2012

SNOWPRO

Official newsletter of the Australian Professional Snowsport Instructors Inc . 9895640

Summer 2013

Annual Wrap UP • Meet Your Board • APSI National Team • 2012 Reports • and more...

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SNOWPRO

Official newsletter of the Australian Professional Snowsport Instructors Inc. 9895640 – Summer 2013

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Office Notes The first issue!

Meet Your Board: Board Member’s Bios President’s Report Treasurer’s Report General Manager’s Report Alpine Technical Director’s Report Snowboard Technical Director’s Report

Telemark Technical Director’s Report Nordic Technical Director’s Report Adaptive Technical Director’s Report Sodergren Report Alpine Level 4 & APSI Recall Update Rookie Trainer Reports Interski Team Introductions

Cover: Richard Hocking getting early season turns on Mt Perisher

Photo: Tony Nicholson

Australian Professional Snowsport Instructors

Experience the best!

Office

in robust procedures and good governance allows me to support our trainers and board. I am also committed to ensuring that the APSI office runs as smoothly as possible.

I am very excited to be here and have enjoyed working with the board, trainers and members throughout the season. I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone for their patience and encouragement while I have been ‘finding my feet’ at the APSI office. Particularly Andrew, Warren, Jason and Richard who have all endured more than one confused phone call! I have loved meeting many APSI members over the season and hope to have the opportunity to meet many more of you as time passes.

Alexia (Lexi) Colville Office Notes It gives me great pleasure to be able to introduce myself as the new office administrator of the APSI. I joined the APSI this May and have assumed the responsibilities of Donna Jowett-Poulos since she embarked on her latest adventure opening a restaurant here in Jindabyne.

2012 has seen some big changes for the APSI including welcoming Mark Dixon as our president. Even though the season has finished we’re all still hard at work implementing your ideas and suggestions, most notably – a website upgrade that will allow us to provide you with a much more efficient service.

I have worked as an instructor and kids ski school supervisor both here and in Canada since 2004 and am currently completing a Bachelor of Business while still instructing occasionally at Perisher. My background in instructing enables me to connect with members and understand the issues you might be facing. My interest

Don’t forget that discounted ‘early bird memberships’ for 2013 are available until 31 December, 2012! I will be here all summer, so if you need anything you can call or email me at the office or if you happen to be nearby and have a minute, stop in to say hello!

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Snowpro Issue Number 1!

The first issue!

The association has grown to include Snowboarding, Telemark, Nordic, Adaptive and Coaching. The APSI has attended 6 Interski Congresses to learn from and share with other National Snowsports Instructors Organisations.

This momentus occasion of the APSI being recognised by the International Ski Instructors Association was announced in the first issue of ‘Snowpro’, then known as ‘Skipro’. Along with the association ‘Snowpro’ has come a long way since 1976.

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Meet Your Board

Board Member’s Bios President Home Resort: Buller Background/Experience: I have worked in many

Australian Resorts, with 5 seasons at Falls Creek, 10 at Perisher and the past 2 seasons at Mt Buller as their Head of Training Supervisor. I have been an APSI member since 1987 and a fully certified instructor since 1990.

What you bring to the board: I believe I have vast experience and understanding of the ski industry to offer to the APSI and will take pride in my Presidents position.

Mark Dixon

General Manager

in the snow sports industry since 1992, been an APSI trainer since 1995 have represented the APSI at four Interski events and my current role has been evolving since 2003. Further training includes ‘Cert. IV Workplace Trainer and Assessor’ and a ‘Diploma in Management’.

What you bring to the Board: My greatest strengths I bring to the APSI board of management are passion for snowsports instruction, willingness to learn and a devotion to see the APSI be the best it can be with the resources we have.

Andy Rae Goals for the APSI: Continue to manage by both being a

presence on snow for the APSI as well as working behind the scenes to provide quality products and services to our members.

Home Resort: APSI Full Time Background/ Experience: Snowsports is in my blood, I grew up on the snow living in Perisher. I have now worked

Treasurer / Nordic TD

Home Resort: Perisher Background/ Experience: I commenced my skiing

career late, at age 40. I competed in Cross country and biathlon competition in the Defence Force for 10 years before retiring from the ADF in 1998. I started ski instruction in the Army in 1990. I work Australian Winters in Perisher Valley as the Senior Instructor for Kosciuszko Cross Country Ski School and do a considerable amount of teaching and coaching with GPS school teams and Masters Athletes. I also teach and coach some very special junior athletes privately. I am a Full Cert Nordic Instructor, L3 Trainer and Examiner I

Warren Feakes 4

What you bring to the board: I bring experience in Financial Control and Budgetary Management from running major projects in Defence. I try to be a diligent Treasurer with the members fully in the forefront of my conduct of business. I run Nordic as well as I can but as a small sub-group of APSI, that is difficult because of economies of scale. I have personally written the Nordic Manuals currently in use.

also hold a Level 2 Telemark rating. I have attended the last two Interski Conferences as the Nordic Technical Delegate and Demonstrator. I am a double World Loppet Master having completed the World Loppet series of long distance races twice. I am the National Director for Australia on the Board of the World Masters Cross Country Skiing Association and compete, as well as lead as Team Captain, the Australian team in the Northern Hemisphere at Masters World Cup races each year.

Whilst training overseas, I take every opportunity to work with ski instructors from the National Bodies of other countries – knowledge is never a full cup!

Goals for the APSI: My goal as Treasurer is to ensure that the hard won funds APSI gets from the work of its trainers on Courses and Exams and from Membership fees is used wisely to further the aims of APSI and to provide as much for Members as possible

R

R

Proud supporters of the APSI and the Alpine level 4 top of course

Reilly McGlashan Volkl Team rider

Paul Lorenz Team rider

Adam Collier top of Alpine Level 4

Tom Gellie Volkl Team rider

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Nic Hill Voelkl Team Manager

Alpine TD

now worked in the snow sports industry for 14 years in a variety of roles, from front line ski instructing and coaching to management roles within the ski schools.

What you bring to the Board: My biggest strengths I bring to the APSI board of management are enthusiasm to make our association better for all our members and an ability to see tasks through to their completion. I like to look forward at how to make tangible improvements rather than maintaining the status quo.

Goals for the APSI: I would like to continue to increase benefits for all our members as well as conduct enriching educational events and courses for our members to participate in. Our certification program is continually reviewed with the help of the Alpine Technical Committee and I look forward to working with this group to uphold and elevate our already strong certification standards that we have in place.

Richard Jameson Home Resort: Hotham Background/ Experience: I have a background in

secondary school physical education and have competed and worked in many sports throughout my career. I have

Snow Board TD

Home Resort: TBA Background/ Experience: Born in Melbourne, came

from a skateboarding background, first resort to work in was Falls Creek then moved to Thredbo in 2000, became fully certified in 2000, part of the South Korea and St Anton’s demo team.

Goal/s for the APSI: To see the new snowboard manual

refined and to produce some riding and technical DVD products.

Jason Clauscen

Telemark TD (Interim)

Examiner with 6 seasons Instructing and three seasons as a trainer/examiner. I have also been a director for two companies for the past 12 years.

What you bring to the Board: A commitment to

progressing Telemark skiing and teaching in Australia.

As well as 12 years’ experience sitting on the board of two companies.

Goal/s for the APSI: As Telemark director I will work towards increasing the depth of Telemark instructors and trainers. Improve the promotion and marketing of Level 1 Telemark courses and to lobby the resorts to facilitate telemark events again.

Richard Hocking

Any other comments you would like to add: Tom Gellie, the previous Telemark Technical Director pushed telemark technique and increased the depth of telemark instruction and training in Australia. I plan on continuing the good work Tom started.

Home Resort: Perisher Background/ Experience: Level 4 Telemark Trainer: telemarking for 20 years, instructing for 8 seasons and a Trainer/Examiner for 4 seasons. Level 3 Nordic Trainer/

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Adaptive TD

at Falls Creek. In between seasons at Falls Creek I worked for the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center in Colorado, worked as an Outdoor and Environmental Studies teacher in Melbourne and spent a year as an assistant coach for the Australian Paralympic Ski Team.

I am now the Victorian Program Coordinator for Disabled Wintersport Australia during the Australian winter and head to Myoko Snowsports in Japan during the northern winter.

What you bring to the Board: Having been a member of the APSI for only five years and only just joining the Board this year, I bring a newer perspective to the Board.

It is important for our Members who are only early in their careers to feel supported by the APSI.

Tom Mitten Home Resort: Falls Creek and Disabled Wintersport Australia

Goal/s for the APSI: I aim to continue to develop adaptive instruction’s popularity within the APSI and at Australian resorts. I would like to see improved communication between APSI Members and the Board to ensure the APSI is providing the services our Members want and need.

Background/ Experience: I have been involved in adaptive skiing and snowboarding since 2005 when I became a volunteer for Disabled Wintersport Australia.

In 2008 I started instructing alpine and adaptive skiing

Ski School Rep

experience not only as a director but also as an employee (ski instructor) working for a large organisation. This gives me a unique insight into the workings of snowsports centres from both perspectives and allows me to develop the good ideas I see in North America for our Australian market. I also obviously have a financial background operating a large snowsports centre so I can help with this aspect of the business if needed.

Goal/s for the APSI: I think the APSI has one of the best training structures and certifications in the world due to the many influences we have had over the years from the Austrians in the early years to a more North American influence lately. We are a well-rounded organisation requiring not only a high standard of skiing/boarding skills but also a good knowledge of teaching (kids and adults) and customer service. The goals for the APSI should be to grow the membership base by continuing to offer state of the art courses that are competitive with the worlds other leading organisations. We need to ensure that not only Aussies but overseas instructors see our certification as the best.

Nigel Mills Home Resort: Mount Hotham Background/ Experience: Hotham Director since 1994 and private lesson instructor in Vail since 1989. Level 4 APSI. Graduate Diploma of Business Management

What you bring to the Board: I have many years’

Resorts rep

Role on Board: Resorts Representative Home Resort: Perisher Background/ Experience: 31 seasons teaching in Australia and America

Goal/s for the APSI: Keep members up to date with

what’s happening in the resorts. Keep APSI informed of what the members want. Work on creating a new alpine DVD for next season.

