The NSCD Way in May

by Trudy Parcher, Adaptive DCL

You know how it is: you’re a teacher, you figure out a new little trick to help a student succeed and immediately you want to share what you’ve learned! What that means is, as soon as an opportunity to meet and share ideas with like-minded teachers comes along, you just can’t pass it up. And in the spring, on a beautiful day just below the peak of Mt. Hood, how could you stay away?

John Stevenson, Kathleen Priest and I had just that chance this past May when we attended a portion of a weeklong camp offered by Beth Fox from Winter Park’s National Sports Center for the Disabled. What a hoot! We met, skied and exchanged knowledge with some of North America’s best adaptive ski and snowboard instructors. We rode ski bikes, we used adaptive equipment as if we were the students and we tried new ways to enhance a disabled skier or snowboarder’s experience in learning.

Sometimes the technical side of things can be a bit dry, but a clinic presented by Beth Fox is hands on. Do it and do it fast. Beth encouraged everyone to try each piece of equipment so that we “walked in the boots” of our students. We did what our students do -including falling – and at high speeds! We learned a new way to use tethers in combination with snowboards (trust me, it works) and we found out that a person who has been on skis all morning but is too tired to continue on skis can get on a ski bike and simulate the same skills that he uses on skis without expending extra energy! Fun learning – for the student and the teacher!

Afternoons were devoted to indoor sessions that included a great amount of give and take. There was a discussion linking progressions for able-bodied skiers and snowboarders to those applicable to folks with disabilities. It’s amazing how many different takes there can be on the same issue; so many talented instructors with so many terrific ideas. Listening to experiences from instructors from Maine to Utah to Canada was mind opening and offered a great opportunity to learn from others. And it also brought about debate about what works and what doesn’t - but that’s how we learn.

As instructors of able-bodied or disabled skiers and snowboarders, we all love what we do and strive to present the best product available to our clients. An experience like we had at the NSCD camp was inspiring and fun. I encourage instructors of all levels to take advantage of camps, clinics, symposiums and home mountain training. You never know what you might learn from that guy standing next to you.

Trudy Parcher is the Mt. Baker Adaptive Coordinator and an active member of the PSIA/AASI-NW Adaptive Committee. She is a Level II Alpine & Adaptive and a 30 Yr. PSIA-NW Member