and I was not disappointed. A powder morning at Mission can turn into an afternoon of spring skiing. The sun came out by noon. The mountain and surrounding terrain were gorgeous. As we were greeted at the beginning of our trip, Mt. Rainier also bid us farewell. And so we ended our ski cruise of eastern Washington.

Why would you? Five great areas, six days of fantastic skiing and riding, gorgeous scenery, wonderful people – Why not!

Ray is a PSIA Level III Alpine instructor with Summit Learning Center. He has skied over 60 different ski areas in North America. He doesn’t claim to have invented the road trip, but is committed to perfecting it. Email rayt@u.washington.edu

Text and photos by Linda Cowan

The state of education in our nation is a hot topic. As a result, the amount of research and study on the practices that lead to student learning are reaching unprecedented levels. The Center for Educational Leadership works in partnerships with school districts across the nation employing current research from University of Washington’s College of Education to maximize learning for all students. Core elements of high quality instruction are a primary focus of their work. There are several dimensions, but two of the key elements for effective instruction are purpose and teaching point.

The purpose of this snowsports tip is to share the importance of having a clear purpose and teaching point every time we step in front of a group of students (or athletes if you’re a coach.)

Purpose is defined as being the “why or because”of our teaching, and the teaching point is the ‘what or how’ we achieve that purpose. Let me give an example of how I would start my teaching segment with a clear teaching point and purpose once my students have warmed up.

Follow me through this familiar scenario: After watching my students skate to the lift line, for our first run together, I can’t help but notice their hips continuously falling behind their feet. Now, I begin thinking through what I want to teach
and why.

“Class, everyone gather around, we have some important learning to do today! Effective skiers have continuous shin cuff contact because it allows them to balance on a moving surface.”

My teaching point (TP) in this teaching segment is to have continuous shin cuff contact, and the purpose for this movement is to stay balanced on a moving surface. By having a clear purpose for my teaching, now, every decision I make during this teaching cycle is intentional and meaningful and centered around this purpose.

“OK group, I am going to model for you what shin cuff contact looks like. What do you notice? Where are my hips? Where are my shoulders?”

I like to have my students quickly turn and talk with a neighbor so everyone is engaged in what I want them to see and eventually do. Cognitive engagement moves students towards physical success, and when I’ve heard several comments that show me understanding, I continue teaching. This is also checking for understanding, but holds higher accountability than “Does everyone understand?” which is a question most students are reluctant to respond with a “no.”

“Now I want to model for you what skiing backwards slowly in a wedge looks like and feels like on my shins. Remember shin cuff contact helps me to balance on a moving surface (TP). Once I can feel my shins against the front of my boots, I’m going to turn around and try to produce the same sensation on my shins while moving forward.”

While moving through the teaching cycle, we know that students need to understand the teaching point for themselves, so I continue to weave in my teaching point verbally throughout my lesson as I model and share feedback with each student. The reason? If my supervisor slides up to my class, he or she should be able to ask any child (or adult) in my lesson, “What are you learning right now?” And my students need to be able to answer, “We are working on constant shin cuff contact because it helps us balance.” If my students are not able to articulate what we are doing and why, is my teaching truly effective? If I don’t hold my students accountable for understanding, how can they apply this learning to another environment on their own?

Providing effective instruction has many benefits for both students and instructors. For instructors, always having a clear teaching point and purpose, keeps our lessons meaningful and focused. For our students, this helps them to clearly see and understand what we are doing, and why and supports their owning the information for themselves, which should always be our end goal as teachers.

Linda Cowan is a member of the PSIA-NW Technical Team, is an Alpine Examiner, coaches for Stevens Pass Alpine Club at Stevens Pass and is a 5th grade teacher at Woodmoor Elementary School, in Bothell, WA. Email: lindacowan1@mac.com

by David Berkey

When I first heard about the Gradual Release of Responsibility, a.k.a. “GRR,” I wasn’t on snow, yet there was snow around us, albeit not much. This year, the fog and wind in November at Timberline forced us indoors, with groups all clamoring for space to be heard – Grrrrrrr! Fortunately, the group presentation by Linda Cowan was in the cafeteria, behind glass, and we could hear everything. Linda’s topic was GRR. What I discovered was a tool to potentially assist instructors, new and experienced alike, to become better instructors. It’s not complicated. Most instructors utilize some form of this model in one way or another. I’ve been experimenting with this model in my clinics and classes. All I can say is, “It works!”

