Can they really do this to instructors?

[Dave Marshak]

Except nobody cares about Interski. Maybe 1-2% of members. If that? Interski is very expensive. Meanwhile, volunteers doing manuals.
Usually the argument is who trains the trainers?

Nobody cares about Interski, but clinics with the Demo team was the best part of PSIA for me. Interski is part of that, and I'm OK with he cost of it. Compare to the cost and quality of an all day lesson at Vail. Annual dues + 5 days with a Demo team member at Eastern Pro Jam is still less than a Vail day.

dm

 

[James]

Nobody cares about Interski, but clinics with the Demo team was the best part of PSIA for me. Interski is part of that, and I'm OK with he cost of it. Compare to the cost and quality of an all day lesson at Vail. Annual dues + 5 days with a Demo team member at Eastern Pro Jam is still less than a Vail day.

dm

Could still be done, just different. Sending those guys and everyone else to Interski is what, $250k?

 

[Dave Marshak]

Could still be done, just different. Sending those guys and everyone else to Interski is what, $250k?

Or just cut their budget until no one wants to do it. Those guys don't make a lot of money. You gotta give them something to make them come back. I'm OK with Interski, even if some consider it a boondoggle. I'm getting good value from the Demo team.

dm

 

[crgildart]

Could still be done, just different. Sending those guys and everyone else to Interski is what, $250k?

Gotta wonder how much Interski's total annual revenues are. Losing that business would be pretty hard on them.

 

[abcd]

I think all it would take is a little union rat next to the ticket office with a sign "instructors get paid minimum wage and we're charging you $1240 per day".
If public just knew about what's going on, this practice would stop, I believe. At least it was enough to convince me not to spend money on vail owned mountains

 

[Mike King]

Just curious, what's the difference in pay or lesson assignments for a LIII that paid dues this year vs a LIII that let her dues and required clinics lapse?

In Aspen, it is the difference between no cert and Level 3 pay. And that's a big number.

 

[Mike King]

The demo team would claim that there is a great deal of exchange that is gained by being at Interski with the opportunity to observe the presentations and participate in the clinics given by each of the teams. And here in Aspen, where we have a large number of demo team members, there's a fair amount of material from Interski that's made it down through the training department into our own school. Just two days ago there was a mid-season meeting of school trainers with presentations from Interski.

I also do know that material from Interski has made it into the new manuals that are developed by, yes, volunteers, but which in reality have a huge involvement of the demo team.

Is it a perk to go to Interski or part of the job of looking for the most current and successful methods to develop ski instruction? It's probably both. But when you look at the personal time and dollar investment of those who make the demo team, is it unreasonable to give them a small perk of an international educational trip?

An individual here in Aspen is going to the demo team tryouts this season. It's his 4th attempt to make the team -- last time he was very close, but unsuccessful. He has hired a World Cup coach to work on his skiing, and has been through several FIS speed skis, 4 sets of boots, many coaching days, and tons of personal time working on his skiing just this season. We are talking thousands of dollars just in equipment, let alone the cost of coaching or the lost income of the numerous training days.

Let's face it -- making the demo team is a pretty huge investment. Not that getting certified isn't, but we are talking about a major investment where the payoff is more recognition and the opportunity to interact with top ski instructors, both from the US and from other countries, rather than financial.

Do the members benefit from this? I certainly have. And I certainly did when I was in Breckenridge rather than Aspen.

Mike

 

[Dave Marshak]

I think all it would take is a little union rat next to the ticket office with a sign "instructors get paid minimum wage and we're charging you $1240 per day".
If public just knew about what's going on, this practice would stop, I believe. At least it was enough to convince me not to spend money on vail owned mountains

For the Wall Street types who might be the majority of private lesson buyers in the East, one of those inflatable union rats would just make the experience more enjoyable. Those guys love it when wage workers get screwed.

dm

 

[abcd]

For the Wall Street types who might be the majority of private lesson buyers in the East, one of those inflatable union rats would just make the experience more enjoyable. Those guys love it when wage workers get screwed.

dm

Those types are working at least 11 (and some 16) hour work days, are trying to save some cash to afford a mortgage in a neighborhood where their peers have chosen to leave and are constantly running a risk or loosing their job. Not really that different from everyone else in the country (except for health insurance). And during a week of vacation people just want to have a good time. And seeing other people screwed is rarely a pleasant experience for majority of human beings.

How much trust would patients have in a hospital with a welcome sign: "please tip our doctors, they are in minimum wage and will receive $2 for your 10 minute visit"

 

[ThomasH]

The demo team would claim that there is a great deal of exchange that is gained by being at Interski with the opportunity to observe the presentations and participate in the clinics given by each of the teams. And here in Aspen, where we have a large number of demo team members, there's a fair amount of material from Interski that's made it down through the training department into our own school. Just two days ago there was a mid-season meeting of school trainers with presentations from Interski.

Then again, Jeb says "a lot of countries look to the US to see how we handle diversity and how we handle guest centered teaching, how we handle the future and growth of our sport" (4:01)

Don't want to put too much emphasis on one quote by one person but it looks like other countries benefit from our presence there more than we do from them.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

I have benefitted significantly from the dozen Alpine Team members I've had the good fortune to have skied with, some multiple times.

One was Ellen Post Foster, who played a major role in development of the current set of PSIA manuals.

 

[Mike King]

Then again, Jeb says "a lot of countries look to the US to see how we handle diversity and how we handle guest centered teaching, how we handle the future and growth of our sport" (4:01)

Don't want to put too much emphasis on one quote by one person but it looks like other countries benefit from our presence there more than we do from them.

Well, it would be silly to think that the only reason for Interski is for the rest of the world to learn from the US. What might be a bit more telling is to look at how many of the videos from other countries, made as a means of communicating what they learned from Interski, reference the presentations from the US as opposed to other countries.