snowpro

SNOWPRO
Official newsletter of the Australian Professional Snowsport Instructors Inc . A98X
Winter 2011
Interski issue
• Technical Director Reports
• Demo Team Reports
• 2011 Changes
• and more...
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SNOWPRO
24. USA
25. Snowboarding Technical Director’s
report.
32. James’s Snowboarding Report
30. Hayden’s Snowboarding Report
33. Avalanche Risk in Germany
36. Interski is For Everyone
38
Interski better late then not at all
39
Interski: what is ahead
41. New for 2011: Alpine
42. New for 2011: Snowboarding
43. New for 2011: Telemark
44. New for 2011: Nordic
45. APSI 2011 Calendar of events
48. Telemark Technical Director’s
Report
51. Nordic Technical Director’s Report
Official newsletter of the Australian
Professional Snowsport Instructors Inc.
A98X – Winter 2011
Contents
pg.
3.
9.
10.
12.
14.
16.
18.
19.
21.
22.
Alpine Technical Director’s Report
Czech Republic
Denmark
Germany
Japan
North Korea
Netherlands
New Zealand
Slovenia
Sweden
Australian Professional Snowsport Instructors
Experience the best!
The Australian Demo Team: Interski 2011 - St Anton. (Rear from L to R: Warren Feakes, James Lloyd, Jason Clausen, Ant Hill, Andy Dean,
Richard Jameson, Paul Lorenz, Hayden Lawns. Front from L to R : Reilly McGlashan, Andy Rae, Demelza Clay, Marty Firle, Tom Gellie, Tim
Robertson.)
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interski 2011 - St Anton
What is Interski?
• The Interski umbrella consists of three main
working groups. These are International Ski Instructors
Association (ISIA) which is the organisation for
professional snow sports instructors, the IVSI (the
organisation for amateur instructors) and IVSS (the
organisation for instructors who teach part-time as a
part of the curriculum in schools & universities). These
three specialised organisations meet yearly to deal with
problems and opportunities. However, once every four
years INTERSKI INTERNATIONAL brings them together
for a world congress.
Andy Rae • It was the mandate of the 19th Interski congress in
2011 to tackle the challenges of our fast paced world
INTERSKI IS NO LONGER EXCLUSIVELY ABOUT
TECHNIQUE
• The program includes; workshops, lectures,
demonstrations, keynote presentations and for three
nights from 8 pm to 10 pm a snowsports show is be
used to express the creativity and skills trained over the
past 4 years. This allows each country to contribute to
the latest developments, emerging trends, experiences
in addition to teaching and safety models.
“I have returned with a renewed focus on
beginners….as well as focusing on meeting the
needs of multiple generations at once.”
This excitement will translate to an update for this winter
in the way we view the guest experience. It needs to be
an individual experience - whether they are beginner
kids, a mixed age and ability group or a new level one
APSI group. I have seen the same excitement in my
fellow team members who are equally thrilled to share
the new information they have gained with their snow
sports schools in Australia.
• Involvement at the Interski world congress provides
the only available international forum to showcase
Australian Instruction and technique.
Benefits for attending Interski
The major benefits of attending the Interski include the
interchange of ideas and skills that then find their way
into the APSI Manual and onto the slopes of our resorts
which benefits visiting guests when they are taught by
APSI qualified instructors.
I honestly believe that anyone who attended Interski and
was not inspired, or at the very least impressed, can only
mean they have lost the passion for being an instructor.
Snowsport instructors not only spend more time with
our resort guests, they can also affect their decision
making process in a way that can’t be rivaled by any
other employee.
However, I must admit at my first Interski was I mostly
inspired by technique while repeated attendance has
opened my eyes to the broader picture including the
beliefs and philosophies of each country plus new ways
to market & sell the products they provide.
“A happier guest does =more money”
• Lessons are a significant portion of revenue and
contribution
• Lesson-takers typically spend more per visit than nonlesson takers
• Lessons improve the likelihood that a skier/rider will
participate more often and continue with the sport, there
is also a direct correlation between guest satisfaction
and those resorts that rank as most profitable.
Instructors Deliver Promises Made by Resorts and
Manufacturers….therefore
the
instructor/guest
relationship is crucial.
Source: National Ski Areas Association
Hotel Parsierblick: A family run hotel where the team enjoyed great
breakfasts and a relaxed atmosphere with their own family and
friends. 2011 Australian Interski team members (L to R) Jason Clauscen, Martin Firle, Tom Gellie and Paul Lorenz.
The largest and most direct benefit to the Australian
snowsports industry comes from using those individuals
who attended Interski to train staff, at a time that suites
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• A proven examination system backed by international
influences, but adapted to meet the demands of the
short unique Australian winter.
each resort. This is the best way to speed up the spread
of information and clarify what we learnt at Interski;
furthermore, in most cases these people were senior
members of each school.
• Showing a similar theme throughout.
Location/accommodation
How we achieved this
Congresses 1951-2011
Indoors-An overview of our PowerPoint presentation
1951 Zürs (AT) “there’s nothing like the Australian training system”
1953 Davos (CH) 1955 Val d‘Isere (FR) 1957 Storlien (SE) 1959 Zakopane (PL) 1962 Monte Bondone (IT) 1965 Bad Gastein (AT) 1968 Aspen (US) 1971 Garmisch Partenkirchen (DE)
1979 Zao Onsen (JP)
1975 Strbske Pleso (CZ)
1983 Sexten (IT)
1987 Banff (CA)
1991 St. Anton am Arlberg (AT)
1995 Nosawa Onsen (JP)
1999 Beitostolen (NO)
2003 Crans Montana (CH)
2007 PyeongChang (KO)
Photo: Surf Lifesaving Australia
Once again Austria held the Interski congress, It has
been 20 years since St. Anton am Arlberg were the host
resort. It is the cradle of skiing in the alps and home to
the renowned St. Christoph instructor training center.
Australia has a unique environment & culture
• There is nothing like the wide open landscapes, the
pristine oceans, our vibrant cities, but mostly there’s
nothing like the people. The Australian people are
friendly, straight talking and open, it’s their sense of
mate ship and no worries attitude that makes visitors
feel welcome.
Our Theme: Building great instructors –
‘The first step in delivering exceptional guest
experiences is by training exceptional instructors’.
We wanted to show that the Australian alpine environment
is unique to the world of snowsports and our resorts all
have one thing in common; ‘Guests’
Growing up in Australia
• There’s nothing like growing up in Australia, most
people do not grow up in the snow however many decide
to become instructors…giving the APSI a very unique
clientele
These guests are introduced to this unique environment
by snowsports instructors who are trained by the APSI.
The aim was to show the snowsports world how the
APSI develops great instructors through our uniquely
Australian training system.
Factors that have influenced our systems
evolution
• Historically Europeans who worked in the Snowy
Mountains introduced skiing to Australia, setting up
• A simple progressive training pathway, broken into 4
levels.
4
We gave an overview of our level system & our mechanical
beliefs within them
resorts & snowsports schools throughout the alps.
• More lately major international influences to our
system have included participation to Interski and the
many job placements Australian trained instructors
enjoy worldwide.
Level ONE-Basic skills (explaining our thoughts on each
of the skills taught on a level one course)
•STANCE: ‘the way we stand’ is
functional & natural.
•ROTARY: ‘the way we turn’ is
through leg rotation from beginner
to advanced.
•EDGING: ‘the way we tip the skis
to control edge angle’, we use a
combination of ankle/foot, knee,
hip & whole body & believe edge
control is important not only for
carving but all performances.
•PRESSURE CONTROL: ‘the way
we manage pressure to both make
turns & deal with conditions’, the
movements we make are to help
us maintain balance when skiing
& should be functional to both the
speed & variations in snow/terrain
conditions that we encounter.
One of our high flying trainers growing up on the snow – guess who!
Our goal
Level TWO-Steering (progressive blending)
is to successfully create instructors in a short period of
time out of laid back active Australians
Skill blend , the correct skill blend for any turn or
performance type is crucial because we believe:
How we do this (our system)
• Helps with the finish of the turn & hence control
• A structured training program including a new 4 level
system-aligned closely to our performance model &
Creating an in depth understanding of turn mechanics
• Aids with stability & balance
• Aids efficiency
• Produce more dynamic looking skiing in a greater
variety of conditions
• Accurate diagnosis in movement analysis giving our
guests a consistent service
• Our system is not just mechanically based, we defiantly
care about the guest experience
• Consistency & fairness across the country’s training
program
We used a combination of our performance clinic & low
end demonstrations to show this.
Level THREE- Carving (dig it & twist it) compare the
blend
Outdoors
An overview of our Alpine Workshop overview
Part one- “Functional, Dynamic skiing”
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We used dynamic short turns to show how an increase
in edge & consequently pressure control is needed for
both speed & mountain versatility.
Level FOUR- converting a rail to pure carve; comparing
the blend
We used pure carved medium turns to sho how the ski
is not twisted across the snow but rather the femur is
twisted for edge control & to create our balanced basic
position.
Jason Clauscen, James Lloyd and Hayden Lawn were the snowboard
representatives in the 2011 Australian Interski team
An overview of our Telemark workshop:Efficient Telemark skiing
Part Two-‘Being a skiing mechanic?’
In Australia guests come to instructors to have their
skiing fixed, not unlike going to a mechanic for your
car…….& if you have a shaky back tire there is no use
looking under the bonnet. So we train a form of ‘reliable
diagnosis’ that fits within our mechanical beliefs to fix a
problem. We used an example of rotation in ‘Dynamic
short turns’ to explain this.
Tom Gellie with the 2011 German Telemark Interski team
•Understanding our skiing skills & how we apply them
for different levels of telemark skiing.
•“Building a great telemark instructor”, A look at how we
build a telemark instructor through our levels.
Additional team contribution
The team ready for action in St Anton
Training
Our system is not just mechanically based, we definitely
care about the guest so each group presented with
a classically relaxed Australian training style so the
participants got an example of how our friendly open
nature works in practice.
At St Anton we got one day to see the resort & work on
our workshops plus half a day to practice on the demo
slope.
An overview of our Snowboard Workshop:
The fundamentals & dynamics the Australians use
to shred from the mountain to the park
Six team members were able to ride in the opening
ceremony, chosen to show a cross section of the
disciplines we offer & for their strong riding ability were
Richard, Tim, Paul, Ant, Jason & Tom.
Part A: the Australian certification levels
Night show
Part B: a hybrid of freeride & freestyle riding
This is where we got a chance to show all the other
countries how we ride in Australia, it is done in a
synchronized team format. We had a chance to send
Opening ceremonies
6
the team down the hill three times - each of the runs
the crash, the map of Australia and the snake are
available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=5s15u0F3pW4
Expression session
Snowboard represented Australia from the air very well
Pictured at right (L to R) Marty Firle, Paul Lorenz (obscured) Tom
Gellie, Jason Clauscen and Demelza Clay enjoying the St Anton
atmosphere
motivation to make sure attendance occurred. All of the
funds to attend Interski were a result of team organized
fundraising and sponsorship, I think that all should be
commended for their determination to make the event
happen.
Also a big thank you to Australian ambassador to
snowsports, Brad Spalding I believe his management
skills and aid to me as coach added to this great team
atmosphere.
Attendance by snow sport school directors:
Interski provided a unique opportunity to
• Attract International staff
• Encourage instructor exchange programs
We would like to thank NSW snow sports school
directors Tina Burford (Perisher) and Adam Hosie
(Thredbo) who took the opportunity to attend. Both
were members of past Interski teams so their interest
and support was very much appreciated. It provided
them with the opportunity to look at international
recruitment opportunities as well as compare the ISIA
equivalence of some of the countries currently employed
in Australian resorts. Our plan is to use the APSI
website as a contact point for international exchanges.
Attending workshops & lectures from the other
countries
With the current format it was difficult to individually
attend more than 3 on-hill workshops all week. However
by watching a different indoor lecture to the 4 hour
outdoor workshop the team was able share attendance
to the many countries. Their thoughts have been put into
web articles and this special edition of snowpro.
Team spirit:
This was my fourth Interski and although the excitement
you get from attending your first international event as a
young team member is hard to beat - I would have to say
that the atmosphere at St. Anton was awesome, electric
and the feeling of a cohesive team was exceptional.
I think that the team make up had something to do with
it, the willingness of the individuals at the event and the
Brad Spalding (centre) addressing the crowd at a night time function
at the ski museum.
7
Meetings
Politics seemed to be the order of the day when it came
to the general meetings that Brad & I attended. Mostly
they follow a general outline of a standard AGM with the
financials and the election of board members however a
few issues turned both into very drawn out experience.
ISIA GA
The key issue here was the Eurotest the current standard
for European community recognition. Although this is
not needed for the ISIA stamp & is not very relevant to
Australians not working in Europe. It does form a part of
the ISIA card, something that is needed to open your own
school in Europe.
The Argentinian 2011 Interski Representatives
• Adventure sports for our leisure clothing
• Dialog-information technology for financial assistance
Currently the ISIA are entering a legal battle with country
members of their own association over the validity &
way the Euro test is run…..this is not a good situation as
continuing down this line will only be a cost to members,
which is us. I hope this can be worked out in the near
future.
• ‘Euro point prestige’- for financial assistance
• Contact & Clarendon printing for our ‘theme brochure’
• SnowSports International & Hestra for our gloves
• Toko
Interski GA
• John and Sandi Szangolies
Interski internationals board elections were slowed
down by a late application by an existing board member,
a much liked Scandinavian representative. The result
was the vice president position remains open until the
next meeting in two years time.
• APSI members who donated to Interski when paying
their annual memberships.
• Each of the Australian resorts-for their training
facilities, help with fundraising events & allowing your
staff to participate
Next Interski
Argentina, yes you heard correctly!
•APSI board of management for their commitment to
the event
Interski will be in the southern hemisphere for the first
time. This is really exciting and should prove to be a
location that many of us may not have ever visited but
like me have always wanted to.
• Brad Spalding for his commitment to the team and his
position as ambassador
I would also like to personally thank all the team for
their efforts at the event, their personal assistance in
raising funds when it looked like we may not get there
because of financial difficulties. Also a big thank you to
our supporters and friends and families who made the
trip to St Anton.
It will take some “thinking out of the box” and future
planning when sending a team to Argentina in early
September (during the traditional exam period), but I am
confident that we will be able to come up with a way to
attend Interski during a time of the year where we are
actually riding fit.
Thank you:
Attending Interski would not have been possible
without all the support that the team received
during the past four years leading up to the
event. Although I have tried to include as many
of the main supporters as possible, I do know
that the commitment from others should not go
unrecognised. So to all those listed below & those
I have possibly forgotten, we all sincerely thank
you.
• Karbon & Ed Fortey for our uniforms
• Tourism Australia for their photos & video
8
Alpine - Czech Republic
• plastic dice
• plastic cones
• hoops
• foam noodles
• small colourful spring mattresses
• frisbees
• box of lollies
The instructors also have snow blades to use instead of
Marty Firle normal skis to help with moving around in the area.
Czech Republic Indoor Lecture
Before the kids put on skis, they use the plastic animals
to sit on and talk to each other and relax. Then onto to
some games without skis on, kicking the balls around
and using the jumping rope to compare force in pairs.
“Children’s Ski Park in a Bag”
The Czech Republic chose their “ski park in a bag” idea
to teach children to ski where they don’t have a fixed
ski park. The lessons are typically one day or over a
weekend.
The plastic stones are used to mark a course or a parking
spot for the first goes at sliding. Skiing with the slalom
pole for safety with the instructor. The dice is used to
choose who is to go first. They use the plastic cones to
race around. To help with turning they use the small
hoops as mock steering wheels.
The ski park consists of three bags which have in them
all that are needed to create their own fenced off area
to teach the kids.
The foam noddles are called “rain worms” and they use
them to help the kids stop by having the kids hold them
so when they stop the worm knocks over a cone.
• a rope with coloured pendants to mark off the area.
• carpets to help with walking on snow.
• plastic balls to kick around
They get the kids involved with packing up all equipment
by throwing out the little spring mattresses to grip. Then
some more out of ski games like throwing a Frisbee.
• jumping rope
Finishing off with some lollies.