Marty Firle 7

SPRING SESSIONS

SPRING SESSIONS 2011

2013

Spring Sessions will be run in NSW and Victoria.

The Spring Sessions is an event like no other in the APSI calendar. Open to all members you can come for 1 or 2 days and ski/train with the best ski instructors in the country – the APSI National Demo Team.

Clinics are about having fun, improving and spending time with like minded colleagues who love and live in the mountains like you. We run 2 sessions per day on free skiing topics like Carving, Bumps, Short Turns, Racing, Park/Pipe and relaxed clinics like – “shut up and ski”!!

Price per day approx $85

There will be a silent auction during the event and APSI merchandise to purchase.

All funds raised are used to directly support the national team.

Recalls, price per day $175 plus manual included

For further information contact:

Dates and Venues; Venue: Falls Creek, VIC Dates: 7 -8 September

Australian Professional Snowsport Instructors PO Box 131, Jindabyne, NSW, Australia, 2627 Ph: 02 6456 1255 Email: apsi@apsi.net.au

Venue: Perisher, NSW Dates: 31 Ausgust &

1 September

Website: www.apsi.net.au

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APSI Board Reports President

leading up to the next Interski in 2015.

We have started the upgrades to our APSI business systems/structure. Including, important improvements that are needed for our online-shop, which are being carried out right now. Improving the website onlinestore functionality will benefit you as members for the 2013 season and will allow us to offer a larger range of merchandise and products. Great pro-deals for APSI members will also be available and we are very pleased with the support received from most of the major wholesalers. There will be an open forum available for members so you can post your own comments, videos and photos, managed in a constructive manner.

Mark Dixon Report to Members: Season 2012

A “personal project� of mine is to hold an APSI members reunion for past and present members. This will be a great opportunity to reconnect to ski/ride and party together with great Instructor friends. We would try and combined this get together with our Spring Sessions in September 2013. I would love to get your feedback on the reunion September 2013?

Welcome to the Annual edition of SNOWPRO AND A SPECIAL WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS who have joined us this season.

The 2012 winter season has been a successful one for the APSI. I trust everyone is enjoying some well-deserved time off after a pretty good snow season.

And of course I like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in APSI Inc. Without the tireless efforts from the APSI staff, Board members and Executives, all the Trainers and Examiners who do such a professional job on the hill and off the hill, as well as our Technical Directors in all disciplines who give a great deal of their energy and time. Also, a really big thankyou to all our members for your participation.

I would like to pass on my appreciation for your support and dedication to the APSI. Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Mark Dixon and in June 2012 I was voted in as your new APSI President. I believe I have vast experience and understanding of the ski industry to offer to the APSI and will take pride in my Presidents position.

A special thanks to Andy Rae our APSI GM for your excellent contribution on and off snow.

Lexi for such a smooth transition with the APSI Administration operation. A big thanks goes out to Tony Smythe and Donna Joweth-Poulos for your years of effort leaving us the ship in such good order, thanks again. Thanks to Warren Feakes who watches over our financials and does a great job.

I have worked in Australian Resorts, with 5 seasons at Falls Creek, 10 at Perisher and the past 2 seasons at Mt Buller as their Head of Training Supervisor. I have been an APSI member since 1987 and a fully certified instructor since 1990. I have been involved in the Australian and Austrian Ski Instructor systems and became a National Trainer and Examiner in Australia, which I served for 8 years. I have worked overseas in Austria as a Ski Instructor and Supervisor for English Tour Groups for 8 seasons and my past 15 season were spent in Vail Colorado as a Ski Instructor teaching private lessons with high profile clients. I returned to the Australian Resorts after taking 5 seasons off to start a Heli-skiing Operation in New Zealand, where I held a position as a director. The company ran private charters for Skiing guest mainly from the U.S.

A very special congratulations goes out to the following APSI Trainers on their selection for the Australian National Demonstration Team: Ant Hill (Ski) Tom Langtry (Ski) Chris Allen (Ski) Tom Gellie (Ski) Paul Lorenz (Ski) James Lloyd (SB) Matt Ronald (SB) Richard Hocking (Tele) Lastly to everyone: a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and a great summer/ winter.

APSI financial situation is in a good place for the moment, we have a small operating surplus. This will help us plan ahead and budget for the coming season. We will continue manage a healthy surplus

Well, I`m off to Vail for the season, hoping for lots of POWDER. 9

Treasurer

$15,000. We require 100 new exam bibs - roughly $3000. We need to be able to fund, in advance, snowboard and alpine manuals, either new productions or re-prints. We need to order and pay for items to sell to members. This coming season it will be more soft-shells and some other APSI branded clothing. To improve the APSI website will cost us for some IT technical time. There is the cost of stock of certificates, pins, and notebooks.

Also, discussed at the end of season board meeting was funding assistance from APSI for Interski attendance by the Demo Team, logical, considering the expertise put back into APSI by team members when they return. So you can see that we have a range of expenses that will gobble up the operating surplus from year to year.

Warren Feakes Report to Members: Season 2012

In addition, we all know how fickle the Australian winter season is becoming and we could have a “bad year”, requiring a ‘buffer’ in our surplus. My “treasurer’s contingency fund” for is around $50,000.

It has been a reasonable year financially for APSI but the cost of keeping the APSI in business is increasingly difficult each year. We search for savings and have to pay our trainers a reasonable wage and cover costs but keep prices within the reach of members and ensure we run a safe workplace for our employees.

So, where do we stand financially? We have enough of an operating surplus to see us through comfortably until the start of season 2013. We may even be able to hold a bit of stock of interesting items for sale at very good prices for members but this is still under negotiation.

Yet the APSI managed to increase its operating surplus by more than $50,000 in the 2012 season. As at the end of October 2012 have $202,000 in the bank (not counting the Interski account) however it will cost around $70,000 to run the APSI between November 2012 to June 2013 in rent, wages and administrative expenses.

I cannot wrap this report up without expressing my sincere thanks to Lexi for her tireless assistance in keeping me supplied with management information throughout the 2012 season and beyond. Her knowledge of the APSI as a practising instructor and her outstanding administrative expertise made for a seamless takeover from Donna.

Lexi has now completed a formal QuickBooks course and is able to produce up to date reports for myself and Andy with a few keyboard strokes.

Why do we need an Operating Surplus?

This coming year we have the expenses of new trainers’ uniforms to cater for. This event comes around about every 4 years and is a straight ‘expense’ of more than

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General Manager

one courses (open to the public) which continue to grow at a rate of 100% per year.

Additional courses will also be available in Japan next year in late February providing yet another opportunity for members to partake in the ever growing course options available.

New for 2012 the ‘Alpine Progression Booklet’ This exciting new booklet was a great addition to the alpine training resources this winter. The pocket booklet could be used in many ways, including: as a training aid for people attending exams, as trainer’s cheat notes while on course and Paul Lorenz was often seen out on the hill using it as a visual aid for his private lesson guests.

Andrew Rae General Manager’s Update I recently read that ‘2012 was the season that kept on giving’, sitting here in the office in Jindabyne in late October with further snow on the forecast I can understand why.

I did remind him that he could just ski in front of his group instead of showing them pictures of himself...seriously though; I do see the benefits of a photo montage and urge you all to take advantage of this great teaching tool.

Winter 2012 (in a nut shell)

Interski/demo team selection

After such a good season of snow the APSI statistically recorded average numbers when it comes to membership & continues to track similar pass rates to previous years.

Over the 17-18th of September Perisher saw Australia’s top riders gather together for the APSI National team selections.

However members are using the on-line shop more and are choosing to participate in more events. With an increase in events available like the ‘level one coach course’, ‘spring sessions’ and ‘x-over courses’ we recorded over 750 participators in alpine & snowboard alone.

As team coach I instigated two days of intense testing which resulted in the selection of a small but strong team.

The selection included a written application, multiple riding tasks, an interview and an on-snow presentation.

The greatest increase in participation was again at level

Challenges for the new team in the immediate future will

Hiking in ‘little Austria’ NSW main range October 2012.

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Photo: Richard Jameson

include; training, aiding the various technical committees with the direction of Australian snowsport instruction, training, skiing with APSI members, training, raising funds.... more training.... and preparing to represent the APSI at the next Interski scheduled to be held in Argentina in September 2015.

Congratulations should go to all who tried out but in particular to the newly selected team members:

Alpine Richard Jameson (co-selector, assistant coach & Alpine TD) Ant Hill Paul Lorenz Tom Gellie Chris Allen Tom Langtry

Snowboard Jason Clauscen (co-selector, snowboard coach & TD) James Lloyd Matt Ronald

Telemark Richard Hocking (acting telemark TD)

Nordic Warren Feakes (nordic TD)

Mt Lee.... ‘Real long turns’.

Adaptive

Photo: Richard Jameson

training aids and future manual updates that continue to contribute to the top quality courses currently on offer through the APSI.

Tom Mitten (adaptive TD) A special thanks also needs to go to Brad Spalding and Nigel Rae for their wisdom and assistance during the selection process.

However, the biggest plan over the summer is to improve the look and functionality of the APSI website.

Each of the team members will be introduced to you within this SnowPro via team bios as well as the inclusion of some of their written applications.

You may have already experienced a time when the web/ shop was closed for maintenance, we are sorry for the inconvenience of this but it will be unavoidable while the shop is upgraded to include new services such as:

Planned improvements of products and services

•

Membership Forum

The newly selected National team and technical committees have already begun contributing to further

•

APSI members exclusive Pro-deals

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•

Increased APSI merchandise

• More downloads/video links to aid you with your training After the end of season board meeting the APSI also decided to look at modernising the exam bibs (worn by participating candidates) and the trainer’s uniforms to be combined with APSI logoed banners (planned to be visible at APSI events) all packaged together to increase our exposure when visiting the resorts.