After talking to others about Linda’s presentation, I found a lot of skepticism. On our drive back to Seattle, my fellow Training Directors (TDs) discussed if there were any merits to this system. I was in the “pro camp,” while another pointed out his doubts as to its value to the customer. He pointed out that if he pays for a clinic or lesson, he would prefer not hearing from his peer group. He would want input from the paid professional. That was a good point, but I pointed out that it’s up to the professional to guide the discussions, so all students could benefit from easily measured, specific actions. By each student participating, each better owned the information provided.

No sale. He thought that GRR would produce more Grrrrrrrrrrr, or frustration for the student. Still, I wanted to experiment. I needed to find out for myself. As it turned out, I demonstrated GRR’s usefulness in our Level I clinics. Read on and
you’ll see how.

First, what is GRR?

As I mentioned already this acronym stands for Gradual Release of Responsibility. It was developed, as I remember Linda’s story, by a swim coach. He found that by using GRR, he could offer more targeted, personalized instruction at a cognitive level, which provided for greater understanding by his swimmers. They actually helped or taught each other, with guided feedback from the coach, whereby he could constantly check for understanding, providing correction where necessary. This model is such a hot button in education that the Northshore School District located on the “east side” with its district office in Bothell, WA has adopted it. Being an educator in that district is why Linda is so familiar with the concept and a great resource, should you want to understand more. Fortunately, her home turf at Stevens Pass is my turf too, so we get her guidance more frequently, if needed.

The Gradual Release Model – © Douglas Fisher, Ph. D, Professor of Language and Literacy Education, San Diego State University – Click graphic to zoom in

As you can see by the Figure aove, and which can be found on the PSIA-NW website, it illustrates that the teacher and student are in what we call a dance. The teacher takes the lead and shows, or

demonstrates, as in “I do it,” then he/she involves the students in a “we do it” together, as in student and teacher dancing together, to check for understanding and provide individual feedback. The instructor then gives the reigns to the students in a “you do it” (teacher watches/guides), with students dancing and guiding each other, increasing their level of understanding by them paying attention to specific desired movements or outcomes.

Finally, students move to a “you do it alone” mode, becoming independent, dancing by themselves. Students end up with better ownership of what was taught. As instructors, we set them free, as hopefully better skiers. But, do our clients truly have ownership of the knowledge we have imparted? I have found that by applying GRR, my students are more self-aware, with a better understanding of body movements and the cause and effect of those movements. They seem to value what they’re taught and want more lessons. They want to learn.

So how does it work?

I can best explain this by some examples. How else do teachers best explain their actions?

Example 1: Earlier this season, we started clinics for our Level 1 candidates. Some are quite young and one in particular was frustrating one of the TDs. He just wasn’t paying attention, standing still and listening. Remember the doubt expressed in the car when returning from Timberline? This was one of those TDs, and he was irritated with this candidate’s lack of attention. (Grrrrrrr!) I asked if I could try something. With his blessing, I paired everyone up, asking everyone to pay attention to their partner’s movements. The task we had demonstrated was an edged traverse. I again explained the points to look for, but asked them to only observe the outcome: to see if their partner’s tracks were evenly spaced, both being parallel and if the tracks showed signs of slipping or edged skis. I asked them to work with each other, then asked them to comment on what they observed in front of the group. OMG! They had to pay attention.

In addition, both of us TDs could check their individual levels of understanding and keep them from not straying from the defined outcome. Rather than correct overall skiing, I wanted them to concentrate only on those body movements that affected the creation of the desired tracks in the snow. As we were also working on body alignment and balance and how it affects good skiing, we could guide them toward the cause and effect of correct body alignment to a traverse. After half a run working with the pairs, I asked them to take on a bit more responsibility and work on each other to a meeting point down the hill, trying to perfect each other’s tracks. At this point, both of us TDs were to back off and observe what they did, only stepping in when there was a question or obvious lack of understanding. Sometimes, we had to remind them of the goal: 2 parallel, edged tracks across the snow while in a balanced, correct stance. In the end, we did some free skiing, keeping to the theme of stance and balance. As for input from us TDs, we kept it to a minimum, encouraging them to be aware of their stance while skiing and answering questions.

The results: 1) the disruptive student became engaged, taking the Grrrrrr out of the experience, 2) each student had a more cognitive experience about a simple traverse, and 3) it provided us with another class management tool. In the end, they better understood how a poorly accomplished traverse reflected a lack of alignment skills, which affected their free skiing.