• plastic stones
This is a good idea to be able to set a kids area anywhere
and still be able to kids to learn how to ski.
• plastic animals to help relax the kids, Winnie the Pooh.
• short slalom poles
Snowboard and Alpine
Teaching Manuals
The latest version of the teaching
manual is available to APSI members
The manual was a big hit in 2010
with clear descriptions of the
‘Performance model’, new photos
and greate teaching tips from the
current National Demo Team.
Manuals are available through the APSI online shop www.apsi.net.au
Purchase online for only $85.00
(Plus postage & handling)
9
Alpine - Denmark
skier can be achieved by means of a pre made plan.
“Ride Free!” is born of the belief that a skier will learn
best from experience while attempting to master multiple
challenges provided by the instructor in a number of
varied ways. An example used in our class was a double
pole drag through big bumps with a focus on pressure
control.
Some background on the Danish customers will help
understand this philosophy. Most Danish people learn
to ski in the mountains of Scandinavia, as naturally in
Denmark there are no ski resorts. The common duration
of a ski holiday is one full week and to the Danish people
skiing is seen mostly as a social event.
Demelza Clay
Danish On Snow Clinic
Half a million Danish people consider themselves ‘skiers’
so I am guessing their presence is fairly noticeable in the
ski resorts of Europe. The Danish ski instructors have
found that their customers have usually already been out
and attempted to ski in varied and challenging terrain
without a lot of success before any formal intermediate
instruction. To me it sounds somewhat similar to the
Australian approach of “lets go out and learn to stop,
then tackle a few blue and black runs!” The difference
here is that the Danish people are skiing around in the
European
Alps not the
Aussie
ski
hills.
“Ride Free!”
The Danish Ski School is the institution which coordinates
ski instructor courses and exams for Denmark. They have
a member base of approximately 500 – 600 people. The
institution is a member of the Danish Ski Federation,
which has about 12,000 members.
The clinic led by the Danes was focused around their
philosophy of Ride Free, which is intended to ‘guide’
Demelza lovin’ Interski
‘active movements’ and use of ski terrain.
both teaching and skiing with the eventual goal for the
skier to be able to ride as much of the resort as possible.
Of the many
things they
presented in
their clinic I
found their
approach
to teaching
and learning
the
most
interesting.
Their basic
belief
here
is that every
skier
will
develop the
best possible
foundation
for
skill
development
t h r o u g h
The concept of ‘Flow’ was talked about extensively in
their clinic. They define flow as “the mental state in which
a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of
energized focus, full involvement, and success in the
progress of an activity.” They believe ‘Flow’ represents
a key factor in harnessing the emotions, which facilitate
learning and performing.
They don’t believe this philosophy is a revolution, but it is
a movement from the earlier approaches of step by step
development achieved through more schematic routines.
Although they acknowledge that some skiing essentials
need to be learned by all skiers in a structured way, but
they do not believe that the optimal development of a
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clients to ski as much terrain as possible, rather than
‘making the client an expert on the green slopes’. The
goal is to enable the client to adapt their movements
to all situations encountered in the resort by carefully
choosing the appropriate terrain, which matches the
students’ level of physical and mental preparedness.
The Danish system attempts to use the natural flow of
learning to channel and energize emotions, and then
align them with the tasks in a lesson. When your current
skills match the skills required for the challenges you
ski, you are able to feel the spontaneous joy, or emotion,
that we all derive from our sport.
In APSI terms, this approach is almost like a mixture of
a ‘Guided Discovery” and “Task Style” teaching, with a
big focus on terrain control and adaptation. The Danes
spoke extensively about the level of analytical skills and
knowledge of biomechanical movements required to be
able to affect this method of teaching, and how it can be
difficult to deliver the level of precise individual feedback
required in a class especially for a new instructors.
As lovers of snowsports, this emotion is a challenge to
‘teach’ a potential lifetime skier and client. It is a step
sideways from the inverted arousal ‘U”, and I like the way
the Danes have presented this concept enveloped in the
context of emotion.
Incidentally, emotion was a topic and principle talked
about extensively during the congress by a number of
teams. With the longevity of our profession in mind, the
need to keep skiers engaged in snowsports has seen the
concept of emotion bought to our attention.
I liked the way the Danes have stepped back from the
traditional structured lesson format and used highend teaching and analysis skills to provide a positive
and engaging experience in the mountains for clients
learning to ski. The connection between this experience
and the now popular topic of ‘emotion’ in snowsports is,
I feel, a new key focus to encourage further participation
our industry.
Ok, great concept but how do Danish instructors do this?
• Learning Through Movements
• Less Talk, More Skiing
• New Conditions = New Focus
Learning Through Movements
This process is not only
movement oriented, as it is also
very experimental. Their clients
are encouraged to experiment
with different movement patterns
as they ski the mountain. In our
clinic, the Danes controlled the
learning environment (terrain)
while the group was given a few
challenges to complete on that
terrain. In APSI terms this aligns
with out Task
Less Talk, More Skiing
The Danes do not believe in
dictating everything their client
does and hence they try to avoid
describing things in too much
detail. They would like the client to
be active in the learning process,
and this is achieved by exposing
the client to different exercises
and terrain. This is related to their
goal of helping clients to be able
to ski most of the mountain, on
and off piste, early in their skiing
lives.
New Conditions = New Focus
Due to the nature of skiing where
the conditions change constantly
the Danes encourage their
11
Alpine - Germany
3. Stance: Equally flexed in all joints with tension
A similar description to our athletic stance was given.
The Germans place an importance on bending the
ankles, knees and hips with the hands in front of the
body. They strive to keep tension in this stance trying not
to relax the position.
Exercise: Frank had us holding our poles out in front of
our body gripping them from underneath (figure 1).
Richard Jameson
German On Snow Clinic
8 Traits to dynamic skiing
One of the more enjoyable clinics I was able to attend
this Interski was this one from Germany. The workshops
simplicity and logical structure gave me a good insight
into what Germany holds important on their technical
thoughts of “perfect” skiing, as our clinic leader Frank
put it. The language barrier can sometimes be a problem
when interpreting information from some countries;
however, in this instance it proved to be a bonus. Frank
got straight to the point of what the 8 mechanics of
“perfect” skiing are and a drill or exercise to help train
this into their students. I’ll do my best to keep it as
simple as he did with the help of a couple of pictures to
show you some of the exercises.
Figure 1: Equally flexed in all joints with tension.
4. Moving forward
A movement forward trough the transition of the turns.
We practiced this in a medium radius turn.
Exercise: switching your poles behind your back through
the transition. The aim was to move the body forward to
help the poles pass behind your body (figure 2).
1. Carving
Germany’s idea of
dynamic
“perfect”
skiing is where the “tail
of the ski followed the
tip” and would be what
we call in Australia, Pure
Carving. If the terrain
was steeper or the turn
shape shortened, the
German demonstrators
would try to ski as close
to this ideal as they
could, even if there was
some small amounts of
rotary blended in.
Figure 2: Pole switching exercise.
2. Rhythm from turn to turn
5. Using the Ankles and legs
This was explained as, “skiing should be like walking”.
You take one step fluidly into the next with no static point
as it makes flowing easier and movement effortless.
Our turns should flow from 1 into the next with no static
points as well.
Exercise: We performed syncro skiing in pairs where you
had to match the person’s tempo in front with yours in
the hope you would develop a seamless ryhthm between
turns.
An emphasis was placed on tipping the skis onto the
edges by using the ankles and legs, while at the same
time trying to isolate the upper body.
Exercise: Pure carved slalom sized turns using an
alternation of our hands on our hips-chest-in the air
(figure 3). The drill definitely forced you to do something
else with your upperbody leaving only your legs to worry
about the tipping. It was hard to co-ordinate at first but
felt cool after a while.
12
standing on the old little toe (inside ski in the completion)
as he rolled to the big toe (becoming the new outside
ski).
Exercise: Widening our stance through the transition
of a pure carved medium turn, exaggerating this width
so the new outside ski was placed onto the edge at the
start of the turn. This exercise felt pushy to the edge but
it did achieve the goal of placing the ski on its side to
develop pressure under the ski.
7. No vertical movement in the transition
Trying to keep the COM at a similar height through the
transition.
Exercise: No particular exercise was given to us here,
however, the skiing by the German demonstrators looked
stable in the upper body with some ext/ret movements
from the legs, especially in shorter turns.
8. Ankles, knees then hips
Starting the edging movement from the ankles followed
by the knees and then the hips, paying close attention to
the rotational alignment of the upper body. It was noted
that if the upper body rotates in too much the skis will
skid and if too much counter was created or “rotated
out” of the turn, you would get good edge but pushed
into the back seat.
Exercise: Heisman drill. Outside hand on hip and inside
hand extended out in front of the body switching in the
transition (pic. 4)
Figure 4: Heisman Drill
In summary, there are some interesting similarities
between our mechanical beliefs in the APSI and the
Germans way of thinking. Some of the exercises were
good ones that I have never seen or even heard of
before. It’s not to say that all of this information above
is the way we should move forward, it is however, food
for thought and some of the ideas blended with ours can
only make our skiing and thoughts of skiing that much
stronger.
Figure 3: Ankles and legs drill
6. Early Pressure to the outside ski
Trying to get the pressure to build on the new edged
outside ski as early as possible. Frank described this as
13
Alpine - Japan
popularity among the Japanese people. In 2010 the
number of ski areas in operation had dropped to around
350 with a skiing population of approximately 9 million.
This prompted the SAJ to have a look at their ski
technique and develop new, more achievable technique
that put less stress on the body and lowered the risk of
injury.
They started to look at other ways of making a turn, mainly
using gravity with less emphasis on muscular effort. The
professor had videoed a series of experiments that they
had performed to come up with their new ski technique
known as the Hybrid Turn. These experiments started
with just a ball and a slope. As we all know, if you roll a
ball across a slope, as the inertia fades the gravity takes
over and pulls the ball down. As this happens the ball
makes a perfect arc towards the bottom of the slope.
Paul Lorenz
Japan Indoor Lecture
Gravity, not muscles
I had always wanted to learn more about the Japanese
system, particularly now that I am working in Japan. I
have often seen Japanese instructors teaching very
strange movements out on the hill, very different to
anything I had ever seen before. I found this interesting
and had therefore made up my mind that I wanted to ski
with the Japanese team and listen to their justification of
these movements.
This proves that the first half of any ski turn can occur
with just the allowance of gravity to play its part. They
then had to figure out a way to finish the turn so that it
would end up going back across the slope in the other
direction. They experimented with many different shapes
and objects until they stumbled across the idea of the
cup. A cup has a smaller radius at the base than it does
at the brim. This means that when you roll a cup on its
side down a slope it will follow an arc around the base of
the cup until it turns back up the hill.
I attended the Japanese indoor lecture before heading
out on the snow. This proved to be very useful as the
on snow portion of the presentation was short and
demonstrative, without too much talk.
With this experiment the Japanese started to play
around with shaping their body in a similar fashion to
a cup (shorter on the inside and longer on the outside
(they named this “dual axis control”) hoping that gravity
would act in the same way as it does with the cup.
We were spoken to by the Japanese team coach and
also by a physics professor who was employed to develop
new ideas about ski technique.
The lecture started with
some interesting facts
about the Japanese
skiing culture. Towards
the late 80’s and early
90’s there was a boom
in the development
of ski resorts within
Japan. In 1993 there
were approximately 950
ski areas with a skiing
population of around 18
million. Skiing quickly
became one of the
Japanese national sports
and attracted people of
all ages including the
older generations.
Over the years the price
of skiing and the amount
of ski related injuries
increased substantially.
This saw a decline in
Dual Axis Control
14
We then went out for the on snow clinic. We were lucky
enough to ski with one of the most famous demonstrators
and competition winners in all of Japan, Keisuke Iyama.
During this on snow clinic they did not explain very
much as their English was limited. They did however
demonstrate the hybrid turn and attempt to give feedback
on our performance of this technique. Andrew Rae also
chimed in now and then, explaining to other countries
what they really meant which was quite entertaining.
This technique was
hard to grasp for a lot
of countries as it does
not involve any direct
pressing, pushing or
twisting that they all
come to expect.
This was all well and good for 1 turn, but how would they
link these turns together? The next series of experiments
saw the Japanese taping 2 cups together by their brim
with a solid ball inside. As the cups rolled across the
slope, gravity would pull the ball down into the lower cup
forcing it to drop and cause the cups to now arc around
the new, lower cup. This would repeat itself all the way
down the slope, seeing the 2 cups link turns with only
the use of gravity.
At the end of the day
I admire the intent
to create new and
better technique and
hope that this leads
to the increase in the
amount of skiers seen
on the Japanese ski
fields. This technique
is definitely achievable
for beginners as this is
what most new skiers
end up doing naturally.
While it seems very
interesting
and
justified through these
experiments, when put
into practice proves to
be a little different. We often observed Keisuke falling
to the inside with his outside ski splaying off on its own
course. This was handled with his strength, balance and
understanding of skiing but may not be handled by the
average beginner. I also think that this technique can be
more suited to certain snow conditions. It is debatable
if this would be successful on the icy snow fields of
Australia. All in all it was a fun session and answered
a lot of the questions I had about the funky Japanese
exercises I had seen being used.
Dual Axis Control
What was very interesting about this experiment was the
path that the ball took was identical to the path that a
skiers’ centre of mass takes in relation to the skis, when
skiing down the hill.
If a skier relaxes the outside leg and allows gravity to pull
their centre of mass down the hill (as in the experiment),
the COM passes over the skis which in turn flattens them,
and the new turn will initiate. The Japanese had proved
with these experiments that no muscular
effort was needed, no torque or twist on the
knees was needed and therefore this is a
much more user friendly and injury free way
of skiing.
This new technique is called the “hybrid turn”
and is what is being taught on the Japanese
ski fields at the moment. They believe this new
technique will cut down on ski related injuries
and attract the older generations that have
been scared off skiing as a result of injuries.
They are teaching this technique to all levels,
at all performances on all terrain.
Paul lapping up the views.
15
Alpine - South Korea
are around 35-50 short turns (8-10 long turns) in length.
They are held over 3 days and only the top place getters
are bestowed with the name of a demonstrator.
With these competitions being the focus for most highend skiers and ski instructors, their technique is very
much driven by the above mentioned criteria. When
watching the Koreans perform short turns their stance
became very low. During the transition they have a
similar appearance to that of a World Cup mogul skier
on the top of a mogul. They believe that this position
allows them to extend their legs further out to the side,
therefore gaining more edge angle and more pressure/
rebound from the ski. When asked if this feels “back
seat” they said that at this level of skiing, they are trying
to balance on the heel as much as possible to use the
energy in the tail of the ski at the end of the turn. I
have to admit, their turns are extremely round and very
snappy. With the pressure that builds up from the high
edge angle, high speed and the balance point being over
their heel, it is easy to understand why they look like a
mogul skier through the transition – because they have
so much pressure to deal with.
Paul Lorenz
South Korean On Snow Clinic
Technical Competition Skiing
The Koreans were the standout skiers at Interski in my
opinion. The combination of speed and performance
at all radiuses, on any terrain was outstanding. I was
fortunate enough to not only ski with the best Korean
skiers and competition winners during their workshop,
but I also had a chance to sit and talk with the Korean
head coach Ray Yang.
Apparently when progressing a student they teach 3
different positions: Tall, Middle and Low. They believe
tall is easier for beginners as it is less stress on the body
and allows for a flatter ski. As the skier’s ability increases
they are encouraged to flex more and more to allow for
more edge and pressure control movements (extension/
retraction).
In this article I will cover what the Koreans presented
at Interski, and the ski technique beliefs of the Korean
team. I think it is important to note that while their beliefs
on high-end technique may seem strange and different
after reading this article, they have a very similar strategy
to the APSI for progressing beginner to low intermediate
skiers (e.g. separation, angulation, balance over the
outside ski , rising and re-centering etc.).
To say that the Koreans had prepared an on snow
workshop is would be something of an exaggeration.
This lack of preparation, coupled with their ability to
string very few words together in English made for an
interesting on snow workshop. The plan for their workshop
was to demonstrate the tasks they perform during their
technical skiing competitions. Fortunately, Reilly and I
are very interested in these technical competitions and
had spent a lot of time watching videos and reading
articles about these comps on the internet. This interest
provided great groundwork as they didn’t say a whole lot
during their presentation.