How course costs are allocated Below is a diagram showing where your money is allocated when participating in a course. The example is of a five day course with 5 participants where the trainer has travelled to the event, which is standard for most of the snowboard and alpine level three and four products available during the winter.

As you can see on a 5 day course with pricing set at $630 (new for winter 2013) the APSI will receive on average $16 per person to be returned to the association to be used for the improvement of products and services available to you.

Trainer Wage Travel Meals Labour on Cost Accomodation GST Administration

$250 $92 $49 $35 $100 $57 $31

I look forward to catching up with you on the snow.

Total Cost

$614

5 Day Course: Cost Per Participant

Revamped APSI Website

Discipline quick links: To help you find what you want more quickly; like courses, exams, clothing and prodeals.

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Allinonespot>>>>>> apsi.net.au

Coach Courses available in 2013 APSI are endorsed to deliver on-snow courses on behalf of Ski & Snowboard Australia. The SSA Coach Level 1 course covers how to deliver a basic coaching program.

With large participation at the entry level of

Candidates will be assessed via 4 methods.

1. Online General Principle’s course will provide an assessment of competencies in the generic coaching components.

(Which need to be completed prior to the on-snow course) 2. During the course candidates will be given the chance to demonstrate various skills appropriate to their chosen discipline. Dur¬ing these demonstrations, assessors will monitor and interject at times to formatively assess various competencies, primarily involved in skill demonstration appropriate to entry level athletes.

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snowsports, the Level 1 coaching course is aimed at providing suitable skills to those coaches who are working with riders. The aim is to provide a basic level of competition skill and knowledge of the discipline, consistent with SSA’s respective discipline Long Term Athlete Development Model.

3. During the course a practical coaching scenario will be provided to groups for discussion and role play to demonstrate coach¬ing of technical components. Each group will be given time to discuss their scenario during the course in order to present the best solution. The assessors will monitor and interject in these discussions at times to formatively assess various competencies, primarily involved in communication, technical, safety and coaching issues.

4. Candidates will be required to provide logged ‘post course coaching practice’ within their chosen field of coaching signed by an approved mentor.

Alpine

for exams and participated in educational events this year. We all know skiing is fun and training ourselves to be better only enhances that enjoyment of the sport, however, I still think the efforts we all make to professionally develop in this job are commendable.

The Australian resort staff and our APSI members are unparalleled in their commitment with the time and money spent on self improvement. I can’t think of another industry where staff members are more dedicated to this process of self improvement making a better employee in the process. I am proud to work alongside each and every one of you that takes this step and goes the extra mile in challenging the boundaries of our sport and our job.

Richard Jameson Technical Director’s Update

Some of the more exciting endeavours to come out of this year’s season for me personally was working alongside a newly selected technical committee; the implementation of the APSI Alpine Progression Booklet (pocket book); distributing a new MA training DVD to the resorts to use and the selection of a new APSI National Team . Let me give you a quick rundown on these areas and share the success of some of our team with you.

What a season! From such a lean start I never would have predicted some of the sensational skiing and conditions that we were treated to in the latter half of the year. The level 4 candidates of 2012 would know exactly what I mean. We spent our 2 major pre-courses training on some pretty marginal snow and limited terrain mid season moving to some of the best September exam/ snow conditions I have ever been a part of.

Technical Committee:

APSI Alpine had another successful year thanks in large part to the extraordinary staff that surrounds me in my role as Alpine Technical Director. The tireless efforts and passion of the guys and girls who run the courses and exams through the year have to be thanked and really do form the strength and backbone of our association.

The alpine technical committee is a group of selected APSI employees who are responsible for making all of the crucial decisions that shape the content and delivery of our courses, exams and education events. In Dec 2011 we stepped down the old committee inviting new applicants to show interest. I feel strongly that with this newly selected group of talented and knowledgeable individuals, the future of our educational products and

Reflecting back on the season I am thrilled at the hard work and dedication of all our members that trained

The Level 4 Race and Free ski candidates in their warm ups on an early morning GS training session as the sun rises over Mt. Buller Photo: Richard Jameson

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I urge you all to grab a copy from the APSI shop and at only $15 it is excellent value. A big thanks to Andy Rae and Paul Lorenz for the hours of work on this and I think the finished product is something we can be proud of.

Danny Foster from Hotham Snow sports School carves a short turn on Thredbo’s ‘Little Beauty’ Photo: Richard Jameson

events are in good hands. To introduce them to you the new APSI Alpine Technical Committee is comprised of; Andrew Rae Matt Smith

The Alpine Profression Booklet

Marty Firle

National Team Selection:

Ant Hill

It’s a huge undertaking to train for the very pinnacle of our profession and a big congratulation to all of those that made it to the final selection in Perisher at the end of the season. It was an inspirational event watching the top instructors, examiners and trainers vie for 1 of the coveted spots on the team. After a gruelling 2 days of skiing, demonstrating, behavioural interviews and clinicing their peers a newly selected team was chosen. This team is now charged with the job of guiding our snow sports technique. It will be their goal to push the envelopes of how we ski, ride and teach our methodologies over the next 4 years on the road to Interski in Argentina 2015.

Chris Allen Paul Lorenz Tom Langtry

Alpine Progression Booklet: The alpine technical committee made a decisive effort over the summer and during this season to elevate teaching standards and build fluid teachers that had all of the tools to make good decisions and progressions when in front of their guests. Therefore, one of the materials we worked on and produced for this year was the Alpine Progression Booklet. This pocket sized book proved to be a big hit amongst our instructors and appeared to be a great tool when teaching classes or during training. If you haven’t checked the book out yet

Thanks again to all of you that participated in training and APSI events over the season. I hope you have a great summer or winter depending on your destination and I look forward to seeing you all next year in the Aussie Mountains.

Chloe Merry from Thredbo waits to show her bump skiing on Kamikaze during the Interski Team Selection.

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Photo: Richard Jameson

Snowboard today. It’s a shame that I hear reports that APSI it too hard at times and while I know that level three and four are difficult, we do have a very high standard that we want to uphold. I also believe that level one and two really aren’t that difficult, as long as the instructor prepares properly.

With the new structure that includes freestyle in levels three and four, there is a greater need for instructors to be fully rounded. Yes, the standards are high, but the Australian environment requires such demands.

Jason Clauscen Recently, there have been so many changes and

advancements in snowboarding it is hard to keep track.

It has been amazing to see how far snowboarding has come, from the time when a 360 would win most competitions. To today where you need at least a double cork to stand a chance of being on the podium and the evolution of the triple blowing minds.

Technical Director’s Update With the 2012 season at a close, the annual time of reflection takes over, and what a season it was! The snow started early and finished late, with a number of epic days in between. Not since 2000 have I seen so many quality snow and riding days. From my perspective - the APSI side of things this season was mixed bag. I would like to take this opportunity to reflect and discuss some of my thoughts about the season as well as snowboarding and the instructing industry generally.

But what has been happening with snowboard instructing? Over the years I have had a unique chance to travel not only from resort to resort but also country to country. This has given me a chance to see the good improvements along with the not so good.

One of the biggest surprises came early in the season with the Sodergren Fund applications and not one snowboarder applying for the honor! So many times over the seasons I have heard how hard, expensive and time consuming training is and to have no snowboarders apply for the fund was such a shame. For all those struggling snowboarders out there that need support for the future, I suggest you do some homework and find out about the fund and what it could do for you.

Some of the great improvements I see include;

The 2012 season saw the lowest number of snowboard participants in courses and exams ever, with level one being the only exception.

Resorts are building beginner and intermediate terrain features that help students and instructors progress more effectively and efficiently.

I believe there are a few reasons for this;

Indoor and outdoor dry slopes beginning to appear in Australia to help people of all levels learn and maintain their skills all year round.

The variety of equipment that has been manufactured and produced to help students of all levels to learn and progress. Beginner equipment that is designed to be softer and more flexible which allows students to progress more smoothly and technical designs such as base bevel and board camber that allow students to choose their weapon of choice.

This year saw low numbers of new instructors employed by the resorts with a high number of returning staff and a high number of foreign instructors employed. This has a flow on effect - with many second and third year instructors either choosing to have a season to just enjoy themselves without the stress of training or exams.

Greater interaction between countries and disciplines where skiers, telemarkers and snowboarders can communicate with each other and realize that instructing, no matter what discipline, has its similarities.

With an influx of foreign instructors it is quite often hard to convince them to come along and enjoy the APSI methods of training, as they are often more familiar and comfortable with their foundations from their system.

The ability for instructors to travel the world, ride and teach what they know and love (as long as the visas are available)!

Meeting people that are keen to improve and motivated to learn, regardless of how hard they are trained or pushed, they continue to work and improve. Even when they have had re-sit after re-sit they continue to return to complete what they have started.

This starts to create a lot of locker room chat about different systems and what works best. My personal experience has been that joining in training sessions, developing ideas and friendships was a huge part of my own development. If it wasn’t for the fellow instructors and trainers around the world I wouldn’t be where I am

Trainers that have managed to work through adversity 17

Candidates attending APSI exams under prepared.

and still deliver good training products. Trainers that are not out there for the money or the sound of their own voice, but are there because they are passionate about helping the industry and seeing the best product out there for all students.

It still amazes me that every season I meet candidates that have spent their money on membership and courses, yet still do not attend training, read the manual or go the extra distance to find out what is required for future levels. These candidates continue to fall well behind the candidates that work hard. Over the years I continually remind people to read their manuals and ask questions, but some find it hard to listen. As a trainer or examiner when someone is unsuccessful, say with the written exam, it makes you disappointed that they didn’t achieve their best simply because they didn’t put in the effort.

The list can go on and on about the great things happening in our industry but what about some of the not so great things?

Some areas that concern me include; The huge numbers that started to appear in group lessons, especially in the lower levels. Over the past 5 years I have seen groups of 12 to 16 students being sent out for 2 to 2.5 hour lessons.

It’s one thing to talk about the progress and problems in snowboarding but that’s no help without ideas and suggestions for improvement.