Example 2: If GRR worked in a large clinic, why not in a class situation? My classes range from skiing easy blues to greens on one day to skiing the mountain on bumps and off-piste the next. My approach has been the same in applying GRR. I start each lesson with a goal and skill for students to try and accomplish. This skill may be taught throughout several lessons, but I break down the skill into bite size chunks, so we can concentrate on a specific body part or movement, which the students can easily observe.

At first, I demonstrate and explain, like we all do, using the “I do” stage of GRR. Then, I pair the students up, switching partners throughout the lesson, moving into the “We do together” stage. If it’s an odd number, I even pair one of the students with me. I become one of them when reporting observations. I use myself as the example of what I expect them to be observing. I instruct each set of partners to watch each other, reporting back what they observe, sharing those observations with the class. That way, I can make corrections as necessary. As they start to work more independently in the “You do together” stage, I invite the class to chime in to help with the corrections. I try to be more the observer. At first they were tentative. But after several attempts, I was blown away by what students observed and understood. I was amazed how quickly pupils started to understand the cause and effect of body movements to ski performance. It was just so cool! Normally, this level of understanding has been owned by the top performers in the class. Now, it was everyone in the class, and I knew to what level they owned the knowledge.

The other advantage is that all the students become engaged in the process. They have to pay attention, to understand, in order to teach another person. Students want to live up to expectations, and I set those expectations by defining what to observe and their responsibility to their partner. All I can say is they have responded to this approach. Remember the skepticism about utilizing such a model I discussed previously in this article? Professional vs. peer group input during a class? To confirm that GRR was working to their benefit, I asked my classes if they’d rather me just teach, not have them help each other, or continue having them help teach each other? I received a resounding affirmation of preference: being included in the teaching/learning process made the class more fun. They really liked
the GRR format.

I am wondering if anyone else has been trying GRR in their classes or clinics. If not, I urge you to try it. To me, this tool has brought more focus to each lesson and understanding from the pupil. GRR has also permitted me more time to check for understanding on an individual level, being able to customize the lesson for each pupil. Bottom line, I’m sold. It has been a great tool for me and taken some of the Grrrrrrr out of instructing, especially when dealing with larger groups. Thank you Linda for bringing this model to our attention. It’s a great tool.

Want to learn more about the Gradual Release Model?

Fisher and Frey . com

Fisher and Frey Books and Publications

Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility at Amazon.com

David Berkey is a Level III Alpine, Level I Snowboard Instructor and TD for Olympic Ski School, at Stevens Pass, Wa. Email: david@scubaskier.com

Listed below are the results of the elections for the upcoming 12-13 Board of Directors and Member School Region 2 and 3 seat(s). The PSIA-NW Board of Directors welcomes new members and incumbents for the next three years.

Many thanks to those who will not be returning or those who were not elected. Your time and dedication to the organization is very much appreciated by the members. Contested elections were for the Mt. Hood Region, the Bend Region and the Stevens Pass Region. The election results for all seats are listed below.

Bend Region Election – Position 2

Donna Sanders – Elected
Carey Sahm

Mt. Hood Meadows Region Election – Position 2

John May – Elected
Bill Arenz
Mike Peters

Stevens Pass Region Election – Position 3

Russ Peterson – Elected
Mary Livingston-Weston

Snoqualmie Region

Position 5 – John Winterscheid Unopposed
Position 6 Wayne Nagai Unopposed

Stevens Pass Region – Position 1

Mark Schinman Unopposed

Spokane Region – Position 2

Rick Brown Unopposed

South Central Region – Position 1

John Nelson Unopposed

Whitefish Region – Position 1

Mike Davies Unopposed

Member School Representative

Region 2 Rick Brown Unopposed
Region 3 Jodi Taggart Unopposed

We have posted some photos from the Divisional Academy 2012 event held at Whitefish. It was a good time. It looks like the Symposium event at Mt. Bachelor next weekend on April 13-15 is going to be a great time too. To view the photos from Divisional Academy at Whitefish click here.

Your mail-in ballot for the Spring election for your Board Members will be arriving in your mailbox soon. To read candidate statements please click head over to the Candidates Statements page or just click here.

In this election your mailed in ballot must be post marked no later than February 29, 2012. If you have not received your ballot and you need more information please call Member Services at  (206) 244-8541 or by email at info@psia-nw.org.