When watching the Koreans perform longer radius
turns, they seem to be very square through the start of
the turn, with a lot of inclination. From the fall line they
appear to balance over the outside ski and use more
of a retraction/extension move or cross under during
the transition. When asked where they balance, they
answered inside ski to the fall line, 50/50 in the fall line
then outside ski after the fall line (figure 1).
Pressure
The Korean technical competitions consist of 6
tasks:
• “Progressive” Short Turns (APSI Carved)
• “Carved” Short Turns (APSI Pure Carved)
• Long Turns
• “Middle” Turns (Mediums)
• Free Run
• Moguls
Figure 1: Long radius turn weighting
During these tasks, the judges are looking for speed,
performance and movements (it seems in this order).
The competitions are usually held on steeper runs that
This was very interesting to me as we promote standing
on the outside ski from the word go. Reilly and I managed
16
next turn as seen in the diagram above) will also mean
that when they choose to transition, it is just a matter of
relaxing the downhill leg and rolling onto the new edge.
By relaxing the downhill, or old outside leg, it causes
their COM to pass over their feet and move down the
hill and inside the next turn more quickly. This looks a
little like a crossunder. Ray called the COM moving down
the hill “vertical drop”. Vertical drop is very important to
them as it allows them to get further inside the following
turn. I guess because there is no emphasis on standing
on the outside ski early in the turn that this transition is
functional for their goals.
to track down the Korean Coach, Ray Yang and organized
to meet him in the lecture hall with his laptop so that he
could explain this technique further.
As mentioned above, their primary goal is speed down
the hill. The Koreans believe that if a skier stands on
their outside ski at the start of the turn on a steep, hard
packed run at full speed, it is too difficult deal with the
pressure and continue moving inside to create higher
edge angles. The Koreans believe that keeping the weight
on the inside ski will allow them to move inside further,
putting them in a position to deal with the pressure when
they do stand on the outside ski. They believe this not
only gets the COM in the right position but also allows
the outside leg to lengthen, therefore being able to cope
with more pressure. This also gives the skier a greater
edge angle therefore producing even more pressure or
rebound.
Ray went on to share his thoughts on angulation, rotation
and being square. He believes that to keep the weight on
the inside ski at the start of the turn, one must stay as
square as possible. He showed me the following diagram
of the hip position and its effect on inside/outside ski
pressure.
The pressure is at its maximum “usability” just after the
fall line, as shown in the diagram below. They believe
that trying to build and use pressure at the start of the
turn will limit your ability to gain “Max Power” or potential
edge angle and pressure where it is at its greatest. A
skier is naturally pushed to the outside at high speed,
this coupled with the side cut of the ski will mean that
there is always going to be pressure on the outside
whether we try to or not. This pressure is enough get the
turn going at the start without actively standing on the
outside. Without placing weight on the outside ski at the
start of the turn, they believe they can move further to
the inside. As mentioned above, this allows them to be
far enough inside, with a lengthened outside leg to deal
with and use the pressure where it is most powerful.
They believe most World Cup skiers are doing a similar
thing as can be seen by the incredible inclination up until
the gate where they angulate, stand on the outside ski
and use the pressure to boost them across the hill. Ray
Wang drew this diagram and aptly named this part of the
turn “Max Power” (Figure 2).
Ray believes that having the pelvis facing the direction
the skis are travelling, or square at the start of the turn
allows them to balance more easily on the inside ski and
consequently move further inside the turn. It also gives
the skier the ability to turn, or pivot the outside ski before
locking it on edge to set a steering angle (figure 2).
Angulated
Square
Pressure applied
to ski
Pelv
is
elviviss
PPel
Direction Plevis
is facing
Figure 2: Hip angulation and ski pressure
They teach this square position by using a Tai Kwon Do
analogy which apparently everyone in Korea can relate
to. When you perform a Tai Kwon Do punch it is a similar
position as the one you would be in when turning on skis
at high speed.
60-70% Pressure
100% Pressure
MAX POWER
Ray told me that this technique is relatively new and was
brought about in 2004. Prior to 2004 the Koreans had
very similar beliefs to many other countries, with strong
focus on counter, angulation and early balance over the
outside ski in high end skiing. They believe that this new
technique is more beneficial to meeting their goals and
performing on their slopes and snow conditions. It is
great to see a country that is open minded enough to try
something out of the norm to achieve what they believe
is stronger technique based on performance over form.
Figure 2: Max Power
Keeping the weight on the outside ski through the
transition (turning into the inside ski at the start of the
Paul Lorenz
17
Alpine - Netherlands
initiation to completion, as the centre of mass is moved
inside between the feet, which are weighted evenly. The
hips are kept high and as speed increases skiers are
encouraged to allow the inside ski to match naturally.
Edging
With the focus on injury prevention the Dutch maintain
knee stability by using less ankle and knee angulation in
the initial stages of learning. Edging is taught simply by
shortening the inside leg as speed and terrain increases,
while the outside leg is kept long and strong. The outside
ski is in front at the start of the turn and as the inside
leg shortens a natural tip lead change is observed as
the hips move inside with a little counter. I found this
method of edging really effective, especially for high end
dynamic skiing.
Demelza Clay
Dutch On Snow Clinic
Teaching Beginners
I was enthusiastic and somewhat delighted to ski with the
team from The Netherlands… Their performance on the
demo hill was very fast and thrilling to watch intensified
by the fact that the team wore pink pants. Epic.
Summary
Though the Dutch technique can appear very ‘square’,
is it very fast and powerful. While lower leg angulation
is avoided initially, it is taught eventually to fine tune
inclination movements (especially to solid intermediate
skiers who have developed the muscle tone and strength
in their legs to perform them).
In true Dutch style their clinic strayed away from the
traditional. The initial subject of teaching beginners was
introduced with a focus similar to a few other nations
such as Korea and Japan. The concern is that traditional
angulation and separation can produce injury in the
beginner skier. Hence, the Dutch method utilizes whole
body steering and inclination, introduced to beginners
using a really interesting and effective ‘Truck Wheel’
analogy.
For the recreational skier I really like the Dutch approach
for two reasons:
1. It allows for skiing to be learned in a more intuitive
way.
1. Could the acceptance that learning to ski for the
beginner is not an ‘intuitive sport’ be a thing of the
past…? (… where ‘intuition’ is moving in a way that feels
logical based on our knowledge of other movement
patterns in life - ie. Riding a bike, walking, running etc)
2. Places less stress on the body and lower leg joints,
potentially preventing/decreasing incidence of injury.
1. Especially as a large percentage of our population
are ‘overweight’ and not fit enough to learn to ski, we
are realizing that injury management and prevention
is important to keep people engaged in skiing and to
encourage others to try it.
Truck Wheel Analogy:
1. Students are to imagine that they are standing on top
of a large steering wheel in a truck that has no roof and
no sides.
2. Using only the steering wheel they try to turn the truck
with their feet.
3. Students are encouraged to pull the inside leg back
and the outside leg forward.
Truck Wheel Analogy For Kids:
There are some schools now that use wooden steering
wheels as an indoor teaching tool, mounted on a stable
pivot point on the floor. The children can safely stand
in their ski boots on the wheel and attempt to turn the
wheel with their feet thereby learning the movements
required to turn the skis before they hits the slopes!
For the instructor
1. Introducing stronger inclination movement patterns
into our system at an earlier level could help to balance
out a situation where we see a common thread of hip
dumping in our APSI candidates (potentially due to
emphasis on angulation in the APSI system).
This ‘mini progression’ allows the turning of the skis to
be learned in a very intuitive way. The skier uses the
whole body in unison to turn, which helps to decrease
counter rotation in beginners because of the action of
pushing and pulling the feet.
1. The use of exercises such as these could help
instructors to explore movements outside of those
taught in the paradigm of APSI demonstrations.
Inclination Movements:
Inclination is also introduced early. In the demonstration
it appears that there is bracing on the outside leg from
18
Alpine - New Zealand
Australia has approx one million Snowsports participants,
New Zealand has around 200,000 participants. Of the
Aussie market, New Zealand attracts 100,000 of these
Snowsports enthusiasts per year, that’s a whopping 10%
of our market.
The kiwis have been very pro-active in attracting
international Race Teams to train in their resorts by
offering worldclass training facilities. Eighty-two percent
of Alpine Medallists from the Vancouver Olympics
trained in New Zealand. There are also dedicated
facilities for freestylers and Snowboarders. One such
facility is “Snow Park”. New Zealand boasts two Olympic
sized half pipes, one at Snow Park and one at Cardrona.
Not only are they offering excellent facilities for overseas
riders, but NZ is also developing their own local talent.
Tim Robertson
The indoor lecture was very interesting, the topic
was “Why New Zealand’s Ski Industry is Growing”.
The emphasis was on how NZ attempts to capture a
significant slice of the Australian Ski and Snowboard
market.
Instructor training programmes are also very popular,
attracting participants from all over the world. New
Zealand ski resorts attract many overseas participants
to a number of large events. These are the Burton
Open, the Rip Curl Heli Challenge, the FIS Junior World
Ski and Snowboard Championships and the NZ Winter
Games, which are held every two years and before each
Olympics.
The on snow workshop “Embrace the Adventure” was
quite good too, showing many similarities to our system.
New Zealand Indor Lecture
Why we have growth
New Zealand has 25 club and commercial resorts.
There were 1.427 million skier visits in 2010, which was
up 15% on 2009. Of these 38% were snowboarders.
Australia accounts for 32% of skier visits. It is the biggest
overseas market. NZ considers itself, a value for money
destination. There has been on going investment, i.e.
snowmaking and lifts. The ski areas of Coronet Peak
and Cardrona have spent 100 million dollars in the
last 8 years on improvements and infrastructure. Heli
skiing is a big attraction
for intermediate and above
skiers and snowboarders.
New Zealand sales and
marketing consider NZ to
be a soft ski market, which
means visiting tourists come
out for approx 7-10 days
but actually ski 4-5 days.
In other words they like to
participate in other activities
such as bungy jumping,
paragliding, jet boating and
hiking (adventure tourism
market). There has been a
marked increase in business
from Australia, 2 years ago
there were 13 flights into
Queenstown
per
week.
However flights for 2011
have been increased to 44
per week!
This obviously
shows their expectations
of increased business from
Australia
New Zealand On Snow Clinic
Embrace the Adventure
The object of the clinic given by Gavin McAuliffe and Matt
Lewis was to show how their system can turn a parallel
skier into a skier that can tip up their skis (carve on piste)
to be competent on the off piste and prepare for the pipe
and park. Their catch phrase is “Tip it, Rip it and Jib
it”. The clinic started off with explanations of the four
New Zealand on snow clinic
19
movements, Fore and Aft, Rotation, Lateral and Vertical.
Later outlining the elements of co-ordination which are,
rate, timing, duration, range and intensity.
happens earlier on steeper terrain.
3. The duration of the movement – This is the length of
time a movement is sustained. For example, the length
of time the skier remains balanced on the outside ski
will control the length of the turn. Also the length of time
rotational movements are held in a certain direction
will dictate the shape of the turn. Extension/flexion
movements need to last for a longer length of time in a
long term.
With these explanations and outlines, we are able to
get an idea of how a skier achieves a parallel turn. We
all skied and watched Matt demonstrate, whilst Gavin
explained using a “tactical” approach to increase the
“tipping up” of the skis by increasing the range of lateral
movements, speed and terrain. Tasks he used were,
railway track turns, stem turns and leapers. For the
“rip it up” skier, we used a mixture of bumps and crud.
Tactically we worked with a line choice and intensity of
rotation. Pivots, slips and Spiess turns highlighted this.
Lastly, for the “jib it up” skier, we kept the centre of
gravity above the base of support and therefore we kept
relatively flat skis on the snow. We took advantage of
natural features such as spines and jumps.
4. Range of movement – this is the amount of movement
which is applied. For example, as the student moves
from basic parallels to carving, the range of lateral
movements needs to increase to tip these skis up on
a higher angle. Another example, in bumps skiing the
vertical range of movement changes to manage pressure
differences for the terrain.
Next we spoke about the co-ordination elements.
1. The rate of movement – described as the speed
with which a movement is applied. Examples: Rate of
rotational movements control speed by shaping the turn,
ie if the legs are turned quickly, the radius will shorten
and the speed will be slower. If vertical movement is
made quickly, the skier will look jerky.2. The timing of
the movement – is when a movement is applied at a
particular point in time or in a particular phase of the
turn. For example: transfer of lateral balance happens
earlier from beginner to advanced. As the skier becomes
more skilful the weight transfer happens earlier in the
initiation phase. Another example is that a pole plant
5. The intensity of movement – Intensity refers to the
amount of power or strength used when a movement
is applied. For example, using muscular strength in
the legs and core muscles, to brace or control against
the outside ski will help increase grip and generate
forces resulting in acceleration out of the turn. Another
example is the degree of strength used in rotational
force will control the arc of the turn.
In summary the workshop highlighted that there are a lot
of similarities to the Aussie system, it’s just explained,
emphasised and prioritised differently. I particularly liked
the elements of coordination and their explanations.
St Anton Moguls
20
Alpine - Slovenia
hips facing the direction of travel. They do this drill many
times.
Next drill is the “shooter”. Where you point your downhill
hand over your uphill skill, with your uphill hand on your
hip. Again this traverse is done with the downhill ski
slightly forward.
Then we moved onto the “happy man” drill. You place
both hands on your hips, with the focus of hips and
shoulders facing the direction of travel. Downhill ski
slightly forward.
Marty Firle
After do lots of single traverses you link them together.
The point where you link is done with a steered turn. As
Sandi says in world cup, most courses can not be carved
the whole way through the turn.
Slovenia On Snow Clinic
The role of a demo team member working with
racers
Max. Deviation between the skier’s centre of mass
and skiing line.
Slovenia’s clinic was on how Demo team members have
been helping world cup racers in their training.
The Slovenia’s focus on keeping the CM flowing down the
fall line,with the legs staying on the skiing line. Causing
a deviation between the two. Like we do in Dynamic
medium turns.
Sandi Murovec was leading the group I went with and he
explained the main topics,
1. centrally balanced position & back cat position –
starting point for attack
Swift knee and ankle movements
2. Body following – maintaining the shoulder axis in a
position that follows the direction of skiing (or skier’s
centre of mass) in all phases of a turn
Focusing on swift ankle and knee movements through
all phases of the turn the Slovenia’s start off using a
special Edgie Wedgie.
3. max. Deviation between the skier’s centre of mass
and skiing line
This super edgie wedgie screws onto the ski tips like a
normal edgie wedgie. It is made out of strong plastic and
has hinges to allow tipping and lead change of the skis.
But will not allow any diverging.
4. swift knee and ankle movements (both legs at the
same time) in every phase of a turn
They use this to help with the ankle and knee movement,
also help to stay parallel when starting a turn with the
inside ski ahead.
Centrally balanced position
They start by using Snowblades to promote a centrally
balanced position. Then progress to 125cm skis and
then onto slalom skis.
I had a good time on this clinic. It gives you an interesting
feel when starting a turn with the inside ski slightly
forward. I will be playing with it more during the season.
Starting on snowblades they do a lot of traversing
exercises to really work on be being centred, plus their
other main part is to have the outside ski leading slightly.
Sandi says they really feel that this system is show that
instructors can have a major affect on racers and it is
bridging the perceived gape between instructors and
race coaches.
Their reason for this is that it allows the inside ankle to
activate better and get the ski onto the edge. This was
discussed about how world cup skier Nika Fleiss was
loosing time in races. When Sandi looked at her skiing
he saw that in almost every turn to the left, the turn was
started with the inside ski diverging. So part of his work
with Nika was to correct this.
Here is the website of the UPS Snowsports Concept,
www.nakanto.si
This is what the Slovenian Demo team are using for the
racers as well as it being sold in Russia.
Body following
The first traverse drill is called the “straight jacket”.
Where you place your downhill hand on your uphill
hip. Holding this position traverse with the downhill ski
slightly forward. You end up having your shoulders and
21
Alpine - Sweden
You use Will-Skill-Hill.