This is creating an environment that makes it extremely hard for instructors to provide a quality product. The students rarely receive quality instructing from such a product, resulting in lower attendance for future lessons and a poorly prepared student being sent out on the snow. Not only that, but instructors that are continually placed in this position can suffer from burn out and fatigue which means they don’t return in future seasons.

How do we further the progress that is being made?

Make sure that instructors are up to date with advancements in equipment, either through training or written articles. Let instructors sample these products by having access to them at demo days or access to cont... p15

Membership is based on a calendar year so a 2013 membership extends from 01 January 2013 to 31 December 2013.

Early bird prices Full year membership $95.00

Members who are currently working in any snowsports school, wishing to attend any APSI courses/exams or apply for ISIA status are required to register as full members.

3 year membership $240.00 Associate membership $70.00

GET IN QUICK!

Your membership fees go directly to supporting the administration costs of the association. It allows you to access to all parts of the web site, full voting rights and access participating Prodeals..

18

rentals at their resort.

Try and promote teaching terrain that helps instructors and students learn more easily and also ensure all resorts have enhanced teaching terrain for our guests.

Try and promote cross discipline training so all disciplines can continue to work and grow with each other.

Continue to support trainers, especially when they are facing adversity in training sessions. For example; making sure there is the right number of candidates per training session and making sure the trainers have the right tools such as video cameras and training rooms available to them.

What can we do about the problems?

Work with resorts, management and guests to try and contain the numbers of students to a lesson. Perhaps placing a cap on the amount of lessons sold in a given time slot and spreading the lesson numbers throughout the whole day.

Recommend different time slots or products to our guest so their learning is more than just 9.30am to 11.30am.

It’s tougher to make recommendations on what can be done to ensure candidates are truly prepared at their exams. However, I have a few suggestions;

to those level guests, an instructor’s ability to pass their exams increases. However, I recognize that this can be difficult to provide if the work is not available. Particularly when instructors are not given the opportunity to teach higher end lessons in their school or, as mentioned previously, lessons are repeatedly over crowded.

In this situation I recommend working closely with supervisors, trainers or management, explaining a quick progression with fundamental movements, or shadowing classes can help expand instructors’ opportunities for work, improve their knowledge and increase their chance of passing exams.

Another issue that has come to my attention recently is how instructors are valued. Is a good instructor someone that comes to work and does a lot of hours, regardless of what product they are providing to guests? Or, is a good instructor someone who may not do the most number of hours but works with theirs guests incredibly well, presenting information correctly, and helping them with their needs?

I have had many opportunities to witness both good and unfortunately poor lessons. It makes a difference seeing someone teach in real life rather than just teaching in an exam. I have however, realised that there is a close relationship between the two. It is satisfying to see good instructors continuing to work hard with their guests regardless of their level or age, continually teacher assisting their students and finding the correct tools to progress their riding. It is equally disappointing to see instructors; not aiding their guests and using incorrect teaching tools, passing their certification and next season falling back into poor or lazy habits, losing their willingness to teach or go the extra distance and ultimately losing their passion for snowboarding and teaching.

Candidates should always attend courses, no matter where they are in their development.

However, I don’t see any value in attempting the exam until they are truly prepared. A good indication of whether they are prepared to go straight to the next levels exam is to look at their exam scores from previous years, particularly to see if they Photo:Pete Ely had a SSS mark applied or Jason Clauscen in the Perisher Pipe had more than one 4 in their I feel there is difference in scores. This is an indication that they need more time how you view an instructors’ worth if you compare it training and teaching at that level before attempting the to the numbers of hours they do and what is entered exam. into a computer with the product they are presenting on the hill. Good lessons require factors such as passion, More time needs to be spent working on the movements empathy, knowledge and ability, which can be hard to at each level to make sure the movements are correct find in any industry. In a perfect world it would be nice to and being achieved at the required level. have all instructors do lots of hours and present a quality product all the time.

More time needs to be spent practicing teaching to the required level, not 10 or 20 lessons but 100 or more So, what about the value of an instructor? Well, that is a lessons at that level. Through true teaching and mileage question I would like to leave with you.

19

Telemark

separate Level 1 courses running, two crossover courses and two candidates completed their Level 4.

There were 12 participants in the new Level 1 courses and student feedback was encouraging with the students enjoying the content and learning. The candidates found the introduction they received to the concept of steering particularly rewarding with tangible outcomes for both how they would teach telemark and their own personal skiing. A notable comment from several participants and trainers was the difficulty of taking in all the content in a two day course. The technical committee will discuss possible solutions at the 2013 Trainers’ Coordination.

Richard Hocking Interim Technical Director’s Update

There were 11 crossover candidates, 4 at Thredbo and 7 at Perisher (mostly traveling from Selwyn) with one

Tom Gellie has stood down after an excellent term as Telemark Technical Director, after choosing to concentrate on his Alpine Instruction and Training. As Technical Director Tom made significant strides in the development of telemark technique progressing efficient telemark skiing and exploring how telemarkers can use the telemark movement to their advantage. Tom oversaw the development of the new Level 1 course and substantial changes to the Level 4 course. Tom also built depth in the ranks of APSI Telemark Trainers and instructors with three Trainers earning their Level 4 whilst he was Technical Director.

Tom nominated me to follow in the big shoes he left behind at the last board meeting and I was appointed as interim Telemark Technical Director. I aim to continue Tom’s legacy of Tom Gellie enjoying a great freshie day this season.

Photo: Kate Haring making telemark more inclusive and to draw on the other APSI trainers and instructors (including candidate going on to take and pass the exam. The Tom) to continue the progression of telemark technique others took the course for personal development, to gain and instruction in Australia. ‘trained status’ in a second discipline or for some good old fashioned fun!

2012 was a strong year for telemark courses with 3 There are two new Level 4’s for 2012 although no Level 4 course ran this year. The Level 4 consists of several components that need to be ticked off and takes a couple of seasons to complete with Justin Carter and Ben Jackson both completing the final requirements for the Level 4 this season. Well done on a significant achievement. To achieve their Level 4 Justin and Ben displayed a strong commitment to the APSI as the candidate must attend Trainers’ Coordination, run a course on top of successfully completing the Level 4 course.

This autumn I’ll be attending and presenting at Intertele in Snowbird next April. Intertele is an Interski for Telemark being organised by the PSIA. If any APSI members would also like to attend please contact me. I look forward to reporting on Intertele in the next Snowpro.

Billy, Pippa, Tony, Ugo, Tom, Lincoln, Joe, Max and Greg on the X-Over Course.

Photo: Steve Jones

20

nordic

Warren Feakes Technical Director’s Update APSI Nordic has had another successful season Warren Feakes and Grace Franke.

The following courses and exams were conducted.

Course Level Level 4 Level 3 Level 1 (Latrobe University)

Location Perisher Perisher Perisher (3 days)

Level 1

Perisher

Level 2 Level 1 Level 2 All Levels Exams

Perisher Falls Creek Falls Creek Falls Creek

Recalls Cross Over Course

Perisher and Falls Creek Mt Hotham

The courses were conducted using an amended syllabus from 2011. This syllabus is flexible enough to allow for varying snow and track conditions (morning to afternoon) as well as variances in candidates skiing ability.

Photo: Susan Wright

Result 3 students 3 students 14 x Outdoor Education students in their 3rd year. This is a course licensed to Latrobe for a set fee/course and conducted by 2 x Level 4 qualified APSI Trainers.

5 students and one 14 year old observer – All successful at exam 3 students, and one observer 1 student, sucessfull at exam 3 Students 3 x Level 2 and 1 x Level 1, All successful at exam 4 recalls 6 Students

School has a subsidy system for L1 and L2 candidates whereby the athlete can apply for 1/3 of the cost of the course to be paid by Snowsport NSW and 1/3 by Kosciuszko Ski School, after successful completion of the courses and 10 hours (paid) instruction for the ski school. Because of the interschools lesson load in September, all the NSW and ACT Athletes who did L1 and L2 were granted this subsidy. The skiing public have been very positive in their feedback on the young instructors this season.

Many of the candidates attending Nordic L1 and L2 courses are current State or National Squad athletes and some can be quite young. Although they can ski at race pace, most have difficulty slowing down what they do for quality demonstrations. The break-down of the old Level 1 syllabus to two levels (now L1 Classical techniques and L2 Skating techniques) allows for time to concentrate on Classical demonstrations in L 1 and many critiqued mini lessons prior to the examination lessons that are conducted on the last afternoon of the course.

The Latrobe University Outdoor Education course was a successful return in 2012 of the old Outdoor Education Group (OEG) method of ensuring peak body standards of ski instruction amongst Outdoor Ed Teachers before they graduate. XC Skiing is an elective at Latrobe. This is straight profit for APSI (no course costs – just a licence fee of $500 per course) and generates new members as well.

The NSW and ACT squad athletes in combination with Snowsport NSW (XC) and Kosciuszko Cross Country Ski 21

Latrobe intends to run the same course next year based on this year’s successful activity.

It was pleasing to be able to run a Level 3 and Level 4 course this season on the early snowfalls. It was a bit of a ‘test run’ for a methodology I developed for level 4 and I believe it was very successful.

The three Level 4 candidates, Danny Monoghan, Graham Hammond and Zac Zaharias have yet to complete their 2000 word publishable essays and Zac his All Levels Exam day as a rookie examiner, to fulfil all the requirements.

Work to be completed before next season centres on several revisions of parts of Danny Monoghan holds court in the Level 4 Photo: Warren Feakes the skills manual, specifically in teaching methods and the “Alpine turns on Cross is suitable to be professionally printed. When there, I Country Skis” section. I will also re-write the Teaching believe this manual could become a good sale item Examination marking sheet for Nordic as, although outside APSI to generate income as there are so few XC assisting consistency between examiners, it is laborious publications of our high standard of content available in to complete. The new one will be more of a tick and the world to the general public. flick and word circle for the major elements of the 9 essentials.

I suspect that next season could be a quieter season for Nordic as we have plumbed the depths of XC talent over I believe it will be probably another season before I can the past couple of seasons and now have a strong core be confident in having a full Cross Country Manual that of instructors to progress up through the levels.

