Diva Ski Tips

As promised here are my printed sources.  My human sources are the wonderful trainers and instructors of Liberty. Alderson, John. Captain Zembo's Ski and Snowboarding Guide for Kids . Professional Ski Instructors of America : Lakewood, CO. 1996. Crockett, Linda J. Children’s Instruction Handbook . Professional Ski Instructors of America : Lakewood, CO. 2000. Harvey, Megan. Alpine Technical Manual: Skiing and Teaching Skills . Professional Ski Instructors of America : Lakewood, CO. 2002. PSIA. Core Concepts for Snowsports Instructors . Professional Ski Instructors of America : Lakewood, CO. 2001. PSIA. Alpine Movement Assessment Pocket Guide . Professional Ski Instructors of America : Lakewood, CO. 2005. PSIA. Alpine Stepping Stones Pocket Guide . Professional Ski Instructors of America : Lakewood, CO. 2005. Westfedlt, Weems. Brillant Skiing, Every Day . Available at http://www.edgechange.com/ . Vail Resorts Mgt. Co. Vail and Beaver Creek Adult Alpine Teaching Handbo

This is the beginner progression I wrote to help my new instructor candidates. I welcome feedback on it. Here are my sources and additional resources. Safety, Fun and Learning • Have fun! Get guests excited about skiing and develop comfort and belonging in our sport. • Don’t just put beginner lesson tape in and hit play. Assessing movements and coaching starts right from the beginning of the lesson and goes until the end. • Use terrain to create success. Avoid terrain that is too challenging or holds guests back from advancing at their own pace. • Provide ample time practice and repetition. People learn 10% of what they hear, 40% of what they see, but 80% of what they do. • Introduce and reinforce skiing responsibility and etiquette. • Learn your guests’ names. They enjoy the personal attention and it makes it easier for you to teach. Boot Exercises Goal: Help guests become comfortable moving in their boots on snow. Build awareness of balancing movements and the muscles n

These scenarios are common with beginner to intermediate skiers and equally common in a level III exam. In some cases they are looking for you to coach to a specific outcome (enhance pole use) and some times you have description of a student and you need to figure out the goal of the lesson along with the lesson plan. Your homework is to sketch out this lesson in whatever way (writing, drawing, talking…) works for you. Coach Movements/Skills that will enhance pole use in dynamic short turns. Coach Movements/Skills that will enhance skiing the “sides” of bumps. Coach Movements/Skills that will address “today’s” conditions while making dynamic medium turns on steep terrain. Your student is a 48 year old female, athletic, raced in high school, too busy to ski much, but now the kids are in college and she can ski more often. She likes hard groomed snow and has trouble with other conditions. She skis parallel, with a narrow stance and sometimes lifts the tail of the inside ski.

Networking has been all over the media for the past two years as one of the most important tools for getting and keeping a job, especially in this economy. But networking is not just important for your summer job, or your full-time job, whatever the case may be. Networking can also serve you well in your quest to become a better ski instructor too. The first network you need to build is your fellow newbie ski instructors. This will start in your training class, hopefully before you even get on snow. These are the people you will be standing alongside at lineups, and working in the children’s learning center with, and grabbing lunch quickly in between those 3 hour beginner classes. While discussing your first lessons , the successes you have, the challenges you encounter, you all can learn a lot from each other. Plus it is less boring to stand at lineup when you have other people to talk to… You will go through a lot with your newbie peers, get to know them! You should also tap into

Sometimes, I see instructors preparing for exams and getting bogged down in all of the terminology, studying kids development literature, and others' progressions or ideas.  That stuff is important, for sure.  But in order to have a ton of fun teaching kids, we have to apply all of that professional knowledge while looking at the world through kid-colored glasses.  Yeah, the big fluorescent ones.  Like these: A few of the Liberty gang were clinic'ing with me this weekend - a kids' teaching clinic.  One of the required clinics everyone has to take each year.  Usually I make everyone sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" loudly while skiing at some point during these clinics.  But we never got to it. I gave each of the three groups a description of children we often see come through our programs and asked them to develop a program to share with the group.  Once they got started thinking about movements and their ideas, I bugged them to get more creative. Here

In Skiing , the chances of getting yourself injured are comparatively lower than in bicycling, in-line skating, or jet skiing. However, do not put your safety in jeopardy. You must always be out of harm's way whenever you go Skiing. It is common fact that prevention is still better than cure, and there are things you can do to avoid injuries before hitting the slopes. This section focuses on some guidelines that you can follow before heading the slopes: Make sure you are in good shape. There is a much lower risk of getting injured and you will not get tired easily if you are physically fit before Skiing. Acquire the appropriate pieces of Skiing Equipment . Furthermore, check if your gear is in fine condition, especially the Ski Bindings . Have them adjusted correctly at a Ski shop. Head injuries are one of the worst that you can get in Skiing, so wear a helmet to reduce the risk of head injuries caused by falls and/or collisions. Wear

Ski injuries are no more common than the injuries experienced by other people participating in any other sort or activity with similar intensity. Almost any sport bears some risk of injury, with skiing being no exception or a greater contributor to this fact. The severity of injury may be as traumatic as a head injury or paralysis or as minor as some bruising. Fatalities do occur, but not enough to be statistically different from other sports. Interestingly, some modifications to equipment have actually decreased the injury rate for many. For example, a broken tibia (one of the lower leg bones) used to be feared by most skiers, but this injury is rarely seen anymore since the ski bindings are no longer as restrictive as they once were. The use of helmets has been increasing (especially amongst people under 9 and over 65) and so non-severe head injuries have decreased. Some of the injuries that the helmet has helped prevent include cuts, b

These scenarios are common with beginner to intermediate skiers and equally common in a level II exam. In some cases they are looking for you to coach to a specific out come (Coach the skier to make turns in both directions) and some times you have description of a student and you need to figure out the goal of the lesson along with the lesson plan. Your homework is to sketch out this lesson in whatever way (writing, drawing, talking..) works for you. Skiers have never skied before. Can put on/off skis, side step, walk, turn-around and get up from fall. Coach Movements/Skills for next stage of development in skiing. Skiers can straight run, wedge, speed up & slow down in a wedge on beginner terrain. Coach Movements/Skills to develop first direction changes while in a wedge. Skiers can “match” skis after fall line on Green and Easy Blue terrain. Coach Movements/Skills that will develop “match” prior to fall line on same terrain. Skier makes wedge turns comfortably on all

Skiing the Air Force Memorial , originally uploaded by wrobstory . Every once in a while we get pow in the DC area.

As the season goes on I become a much better packer. The first trip of the season I always grossly overpack. It’s especially difficult when the weather is questionable. Before a trip, I customize this list depending on where I’m going. SKI GEAR AND CLOTHING • Skis, poles, boots • Sunscreen and lip balm • Gloves and mittens • Hats • Goggles and sunglasses • Neck gaiter • Snacks and gum • Hydration system • Lock • Boot covers • Helmet • Hotronic batteries and charger • Hand warmers • Boot Dryer SKI CLOTHING • Shell • Soft shell • Tops (long johns and midlayer) • Ski pants • Long john pants (light and heavy) • Sports bra • Ski socks SHOES • Boots • Flip flops REGULAR CLOTHING • Hoodie (I love having a comfy hoodie to relax in, especially if the room is cold) • Jeans • Après or going out clothes • Underwear • Bathing suit and coverup • Socks BASICS • Wallet • House keys • Watch • Medical insurance card • Itineraries, tickets and reservation con

Let's all do the snow dance for the divas headling to Vermont in a few weeks.