The Journey for Level 3, part 1 (Author’s note: this blog has been a living article over the course of the season...please be kind regarding tense and time as these ‘plans’ have changed to ‘achievements’ as the season has progressed.) I came across a photo today on Facebook. 3 years ago (1/23/15) I received my shiny, silver, alpine, Level 2 pin at Whitetail Resort in Pennsylvania from PSIA. It was a fantastic day recognizing all I had learned and experienced the previous 5 years of teaching and skiing. It was also the capstone to a lot of time and energy I (and all the others who helped me in my journey) had devoted to this particular goal. I look at my face in that picture and I know what went into the shining smile. After seeing it today I knew I had to write about this next experience as well. When I got my level 2, my first courses of action were taking my first level 3 prep clinic (where I felt completely out of my comfort zone because I was mov...
Posts
I took a year off completely from teaching skiing. I took a year before that and mostly didn't teach either. I stopped stretching myself too thin and doing PSIA events and teaching and free skiing and working and, and, and... well, I skied a lot more. Just as my relationship with ski teaching has changed, so has that of some of the other Divas - relationships, jobs, kids, and other life changes mean we no longer rip around as a posse of L2s and L3 ladies on a little hill in PA together. But I'm back on the horse - at least a bit - at a new mountain. I guess you could say that it's hard to imagine not being involved in ski instruction after 20 years. I'm excited to be part of a school that reminds me of that hill in PA: Many part time (and fewer full time!) instructors who are passionate about teaching, skiing, and have a thirst to learn Folks who are accomplished in their 'other' careers Snowsports school leadership committed to training - and buildin...
UPDATE: October, 2015: This has been updated with new links, programs, and information. Please let us know if you have other references, we promise to update again before 2020! - Kerry (Diva2) Last year when I was preparing for my L3 Part 1 Skiing exam, the Dev Team Diva turned me on to these great task descriptions developed by Bob Barnes for the PSIA Rocky Mountain Division (the Pocket Summaries listed under "Skiing" below). (Kerry's edit: Those pocket summaries are not on the PSIA-RM site anymore. But I think what you're looking for is in the Skiing IDP linked below.) In my search for them online, I discovered lots of other valuable ski teaching resources tucked away on various PSIA divisional Web sites. So I printed them out, organized them into categories, and stuck them in a binder. The binder became an invaluable resource in discussions with my good friend and ski coach as I helped him to prepare for his Dev Team tryout and he coached me to success in my ski...
A quick heads up those aspiring to PSIA Level II or III in the Eastern Division - the exam format has changed so that the first requirement is to pass the written professional knowledge exam. Previously, this was the multiple choice test taken during the Teaching phase of the exam. Last year, PSIA-E administered the written exam after the skiing portion. Now, it's first up and administered online . I recently " got to " take the exam myself. Here are some points I've been reminding our exam candidates at the home mountain: You must pass the exam BEFORE registering for the skiing exam. Remember, event deadlines are 3 weeks before an exam, so that means you need to be looking a month or more in advance to get the online portion done. You can register for it without a director's signature, but you have to mail or fax the form to the office. As in the past, the best sources for the material are the Exam Guide , Alpine Technical Manual, the Co...
Here in the Mid-Atlantic, our ski season is short, our goals are high, and most of us have full-time jobs, families, pets, and other hobbies that impinge upon the ability to ski every day of the winter on man-made snow in Pennsylvania with 600 feet (generously counting) of vertical drop. Ski season is coming (2 months!) - if you want to hit your goals this year, you'd better start now. You have goals, right? Set yourself up for success. Don't be just a winter athlete . It just doesn't work like that. 1) Find a fall sport that gets you strong and builds aerobic capacity. Picture December 27th, the Monday after Christmas. Hundreds of beginner children show up with new skis. The people at 3pm paid just as much as the morning folks - do you want to be the one to let them down? Are you going to be that instructor ... you know, the one that stands at the bottom of the class, yelling at them, rolling their eyes and sauntering...