Push-ups on nordic skis, Why? Because we can!

22

Photo: Warren Feakes

Adaptive

certified to teach Adaptive lessons for our guests with disabilities.

The standard of instruction at these exams was pleasingly high. Candidates were able to show off their knowledge of disabilities and share their insights, tricks and ideas with their fellow instructors. The skills these instructors developed while learning to teach people with disabilities will not only be useful in their Adaptive lessons, but will also make their alpine and snowboard lessons that much better. It was clear that the candidates had been training and studying hard, so well done!

Tom Mitten

Thanks and congratulations should also go out to their trainers at Mt Buller (Stephen Masel), Thredbo (Kenny Williams) and Perisher (Ursina Kradolfer), who put in a huge effort all season long. A special thanks to Ursina for all her enthusiasm, dedication and examining.

Technical Director’s Update Earlier this year at Whistler-Blackcomb a man with paraplegia did a backflip in a mono-ski. Josh Dueck, a Canadian, was the first person to ever do this. He also featured in a film titled ‘The Freedom Chair’, which won the Best Mountains Sports Film award at the Banff Mountain Film Festival 2011. Murray Bartram, an Australian skier who has cerebral palsy, with the assistance of a renowned film maker, is creating a documentary capturing Adaptive skiing from its grassroots at a beginners’ recreational level all the way through to World Cup racing and big mountain heli-skiing in Alaska. In 2014, Adaptive snowboarding will make its Olympic debut in Sochi, Russia.

This year was a transitionary one for Adaptive within the APSI. At the start of the season Tom Liolios stood down from his position as Adaptive Technical Director after several years’ hard work and dedication. Tom undertook the massive task of updating the Adaptive curriculum to make it more relevant to today’s guests and lessons.

Thanks to him we now have an Adaptive certification that is preparing our members for their lessons better than ever before. Good one, Mr Liolios.

The Adaptive snowsports world is only just beginning to grow. Now is a great chance to get on board and get the opportunity to teach some of the most rewarding lessons you will ever experience. Who knows, you might even teach the next person to land a mono-ski backflip, rip Alaska or win a World Cup race on one leg.

As you can see, Adaptive skiing and snowboarding are on their way up. In Australia’s alpine resorts there were Adaptive lessons running most days of the week! This increase was reflected at the APSI’s Adaptive exams run at Perisher and Mt Buller, with thirteen new instructors

Stu Hume and Murray Bartram. Two of the skiers you might see shredding Alaska or winning a World Cup.

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Photo: Tom Mitten

Dates

Course Details

Closing Date Venue

Cost*

ALPINE Level One Course / Exam - for the general public 25-28 Feburary

Level 1 Course & Exam

7 days prior

Niseko

$800

(includes membership, Manual and all course material)

Level Two Course 2-4 March

Level 2 Course

7 days prior

Niseko

$375

Level 3 Course

7 days prior

Niseko

$630

Level 2 Full Exam Level 2 freeski & demo resits Level 2 teaching resits Level 3 Full Exam

Level 3 teaching resits Level 3 freeski & demo resits Level 4 freeski & demo resits Level 4 teaching resits

7 days prior Niseko $465 7 days prior Niseko $115* 7 days prior Niseko $115* 7 days prior Niseko $465 7 days prior Niseko $115* 7 days prior Niseko $115* 7 days prior Niseko $115* 7 days prior Niseko $115* *Includes price per component

1.5 days training + level 1 exam 1.5 days training + level 1 exam

7 days prior 7 days prior

Level Three Course 23-27Feburary

Exams 7-8 March 7 March 8 March 8-9 March 8 March 9 March 9 March 10 March

Snowboard Snowboard X-Over

January March

Niseko Niseko

$435 $435

The APSI reserves the right to reschedule or cancel courses or exams if less than 4 candidates have registered for a course or exam by the closing date. APSI reserves the right to relocate the event due to snow conditions and candidate numbers.

24

Sodergren Scholarship

you’ve improved. Funnily enough, MA-ing yourself and your friends also helps your movement analysis skills, which come in handy both while teaching day-to-day, as well as in exams. In terms of your own skiing, video is a great tool to connect different learning styles. A group of people can watch a video and talk about what they feel, think or visualise at a certain point in the turn, using the video as a common reference point. Again, throwing around a few ideas with your friends is a great way to change up the training routine, and give you some focus for your next session.

Michela Patton Something I’ve struggled with over the past few seasons

is the struggle of “ski better before you go faster” vs. “ski faster so you can get better”. Yes, I’m a perfectionist.

But I’ll never be a perfect skier. I guess the lesson here to pass on to new instructors is to challenge yourself.

Ski fast. Ski steeps. Ski bumps. Ski crud. Ski anything and everything that takes you out of your comfort zone, because in order to achieve the next level of performance, you need to handle the pressure created by terrain and speed.

Scholarship Report When faced with putting together a few words about receiving the Sodergren Scholarship for 2012, the first two that come to mind are “thank you”. Thank you to the APSI, to my trainers and my training buddies for making 2012 such a great season. It’s easy to get caught up in your own skiing during seasons and forget about the whole support network that we have available in the form of mentors, coaches and peers. So thanks especially to the APSI for building an organisation so conducive to teamwork.

The same goes for teaching. Put yourself out there. If you normally teach kids, have a go at teaching adults, and vice versa. You’ll find it difficult at first, but ultimately you will become a more versatile instructor. Sometimes private lessons come with more prestige, points or pay, but there is so much to be said about good class handling and feedback when teaching a class of 12. Some of the best advice I’ve been given is, “treat every group lesson as if it were 12 private lessons”.

Something I’ve learnt in my few seasons as an instructor is that the best instructors I know work as a team.

They support each other through their ups and downs because, inevitably, there will be good days and bad. Days where you feel like your skiing has plateaued, and days where you have those “ahah!” moments and everything seems to click. The important thing to remember in your training is that improvement is not linear. In other words, if you graphed your ski performance over a season, it would never improve in a straight line - there are always peaks and troughs. So it helps to have positive people around you to keep you motivated.

Above all, get out there and have fun. We are lucky enough to be in an industry that encompasses both work and play. Have fun when you free ski, when you train, and when you teach. I’m sure you’ve all had teachers or trainers whose passion for skiing was infectious. So be passionate. And pass it on, so the Australian ski industry can continue growing and that the APSI can continue supporting instructors like you and me.

All vanity jokes aside, keeping a video record of your ski performance over a few years is a great way to see how

Sodergren Scholarship

When I set off on a road trip across the country to ‘maybe’ get a job for the 2010 season teaching Snowboarding in Thredbo, I never thought I would walk away with a new life style, let alone an exciting new career. I found instructing to be a fantastic way share my passion for snowsports with people from all around the globe and use it to connect with them. By the end of the season I knew I’d be coming back time and time again to be a part of all things winter.

Having gained my Level 1 and 2 qualification during the previous season and spent the northern hemisphere winter at Big White Resort in British Colombia, I felt ready to start training toward the Level 3 exam the following year back at Thredbo. At the suggestion of a friend I

“Ouchy” Tonia Wirth Scholarship Report 25

looked into the Sodergren Scholarship and found both a devastating story of loss and the bright possibility for others to walk in Mike and Mim’s footsteps. Inspired by the opportunity that was being offered to those wishing to do so; I put together and sent off my application.

First lifts, tired legs and a whole bunch of edge rolls later I had made it in one piece all the way to Falls Creek for this year’s pre course. The five days were a major learning curve, with heaps of new progressions (to use both on ourselves and our clients) and a solid understanding of the areas we each needed to go away and work with.

Six weeks remained to improve and ‘polish’ before the exam was set to run. A massive thank you needs to go out to Matthew Ronald and Jason Clauscen for your hard work organizing the course, and for the wisdom that was shared.

The 2011 season had got off to a highly enjoyable start but unfortunately I had a rough crash and ended up walking out of Canberra Hospital with a plate and 12 pins in my right wrist. Not the greatest moment of my life and all before I had even made it to the pre course!

I was however privileged enough to win the Sodergren Scholarship for 2011 and due to my injury the APSI, generously allowed the use of the scholarship to transfer to 2012.

The three day exam ran amid some heavy weather, meaning everyone was wet and some of the boys were sporting some pretty sweet ponchos. Though receiving good scores in 5/6 components of the exam, my performance in the Freestyle section was not solid enough to pass. Someone once told me snowboarding is a series of painful events, you just have to pick yourself up and get back out there! And that’s just what I intend to do. Obviously disappointed but not discouraged I’m still hungry for the next step and intend to continue training towards completing my Level 3.

My wrist healed quickly and I was lucky to still be able to head to Japan in December that same year. What an exceptional experience! Over 18 meters of snow fell during the four months between December and April and the soft landings made for a happy environment to try and get back some of the confidence lost after my crash. I worked hard to ride everything I could before returning to Oz for 2012 and my third winter in Thredbo.

26

APSI Updates Alpine

The changes include; Demos: the extension/retraction demonstration will now be performed in a medium radius, carved performance rather than pure carved. It will still be examined on blue/black groomed terrain.

Teaching: the correctional teach will now be examined by asking the candidate to correct inherent common problems they see in their fellow candidates within the group. This way the lesson will be more realistic with MA needing to be completed on the group first, then a mini-progression will need to be designed to address at least one of the weaknesses found in the group. When being assessed, the candidate will now pick 1 question with the ‘Goal’ (e.g. “Teach us Dynamic Shot Turns”) on it, rather than the goal and the common problem like in the past.

Richard Jameson Level 4 Changes Important note for all sitting the alpine level 4 Two changes to the alpine level 4 tasks have been approved by the alpine technical committee to be effective from the beginning of 2013 (including Japan resits).

If you have any questions regarding the new format please contact either Richard Jameson or Andrew Rae for clarification.

APSI Your qualification/update year is displayed in ‘My Membership-View Details’, on the web site. The payment of your membership dues will enable you to access the recall options available in the shop, these include:

•A Home Study recall to be completed in combination with 6 hours of ‘professional development training’, only available to currently employed snowsports instructors, OR

•Spring Sessions, open to all members and

Andrew Rae available through our shop. This consists of a full day’s

professional development training with the Demo team, available in Victoria and NSW in September and includes the current manual.

