Glen Plake is now a PSIA examiner

[AmyPJ]

His lead up to that statement actually answer the question pretty well. For most, it's the dream and romance of a powder day that keep them going. That dream and romance get dashed pretty hard when one is standing there at the rope drop with three to four hundred skiers. It's more of a stampede than anything else.

" THEN:
Powder has never been that big of a deal to me. I guess because I knew how to ski powder before powder skis showed up.

NOW:
Something that drives me nuts is this frantic, inhuman addiction to a powder day. I can’t stand it, it drives me fricken nuts.

It’s just crazy how people are about powder now. That’s why I love mogul skiing so much—it doesn’t matter how many people are skiing the moguls. While it’s wonderful to have the spectacles of the sport—those once-in-a-lifetime Warren Miller moments—we need to realize that those are just spectacles. We’re putting a lot of emphasis not on the everyday aspects of the sport, and I think we need to rediscover why we ski.

We need to understand the joy of the actual sport itself, not the snow conditions."

That last line is money.

I want to bring this post back up, because the point he's trying to make is it's supposed to be FUN, AND there are so many great days out there that aren't powder days! Maybe instructors are losing their enthusiasm for the essence of skiing overall??? (Not the instructors I know and ski with, including 4ster.)

I know SO many people who only ski powder days. I say yaay for me, because that means fewer people on the hill the rest of the time. I also tell them they're really missing out on the essence of the sport, IMO.

Anyway, what a hoot it would be to test under Plake. His passion for the sport is clearly evident as he's been sharing that passion with the public for decades now. On to a new chapter for him, which is amazing.

 

[markojp]

Maybe instructors are losing their enthusiasm for the essence of skiing overall??? (Not the instructors I know and ski with, including 4ster.)

Me too.

 

[markojp]

Oh great, now I can pass.

Apologies for the sarcasm, and I've always liked and respected you Mike, but give it a break OK? That's not the solution.

Plus that's RM, not Eastern.

FWIW, I would NOT have passed L3 without using a bunch of resources from both inside and outside our division, including CSIA.The latter, so much so that I jokingly say half my dues should go to them. IMHO, it IS part of the solution. FWIW I was fully certified in telemark in another nat'l association, and was also familiar with their alpine standards. 'Whatever constantly and consistently makes one's toolbox bigger' is a personal mantra. And again, not throwing anyone under the bus at all. I don't know you or your skiing. It's more a reminder to myself to regularly revisit my assumptions.

 

[markojp]

While it's important that instructors be able to show some athletic proficiency.. i'm not so sure that it's necessary in order to teach those at higher levels of athletic proficiency.

Should the only ones certified to teach/coach at a world cup level be those athletes that have won a world cup?

And maybe that's the way the governing body wants it.. to teach you need to demonstrate.. to my mind it would greatly benefit students if you could get a split certification. Lets face it.. there are some gifted athletes that could easily ski at a l4 but only teach at a l1/l2 level and some not so gifted l1/l2 that could easily teach a l3/l4 level.

My 0.02 from the sidelines.. I've got no interest in obtaining any certifications.. I'm just happy to go out and ski.

That's a bit different situation, but oddly enough, most of the higher up coaches in USSA are pretty damn good skiers even without WC victories. Coaching at the highest levels isn't about 'skiing like the coach', it's about the coach's eye and knowledge base. The equivalent might be an L3 candidate being mentored by an older L3 who may not still ski to current standard, but if they're aware of what the standard is, what to look at, and how to coach to it, could be fine. But the rank of file of PSIA including myself are NOT 1 or even 5% athletes, so someone on the hill who can actually 'show' as well as coach is indeed helpful for the outcomes PSIA standards addresses. If you recall G.P.'s own example of his failure to teach Hoda Kobt how to ski was one of the reasons he got involved in PSIA. He felt he needed to be able to teach... anyone.

 

[4ster]

FWIW, I would NOT have passed L3 without using a bunch of resources from both inside and outside our division, including CSIA.The latter, so much so that I jokingly say half my dues should go to them. IMHO, it IS part of the solution. FWIW I was fully certified in telemark in another nat'l association, and was also familiar with their alpine standards. Whatever constantly and consistantly makes one's toolbox bigger is a personal mantra.

I too know that without resources outside of PSIA my skiing & teaching would never have gotten where it did. I spent some time in USSCA, with Austrians in St. Christoph & with a Canadian D-teamer as well as other PSIA clinicians outside of my home area.
Seek & ye shall find

PSIA could publish a book along the lines of this one by Ellen Post Foster, which includes step by step explanations of turns, accompanied by photos:. Foster is quite good at putting things into words that leave no confusion

Ellen was also a member of the PSIA D-team. Books like this ARE part of the curriculum. In my day Warren Witherall, Georges Joubert, Rudi Baer, Olle Larson, Juris Vaugner, Timothy Galloway to name a few were all standard reading & not necessarily PSIA publications.

 

[LiquidFeet]

@4ster, we need a current book. Those books were useful, I have no doubt.
But all those books are seriously outdated, as are the two I referenced.

We need a new one. Kill two birds with one stone and make it a how-to for the public.
And the turn information in the book needs to be correlated to the exam tasks in some member publication.
The PSIA Adult Alpine Teaching Handbook pictured below is the closest thing we have now.
It's great for studying for the adult part of the teaching exams. I have made good use of it.
But it's not exactly what I think will help candidates get their personal skiing up to standards.