Firstly, attempt to tap into their passion or Will. What
brought them to this lesson, what do they expect,
want and desire? WSH recognises that passion is by
default personal, therefore, the more personalised the
experience you can provide, the better the results will
be. WSH states that there is no “right way” of teaching every guest, every group, every day demands a different
approach.
WSH relies on the perception of the instructor to adapt
to the different guest needs, based on their will and skill
requirements and changing external conditions in real
time. To be able to continually adapt their progression
and to ensure it is personalised, the instructor must
be confident, have “highly developed analysis skills,
interpersonal skills and a large number of potential
progressions/exercises”.
Andy Dean
Swedish Indoor Lecture
Predefined progression is Stone Age: Creating
passionate and high performing ski/ride
experiences through the Will-Skill-Hill approach
The Swedish indoor lecture introduced their Will-Skill-Hill
(WSH) teaching/experience framework, which aims to
help instructors design a lesson in such a way that the
rider, when finished, walks away satisfied but wanting
more. The goal of this framework is that by the end of the
lesson the student feels confident and has developed
skills that will lead to his/her dream.
In conclusion the WSH premise is that:
•The best instructors have the ability to create and
sustain skiing/riding passion
•Passion can only be reached through personalized
experiences
I really enjoyed this lecture and the on snow application
of this framework in the 50+ presentation. The question
posed in the indoor lecture was “what differs the best
instructors from the good? With the answer proffered
being “the ability to create and sustain skiing/boarding
passion”. A description of
how to recognize these
WILL
instructors was, that
they are the instructors
Expectations
who at the end of the
day are standing with a
• What does the rider
expect to do
group of skiers/riders
and everyone in the
Preferences
group is glowing. They
• what does the rider
want to do
have had the best day of
theirs lives, a great skiing
Objectives
experience and they’re
• What is the rider’s
objective/aim
just dying to get back out
there tomorrow for more.
Furthermore, this is the
reaction of the guests
each and every time this
instructor goes out.
•The best way to create personalized experience is
through a Will-Skill-Hill approach
For more Information on Will-Skill-Hill go to www.
skidlarare.info/english. I think this model is excellent
SKILL
Technical Skills
• Rotary Movementss
• Edge control movements
HILL
Conditions
• Weather, Terrain
Equipment
• Pressure control
movements
• Balancing movements
Physical Skills
• Strength, coordination,
fitness, mobility
Context - Static
• Set up (group, private,
recreations,
competitive)
Context - Dynamic
The
WSH
approach
continually emphasises
the
importance
of
building a lesson that is
personalised to the individual in order to maintain and
build this passion. WSH is a model for analysing, and
acting in a teaching situation and is designed to support
you in how you use your knowledge and experience with
the correct timing.
• Personalised progression
PWill Skill Hill
at highlighting the need to be flexible in our teaching
presentations and as a reminder that every guest
interaction and teaching context is different. Anything
we can do to ensure continued passion in our guests is
valuable and worth further exploration.
So how do you create these personalised experiences?
22
passion these guests
needed to be shown how
Explore, observe
to get similar results
and find the will,
Discover
with less effort using
movements they both
skill and hill
already understood and
could realistically perform.
Many of the movement’s
demonstrated/attempted
worked
on
pressure
control
movements
initiated from the feet to
Perform
Invent
align the skeleton against
the external forces. These
simple movements were
Formulate a
Present and perform
related to those made
personalized skier/rider
the identified
whilst walking making
experience/progression
them
immediately
experience
understandable
and
relatively
achievable.
The goal of these simple
PWill Skill Hill
movements being to reduce muscle fatigue the end
Swedish On Snow Clinic
result being of course to allow the student to ski for
Alpine skiing at 50+: Applying the Will-Skill-Hill longer with less effort.
Framework. Maintaining passion for skiing for
students over 50.
The clinic also stressed the interrelatedness of the
three components of WSH. If any one of the three is
neglected, i.e. the terrain is inappropriate, the individuals
motivations are misread or the technical movement is
incorrectly matched to their physical ability the student’s
passion will diminish and the goal of Will-Skill-Hill will be
circumvented.
The 50+ clinic began with a discussion of the expectations,
preferences and objectives of the typical client in this
age group (their Will). Both the presenters and the group
agreed that the typical student in this category has no
interest in hours of exercises or indeed the perfection
of their skiing style. These students hope to be able to
gain tactics and develop simple
movements to enable them to
continue their skiing career for
as long as possible. In essence
they want to minimize their output
WILL
while maximizing their results.
I sincerely enjoyed the 50+ clinic and the opportunity
SKILL
Particular importance was given
to ensure that the “Hill” was
appropriate to ensure passion
was maintained.
Hill in this
context includes picking the best
terrain, in this instance groomed
blue terrain, making sure the
equipment is modern and in good
condition, constant evaluation of
the weather and snow conditions
and focusing on delivering a
personalized experience.
HILL
PWill Skill Hill in interrelated
The Skill portion was introduced
by discussing the importance of reviewing the guest’s
current abilities, which encompasses both their technical
and physical skills. It was decided that our target group
where strong intermediate students who were using
abrupt edging and balance movements leading to rapid
fatigue. Our presenters emphasized that to maintain
to work through the Will-Skill-Hill framework in a real
world setting. The presenters were very organised and
professional and had a genuine passion for both skiing
and the benefits of WSH and applied it well to this age
group.
23
Alpine - USA
“buttering”.
With this focus, you end up skiing in a taller position with
not much inclination or angulation. As carving in not the
main aim.
USA On Snow Clinic
I was able to fit into his skis and have a go. The skis were
about 115mm under foot and were nearly full rocker.
With just a bit of camber under the foot. I found the skis
to be fun and trying what Jeb said it was just like I was
skidding my way down the hill. Jeb was saying that they
try not focus too much on edging as the skis want to
flatten, so they try to get just enough to make a turn. This
also is a lot easier when skied in softer snow, not on the
ice we had in St Anton.
Marty Firle
Teaching for Rocker Skis
The other big thing is that PSIA are trying not to turn
anyone away from lessons. So if they show up on powder
skis or carve skis everyone is welcome.
USA’s workshop was on how to adapt teaching to suit the
new rocker skis.
This also stems to instructors.
Jeb was the trainer I went with and he explained that
in America, PSIA is finding that people are turning up
to lessons on skis that are more towards all mountain
rocker skis, than the traditional carve skis. So they are
finding ways to change the lessons to suit.
I asked Jeb how they deal with instructors turning up to
exams on fat twin tips. He said if they can perform the
manoeuvres to the standard of the level, then it is all
good. This way they found that they end up having higher
instructor retention.
He explained that skis with rocker have made it easier
for people to ski in all conditions as there is less chance
for the skis to hook up without the skier being ready or
capable.
With this teaching style I can see this working well when
the snow conditions are a lot softer and the snow gives
you the platform under the skies. But on firmer snow in
seems that guests being welcomed to the lessons out
way the need for edging skills to be improved to help
with skiing.
As these fatter skis are harder to keep up on the edge
on firmer snow, Jeb said they focus more on keeping the
CM up and moving with the skis. Also there was less
emphasis on carving, more on a steering. Or as Jeb said
2 01 2 S o d e r g r e n S c h o l a r s h i p
The APSI offers a scholarship fund in recognition of the rising potential of snow sports
instruction within our resorts.
The Sodergren Scholarship was founded in 1997 to remember Mike and Mim Sodergren
who died in the Thredbo landslide.
Both Mike and Mim epitomised what is was to be a professional snow sports instructor.
Their passion for the industry and their dedication to training and professional
development were legendary.
They ignited passion for snow sports in both recreational skiers and professional
instructors alike. A clinic with either of them was something that you never forgot.
The successful applicants must meet
the following criteria:
• Commitment to personal education, training and accreditation
in the Snowsports Industry
• Professionalism and image
• Contribution and service provided to the industry
• A current financial member of the APSI at the time of application
24
To apply for the opportunity of gaining all course
fees and exam costs to be covered for one season
please send applications in writing to the Board of
Management before the 1 May 2012.
Please send all information to:
PO Box 131
Jindabyne
NSW 2627
or email
apsi@apsi.net.au
All applicants must be a current member of the
APSI with no outstanding debts financially to the
association.
•
The Board of Management reserves the
right to seek nominations.
•
The decision of the APSI Board of
Management is final. No correspondence
will be entered into.
The successful participant will be notified after the
May Board Meeting. The scholarship is current for that
season only.
Snowboard
for the team over the years and battling all the odds to
get the team there. Richard Jameson for putting together
the indoor presentation for the Australian team. And
last but not least Brad Spalding for being the Australian
ambassador and right hand man for the team. Brad’s
efforts for the team and representing the country were
outstanding.
Well it seems like I’m getting into a summary before I
even get to my Interski reports and adventures so here
I go.
The mission: Interski 2011, St Anton. Start time for
myself, the 13 January 2011 at 4.30 pm Melbourne
airport, the travel time around 28 hours. Oh what joy!
Jason Claucsen
Snowboarding Technical Director’s Report
The Snowboard team: Jason Clauscen, James Lloyd and
Hayden Lawn
For me Interski started well before the actual travel
adventure to St Anton, Austria.
The Aims:
It started by researching web sites of countries that were
attending to try and gain some insight as to how they
ran their snowboarding programs.In doing so I started
to become aware of some of the current similarities
and differences around the world. It started to get me
thinking of some changes the APSI is going to need to
make in order to improve the
process candidates undertake
to become an instructor in
Australia. The talk over the
past few years has been
about the pass rates and the
standard that Australia holds.
I believe by changing the
process we ask instructors to
undertake to become certified
we do not have to lower the
standard, but we improve the
time and the experience spent
with APSI and the trainers and
examiners.
• To represent Australia and present a workshop that
showcased Australian riding and communication skills.
• For myself to attend the Canadian, New Zealand and
Great Britten workshops.
I will be honest these ideas
have been tossed around by
a number of people over the
years and are not just my own.
But I believe after some 12 to
14 years of roughly examining
the same way it’s time to look
for some modern changes.
Going to Interski - with out a
doubt - confirmed these ideas
and helped give some insight
as to why and how. Interski is
an invaluable resource that Australia has access to - not
to attend would be a great loss not only to the APSI but
also in the snow sports industry in Australia.
Interski
• To net work with as many countries as possible and
gain a better understanding of their countries systems.
I would like to thank all those that supported the team
and allowed us to represent the APSI and Australia.
Especially, big thanks to Andy Rae for continually working
The Whys?
• To show the world what the Australian riding standard
25
workshops, before the opening ceremony.
looks like throughout the 4 levels and to highlight what
makes us unique.
Saturday was the first day of riding for a number of team
members including myself. But this made absolutely no
difference. We rode like mad men trying to rip turns and
get in a rhythm as a team as quickly as possible. I can
truly say I have never ridden that hard in 1 day to get
back into form. This did take a toll on myself, burning
a hole in the back of my heel through massive amount
of fiction. A very nice blister! This was mainly due to the
conditions with St Anton suffering form a bad case of
firm hard snow, just like OZ. It was strange to travel so
far an experience OZ snow, just on more insane terrain.
Little to say riding so hard on the first day lead to some
very sore legs, backs, feet, necks and so on.
• Canada, New Zealand and Great Britten are the main
countries that Australian resorts are seeing appear at
hiring clinics and on job applications. Also these were
the countries I missed out on in South Korea while I was
attending more European workshops.
• Interski is the only opportunity that world trainers and
examiners have to meet in the one place at the one time,
so networking is made a lot easier.
The Goals.
• The Australian workshop had a focus on letting the
board and rider’s movements speak for them self and
allow the world to spot and see the differences.
During the first two days the team took quite a lot of note
of the terrain and the amount of time it took to get around
such a huge resort. We as the
snowboard team had a very
good idea of what we were
going to present but being
unfamiliar with St Anton it
was important we had a truly
good understanding of how
to present our workshop in
such foreign terrain.
This constantly changed
throughout the 2 days and
was slowly refined down
to its final content. This
combined with trying to ride
our selves into form lead to
a heavy workload not just
physically but mentally.
I am more to happy to say
the hard work over the
first 2 days paid off with
James, Hayden and myself
presenting a sold workshop
on the first day. This was
quite an achievement being
the genie pigs on the first day for the rest of the teams to
watch and learn from.
The Australian Interski 2011 Snowboard Demo Team
• To find out how Canada, New Zealand and Great
Britten have such a huge membership base and how
they run their programs.
With only 2 countries presenting on the first day,
Switzerland and Australia the turn out was massive.
There were 44 people from around the world ready
to attend our workshop. With only 3 team members
we ran a fast moving and informative program, which
showcased Australian riding and communication skills.
Australia ended up having the largest groups of the week,
and it was commented on by a number of countries that
they were impressed with how we dealt with such large
groups. You could see some countries quickly freak out
and try to adjust their plans just incase such numbers
did occur in their workshops.
• To become familiar with current changes and gain
better understanding of the future of all organisations.
Upon arriving in Zurich, I met up with some of the team
to enjoy a two hour train ride to St Anton through what
can be describe as unbelievable country side. Little did
I know this would be one of the last times I had during
the week to truly relax. Arriving in St Aton the team met
up for the first time to have a few drinks, celebrate Andy
Rae’s birthday, and lay out a plan of action for the next
day and the coming week.
We started as a group focusing on some key
fundamentals that Australian riders use to ride such
Saturday was the only team preparation day, with Sunday
giving the team a chance to put the final polish on their
26
being presented.
unique terrain that our country offers. We then split
into 3 groups, riding the representatives through each
of the 4 levels of Australian instructor certifications. We
did this by choosing riding tasks such as short turns
and then increased the performance required to be
successful at that level. The last hour of the workshop
we used more changeling and diverse riding tasks to
test the representatives imagination and ability. We also
offered a prize to the top 3 participates that were able to
complete the final task well.
Straightaway I was interested in how they were able to
bring such a large team. In short it is due to two main
factors.
1. They can offer all their levels to the public allowing
massive numbers at their course and exams.
2. They hold training courses for their certifications that
run anywhere between 4 to 12 weeks, that people that
take in order to become and instructor.
The prize was the converted Free Style Max! And yes
everybody was keen on trying to win one.
These courses are supported by the resorts and they
have a large number of foreign participates which come
out for the entire season keeping the courses, trainers
and resorts busy. The money is huge but they have
implemented large training programs, which cater to this
market.
We were able to cover our workshop and in doing so
we covered around 8 to 9 runs and used 2 sides of the
mountain. During other workshops the average riding
time was between 2 or 3 runs.
The workshops ran for around 4 hours with a break
and it seemed some countries were just not prepared
to present for such a long period of time. Not just on
the snowboard side but also the ski and Tele side. The
feedback we received from other countries was strong
but with such a focus our riding we have already made
plans that our next Inter-ski should possibly focus on
our strong teaching and communication skills and how
passionate Australian instructors and trainers are.
Maybe, maybe not? But that is up to the next Demo team
that is selected.
New Zealand broke their workshop into 2 sections, firstly
they presented a brief look at their level requirements
and fundamentals expected at each level. Secondly they
focused on the ‘Coach Approach’, which was another
draw card that drew me in as Australia is approaching
coaching programs. It looked at what we would call more
‘Modern Teaching’ involving the student in his or her own
learning. It looked at the types of question you ask and
choosing the right questions that could generate the
student learning form them self. We worked together in
teams and tired to put this into practice. It was interesting
and good to work amongst the group.
The Team was able to select the countries that they
wanted to see. I had already chosen and of those New
Zealand was the first cab off the rank.
Through questioning the New Zealand team you could
gather that over the past few seasons they have made
huge changes in their country. They have recently
moved to a 3 level certification system and with the
development of coaching programs they have found
New Zealand had 11 Snowboard Demo team members,
which enable them to send out 2 presenters per group
but also attend other countries while their workshop was
The Jason Air
27
Canada also has a large team with 10 members, with 2
of those being involved in filming their team at Interski. I
could clearly understand way Canada was able to send
such a large team with 10,000 snowboard members!