Recalls In order to maintain the integrity of your qualification, it is mandatory for all APSI members to participate in an update activity. This activity is required to be completed at least once every three years.

Please note that participating in a certification course is the only other way to meet the requirements of the recall system, automatically pushing forward the target date three years later.

27

Rookie Trainer Reports Rookie Trainer

of motivating people comes from our trainers skiing this way. As trainers; Pauly, Tom, Matt, Rene and I are always pushing our technique, sharing what we are working on and training in our spare time. I think this enthusiasm and commitment rubs off on our candidates, demonstrating an exciting picture that makes people want to improve.

Changes being made: When candidates feel and see improvements it gives them more motivation and consolidates that they are on the right track. Positive reinforcement that they are improving gives encouragement even if the improvements are minor; e.g. a new way to explain a snowplough or to demonstrate a better turn.

Reilly McGlashan Rookie Year Report

Making myself available: One of the most important things I offer my trainees is my openness to be asked any question, anytime and anywhere, so they can improve and better themselves. I feel this gives them the confidence to be able to approach me, even in the locker room, if there is something they do not understand.

I find that when people feel comfortable about asking questions this gives them confidence to come to training.

Even if they didn’t fully understand everything in their training session, they know that I will put in the time to help them understand outside of training.

Greetings Earthlings The 2012 winter came in with a flurry, with some of the best snow I have seen in Australia since 2005, when I started working at Thredbo. This season provided the candidates with a great training facility and playground to get more involved in their profession; and for those who were new to the industry, a great first season to have a look at what it can hold.

In reflecting on the season, I had quite some time to do so being bed ridden from an onslaught of appendicitis on the 9th of September which cut my season pretty short. But, I guess it’s one of those things that are better out than in!

Fun and enjoyable environment: I found that if candidates could feel comfortable about approaching me in the locker room, by building trust, a fun and enjoyable environment was created in training. Making people comfortable for training helped them enjoy the session more, providing an interest and drive to the next one.

Being a trainer for candidates from Level 1 through to Level 4 in Thredbo; I thought I would share with you some tactics I have used to motivate trainees to be more involved and want to participate in training sessions.

Getting a pair of Volkl Skis!

Enough said!

This season in Thredbo we definitely didn’t have a lack of motivation from staff to get out of bed early and come to training. I think it came down to one factor in particular; changing morning training from Thursday to Wednesday.

No more hungover people on Thursday mornings! But all jokes aside, I have been implementing five strategies that I feel have been a great motivation for candidates.

These are the strategies that I have implemented to get people motivated to come to training, and feel that they have been working quite well. The sessions this season provided a range of experiences for all Levels.

On early morning training days we would often have people from Level Three come to Level Two training just to try and get more training in. Level Fours would come along to Level Three training and Level Twos would try to go with the Level Threes. Many times we would be

Exciting skiing: What is exciting skiing?

Fast, flowing and dynamic movements that make people want to learn how to ski in that way. A big part 28

stuck with fewer trainers than what we should have had due to excess numbers showing up! This showed a high amount of interest from everyone in the great training sessions that were provided this season. We had an impressive pass rate for Thredbo this season, with Level 2 and Level 3 candidates topping the state and the top Level 4 candidate nationally. We

must be doing something right at Thredbo with training staff!

I encourage everyone to continue along the path of MOTIVATION through the summer/winter season ahead.

I look forward to working with you all next year.

Rookie Trainer

my experience and in 2009 I came to Australia for the first time.

While working in Australia I started to get involved more in the Australian system, which led me to the decision to try to become an APSI trainer/examiner.

The most interesting part was to compare the two techniques, the Italian one, with wider stance and more shin pressure to the Australian, with narrower stance and less shin.

When I was doing my course in Italy, we talked about

Rookie Year Report

Rene Crazzolara the 4 skills of skiing, but very briefly, because lots of the participants were ex-racers and therefore really good skiers, who understood the mechanics from all the previous training that they went through.

My name is Rene Crazzolara and I’m an Italian full certified ski/telemark instructor and an APSI rookie trainer.

In Australia we’ve got more people from the public trying to become an instructor which makes the preparation different. We try to find examples and reasons for everything that we do in the way to make it simpler for the participants. The system has 4 levels and for each you need to be able to perform certain skiing skills.

Prior to starting my instructor pathway, I used to FIS race and specialized in Super-G and Downhill. I decided to start my instructor career in 2005 when I began the intructor course in Italy.

The course over here takes 3 years to finish and requires passing an entrance exam to get in and a few other major exams (practical and theoretical) at the end of each term. The final exam at the end of 3 years covers everything that has been taught during the course.

In Italy we do not really have 4 levels, I would rather call them categories of skiing ablity like “bronzo, argento and oro” (“bronze, silver, gold) which are different from skiing levels.

I also find that in the APSI system the turns are more active (leg turning), rounder and have a very early and strong egde grip. In Italy the turns are slighlty more “skidded” in lower levels, and we let our equipment help us perform the turn more.

After finishing all my exams, I have decided to deepen

Rene rippin’ it up at Thredbo

Photo: Steve Cuff

29

Working/training in Thredbo is fun and rewarding, as you get to go out with trainers like Tom Gellie, Paul Lorenz, Reilly McGlashan, Matt Smith, Kate Haring and share/ discuss the approach for training.

Thanks to them it was easier for me to understand why they teach our candidates this way as opposed to what I have experienced. Every one of them has got so much pontential and knowhow which makes the training more excting and efficient.

Rookie Trainer Having not skied at all for the past 15 years I wanted to see if I could still ski as well as my 22 year old self and again hang out with super cool people.Problem is that I was out of shape, had forgotten how to ski and I was already 42 years old!!! Imagine being so old!

Well, what a great learning curve to be on and, in case you haven’t heard, 40 is the new 20!At least that’s what I tell my legs when I’m taking an ice bath.

It’s the People

Shawn Campbell

Many people have asked what it is like returning to the APSI after all this time and in some respects it has been like jumping in a time machine from 1995 to

Back to the Future...

Back in the Day In the late 80s and early 90s I skied a lot. I needed to. I had a lot of catching up to do.

After my first ski trip I desperately wanted to become a Ski Instructor and embark on a life of skiing around the world and hang out with super cool people.Problem was that I couldn’t ski and I was already 18 years old!!!

Imagine being so old!

After 8 years, 2000 days of skiing and many great times around the world I thought the ski bug had run its course so I called it a day.

Its been 15 years. Better start with stubbies.

Never too Old

Photo: Jan Vokaty

2012 and I’ve noticed so many positive changes and improvements made to the APSI throughout that time.

Staggering really!!

In 2012 my wife, Lisa, and I skied a lot.We needed to. The ski bug had bitten us both and we had a lot of catching up to do.

Still, the absolute best part of returning is the community within the APSI membership and throughout the Snowsports Industry generally.

I am constantly inspired by the positive fun-loving people around me. Instructors, Coaches, Trainers, Examiners and National Team Demonstrators who enjoy their riding and encourage others to do the same.

Every day on the hill I feel 20 years younger! At night I feel 20 years older!!!

There is no easier way to be inspired, stay young and have a great time.

Ski Prep with a view!

Photo: Lisa Roper-Campbell

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Glad to be back!!!

INTERSKI

2015

Photo: Tom Gellie

APSI National Team Towards the end of the 2012 winter the APSI selected a new National team over two days at Perisher in some very variable snow conditions.

The team’s main responsibilities include working with the various technical committees to help drive the direction of snowsports instruction over the coming years. Their final goal will be to prepare for the next Interski to be held in Argentina September 2015 and bring back their findings to share with the APSI membership.

The selection committee was comprised of;

Andrew Rae: Head Coach Richard Jameson: Team member, Assistant coach &

The following team profiles should help to introduce you to the new team, all of whom are looking forward to sharing their ideas as well riding with as many members as possible in the coming years at events such as ‘Spring Sessions’.

Alpine TD

Jason Clauscen: Team member, Snowboard coach & SBTD

Brad Spalding: Interski Ambassador for Australia,

The National team will also have the inclusion of Warren Feakes (as Nordic TD) and Tom Mitten (as Adaptive TD), both of whom were not selected through the 2 day process but it is planned that they attend Interski on behalf of the APSI for their respective disciplines.

Team manager

Nigel Rae: 1991 & 1995 Interski team member

Team Introduction (trained)

Australian Resort: Buller Outline of experience: 11 Seasons at Mt Buller Snowsports school including: 7 seasons with the Mt Buller Race Club 2 seasons with the Mt Buller Race Department

Anthony Hill

1 Northern Season at Deer Valley, USA

Sponsor: Nordica

1 Northern Season at Verbier Ski School, Switzerland

Discipline: Alpine

1 Northern Season at Brand, Austria

Qualifications: APSI 4 trainer/examiner, CSCF 3 31

the ski is turning on its edge. With this in mind I have isolated a number of key movement patterns that are vital to produce both a long and short turn.

3 Northern seasons coaching FIS & U15 Tirol and Arlberg region, Austria 3 Northern seasons coaching FIS & U15 Piemonte and Mt Blanc region, Italy & France

Long turn There is often a chicken and egg debate over where the starting point of the turn is. On pen and paper you could argue that it is from arc to arc, however consideration must be given to the transition which overlays the end of one arc into the next. Over the past number of years the terms cross over and cross under have been taught and to a certain extent have failed. The promotion of an active movement with the hips has been the focus.

To a degree this has promoted upper body inclination as a skier tries to initiate the hip movement from the top down. The overall focus is always to move as much mass inside the arc of the ski. By controlling the mass you are able to control the bend in the ski. In the pursuit to increase the mass and move inside the turn the focus on the outside ski has been lost.

3rd term on the APSI National team Skiing is more than a sport to me; it is a part of my life and something that I will always be involved with.

