Alpine Report

Richard Jameson Technical Director

2020 will certainly be an Aussie winter we will not soon forget. Many of us were unable to work on snow this season and with continued restrictions on domestic and international travel the usual migration North for some will also be put on hold. The resilience shown by all of you, the ability to take this in your stride and to make the most out of the situation was truly admirable. Our community sticking together and positively supporting one another has been the backbone to our success as an education and training body to date and will continue to be the substance that sees us through these tough times together.

Although only a few APSI events were able to take place this Australian winter our APSI operations team continued to work tirelessly with the resorts to assess what was possible. This cooperative effort allowed for an early season Level 1 course in Mt. Buller and some more courses and exams in September for Charlotte Pass, Perisher and Thredbo. Thank you to the Snowsport’s School Directors in particular James Thorpe from Charlottes and Tina Burford from Perisher for their collaborative approach to make these events happen for our Australian Snowsport Instructors.

Despite the challenges, APSI Alpine forged ahead, achieving many goals that will set our association and discipline up for a stronger 2021 and beyond.

APSI certification events in Japan achieved record participation. 49 Level 2 exam candidates and 47

Level 3 exam candidates across 2 locations in

Niseko and Myoko. Giving our members working and travelling in these locations further access to APSI education and training for professional development.

When Northern Hemisphere resorts shut early in March and most of our Alpine training staff returned home to mandatory quarantine, the vast majority of this team put their collective skills and knowledge together to produce the new APSI eLearning platform for all of our Alpine certification programs. Including a standalone

‘In a year where some thought nothing would happen, our APSI worked hard to see this was not the case.’

strength and conditioning module available to all members and all disciplines. The use of the level 1 module proved to be a huge success as a prelearning tool this AUS winter that culminated in a 100% pass rate for these courses. Resulting from this initiative, we will see more collaboration with external professional bodies in the future to help us grow, and we will be bringing some of these skilled partners and institutions into physical events for APSI members starting in 2021. We learnt that although getting our trainers together for an annual coordination and spending time together on snow is of extreme value, we had the ability to pivot and get this job done remotely. Allowing all our staff to stay educationally updated while keeping us apart and safe. Congratulations and welcome to our new Alpine staff members brought on this year Jessica Haslau – Mt. Buller, Danny Foster – Mt. Hotham and Duane Dinham – Falls Creek. We are excited to work with you all in the years ahead. Online technology continued to bring our community together through a communications team led by Kylie Dwyer, which sparked events like the weekly Wednesday Night Après Sessions. We have had a great deal of feedback from members enjoying all the engagement this season including these presentations tapping into the broad knowledge shared by all our disciplines of the APSI. We are looking to continue these connections and access in 2021.

APSI Level 2 Alpine Exam preparing for some Basic Christie turns in the shadows of Mt. Yotei

Hopeful to return to these pre pandemic times with no face masks, physical distancing, and a well-deserved hug for all our successful certification candidates in the future. Scotty Parker enjoys a pre COVID group hug at the Level 3 Certification in Myoko Japan.

Alpine Trainers Richard Jameson and Matt Smith film segments for the New Alpine ELearning modules in Niseko, Japan

Getting our Zoom on was a staple in 2020 both socially and professionally. Thank you so much for your flexibility to all those that connected this way with our trainings, meetings, project teams, Après Sessions and those that connected socially with our colleagues stuck in quarantine, lock downs and stuck internationally abroad. We learnt a lot but let’s hope we can see all of you on snow in 2021!

A direct result from data produced for trainer’s coordination and the courage to reflect on this, led to an exciting new initiative. The “Advancing Women in Snowsports Committee” was formed, steered by our exceptional female trainers to bring greater diversity and equity to our association and industry. I encourage all of you to read the AWSC’s article in this journal and reach out to them with any ideas and thoughts to help drive the diversity and equity of our industry forward.

In a year where some thought nothing would happen, our APSI worked hard to see this was not the case. I would like to thank Richard Hocking and the Jindabyne office team; Tiff Ingle and Suz Brown for their continued efforts throughout the season and collaboration with the resorts to spark the on-snow events we were able to run this year. It’s this team that kept it all going! Our Alpine group is looking at ways to continue to develop educational products over the Summer and provide access to as many training and certification opportunities to APSI members in 2021 as we can. Especially to those situated in Victoria and abroad that were unable to attend the few events we managed to get on snow this season in AUS. Please feel free to reach out to myself or any of the APSI team with your ideas to make this the association you want that delivers on your needs.

Its exciting times as a bunch of us try our hands at something different, like starting a new job or perhaps having the courage to study new fields or even just having a summer. I am wishing you all the very best for the months ahead and my only hope is that I see you all back in the mountains again soon, sharing the enjoyment for the sport we all love. Sliding on snow!