That’s right 10,000. I would love to know how many of those
are Australian? The snowboard division in Canada is selfsufficient and stands separate from any other discipline
allowing them to have complete control of their courses,
events and budget. They still remain heavily dependent
on the support of the ski resorts and snow sport schools,
as do all the countries that attended Interski. Canada
spent time presenting their new approach to introducing
snowboarders to the sport. It’s called ‘Quick Ride’. The
aim of Quick Ride is to get instructors to use more of
a free flowing approach to instructing. Not trying to be
over technical with information and spent too much
time using a set progression or a particular step. It
aims at getting snowboarders moving through to turning
quickly and making them self
sufficient while doing so. One
important factor of this is the
ability to have good terrain and
snow. Which we know Canada
can have plenty of. In the Quick
Ride booklet which every resort
and member receives. There are
recommendations on terrain and
mini progressions that can be
used to help instructors teach.
This booklet can easily be carried
in the instructor’s pocket.
business and workload have increased. They have been
marketing their products to the European, Asian and
even Australian markets, which has seen huge numbers
of participates brought in.
With courses and exams being held in both the North
and South island, the end of the season is heavily loaded
with large numbers of candidates combined with short
days in which to exam them.
Wednesday saw a break in the program, which allowed
the team some time to work on team demonstrations. At
9am, the demo slope was bullet proof and hard to see.
Little to say the team freaked out a little but managed to
pull it back together. To break up the intensity slightly,
we got the snowboarders to lie on the ground and place
their boards into a rail position. We then got the skiers
to ride over us! The look on some of their faces was
priceless to say the least!
The remainder of the workshop
was spent on riding through the
higher levels of the CSIA system
where there have been big
changes with how they position
their upper body. They no longer
ride with their leading shoulder
across the nose of their board.
They did admit that the position
developed from not having a
clear communication with all
their trainers in the country. With having such a large
number of resorts, trainers, courses and exam’s it can
be hard to keep everything in check. It is clear that they
have addressed the issue and they are riding in a much
stronger direction.
The Snowboard demo run
With the weather closing in we lost the opportunity to free
ride St Anton’s, which was a shame. Wednesday evening
saw a freestyle show on a jump and rail. This also saw
the snowboard team take some serious beltings! James
and myself managed to find screws on the rail that were
not screwed down and had slowly lifted. This inflicted
some nice injuries and bruising on our bodies. Good old
Hayden managed to come up a little short on the jump,
which had a very sharp knuckle to it. This saw Hayden
bruise the hell out of his back heel and put an end to his
freestyle for the night. With the jump being a little sketchy
the snowboarder’s went out and held our own. We joined
in on an all countries expression sessions. Fun was the
main aim and I believe we accomplished this. It didn’t
really feel like there were about 2000 people watching
and enjoying the show.
Last but not least I attended the Great Britain workshop,
or BASI as it is more commonly know. This was held on
the last day of Interski and you could see the week had
taken a toll on all participants. The workshop focused on
the basic position they try to install in all their courses
and instructors. BASI are fortunate to be able to hold
their courses and exams all over Europe, which can
see a large number of potential instructors turning up
which a poor stance. They stressed the importance of
a ‘Stacked’ position over the board from which a rider
can then start to perform. Without a solid foundation it is
hard to develop riders and their skills. From a ‘Stacked’
Canada was the second workshop I was able to attend.
28
key. This passion flows threw you’re teaching and lessons
which inspirers others into action.
position they then develop the skills using a range of
tasks to test the rider’s strength and weaknesses. They
hope that these tasks are put to use, using mileage
to strengthen the rider’s ability. The drills range from
flexion and balancing movements, edging, rotation and
pressure control. In the higher levels of riding, being
fit, healthy and an athlete is important. Also using less
movement to preserve energy and maintain balance is
key to be prepared for what is ahead. The one question I
did asked was about the way the flex or claps the ankle
joint. The answer was to allow greater flexion in the
knees and the ability to remain in a stacked position.
I did mention that in the Australian system the ankle
joint is needed to be kept in a much stronger position to
enable greater edging and balance on our unique terrain
and conditions. The workshop then moved into some
free riding to allow the group to cut loose at the end of
the week.
So as Interski has passed I’m hoping we’ll see a number
of benefits come form such an event.
• An evolution in the way we exam candidates
• An improvement in our pass rate at exams
• Improved communication with instructors and
potential instructors
• Improved training techniques
• Development of the next Demo team
• Greater communication and understanding with other
countries
• And much more……
As with all countries including Australia we all focused
on the importance of a strong
stance or position from which to
build great riders and instructors.
This will allow riders to develop their
skills to be efficient and effective
while on a board. A strong stance
accompanied with good skills will
allow riders to continue to enjoy
snowboarding for as long as they
like. A poor stance will only develop
weak skills and waste energy. This
will only aid in developing bad
habits, which are hard to break.
Just ask the thousands of smokers
in Europe! Wow!
Since South Korea in 2007, I was
amazed to see that all the countries
I attended are using up- un-weighted
turns throughout their systems.
There have been subtle changes
in their position with anticipation
in their stance obvious to see. The level of riding and
knowledge was impressive to say the least.
Jason on the Expression Session jump
With the next Interski being held in Argentina in
September 2015, this will make it hard for Australia with
the time falling in our exam period. This does not make
it impossible to send a team on the other hand it allows
for a great opportunity for some young guns to step up
and represent for OZ. I’m hoping in 2012 we can inspire
people to want to be part of the demo team and the
future of the APSI. In 2013 the selection will begin for
the snowboard team and before yvou know it, time will
fly and it will be 2015.
Although the focus was spent on riding and the
development programs that each country runs. There
was still no escaping the fact that to make a good
instructor or trainer all countries need to find people
that are passionate and dedicated to snow sports and
teaching people how to do it. You can take the best rider
in the world but if they are not there to help people and
teach them, then they are useless as instructors.. It is
easy to develop good riders but it’s harder to develop
good teaches, instructors, trainers and coaches.
Instructors and trainers that study, research, practice,
train and are motivated to keep improving can be hard to
come by on matter what country they are in.
Last but not least I would like to thank all the team and
the supports that were at St Anton, which made it such a
fun and full on experience. The team rode, skied, tellied
and presented world-class workshops to the represent
Australia and the APSI with the highest regard. Well
done!
In the end whether you’re not certified and it’s your first
season or your fully certified and it’s your 30th season…
being passionate about snowboarding and it’s future is
29
Snowboard
We presented one demonstration component
and one free-ride component from each Certification
Level (1 to 4) to show how we ride and the different
requirements from level to level. The response from the
group was extremely positive and I think we were able
to show that the APSI produces very strong and versatile
riders / instructors.
New Zealand Freestyle Workshop
James Lloyd
January 10, 2011 brought a new adventure as I
prepared myself for the long flight from Salt Lake City
to Europe to attend Interski 2011 in St Anton. It started
off quite interesting when Hayden Lawn, another APSI
Interski team member, and myself had to have our flights
redirected because Atlanta Airport was experiencing a
heavy snowstorm. This issue turned out to be a blessing
in disguise as I was upgraded to business class direct to
Paris. Hayden was not so lucky.
A few days later we both arrived safely in St. Anton. It
was now that I started to realise how privileged and
honoured I was to be representing APSI Snowboarding
at Interski 2011.
Australian Workshop
Day one of the workshops was a great experience with
Australia being first off the bat to present. Due to the
large numbers that turned up to our clinic, we ended up
splitting the crew into three groups with Jason, Hayden
and myself taking one each.
On day two I attended New Zealand’s Freestyle
Workshop. Our closest neighbours at Interski covered
the freestyle requirements for their Certification levels 1
to 3 and also for their two Freestyle Accreditations.
• Level 1 has no freestyle requirements.
• Level 2 requires five freestyle elements: Switch riding,
Straight airs, Ollies, Nose rolls and air 180’s.
• Level 3 requirements are competency on elementary
terrain park features including tabletop jumps, straight
rails/boxes and a clean 360 air.
The Freestyle Level 1 Accreditation is designed for
instructors who want to get involved with teaching
freestyle in and out of the terrain park.
The requirements are straight airs (forwards and switch),
varied grabs, frontside and backside 180s and a 360 on
small park tabletop jumps. Pipe riding includes dropping
in on both walls, pumping transitions, appropriate speed
control and edging skills, clean hop turns at lip with and
without grabs, plus one 360. A 50/50 and boardslides
on boxes or basic rails are also required.
There is also a brief coaching presentation to introduce
freestyle skills using the four-step plan; stationary,
simple, complex, freeride,
as well as elements of
safety, park etiquette and
fun.
The Freestyle Level 2
Accreditation is designed
for riders/instructors with
a strong skill level and
understanding of Park and
Pipe, looking to progress
their freestyle riding and
teaching ability, with a goal
to increase their knowledge
and ability.
The requirements are
switch straight airs, all four
180’s, two 360’s and a 540
on medium park tabletop
jumps (approximately 20ft
or 6 metres). Pipe riding
requires airs consistently
two feet or more above the
lip, at least one grab and a
The Australian Workshop
30
Context-Dynamic (Personalised progression)
360 Air on each wall. Frontside and backside boardslides,
switch boardslides and 50-50s, plus different presses
are the jibs. Regular riding is expected on advanced rails
and street-style features.
SKILL: Technical skills (Rotary movements, Edge
control movements, Pressure control movements,
Balancing movements)
There is also a coaching presentation where candidates
are required to demonstrate their own ideas in a clinic
suitable for their peers that I thought to be a great idea.
Physical skills (Strength, coordination, fitness, mobility)
In the workshop, the clinic leader used the terrain park
(HILL) as his area to demo the Will-Skill-Hill Concept.
We were asked to find a partner and experiment with
the concept by firstly trying a trick that we were WILLing
to perform. We then compared it with a trick we were
Overall I found the New Zealand system to be very similar
to the APSI. The main differences were the slightly
different examining structure and cleanliness that each
task requires.
Nothin’ like Fussball and beer
Sweden Workshop - “Will-Skill-Hill”
not so WILLing to try. We found that we had a higher
success with the task that we were more willing to do
due to having more drive and passion for the task. We
were then asked to stay in our pairs and one person was
to plan a series of different tricks using both the jumps
and jibs. The partner was then asked to perform the line
of tricks. In some cases we found that the WILL could
suffer if the jumps or jibs (HILL) were too difficult which
would then impede the SKILL of the rider.
On day three of workshops I attended the Swedish
workshop with the theme being the Will-Skill-Hill
concept. This concept I found a little confusing at first
but after reflecting on it I was able to put a better picture
in my head and found it to be quite an interesting and
innovative concept.
The three areas are detailed below:
WILL:
Overall what the concept tries to put across
is that if the drive and passion (“Will”) is there and the
instructor gives the student the correct “Hill” then in
most cases you will see more enjoyment and success
due to the improvement in their “Skill” area.
Rider’s expectations
Rider’s Preferences
Rider’s objectives/aim
HILL:
The Conditions (Weather, Terrain, Equipment)
Holland Workshop- “Tea Concept”
The Context-Static (whether it is group, private,
recreational or competitive)
On the final day of the workshops I attended the Dutch
31
Conclusion
workshop where they introduced the T.E.A. concept. The
T.E.A. concept is broken down into three sections.
Overall the week in St. Anton was unbelievable. We were
able to gather some great information from all around
the world and also share our thoughts and concepts to
help improve instruction for the Snow sports industry.
I think that Interski is an absolute must for continually
improving the product we are putting out there.
T – Try
E – Exercise (Task)
A – Apply
Try allowed us to experience by doing and try
exercises without feeling pressure from the instructor
due to no feedback in this section. The Instructor only
gives example and open instructions in this part.
Finally, I would like to mention my favourite three
moments of Interski 2011:
• Participating in the freestyle expression session under
lights in front of a massive crowd was a huge buzz.
Exercises were given to us but with the idea of
keeping us moving and learning by doing, remembering
that people are on holidays and wanting to have fun.
Individual feedback and compliments were given in this
section with corrections being applied in new exercises.
• Being part of a team that had so much camaraderie
was awesome.
• Last but not least knowing that our system is extremely
strong in all areas of riding and instructing.
When applied we
end up mastering the
exercises we were working
on and were able to apply
them to our general
riding whether it would be
variable surfaces, steeps
or even using different
levels of speed.
The clinic leader did a very
good job of minimising
talk and maximising
movement. She gave us
freedom to experiment
(TRY) with some exercises
and everyone seemed to
be having fun. After plenty
of mileage, we were able
to apply the skills we
refined from the exercises
into our riding.
I found the concept to
be fun, it kept us moving
and we were learning.
The one area I was a little
concerned with was the
looseness of just trying
something, but I feel
with good class handling
this concept would work
very well especially in
Australia with our have-ago attitude.
We fittingly finished the
workshop with a cup
of tea at the top of St.
Anton with the amazing
mountains and views all
around us.
32
Snowboard
morning lectures at 9.00 for an hour then on snow work
shops for four hours starting at 10.30 am and then
afternoon lectures. (Most of the countries did an on hill
work shop and lecture over the week.) There were big
days considering all the cultural apres ski activities we
had to experience.
With the week so full of work shops and lectures there
was not much time to rest. This was made all the harder
when I bruise my heel on the demo jump. Jude to this. I
could only see USA and Finland out door work shops and
the Canadian indoor lecture.
The USA had a good work shop with the group riding a
Hayden Lawn lot. Their topic was Incorporating free style to beginner
Wow... What an amazing trip, this being the first time I
have ever been to Europe and my first time attending
Interski.
lessons. There was lots of encouragement on being free
and just snowboarding because its fun. They encourage
that there is no right or wrong to snowboarding and not
to use the ski school snake. That does not allow freedom
in your students riding. They want their instructors to
use animation and treat their lessons like a session in
the park with friends. Loads of high five, hoots, hollering
and playing with the students like friends.
St. Anton in, Austria was such a great venue for Interski
with its tourist friendly village, its apre ski which start
as soon as you get off the hill and their unbelievable
mountains where the vertical and endless valleys go on
for ever.
The way they incorporate freestyle into their beginner
lesson is by changing the names and the reasons of
learning particular steps in the progression. Becoming
mobile is like skating on a skate board, straight Glide is
The purpose for attending Interski was to observe
and absorb the information given and skills shown
on hill by the various counties in their “on snow” work
shops and their indoor lectures. This
is so the APSI can grow its modern
teaching methodology and riding style
by considering implementing the good
things we saw and heard at Interski into
our system.
My personal high light of Interski was
when all 37 nations rode down the demo
hill together in the closing ceremony
night show. I think this was my high light
for several reasons.
The mateship that grew between all the
countries and the chance to ride with
everyone was amazing. The night was
capped off with a huge fire works show
and the many beers that followed.
Interski was an amazing experience It’s
just that there were not enough hours
in every day. The first two days were
spent training and finding terrain for our
on snow work shops - as Australia was on the first day.
What we didn’t expect was the large group that wanted
to ride with us. There were more than 40 riders between
Jason and James and myself: with our planning and time
line every thing ran very smoothly. (Even when the trail
map is written in German!) Our topic was “How we ride
at a level One standard all the way through to a level 4
standard, with a focus on switch riding and short turns.”
The snow played to our advantage with it being like the
snow back home... terrible….
Hayden Lawn and a great view
a 50/50 on a box, slide slip is a board slide and falling
leaf is riding switch. It’s just like when we use spider
webbing, but they just have used freestyle as the topic.
The Canadian indoor section was all about safety fun and
learning, with humanistic teaching. They try and put that
winning feeling into their student and their members.
They do this by making everything fun and relaxed as
possible. It’s all about encouraging good emotions so
people want to come back. The Canadians have been
doing this by implementing a very similar teaching
After our work shop day our typical days started with
33
methodology to what we have. It’s worded differently but
the outcome is the same. Their training and examination
process is the same, they try to make it as relaxed and
user friendly as possible. One thing they do have is loads
more information on their web site to help with training
and exams.
did Ollie’s, manuals and rode a box at the end. A lot of
the group didn’t understand why?
The Fin’s did also have a big thing about not doing
anything on the demo slope... Because “well you know
what every one thinks about turning...” So the Fin’s were
more interested in showing their freestyle skills in the
park. But they canned that idea because one of there
riders did their knee on the big demo jump.