Attending Interski is the pinnacle in my skiing career, more importantly sharing and exchanging the knowledge learnt is fundamental in developing snowsports in Australia.

What you bring to the APSI National Team: Having reached national team level as an athlete and progressed through the APSI system, the volume of technical skiing has resulted in strong skiing demonstration skills. These skills are also adaptable to suit other skiing styles. I am constantly working on improving my skiing and feel that this passion is infectious in a team environment.

In order to improve the current teaching of the long turn I consider the addition of the movements that follow: • At the top of any arced turn the skier must find grip or a platform to build angles during the turn. The earlier the platform is created or the grip found, the more manipulation the skier has over the radius of the turn. To find this grip the earlier a skier can roll the new ski on edge the greater the chance of success, regardless of performance. I consider this the first step.

With a large amount of International exposure I am confident in delivering both on and off snow presentations. I feel that my experience teaching and coaching on-snow, particularly at the previous Interski, will benefit the team.

My professional development in‌..Skiing: A high performance recap

• As well as training subtle movements in rolling the ankle, the position of the upper body is crucial.

The over emphasis on active hip movement has distorted the true movement and promoted both hip rotation and upper body inclination. To improve the movement pattern of the hip and upper body, the focus should be on a pre-angulated position, or pre-basic position. We have considered skiing into a basic position in the past years; however as the

Since the time of wooden skis to the now parabolic, the technology in ski equipment has shaped the technique we use to turn. Of particular interest is the move from straight skis to a ski with a side cut. Over the coming years we will see the radius of skis used in the longer turn disciplines increase. I consider the fundamental difference being the response one gets from the ski.

The lower the radius the more response one feels when

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dictates the extremities of the turn.

speed increases creation of such position takes longer. Ultimately, the technology in the skis has sent the skier’s stance backwards in the purist of skiing into the basic position. The preferred approach, in unison to the above point, would be to create a prebasic position during the transition, ideally before starting the next arc and contra to beginning the turn with stacked ankles to hips.

The transition therefore becomes a focus of body position to body position through feeling the ankle, providing the platform and moving into the turn.

Short turn The same technique can be instituted into a short turn.

The focus shifts to the speed at which the movements are made. In order to deal with the speed an additional focus must be on a strong forward position created at the hip. To a certain degree you are more forward in a short turn in order to deal with the rate and velocity of pressure which both the ski and body are put through.

• This allows the hips with symmetric shoulders to move into the turn as one, rather than inclining with the shoulders or just pushing the hips in.

In summary the combination of earlier edge and prebasic position allows the skier to move the hip across the arc at the beginning, predominantly by creating a fold at the hips over the outside ski. The necessity of these steps is relevant to the speed at which a long turn is made. Both steps are easily taught in a snow plough and are easier to use than the concepts of cross over or under, as the edge angle is increased so is the basic position. However unlike in a traverse, at the speed of a long turn, the edge grip allows the upper body to be less over the outside ski and more in a vertical position. As the skier improves in pursuit of the highest performance turn, a balancing of edge angle with body position

Final remarks It is now time to rethink high performance skiing. There are certain traits that will allow greater use of the technology beneath our ski boots. The concept of skiing into a basic position may better be phrased as actively creating your basic position during the turn.

Team Introduction

• APSI Level 4 Trainer/Examiner • 2012/2013 Alpine technical committee • Many precourses • Lots of exams • Entry level race coaching (masters/interschool’s and children).

What you bring to the APSI National Team:

Chris Allen

• The ability to work in a team

Discipline: Alpine

• Good organizational skills

Qualifications: APSI 4, Level 4 trainer/examiner

• Self-managing

Australian Resort: Hotham

• Skiing that is true to our system

International Resort: Deer Valley

• A strong understanding of our teaching and skiing concepts

Outline of Experience:

My professional development in…… Presenting.

• 17 Australian Winters

Since becoming a trainer presenting information is something I have really needed to pay extra attention to as this has never come naturally to me.

My first presentations were the discussions in

• 16 USA winters (Deer Valley) • APSI Level 4 certified 33

pre-courses and this was a time to practice on a small group, the pre-course discussion is a great place as a trainer to improve and prepare for bigger things. Over time I have become quite confident at delivering these presentations due to the fact that I understood the content of what I was presenting, after all I was talking about the job I did day in day out. I have also come to learn that having good aids to back up the presentation is invaluable in helping me to deliver an interesting talk through power point shows using pictures and video. After many precourses that I have lost count of has given me the opportunity to keep practicing my presenting and along the way I have been lucky to get great advice from people that do this presenting thing very well and one piece of advice that springs to mind is quote: you have a job to do (Richo).

Chris Allen skiing High Noon at Thredbo .

Photo Paul Lorenz

level at our annual trainers coordination this was the big one the one that has given me a lot of anxious moments and something I had thought long and hard about.

With those words I have been putting that mind set into practice, this is my job to get a message across about the profession that I take a lot of pride in doing as well as I can and I try to pass it on to other like-minded people as clearly as possible. In the lead up to 2012 I had I big decision to make with a position as a technical committee member, I knew one of the many roles this position would attract will be presenting a topic to my peers of the highest

That is all in the past now as I went to coordination as a tech team member and gave my talks which I was 70% happy with. I knew after the event I could do better and most of all the confidence I gained at that event has me thinking ahead to next year’s coordination in a different light rather than thinking how am I going to stand up there and do this I’m thinking how I can do it better.

Team Introduction

Snowboard School Manager/ Snowboard Head Trainer/ Snowboard Instructor since 2004, Perisher Ski Resort What do you bring to the APSI National Team: My passion for teaching snowboarding began in 2004 at Smiggins. I have done a total of 15 seasons, travelling between Australia and America.

Throughout my time as an instructor I have worked extremely hard to improve my riding, teaching and presenting skills. Extensive training has enabled me to become a fully certified instructor and fully certified trainer. This achievement is something that I am very proud of as well as being very grateful to my trainers.

James Lloyd Discipline: Snowboard Qualification/s: APSI Level 4 Trainer/Examiner Australian Resort: Perisher

Future plans.....I would like to see a greater emphasis on what, why and how we teach in Australia. I believe we have a very strong teaching style and the tactics we use a very effective. I believe this will be beneficial to other countries and also allow other countries the opportunity to provide us with constructive feedback to allow us to continue to develop and improve as an organisation.

Outline of Experience: Represented Australia at Interski Congress in Austria, in Jan 2011 Snowboard Instructor Head Trainer, 2004-2011 at the Canyons Resort, Park City, Utah, USA 34

Team Introduction or specific words that stimulate a perception of a task.

Every guest has a different way of learning and perceiving what is expected when introducing a new exercise.

Especially when teaching the beginner progression, clarity is key. Whatever the guest’s preferred learning style, the instructor must use a verbal explanation to start the learning phase.

The words that are used need to complement the demonstration that is performed. Also, I can make the guest aware of any specific feelings they may encounter when practicing the task.

Matthew “Matty” Ronald Discipline: Snowboard

I have been trying to pinpoint these feelings in each individual guest by looking for trigger words. Trigger words or phrases may simply be an analogy related to the guest’s interests, or a particular movement required for the task. For example, when teaching a basic turn, I ask the student to stand up tall and feel the board flatten, which will allow the board to straighten down the fall line.

Flatten is the trigger word. By making the explanation simple, I can avoid overloading a guest with technical information that is unnecessary, and may just cause confusion. I try to find trigger words by experimenting, staying conscious of each individual guest, and asking which word or phrase was most helpful.

Qualification/s: APSI Level 4, APSI Level 3 Snowboard

Trainer/Examiner

Australian Resort: Thredbo International Resort: North America Outline of Experience: In 2006, I began as a snowboard instructor at Mt Buller and after five seasons moved to Thredbo. I have also instructed at Sierra-At-Tahoe, Breckenridge and Canyons during the winters in the USA. This northern winter, I am exploring my options in Canada, eh.

As well as searching for trigger words, I am also trying to avoid lazy words when teaching the beginner progression. Lazy words present the guest with a broad explanation, making it difficult to identify specific movements for a task. It is easy to use these words when I am tired or frustrated, and when I am teaching a task that I have taught many times. Occasionally, I find myself on autopilot and actually not being aware of the specific words that build the explanation. I have been working on avoiding this situation by treating every lesson differently, and remaining conscious of my word choices.

What do you bring to the APSI National Team: I am

honoured to be a member on the APSI National Demo Team. The team is comprised of a strong group of snow sports professionals. I am driven to see the APSI Snowboard certification evolve over the coming years so that it remains a highly respected certification for our successors. Also, I am motivated to train with the team so we can learn from one another and use different techniques from other disciplines in the snowboard pathway.

Trigger Words vs. Lazy Words:

Finally, I am reviewing the APSI snowboard manual, having discussions with fellow snowsports instructors, and experimenting on snow to develop my understanding of snowboarding mechanics. This has helped me to comprehend what the guest feels during a task or challenging situation, and to be able to offer clearer, more focused feedback.

Improving Presentation Skills A key attribute of any snowsports instructor is the ability to present a task clearly and concisely. Words, visual aids, demonstrations, and diagrams help give the student a perception of what they are trying to perform.

When using task or command teaching styles, I am trying to be more conscious of my word choices. In these situations, the use of explicit and clear explanations is important for the guest’s understanding of the exercise being performed. I try to avoid phrases such as “kind of, like, you know, sort of,” or what I like to call lazy words, because these words and phrases offer only weak explanations. Instead, I am trying to use trigger words,

By focusing on using trigger words and avoiding lazy words, I create a positive environment, stimulating the guest’s learning. Being conscious of the descriptive words used to explain a task gives the guest a simple perception of what is required and how it should feel.

When fine-tuning this aspect of instruction, I am improving the quality of my lessons, and keeping the guest stoked to snowboard.

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Team Introduction winter seasons. These seasons were spread amongst the following countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, USA and Japan. In 2005, I was fortunate enough to score the highest marks at the national APSI Level 4 exam at age 19 and was selected as rookie trainer/examiner at age 21. In 2011, I represented the APSI as a National Alpine Demonstrator at the Interski Congress held in St. Anton.