 

[KevinF]

http://data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4...HmxvvKgV6Mb8Y4ZewLUvrUOBcGkvA0glpJ4CQtxaGMX3Q

I think it's safe to say that link didn't work in the fashion you meant it to...

 

[LiquidFeet]

Kevin, I fixed it. Thanks though.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Here's a page from Karl Gamma's book (1948 Olympian and director of the Swiss Ski School Association). Wouldn't it be great if PSIA published a book describing each exam task with images like this, and if they did the same thing for each of the the turns they want to see off piste and on groomers when you do your personal skiing? Line drawings featuring stills from video provide essential information about what to do to make a turn work. Not much room to disagree on what one is seeing. Videos reveal the rhythm and timing, but essential details can easily be missed.

 

[markojp]

@4ster, we need a current book. Those books were useful, I have no doubt.
But all those books are seriously outdated, as are the two I referenced.

We need a new one. Kill two birds with one stone and make it a how-to for the public.
And the turn information in the book needs to be correlated to the exam tasks in some member publication.
The PSIA Adult Alpine Teaching Handbook pictured below is the closest thing we have now.
It's great for studying for the adult part of the teaching exams. I have made good use of it.
But it's not exactly what I think will help candidates get their personal skiing up to standards.
View attachment 85030

At the L3 exam level, tasks aren't really the issue, nor in MHO should they be. Out this way, there isn't a long list of L3 pet tricks (tasks) listed in the exam check list, but candidates may well be asked to do any task that might be required in L1,L2, or L3 exams. Training to 'tasks' is getting the cart ahead of the horse IMO.. At L3, tasks simply confirm for better or worse, candidate's ability to blend, or conversely, distill skills/fundamentals, and show versatility. If the skiing is squared away, tasks aren't particularly difficult, and new pet tricks not all too hard to acquire if they're within the average athletic means of a typical L3 pool. People don't fail exams because they failed a task. The failed task usually confirms a deficiency that's readily apparent in their skiing. That all said, if doing some 'how to' vids helps, I'm all for it.

FWIW, coming from a very NON-PSIA background, I had/have no expectations that all the answers be in the book. Yep. There are odd 'important' trends that occur in skiing that miss the mark, but it's not worth paying much mind to other than awareness. Like yourself, much of what I know about teaching pre-PSIA came from teaching post secondary art, and all if it has been applicable to skiing. I'm sure we're very much on the same page on that one!

Regarding publications, one book I absolutely recommend L2 and 3 candidates read is McMaster's 'Ultimate Skiing'. And honestly, there's a lot of 'modern' in many of the old ski world masters illustrated in older films and publications. Sure, gear has changed, and we're much fitter/healthier/stronger later in life than previous generations, but gravity and the friction coefficients of sliding on snow are constant.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

View attachment 85031

Yes! If only someone could put all of these together perhaps in the form of an "Encyclopedia".

 

[Erik Timmerman]

I want to bring this post back up, because the point he's trying to make is it's supposed to be FUN, AND there are so many great days out there that aren't powder days! Maybe instructors are losing their enthusiasm for the essence of skiing overall??? (Not the instructors I know and ski with, including 4ster.)

I know SO many people who only ski powder days. I say yaay for me, because that means fewer people on the hill the rest of the time. I also tell them they're really missing out on the essence of the sport, IMO.

Anyway, what a hoot it would be to test under Plake. His passion for the sport is clearly evident as he's been sharing that passion with the public for decades now. On to a new chapter for him, which is amazing.

So true. I've said it elsewhere, but as much as I love skiing powder, I am sick of the energy that surrounds powder days. I don't really bother with it anymore. I'm very happy to shred bumps and groomers without the crowd.

 

[4ster]

@4ster, we need a current book.

& the Austrians had Schwingen


I think a new book would be great. Along with books perhaps a video & book on audio. The time has come where there is no reason not to. Who's gonna write it? If I had to depend on a book like Core Concepts, I would be lost

 

[Magi]

That's a bit different situation, but oddly enough, most of the higher up coaches in USSA are pretty damn good skiers even without WC victories. Coaching at the highest levels isn't about 'skiing like the coach', it's about the coach's eye and knowledge base.

I've always divided it as "Instructor's teach people who can do less than them, Coaches teach people who can do more than them." (and both improve their students)

Most of those USSA coaches have FIS racing experience, and many many years of going real fast on snow. They're great.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

& the Austrians had Schwingen
View attachment 85043

I thought that Wayne Campbell or Austin Powers wrote that one.

 

[4ster]

I think that was just Schwing...

 

[Mike King]

I've always divided it as "Instructor's teach people who can do less than them, Coaches teach people who can do more than them." (and both improve their students)

Most of those USSA coaches have FIS racing experience, and many many years of going real fast on snow. They're great.

I see instructors as transactional, coaches have an ongoing relationship with the client.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Yes! If only someone could put all of these together perhaps in the form of an "Encyclopedia".

Have you examined Bob Barns's Complete Encyclopedia of Skiing?

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Have you examined Bob Barns's Complete Encyclopedia of Skiing?

Sure have, that’s exactly what I was referring to.

 

[mdf]

I suspect LF already has a copy.