Finally there was Finland’s on snow work shop which
was based on how guided discovery teaching is the way
of the future. And that their country does have different
teaching styles like we have, but they want to steer
away from traditional teaching. They did discuss that
they do have progressions and that they do use them
with explanation, but they want the students to learn
things for themselves. The work shop consisted of an
open forum discussion on just using guided discovery
teaching with all age, genders and social groups etc.
The group did take in all the information but they were
a little hesitant about using guided discovery for every
one, especially tentative people. The riding section of
the work shop consisted of hiking a cone line were we
Personally I was impressed by the USA, Canada and
New Zealand out of the snowboard representatives.
Even though I didn’t get to see much of The NZ bro’s,
their riding and their involvement in the whole Interski
impressed me. If any member is considering trying out
for the “Demo Team” for 2015 I highly recommend it. It’s
a great experience with all the riders you meet and the
contacts you make… plus I got a pretty sick uniform out
of it which I will keep forever.
Think snow every one
A P S I 2 01 1 M e m b e r s h i p n o w a v a i l a b l e
Membership is based on
a calendar year so a 2011
membership extends from 01
January 2011 to 31 December
2011. Your membership fees
go directly to supporting the
administration costs of the
association. In return the Board
of Management works to provide
you with access to the best and
information about instruction and
snowsports in the world!
Members wishing to attend any
APSI courses/exams or to apply
for ISIA status are required to
register as full members. It allows
you to access to all parts of the
web site, access to the APSI office,
full voting rights and you even get
issued a membership card.
Membership
Annual membership - $100.00
3 year membership - $240.00
New Member - $80.00
Associate membership - $70.00
After a troubled start to 2010, APSI seems to have recovered well,
thanks largely to help from you the members and the snowsports
schools, therefore the APSI board of management is repaying that
support by keeping membership prices at 2010 levels.
34
Avalanche
with video and first hand experiences with avalanche
survivors. This way they scare them into wanting to find
out more about avalanches. They work in groups and go
through some drills like,
Seeing how long they can hold their breath.
Being blind folded, ears plugged and lying on the floor
with pads on top. Then with other people lying on top to
see what it is like to be buried.
Level 1.5 CYR Workshop
This is a half day workshop outside. Where they work in
Marty Firle teams go more in depth with using beacons and probes.
Looking at slope angle and how different surfaces slide
at what angle. This is all done with a timber set up and
blocks with different finishes on them. Smooth to rough,
trying to simulate the different types of snow.
Avalanche risk in Germany: “Check your risk”
In 2006 two young German free riders died in an
avalanche in the alps. Following this tragedy, Germany
decided they needed to find a way to educate young
skiers and riders of the dangers of avalanches.
Level 2.0 CYR Academy
This is a full day workshop out in the mountains. Where
they continue with what the learnt in the class room and
learn more on route finding and snow pack assessment.
Finding the best way to contact these young skiers has
led the authorities to tap into experts from the free ride
community and take them into schools.
Level 3.0 CYR Free ride Camp
The four part course that has resulted has been very
successful in raising awareness of the dangers of
avalanches in the German alps.
This is a week long camp, where they get to put into
practice what they have learnt. All with the guidance of
a trainer.
Level 1.0 CYR Basics
The first part is a 90 min lecture to show the dangers
An Australian Alpine Demo Run
35
interski 2011 - St Anton
with each country and more time dedicated to skiing
the Arlberg area. The day was split into morning indoor
presentations, followed by on hill workshops and
concluded with main keynote lectures. The workshops
ranged from children focused to high end, off piste
skiing. There really was something for everyone. The
exciting ski shows were held on the demonstration hill
each evening.
The indoor lectures provided a theoretical outline of
skiing techniques. Application of the demonstrating
country’s techniques were then demonstrated and
practiced on snow. Below are number of points I gained
from attending the indoor workshops followed by the on
hill workshops.
Ant Hill
Interski is for Everyone
St Anton am Alberg, boasts more than skiing prowess,
expansive terrain and history. To me it personifies a
skiing region to which I owe much of my progression and
skiing ability. In my formative skiing years as a ski racer
I was lucky enough to train at the Austrian Ski Academy,
formerly the Bundes Ski Akademie in St Christoph. Just
over the valley in Brand I worked as a Level 2 Instructor
for two seasons. It proves difficult to stay away when
the country offers such commitment to winter sports,
irresistible food and wine and an expanse of mountains
which take your breath away. St Anton am Alberg could
not have been a more fitting skiing destination for
Interski 2011.
The 2011 Australian Interski Demo Team
Finland
The overall focus was on motivation, emotion and
progression for kids and adults alike. The APSI has
similar ideologies such as motivation is linked to positive
feedback, and emotion to soft focus issues. The alpine
workshop was a little disappointing in the detail, we
skied a vast amount however we only sampled a taste of
their progression. From here I moved to the cross-county
workshop which was based on learning basic alpine
skills on cross country skis. The idea is that the lighter
equipment improves balance and develops different
balance stimulus. The focus was on learning by skiing
different conditions on different equipment. I am keen
to try this concept with cross country skiing this coming
year.
St Anton
Each day the town bustled with the Interski vibe. The
main street transformed into a festival for après ski. The
fairy lights in the trees throughout the village added to
the romance of the town, it is a place that every skier
dreams to go. The facilities were outstanding. All the
formalities were conducted across the town, which
gave foreigners a great feeling for Austrian hospitality.
Our pension was delightful. Every morning began with
a typical classic Austrian breakfast (wow!), cosy boot
room, and a ten meter walk to the gondola.
Denmark
The Danes had a massive contingent and were prominent
throughout the congress. The indoor lecture raised the
concept of “ride free”. This concept was supported only
by a pocket sized information brochure. More detail
on other progressions would have proved beneficial.
So the scene is set and you have a brief snap shot of
the surroundings for Interski in St. Anton. The congress
itself was different to Korea 2007, longer opportunities
36
The core focus of the Danish Ski School is to ride free.
They concentrate on the soles of their feet, position and
rhythm, assessing what the client can do, can’t do and
can do with help; the later is called the Zone of Proximal
Development. What’s that? Well ZPD is the distance
between the actual developmental level as determined
by independent problem solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem solving in
collaboration with the ski instructor. In other words what
you can do with help. The Danes don’t claim this to be
ground breaking but they say with help anyone can ride
free. There are a number of similarities with our system.
One difference was a focus on teaching new skills on
new conditions. This principle was a talking point in the
on hill workshop. On one hand they accept the safety
considerations of teaching new skills on new terrain.
The contrary was that the Danes would prefer the
client to experience as much terrain as possible
rather than become an expert on the green slopes.
At this stage the grasp of their concept loosened.
The bold claim that they will throw a beginner on to
a black run is ‘an objective’ however they reverted to
claim that the change occurs gradually.
each looks to their own rather than to each other.
Over the coming season I will engage various winter
sports organisations to various avenues which we could
create a lifelong interest in winter sports.
The demo show
The demo shows were electric; in short Australia skied
extremely well. Our Australian Map formation was a hitwe thought we would never pull off an off sync double
diamond but the crowd begged to differ and the “map”
was a hit, coupled with our rocking choice of tunes. One
of the runs saw us mach III through the opening banner
and set the quickest run time. We managed to throw a
The indoor lecture also raised the point of less talk
more skiing, and the workshop held strong to this
concept- however there were complaints as we were
skiing on and off piste, top to bottom, in St Anton, in
Austria, on a sunny day, with 15cm of fresh .
Along with Denmark and Finland I also dropped
into Germany and Austria and I picked up more
similarities than differences. I believe Australia can
learn much from Sweden.
Sweden
The Swedish Ski Council is the pinnacle winter
sport body in Sweden. Their mission is to promote
a lifelong interest in winter sports. The council
incorporates all organisations which control the
various aspects of winter sports. It is such a body
that Australia is lacking. Some of you may think that
we have such an organisation; however you must look
at their core focus. We have organisations that produce
instructors, strive for gold medals, produce racers,
manage ski resorts, conduct a major ski race for school
children; we don’t have a body that links everything
together. The Swedish Ski Council is such a body. One of
the recent achievements of the council was presented at
Interski. It was a project based on providing 1200 year 4
students the opportunity to try winter sports. The project
combined the efforts of many organisation and required
only participation from the students.
The St Anton Demo Hill
couple of rails, however hats off has to go to the boys
on the boards cracking some huge air, jumping in to the
demo slope and hitting the big kicker.
Technically we have significantly improved from Korea.
We skied strong and showcased our style with great
success.
Interski is for everyone
All snow lovers and riders have much to gain from
Interski. It is an experience of a lifetime even as a team
supporter. I had my family and partner there this time
and they enjoyed it just as much as me. The highlight for
them was skiing from St. Anton to Lech, experiencing the
differences in skiing styles from all over the world, and
the odd gluhwein or two.
I am a realist and I understand we have only a short
season, however with the co-operation of existing bodies
we would have a better chance of creating lifelong
interests in winter sports. The benefits of working
together to encourage people to try winter sports will
benefit all winter sport organisations. In my twenty year
experience the present framework is segmented and
The next Interski is in Argentina and I will be there.
37
Interski 2011 - St Anton
The other on snow presentation I went to was the French
France: The French took us out for a day in the off piste.
Their focus was on how they prepare and take students
off piste in 3 simple steps.
Step 1: We went through their avalanche beacon protocol
and how they check that all transceivers are in working
order. We skied past the guide one at a time seeing if he
could pick up signal. Then he did that back towards us
one at a time, very important in the off piste in Europe.
Step 2: Next we did a skill test review. To see if all students
were up to the level required to ski off piste. Our guide
explained if some people were not ready they would do a
mini lesson showing the essentials (hop turn, step turn,
Christie etc) we went through the mini progression.
Reilly McGlashan
Interski better late then not at all.
After missing my flight in Denver and then there for
missing first day of training, the trip started off pretty
rocky! But when I arrived in St Anton everything started
shaping up nicely. Good vibes and great hanging out
with the team.
Step 3: the last phase of the 3 step progression to take
guests off piste was the group handling.
Explaining the different ways that they take guests down
a run. E.g.: one at a time, instructor first, instructor last,
snow cuts, scoping snow conditions.
Italy: I went to the Italian on snow presentation where
they primarily focused on there 3 levels that they
categorise their students into (bronze, silver and gold).
Within these 3 levels
they had 3 demos the
students had to master
before moving onto the
next level. We all were
shown the demos and
we had a go at them.
I had a great time at Interski. I had a good time getting
to know the other teams. Everyone was super fun and
In Bronze the primary
focus was on “foot
twisting”. I asked if they
were talking about leg
rotary but they said
no just the foot, which
keeps the ski super flat.
So the first 3 demos
were focused on this!
With no edge talked
about at all...
The main change that
the talked about from
the last Interski in
regards to technique was
the up and down movement to finish and initiate turns.
They said they were eliminating these moves all together
because its something they said was un necessary now.
In the low end demos it was demonstrated with little to
no extension flexion moves.
One of the Australian Alpine Demo Runs
friendly to hang with and the experience over all was a
good one.
I got some new terms from Interski that Tom & I kind of
made up because they sounded like words we heard but
were a light variation. “heelen svischen” (heel pushing
or swishing) “Hooften Schvingen” (hip swinging) and
“hande winken” (hand waving)
Silver was where they started to talk about edge and
more speed.
Gold was the highest level a student could achieve in
lessons. The highest demo was a GS race turn where
they focused a lot on the movement forward at cross
over.
So all in all a good time
38
Interski 2011 - St Anton
you see a team member ask them some questions like.
•W
hat did you do in Interski?
• Which country did you examine and what do they do
differently to us?
• Which countries have a different focus on skills or
learning styles
• When explaining and teaching a snow sport?
• How does their exam process work?
• Are there any trends in the industry that may affect
Mark “Macca” McDonald our lesson
• Programs or overall instructing process?
Interski: what is ahead
• Is there something that I can work on to improve my
skills in riding,
After the alpen glow of St Anton returning home is
something that is equally as thrilling as the preparation
and participation of Interski.
skiing, and teaching?
The great thing is that what we have brought back is the
knowledge that we are a part of a greater snow world
picture.
Where do we go now and what do we actually do. The
team members now are informed of the industries
latest techniques and more importantly our industries
direction and trends.
We all share the same belief that being outdoors is - as
best put over one hundred ago by the Arlberg ski Club,
that we are “ delighted by nature, enthusiastic about
sport and convinced of the necessity to create a suitable
meeting place at the Arlberg for friends of this noble
pleasure, we, the members of the excursion feel moved
to establish the Ski Club Arlberg”
The exciting news is that the next Interski is the first to
be in the southern hemisphere and happily Argentina is
the destination in 2015.
That is the already the next goal. However I would urge
all new and up and coming members of our industry to
start setting the four year goal. If you are level one or two
it is achievable and an amazing honour to be a part of.
For us - although we are not starting a club - we are
essentially a part of a big family that shares experience
and ideas to develop our sport and life. Being a part of
Interski is one thing and the next thing for all of us is to
carry the passion and the information into our next four
years.
For example, When Andy Rae, Paul Lorenz and myself
were in Japan after Interski we straight away organized a
meeting with one of the senior instructor/demonstrator,...
code named “The Bull” due to his power on the skis
- from SAJ. We wanted to share the knowledge and to
once again compare what we had learned at St Anton.
I encourage you all to participate by asking questions
and trying new concepts to increase and expand our
knowledge and develop until we all will once again join
the world in Argentina 2015....... Where everyone is
welcome.”
The key is that the process continues and that is what we
would like our greater colleagues to be apart of. When
39
SPRING SESSIONS
SPRING SESSIONS 2011
2011
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”!!
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.
Price per day approx $85
Recalls, price per day $175
plus manual included
For further information contact:
Dates and Venues;
Venue: Hotham, VIC
Dates: 3 -4 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: 17 -18 September
Website: www.apsi.net.au
40
New for 2011: Alpine
• A tangible increase in MA pass rates was noted over
the past couple of years since the introduction of the
‘APSI MA training DVD’. It is our hope to produce another
one of these tools comprised of past exam footage, so
that the resorts can utilize it through the season. We
realise these disks can be tough and time consuming to
put together and we are committed to the ongoing cooperation to help the resorts with their in-house training
programs.
• Perhaps the biggest change and hardest one for some
of us to adapt to, will be the name changes to the levels.
Remember that this is just a name change. We have
always had four levels and now the names will reflect
this. The curriculum and standards have not altered and
will remain the same.
Richard Jameson
It will be an exciting time for APSI Alpine this year after an
amazing Interski conference held over the summer in ST.
Anton, Austria. There was a treasure trove of information
gathered and shared by our National Demonstration
Team at a very successful event for the Australian
industry. This year’s trainer’s coordination will be one not
to miss as the team shares its experience and gathered
knowledge in a mixture of multimedia shows, interviews
and on snow clinics. I urge all those that want to share in
the experience to come along and take advantage of this
event in early June at Mt. Buller. Trainers Coordination is
open to anyone that has involvement with their in house
training programs or mentoring other instructors in their
schools.
New Name
Old Name
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Entry Level
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
• The alpine level 3 course will now be a shorter 5 day
product (instead of 6). It is our hope that reducing the
cost and time out of work will allow this course to be
more accessible to instructors in the industry, while still
delivering an exceptional learning experience to those
involved.
Alpine has only a few minor changes to its programs and
courses this season. The APSI technical committee sees
this as a reflection to the positive nature our products
are having at the moment. After a few years of tweaks
and changes we feel strongly about the outcomes of
the training courses, exams and ultimately the quality
of instructors being produced at present. That being
said, we continually look at the processes involved and
curriculum of the products to stay at the cutting edge of
instruction both domestically and around the globe.
• The alpine Level 4 courses have some slight changes
to the curriculum. A pedagogy lecture has been added
to give these participants a basic knowledge of how to
teach fellow instructors how to teach. Often a Level 4
trained or certified instructor is called upon to help with
in-house training programs and this knowledge will be
useful to their day to day job in the resorts. Another
practice MA session has also been added to the program
giving more exposure and practice to this invaluable part
of their development.