During the Southern Hemisphere winter I currently teach skiing in Thredbo, train/examine for the APSI throughout the Australian resorts and serve as an APSI Technical Committee member. In the northern winter, I direct the Niseko Base Snowsports School, as well as train/ examine for the APSI in Japan.

Paul Lorenz Sponsors: Marker, Voelkl, Dabello

What you bring to the APSI National Team: A passion

Discipline: Alpine

to improve and experience from the previous National Demo Team

Qualification/s: APSI 4, CSCF 2, CSIA 3

Comments: My motivation to try out for the team stems

Australian Resort: Thredbo

from my continued enthusiasm to develop my own skills and understanding of skiing to pass this on to up and coming instructors within the Australian resorts. I am very excited to train, learn from, and progress with the new Team!

International Resort: Niseko Base Snowsports, Japan Outline of Experience: I have taught skiing for 21

Team Introduction What you bring to the APSI National Team: I bring strong technical skiing, a desire to further progress telemark skiing and grow both the sport and the depth of telemark instruction and training in the APSI. Any other comments you wish to add: This was my second attempt to make the Demo Team and I’d like to encourage everyone to try out next time. Both occasions were a fantastic opportunity to ride with so many good skiers, boarders and telemarkers.

Richard Hocking I am currently working on my riding/demonstrating Discipline: Telemark

to develop myself professionally

Qualification/s: Telemark Level 4 Trainer/ Examiner and Nordic Level 3 Trainer/ Examiner

At the Level 4 telemark course last year my core discipline was identified as the weakest part of both my skiing and demonstrations. By improving this core discipline not only will my skiing and demonstrations improve, my form will look more like the standard set by the telemark technical director, Tom Gellie. This will help to present a more consistent picture to students / candidates on the ideal APSI form, it will also allow for more cohesive and impressive demonstrations at Interski.

Australian Resort: Perisher International Resort: None Outline of Experience: I’ve been Telemarking for 20 years and instructing for 8. Of those eight I’ve been a trainer for 4. After two seasons of Telemark instructing I did my Nordic Level 1 so I could do some more instructing and after 10 days on skinny skis I was out there teaching.

I’ve been a Nordic Trainer Examiner for three seasons.

My problems with core discipline stem from too much pelvis rotating, lateral tilting and a lack of tilt on the dorsal plane. My first skiing this winter was during the

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nordic level 3 course, where I noticed the same lack of control of pelvic movement and that this was limiting my balance and glide on both skate and classic skis.

By improving this core discipline I will improve my performance in both disciplines.

In my telemark skiing these core disciplinary problems are relics of more traditional telemark skiing technique.

Traditional telemark skiing involved a rotating and tilted pelvis which was opposed with counter rotation and angulation in the shoulders which twisted and bent the skiers spine. My upright pelvis was a result of efforts to move my center of mass forward to allow me to apply fore body pressure to the skis earlier in the turn.

Richard skiing on the Paralyser.

Photo: Tony Nicholson

efficiently. In my skating my pelvis has stopped rotating and is remaining perpendicular to the direction of travel in my glide ski. My more stable pelvis has increased my shoulder stability which allows me to more easily balance on the one ski and also to shift my weight far enough forward on my glide ski to achieve a more efficient glide.

In my classic skiing my more stable core has helped me to be better balanced on my skis and also achieve more glide.

To improve my core in telemark skiing I have been taking advantage of alpine skiing drills which improve the core discipline and balance. By practicing these drills whilst doing alpine turns rather than telemark turns I have been able to remove pelvis rotating and tilting effect of the telemark stance on my core. This tactic has allowed me to build muscle memory for a correct pelvis position.

As a direct result my parallel turns have improved significantly and my core discipline in my telemark turns has also begun to improve. My shoulders have become stable and my pelvis stability is improving. By utilising more turning from my hip socket, especially at the end of the turn my pelvis is now tilting forward allowing me to ski in a more balanced position.

I will continue to work on core stabilisation skills whilst parallel turning throughout the winter. As a result I expect to continue to improve the balance and glide in my nordic skiing and to improve the balance and increased performance of my telemark turns. By the interski selections I hope to have changed my telemark skiing to mirror of Tom Gellie’s telemark form. This will allow me to create more consistency within the APSI system when training candidates and if I am selected help me to contribute to more impressive team demonstrations.

I have had limited time on my nordic skis this winter but spending time working on my pelvis whilst doing parallel turns has also allowed me to make significant gains in my nordic skiing. Without proper pelvis position it is more difficult to both balance on one ski and to glide

Team Introduction Australian Resort: Hotham International Resort: Heavenly Outline of Experience: 14+ years in the snow sports industry. Some of the roles and experience I have gained during my career include; 3rd term APSI National Team Member, Alpine Technical Director and Chief of Exams, Resort Training Manager, Front Line Instructor and Resort Trainer, Coach for the North American Ski Training Center, Coach for Australian Aerials Program.

Richard Jameson

What you bring to the APSI National Team:

Sponsor: Nordica

Leadership and experience. A passion to see the APSI developing and delivering cutting edge ski technique and educational programs to our members.

Discipline: Alpine Qualification/s: APSI Level 4, B.ED 37

Team Introduction very independent in my training. I had to take ownership of the little feedback I would get and figure out the fix through my own methods. Silverstar in Canada exposed me to some of the best trainers in the CSIA and excellent snow conditions to practice on. Thredbo has been the most important though as I think we have the best training in the country combined with some of the most challenging conditions. Working alongside Matt Smith, Paul Lorenz and Reilly McGlashan has pushed my ability and technique onto another level. We get to ski with each other regularly even if only for a run. This along with the opportunities Matt Smith has given me for training has been invaluable.

Tom Gellie Sponsors: Marker, Voelkl and Dabello.

What you bring to the APSI National Team: I have

Discipline: Alpine

worked with skiers from different associations around the world and believe that having a broad view of what good skiing is has helped me overcome technical hurdles in my own skiing. Working for the APSI on the Telemark side makes you work well independently. There aren’t a lot of people to bounce ideas and technical knowledge off of so you need to think laterally and always be selfcritiquing. I look forward to bring some of this experience to the new team.

Qualification/s: APSI Level 4/ Level 3 Examiner, APSI

Level 4 Telemark,

Australian Resort: Thredbo International Resort: Sun Peaks Outline of Experience: I have been a past member of the National Team but for Telemark. After Interski in St Anton it became my goal to make the team again as an Alpine demonstrator. I began instructing in 2005 gaining levels in Canada and Australia. My original focus was on Telemark skiing as I had a lot of experience as a youth with Nordic skiing. Over the years it has slowly switched to Alpine skiing. I am now going into my 16th season as an instructor. I believe the training culture in the three major resorts I worked in has been the biggest influence on my skiing. Charlotte Pass in the early days made me

Any other comments you wish to add: I’m excited!

And...

“People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy.” Oliver Goldsmith

Team Introduction International Resort: Myoko Kogen, Japan Outline of Experience: I have spent the past 10 seasons working in Falls Creek - five seasons full-time instructing followed by five as the Adults Supervisor and Training Coordinator. I became an APSI Trainer in 2007. I have spent one season working in Whistler, Canada. This is followed by five seasons working at Niseko International Snowsports School, Japan first as an instructor, then the 7-14 y/o Program Supervisor and Training Coordinator and finally as the Operations Manager.

Tom Langtry

I have spent the past 3 seasons working in Myoko Kogen as International Snowsports School Director at Myoko Snowsports.

Discipline: Alpine Qualification/s: APSI Level 4 Trainer/Examiner, CSIA

What do you bring to the APSI National Team: A

Level 2, CSCF Level 1

good knowledge of our Australian teaching system and technique methodology, and also an eagerness and

Australian Resort: Falls Creek 38

challenge them and push them to their limits, whereas some want to stay in their comfort zone and take things easy as they learn.

passion to learn and bring back ideas from Interski to share with instructors throughout Australia.

Any other comments you wish to add: Looking

By matching our teaching to suit each guest’s personality, we ensure their enjoyment of the lesson. This real enjoyment of skiing with you is what will bring guests back to you for repeat lessons, and will in tern help you form life long relationships with your clients. As well as making sure our guests enjoy their lessons, how do we help them get the most technique improvement? This comes down to not only matching our Teaching Style to their Learning Style, but also in selecting the right drills to generate the most change in each student. For a high level athletic student working on balance in their bumps skiing, they could do half a dozen runs concentrating on pulling their feet back as they roll over the top of each bump, or they could do those runs with their poles crossed behind their back. Concentrating on pulling their feet back could certainly help their balance. Skiing with their poles crossed behind their back would be challenging at first, but would then force them to move their feet and legs differently to maintain balance. This would develop greater change in their skiing.

forward to it all!

My Professional Development in… Teaching I have been working on the following two areas of my Teaching: 1. Ensuring my guests enjoy each lesson by adapting my teaching style to match their personality.

2. Choosing the right drills to generate the biggest change in each student.

By focusing on these things, and becoming better at them, my guests have gotten more out of their lessons, and they have been more likely to return for more lessons.

As we know from our training, different guests have different Learning Styles, and we adapt our teaching style to suit. This enables the guest to learn quicker, and the lesson is more enjoyable for them. Following on from this idea, we should adjust our teaching style, or manor of presenting information, to match each guest’s personality. Depending on their personality, some guests will enjoy an instructor who is always over thetop energetic, and some will prefer an instructor who is encouraging, but in a calmer, confidence building manner. Likewise, some guests want their instructor to

Of course you must select drills that are achievable and appropriate for your student’s ability and physical/ psychological/terrain situation. The point is that you can spend a lot of time thinking about a movement, without much changing. It is far better to select a drill which will force a change to be made more quickly.

Point 6 “merino wool” ski socks, only available to APSI members while stocks last!

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These suppliers provide support for APSI educational programs, the National team and our membership through Pro-deals.

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Australian Professional Snowsports Instructors PO Box 131, JINDABYNE NSW 2627 email: apsi@apsi.net.au website: www.apsi.net.au