Some of the changes to look for this year are:
I hope your summers or winters abroad were safe and
successful and I look forward to a great Australian
season with you all. See you soon.
• A slight change to the MA system and sheet. The APSI
will be developing a training sheet to aid in-house trainers
when going through the system with your instructors.
The sheet will help train their eye into the key elements
when conducting MA on their guests.
Richard Jameson
The APSI Alpine Team demonstration at St. Anton
41
New for 2011: Snowboarding
The three riding sections will be Demonstrations, Free
ride and Freestyle, with 3 tasks in each section to be
examined.
The ‘Station’ system will be used for the Demonstration
and Free riding tasks with an ‘Open’ style being used for
the Freestyle section.
The added bonus of having three days for this level
means it will allows more time for candidates to show
their true level of knowledge and riding ability across the
board.
Level Four has also seen some changes.
Jason Clauscen
There are also 2 teaches with one being an on hill
‘Scenario’ teach and the second being a Freestyle
specific teach.
2011 will see a number of changes occurring to the APSI
snowboarding courses and examinations.
The new Level One will stay mostly unchanged using
The Race times have also been adjusted to allow the
race to be performed on a G/S or Boarder-X Course. Oh
what fun that will be!
the ‘Open’ style of examining, which it is well known
for. The ‘Open’ style of examining allows candidates to
spend quality time with examiners and offers mileage
with riding tasks. The only real change is some riding
tasks have become clearer to train and be examined on.
The Certification will also recognize Freestyle and Racing.
This has been done to recognize what this level truly
represents, a Full Certification and one of the strongest
in the world.
Level Two sees the first of the big changes with two
examining styles being used.
One of the days will now use the ‘Open’ style of
examining with candidates heading out for the day with
2 examiners. During the day they will be covering the
Teaching and Demonstrations sections. We are aiming
to save time and allow for greater mileage and use of
terrain so candidates can show there riding skills in a
smaller group.
The exam will still be run over 3 days and will remain in
the ‘Station’ style of examining.
The second day will use the well know ‘Station’
system where candidates will rotate through selected
terrain focusing on the free riding and one selected
demonstration. Over the years this has proven to be the
best way to exam groups during riding tasks and keeps
the standard consistent throughout all those that attend.
This will not appear automatically on any re-issued
certification but will require instructors to attend the
Spring Sessions in Perisher at the end of the season,
where they will be tested on the new requirements.
These developments have occurred in 2011 and the
Certifications will recognize this. There will hopefully
be a number of older instructors looking for their new
certification to show Freestyle.
This will keep instructors up to date with the modern
developments and hopefully also keep progressing the
APSI standard for years to come.
Level Three has had some major changes.
The major reason for these changes is to try and move
with the ever-evolving sport of snowboarding. Freestyle
has had major influences on the industry so it is
important that Instructors knowledge and abilities are
solid.
With Snowboarding progressing at such a fast rate
especially with freestyle, we are aiming to introduce
more freestyle into this certification and recognize this
on the certification.
The certification will now read ‘Level Three with
Introduction to Freestyle’
It is not all about the tasks and components that
the APSI is asking candidates to perform. It is also
about having the correct amount of time to truly allow
candidates to show their abilities across the board and
allow examiners the right amount to time to judge these
abilities correctly.
This comes with a small price. The exam will now be 3
days which will involve 2 teaches and 3 riding section.
One teach will be an on hill ‘Scenario’ and the second is
a Freestyle specific teach.
42
New for 2011: Telemark
The new level 1 is a skills based course giving those
who are new to ski theory and teaching a foundation to
build upon. “Skiing” (telemark and alpine) basics will
be covered. It will be a fun two day course where the
assessment is continuous and ongoing. At the end you
will be assessed either ‘Skills and theory competent’’ or
‘more practice and understanding needed’. It is a great
course for those who may be curious about Telemark
skiing. Upon successful completion candidates will be
certified to teach first time and beginner telemark skiers.
The new Level 4 is aimed at those Telemark skiers
wanting to push the limits and possibilities on Telemark
equipment and be involved in training. It will be broken
into two modules. The first is focused on high end
dynamic skiing on and off the groomed. The second
module will be focused on high end teaching and the
APSI Teach to Teach system. All in all this is an exciting
addition and I hope to see some of you taking it on!
“Tele” Tom Gellie
New Level Changes with Telemark The new level changes introduced to the APSI have
opened up opportunities to simplify the process of going
through Telemark certification. I believe it will make the
steps from one level to the next smoother and more
logical and encourage more people to go through the
system. So what is different?
2011 is the year of Telemark (i’m calling it that anyway)
so get out there and try it, practice it and master the free
heel turn.
2011
APSI
Trainer’s Co-ordination & Rookie Selection
Rookie Selection
If you are an Alpine Level 4 instructor then why not try out to become an APSI trainer. Come
and join this on snow interview on 13 June at Mt Buller. This is the first part of the 2011 season
selection.
13 June 2001 at Mt Buller
Trainer’s Co-ordination
A must if you plan on being a trainer at your resort this year. Come along and hear what
the APSI has planned for this year and find out first hand about Interski 2011. There will be
information sessions on all disciplines and other news updates. Just what you need to kick
start your 2011 training season.
14-15 June 2001 at Mt Buller
Register on line today at www. apsi. net .au
43
New for 2011: Nordic
analysis as well as race technique and skills)
As the new Level One will be added as the basic
level of instructor, current APSI Nordic instructors will
automatically be recorded at the next level, i.e. Current
Level 1s will be Level 2 and so on.
The new Nordic level 1 qualification is a two day course
and assessment aimed at people interested in entering
the Nordic Teaching and/or snowsports industry; no
previous work experience is required. Part of the
assessment will be a written test, completed as an open
work book format.
Warren Feakes
On successful completion, an entry level instructor is
qualified to teach very basic beginner classes and act
as an assistant instructor in groups of intermediate level
skiers (Stationary Skills, basic diagonal stride, slowing
and stopping and free running over gentle terrain). This is
the perfect course for Outdoor Education schoolteachers
as well as Club Tour Leaders and Instructors.
Becoming an APSI Nordic Instructor now less of a Hurdle
and more Prestigious
Along with the other snowsport disciplines, Nordic is
moving to a four tier system for instructors. It will mean
a slightly easier pathway to enter the system and a more
prestigious qualification at the top. The new Levels are
simply explained as:
At level 3, Nordic Instructors will commence a parallel
coaching pathway by completing the mandatory
Australian Sports Commission generic coaching course
and starting on The National Coaching Accreditation
Scheme with the aim of becoming a fully accredited
Level 1 Nordic Coach as part of their Level 3 certification.
Level One- Teach Basic Skills and initially act as
Assistant Instructor (groups)
Level Two- Teach Advanced beginners (Diagonal Skills,
Basic Skating Skills)
Level 4 instructors will have the opportunity to achieve
a Coaching Level 2 Qualification as well as a Nordic
Technical Delegate Level 1 certification. As well, Level
Four will be the default level for employment as an APSI
Trainer and Examiner.
Level Three- Teach Intermediates (all skills plus basic
error detection and correction)
Level Four– Teach Advanced (all skills and technique
APSI Annual General Meeting
5pm, 14 June 2011
At the Moosehead Bar
downstairs in the Abom Restaurant
Mt Buller, Victoria
For more information see:
http://www.apsi.net.au/news/2011-apsi-agm-notice.aspx
44
2011 APSI CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Dates Course Details
Closing Date Venue Cost*
ALPINE
Resits & Prep days
20 June
21-22 June
23 June
5 August
6 August
6 September
Resit Prep day
Level 2 Resit
Level 3 Resit
Level 4 Prep day Level 4 Resit
Level 4 Prep Day
7 days prior Perisher
$180*
7 days prior Perisher
$105*
7 days prior Perisher
$105*
7 days prior Perisher
$180*
7 days prior Perisher
$105*
7 days prior Hotham
$180*
* indicates price per component
Level Two Courses - Avalaible for Staff unable to meet in-house training dates
29-31 August
12-14 September
VIC Level 2 Course
NSW Level 2 Course
7 days prior
7 days prior
Hotham
Thredbo
$355
$355
Level 3 Course
Level 3 Course
Level 3 Course
Level 3 Course
Level 3 Course
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
Perisher
Falls Creek
Thredbo
Mt Buller
Mt Hotham
$515
$515
$515
$515
$515
Level 4 Teach & Demos
Level 4 Teach & Demos
Level 4 Race & Freeski
Level 4 Race & Freeski
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
Thredbo
Hotham
Perisher
Hotham
$515
$515
$515
$515
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
Thredbo
Perisher
NSW
Falls Creek
Mt Buller
Hotham
$290
$290
$290
$290
$290
$290
Level 1 Exam VIC
Level 1 Exam NSW
VIC Level 2 Exam
NSW Level 2 Exam
VIC Level 3 Exam
NSW Level 3 Exam
Level 4 Exam
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
Hotham
Thredbo
Hotham
Thredbo
Hotham
Perisher
Hotham
$210
$210
$440
$440
$440
$440
$625
Level Three Courses
27 June-1 July
17-21 July 18-22 July
27-29 July & 4-5 August
25-29 July
Level Four Courses
25-29 July
1-5 August
1-5 August
1-5 September
Exams - Level One staff exam includes new membership @ $80
1 July
2 July
17 July
24July
25 July
31 July
Exams
31 August
12 September
1-2 September
15-16 September
5-6 September
13-14 September
7-9 September
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.
45
2011 APSI CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Dates Course Details
Closing Date Venue Cost*
ALPINE LEVEL ONE COURSES - Course/Exam for general public
28 June-1 July
29 June-2 July
5-8 July
20-23 July
22-25 August
9-12 September
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
7 days prior
7 days prior
FULL
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
Thredbo
Perisher
Thredbo
Hotham
Charlotte P.
Thredbo
$740
$740
$740
$740
$740
$740
SPRING SESSIONS - for all disciplines.
Optional training for all APSI members run by the National Demo Team
3-4 September
17-18 September
Spring session
Spring session
On arrival
On arrival
Level 2 resit
Level 3 resit
Level 4 resit
Level 3 Prep Day
7 days prior Thredbo
$105*
7 days prior Thredbo
$105*
7 days prior Thredbo
$105*
7 days prior Perisher
$180*
* indicates price per component
*Price on a per day basis approx $85.
Hotham
Perisher
*Recalls also being run at one day price – plus you get a manual $175
SNOWBOARD
Resits & Prep day
21 June
20 June
21 June
31 August
Level Three Courses with intro to freestyle
25-29 July 25-29 July
Level 3 Course
Level 3 Course
7 days prior
7 days prior
Perisher
Mt Buller
$515
$515
Level 4 Teach, Demos& FR
Level 4 F’style & Race
7 days prior
7 days prior
Mt Buller
Perisher
$540
$540
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
Thredbo
Perisher
Mt Buller
Falls Creek
Hotham
$290
$290
$290
$290
$290
Mt Buller
Perisher
Mt Buller
Thredbo
Mt. Buller
Perisher
$210
$210
$440
$440
$625
$625
Level FourCourses
18-22 July
26-30 August
Exams - Level One staff exam includes new membership @ $80
1 July
2 July
24 July
30 July
31 July
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Level 1 Exam (Staff)
Exams
7 September
11 September
8-9 September
12-13 September
5-7 September
1-3 September
VIC Level 1 Exam
7 days prior
NSW Level 1 Exam
7 days prior
VIC Level 2 Exam
7 days prior
NSW Level 2 Exam
7 days prior
Level 3 Exam with f’style intro 7 days prior
Level 4 Exam with F&R
7 days prior
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.
46
2011 APSI CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Dates Course Details
Closing Date Venue Cost*
SNOWBOARD LEVEL ONE COURSES - Course/Exam for general public
28 June-1 July
29 June-2 July
5-8 July
22-25 August
23-26 August
4-7 September
8-11 September
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
Level 1 Course & Exam
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
Thredbo
Perisher
Thredbo
Selwyn
Charlotte P.
Mt. Buller
Perisher
$740
$740
$740
$740
$740
$740
$740
Crossover Course
Crossover Course
Crossover Course
NSW Level 1 Course/exam
VIC Level 1 Course /exam
Level 2 Course
Level 3 Course
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
7 days prior
Thredbo
Falls Creek
Perisher
Perisher
Falls Creek
Perisher
Thredbo
$285
$285
$285
$420
$420
$445
$590
Resit Exams
VIC Level 2 Exam
NSW Level 2 Exam
VIC Level 3 Exam
NSW Level 3 Exam
7 days prior Thredbo
$105*
7 days prior Falls Creek
$210
7 days prior Thredbo
$210
7 days prior Falls Creek
$220
7 days prior Thredbo
$220
*Indicates price per unit component
Recall
TBA
Level 1 course/exam
Level 2 Course
Level 3 Course
TBA
TBA
TBA
$420
$355
$490
TBA
TBA
TBA
*
*
*
TELEMARK
Courses
18-19 June
27-28 June 2,6,9,13 Aug (nights)
2 days including exam-TBA
2 days including exam-TBA
22-25 August
29 August-2 September
Exams
September 9 & 11
9 September
11 September
9 September
11 September
NORDIC
Recalls
TBA
$180
Courses
2 day including exam-TBA
3 day-TBA
4 day-TBA
Exams
TBA
All levels Exam
TBA
All levels Exam
TBA
All levels Exam
*Exam costs
Level 2 $210
Level 3 $220
ADAPTIVE
4 September
11 September
Adaptive Exam
Adaptive Exam
7 days prior
7 days prior
Hotham?
Thredbo
$220
$220
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.
47
Telemark
well and I explained how it is done at the start of every
course be it alpine or telemark to get the instructors
thinking, feeling and understanding what is going on to
make up a turn.
This led me into explaining the performance model and
how the skills are blended together to create different
performances on the snow.
I really enjoyed presenting the workshop and found the
numerous Heffeweizen’s consumed the night before
wore away quickly as nerves and excitement took over.
Around 20 people attended and the APSI way was very
well received. I felt really proud and stoked that we have
a simple and functional way of teaching telemark. It has
sound biomechanical reasons as to why we ski the way
we do and this was great as I could answer confidently
every question people asked as to ‘why we do it that
way’.
“Tele” Tom Gellie
Telemark Technical Director’s Report
Interski had its beginnings over 60 years ago in Zurs,
Austria. The now worldwide congress brings together
experts from over 30 nations to deal with opportunities
and problems within the snowsports industry. I was
lucky enough to be selected to represent the Australian
Professional Snowsports Instructors at this great event.
I presented at the congress some ideas and ways in
which we train instructors in telemark and then listened
and discussed with other countries their methodology
and technical approach.
I did not get the chance to attend every other nations
clinics so I am going to give my impressions of the
countries I thought had strong technique and teaching
methodology and those that didn’t.
From my experience at
Interski 2011 I believe
that the APSI system
has a very strong and
functional approach to
training instructors. I
have gained some good
ideas to take back and
hopefully
incorporate
into our training but also
have seen what I do not
want to incorporate. The
whole event was a great
eye opener for a first
timer to interski. I hope
to leave you with a few
things I learnt from my
experience.
First of all Australia
was the one of the first
countries to present
workshops in the week
so pressure was on
for us to deliver a good presentation. Keeping with the
theme of the Alpine guys, I ran a workshop explaining
our technical beliefs in telemark. This included our
breakdown of the skiing skills, beliefs on how each skill
is performed (eg we believe in rotary of the whole leg
and a tall stance) and ways in which we train these skills.
A Helicopter flying up the valley
Germany and the US were probably the standouts in
terms of having a modern approach to telemark and
a good system to train instructors. Germany ski fairly
similar to Australia in that they show good angulation,
turning from the lower body, and aim for early edge in
all their turns. When they did the night demos on the
demo slope they skied fairly fast and showed good
performance. I measured most of the countries on their
ability to do a good dynamic short turn and the Germans
The performance clinic was used as one of the ways
in which we train our instructors in understanding and
performing the skills in skiing. This was received very
48
could see the steps taken to get to their goal. It was also
up to the instructor as to what steps they would choose
to take to get their student to improve.
do a pretty good short turn.
They have an excellent manual which I was lucky enough
to be given by the demo team. It contains lots of great
pictures, diagrams and I assume methodology. I just
need a German translator to understand it..... I would
like to incorporate some of their ideas in the manual into
our manual. Our way of skiing and teaching was very well
received by the Germans and I would like to keep good
ties with their association for further learning.
The PSIA telemark skiers were all very strong skiers,
especially off the groomed. All movements made by
the skier were only just enough to achieve the desired
result. Very efficient telemark skiing. None of them were
on any sort of performance carve ski and this showed in
their on hill demos. Mostly steered and low performance
turns made. But I guess this ties into their theme of
teaching to the tool on the persons feet. I would have
liked to have seen them make some more dynamic turns
as there short turns were fairly low performance. I have
made some good contacts with the PSIA guys and been
invited to some of their training days so I can only hope
to gain more good information from them. I would like to
incorporate some of their stepping stones approach into
the APSI system.
The PSIA or United States demonstrators were very
student focused in their teaching. Their theme for
their workshops was ‘teaching to technology’. This
was centered around the growth in fat skis and rocker
technology. They believed that if a student turns up on
fat skis then you shouldn’t try to teach them to carve
or be criticising them that they need a narrower ski.
Still teach them how to edge better but not worry if the
performance is not there. ‘Teach to the tool on their feet’.
They also focused a lot on the lead change in telemark
and different ways in which you can make a lead change.
For example use a pulling back movement in the bumps
or short turn, use a push pull in the powder, etc.
So what countries was I not very inspired by? Well, the
Norwegians and Fins were probably the least forward
moving nations. So far as the Finnish flyer for their
workshops stating ‘telemark does not really have a
technique, it is more about good times with friends and
playing’. I attended their workshop and was hard pressed
to find any real fundamental beliefs in the way they skied.
It was very vague and they used lots of partner skiing
games that promoted worse skiing in my opinion. They
were all aimed at beginner telemark skiers, however
the tasks were quite difficult and were not given a clear
reason as to how it was helping to improve our skiing.
I like their teaching methodology too. The PSIA uses
a stepping stone diagram for teaching and improving
students. For example, if you are trying to teach a
student to make linked telemark turns there are several
steps that you will visit no matter what the skill level.
Mandatory steps in the progression -then there will
be other stepping stones along the way you can use
dependant on skill level, terrain, desires of the student,
equipment, etc.
The Norwegians promoted a lot of upper body and
hip rotation to initiate a new turn. They talked about
opening the door with the downhill hand to start. Their
lead change was all about driving the rear foot forward.
No talk of diversity in the lead change like PSIA. This
I liked how the teaching progression was presented in
a visual way so it could be easily remembered by the
instructor and then made sense to the student as they
“Tele” Tom airing the expression session kicker
49
performed differs quite a lot from country to country. The
British association (BASI) made a point of having both
heels up off the binding at one point in the transition.
This is completely opposite to APSI as we promote
having a stage where both feet must be completely flat
on the binding as they pass each other. This is like a
point of stability in the turn, a re-centering phase of the
body over the centre of both feet. From this position you
can make effective edging, rotary and pressure control
movements.
became their downfall in the off piste as several of them
fell over during the PSIA workshop.
The Swiss also teach upper body rotation. This is not
just a telemark thing they teach it in, alpine too. In their
progression they start with an extension turn initiated
with a movement straight up, then progress to a rotation
turn where you make no up, just twist your whole body
in the new direction. They justify this by saying it is more
natural and similar to the way we walk. Then they teach
a flexion or retraction turn for racing and bump skiing.
When doing short turns the Swiss skiers have a
very quick tempo but edge grip is a lot later in
the turn and more like checked turns or linked
hockey stops. They do it very well but not much
early edge pressure. It is also worth noting that
when they start skiing fast and more dynamic
they counter their upper body and angulate which
is strange considering they do the opposite at
the start of the turn. I thought their overall skiing
is very strong and they ski everywhere well. I just
don’t know how they go getting beginner skiers
with not much skiing ability up to that point. But
Swiss people do grow up on snow so that could
be a big difference.
Canadians also grow up on snow and most being
exposed to snowsports from an early age. Their
methodology and technique however is a little
dated and lower on the performance scale. Their
stance is quite long fore-aft and consequently quite low
to the ground. The Canadian system (CANSI) is also not
aligned with the alpine and snowboard side. I believe
they are in the middle of talking more with the alpine
side (CSIA) so they can share in their resources.
A Helicopter flying up the valley
Quite a few countries agreed with the heels up idea but
when asked as to why they thought it was functional no
one could give a good reason why.
• I learnt more from attending the alpine workshops
than I did the telemark workshops. The two disciplines
are closely related so why not use ideas, techniques and
methodology. I really liked the canadian alpine workshop
on ‘function equals form’. I would like to adapt some of
this principle into telemark training in the APSI. Basically
applying this theory for every type of situation and
making the student more aware of what movements to
make as opposed to how they should be looking on the
skis.
This is one the great advantages to the APSI as our
members can cross between disciplines a lot easier.
The terminology, phases of the turn, basic principles and
biomechanics are all shared. It was interesting to note
that not a lot of countries had this close association with
alpine. In fact a lot of them were against any association
with alpine skiing. A loss in my opinion.
New Zealand is in the midst of re-writing their manual
so were keenly taking notes from every workshop. I wish
them good luck as they were nice guys and really excited
from all they had learnt and primed to get their new
manual underway.
• If I was to attend Interski again I would like to run a
workshop on high end telemark skiing - how to make
more dynamic turns on and off the groomed.
Interski is an amazing event and offers unique
opportunities for learning. It is one of the highlights of my
career and I was very thankful to share the experience
with a great team from Australia. Everybody on the demo
squad was very supportive of each other and hung out
as a team. I would like to thank everybody that supported
us in getting to Interski 2011. This includes all the
sponsors, the ASAA, sponsors such as Hestra, Karbon,
Adventureline and the parents of the team. I know that
the information and experience gained from Austria will
be of benefit to you all.
To finish up here are my final thoughts from interski.
-High end dynamic skiing was not well represented.
There was not much talk about anything more than a
basic carved turn. I was a little disappointed to see this.
It seems that no one is really trying to push telemark
and make it a technical discipline. If Interski is about
furthering snow sports then I think that there should be
some push to show that you can ski a little more dynamic
on telemark skis than most of the public is aware of.
-The lead change is big point of contention and how it is
50
New for 2011: Nordic
St Anton has some Nordic trails and despite Europe’s
rain affected snow, these were generally in good to
excellent condition. Use could also be made of small flat
areas on the floor of the main valley close to the main
demonstration slope.
Warren Feakes
Noridc Technical Director’s Report
As Nordic TD of the Australian Professional Ski Instructors
Inc, I attended INTERSKI 2011 held in St Anton am
Arlberg, Austria, between 14th and 22nd January 2011.
By far the major focus of INTERSKI is Alpine skiing and
Snowboarding with a fairly major program on Telemark
this year.
Check out the left leg!
As Telemark is a Nordic discipline, there were
representatives from ‘known’ Nordic skiing countries
who covered both cross country skiing and Telemark.
Norway
Norway spoke of “Positive Practical Coaching” in terms
of focussing on what students do well. APSI of course,
might call this Student centred learning and we have
tended to move on from this to Experience centered
learning. On questioning their methodology however it
was obvious they are really talking about a progression
from the Student centered approach to the Experience
centered model.
Many of the large presentations on skiing generally
are applicable to Cross Country Ski Instruction as they
covered not only the individual technical platforms but
also the ‘philosophies’ of ski instruction. As well, it is
notable that over the last 4 or 5 years, there has been
a crystallisation of skill blocks so that they are generic
enough to be applied to all skiing and riding snow
disciplines.
“What we achieve is that the student has had a
positive experience from the ski school and would
like further instruction, whilst the student is aware
of and has their own understanding of techniques:
What this means is that students are able to teach
themselves and obtain a faster development and
better results. “
As well, there was an increased focus on coaching this
INTERSKI and it appears the more progressive countries
like Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, Canada,
Germany to name some, have a pathway to higher
qualification levels with Coaching running either within
or parallel to Ski Instruction with appropriate technical
interlocks along the pathway.
Norway’s Workshop global Focus was as follows:
The USA and Germany in particular mentioned formally
and informally, that unless sound foundations of ski
skill building blocks are embedded in the skier early,
the result will be a lesser athlete. This embedding of
basics such as Body Position, Timing and development
of Power/Propulsion is so much easier in the developing
skier and so much harder in a so called “developed”
skier who has bad habits because of poor instruction/
coaching during their early development.
•A
ppropriate solutions with respect to terrain and
conditions
• Individual Dynamic position
• Distinguishing between technique and style
• Making the student aware of solutions and when and
why they are appropriate.
The Norwegian theme for the Cross country Workshop
was as follows:
Individual Workshops
The daily format of INTERSKI is to have early morning
30 minute introductory classroom explanatory
presentations then moving to the appropriate snow area
for practical sessions under the country’s Demonstration
Team members lasting up to four hours.
The Dynamics of skiing
How can I go faster on skis through technical and tactical
awareness? The key to going faster is to find out where it
costs the least (in energy expenditure) to maintain higher
51
lower body in developing perfect timing.
cruising speed and how we work for greater propulsion
for the same energy (expenditure).
More to follow on this one.
The question above represents the two principles, viz:
Germany
• WHERE: Holding higher speed in easier terrain.
The German (Deutscher Verband Furdas Skilehrwesen
e.V.) conceptual workshop was the stand-out workshop
as far as I was concerned. Based on the all-discipline
key-note lecture “snowsport lessons with children
and teenagers”, the workshop focus was ‘motion
acquirement’
• HOW: Working where we are strong with a technique
that provides a high speed.
Optimising the principles requires perfect timing yet
the principles are universal and can be used on most
physical and technical levels, from beginner to expert,
with good results.
“How do children and teenagers learn” was the question
and the demo team of a Doctor and Physiotherapist had
provided ‘training aids’ by way of 14 children from a
German ski club.
The technical structure of the workshop involved skiing
exercises, in both classical and skating concentrating on
self analysis of:
We (the attendees) were put to shame by the children
in simple drills designed to stretch and test comfortable
neural networks by taking you out of your comfort zone
in responding to simple but mixed visual and auditory
cues with common movements.
Frequency in double pole (classical and skating) and
pole motion in Double Time (skating)
Increased Frequency above where frequency is acting as
a regulator (in my terminology – a gear within a gear)
We examined several drills with simple tools such as
coloured cards and bean bags and established our
dominant eye.
Being Centered by creating more force by working closer
to the centre line of the body.
Maintain a High Position thereby allowing for a higher
frequency to be generated from the core.
With my dominant eye covered with a black patch and
two small bean bags, I found I could skate a full speed
around a circle whilst juggling the two bags, as long as it
was clockwise. Next season at Perisher will be devoted
to mastering it with three bean bags - anticlockwise
Acceleration, where acceleration creates higher speeds
in easier terrain. It is energy and a time saver.
USA
The focus of the USA (PSIA and USSA Partnership)
workshop was “Coaching Coaches and Kids.
The building blocks concept of Body Position (Stance),
Timing and Power/Propulsion was explained and
followed by several exercises and drills to show the result
of combinations and permutations of timing and body
position and resulting increases in power and propulsion.
There were Body Position Drills which emphasized an
active body position. Contrast between flexion and
extension and static (passive) body positioning was
examined.
Switzerland
The Swiss theme for the Cross country Workshop was
as follows:
Timing drills consisted of simultaneous and sequential
differentiation. The correct order to recruit muscle
groups in the sequence was examined and discussed.
A concentration on TIMING seemed the major theme.
I am not quite sure that this was not overcomplicating
something by producing bookmark style strike and
pressure diagrams. These were great when I stopped to
study them and scientifically very correct but addled my
brain somewhat with their complexity.
Power/Propulsion was examined in the context of flexing,
extending and weight transfer.
Ireland
I attended an excellent presentation on ACL / MCL and
Low Back injury prevention by Professor David Murrie
of the Irish Demo team. David is a Professor of Sports
Biomechanics and is well published in skiing literature
(google him). I will expand on his presentation, with
diagrams, later on our website. The injury prevention
I intend to gather more detail from the Swiss
demonstrators on their analysis as, despite being
something a ‘biomechanics graduate’ might be
comfortable with, it represented another and unique
way of examining the interaction between the upper and
52
The muscle spindles are involved in the stretch reflex
and are triggered by rapid lengthening of the muscle as
well as absolute length. At the end of the rapid eccentric
contraction, the muscle has reached a great length at a
high velocity. This may cause the muscle spindle to enact
a powerful stretch reflex, further enhancing the power
of the following concentric contraction. The muscle
spindle’s sensitivity to velocity is another reason why the
amortisation phase must be brief for a plyometric effect.
theme was really for Alpine technique but I could
immediately see some cross flow to Cross Country.
Thats what having a Ski Racing, Sports Physio spouse
has done to me!
He concentrated on Plyometric training involving
and using plyometric movements to toughen tissues
and train nerve cells to stimulate a specific pattern of
muscle contraction so the muscle generates as strong a
contraction as possible in the shortest amount of time.
A plyometric contraction involves first a rapid muscle
lengthening movement (eccentric phase), followed by
a short resting phase (amortization phase), then an
explosive muscle shortening movement (concentric
phase), which enables muscles to work together in doing
the particular motion. He spoke of Plyometric training
engagingthe myotatic reflex, which is the automatic
contraction of muscles when their stretch sensory
receptors are stimulated.
A longer term neurological component involves training
the muscles to contract more quickly and powerfully by
altering the timing and firing rates of the motor units.
During a normal contraction, motor units peak in a desynchronized fashion until tetany is reached. Plyometric
training conditions the neurons to contract with a
single powerful surge rather than several disorganized
contractions. The result is a stronger, faster contraction
allowing a heavy load (such as the body) to be moved
quickly and forcefully.
His explanation of Muscular power and muscular
strength being two different things was very clear.
Muscular strength refers to how much force can be
applied . As per common knowledge, strength alone is
not indicative of speed. Power refers to the combined
factors of speed and strength (force). Performance in
many sports is based on different types of power. The
purpose of plyometrics is to emphasize speed- based
power. In skiing, the ability of a muscle or muscle group
to contract quickly goes a long way to protecting the
vital ligamental structure in the knee. In Cross Country
skiing, it has more universal benefits.
Finally, and to the groans of the multi-national crowd,
he said, “.....and the best way to do these plyometric
exercises is with your ski boots on!!!”
In Conclusion
There is more to follow on INTERSKI. I have not gone into
the Finnish workshop here. I await some documents to
make sure I have it right, but I must say, my slope skills –
alpine turns on racing skating skis – are improved after
their practical sessions.
There has been a fantastic network of Nordic (XC and
Tele) Trainers established as a result of St Anton and I
have promulgated our Nordic Manual far and wide to the
international network for constructive comment.
For a muscle to cause movement, it must shorten;
this is known as a concentric contraction. There is a
maximum amount of force with which a certain muscle
can concentrically contract. However, if the muscle
is lengthened while loaded (eccentric contraction)
just prior to the contraction, it will produce greater
force through the storage of elastic energy. This effect
requires that the transition time between eccentric
contraction and concentric contraction (amortisation
phase) be very short. This energy dissipates rapidly,
so the concentric contraction must rapidly follow the
eccentric stretch. The process is frequently referred
to as the “stretch shortening cycle”, and is one of the
underlying mechanisms of plyometric training. Usually
after plyometric exercise of the legs, the tendons stretch
and the thighs and quadriceps feel tender. Rips can
possibly occur when overworked.
I will be running practical workshops on what I have learnt
at the beginning of season 2011 as well as expanding on
the workshops at Trainers Coord 2011.
In addition to the elastic-recoil of the musculotendonous
system there is a neurological component. The stretch
shortening cycle affects the sensory response of the
muscle spindles and golgi tendon organs (GTO). It is
believed that during plyometric exercise, the excitatory
threshold of the GTO’s is increased, making them less
likely to send signals to limit force production when the
muscle has increased tension. This facilitates greater
contraction force than normal strength or power exercise,
and thus greater training ability.
Now! Who didn’t enjoy INTERSKI 2011
53
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