Sorry, missed that. No, he was failed at a race coach course, the facilitators were level 3 coaches, but newly minted CSIA 4 examiners. Apparently even given an athlete of this level, they were not able to make him show them what they needed to see from a level 2 race coach, over 4 days on snow. That for me says more about their skills as coaches, than about the athlete. That was a 4 day course, not just a simple exam.@razie, I ask these questions because I've seen skiers who make high level race turns with excellent mechanics totally fall apart when asked to make the flat-ski slow turns that are necessary when teaching recreational skiers. These racers can revert to lower level intermediate mechancs (aft and inside, totally out of balance) when tasked with the unfamiliar movement patterns of slow speed skiing.
Practice doing slow turns on low pitch terrain with flattish skis is necessary to pass a PSIA Level II skiing exam, and the examiners do look closely at the mechanics. I would think CSIA does the same thing. Your guy's race turns are not going to impress a CSIA examiner evaluating instructors on their ability to teach skiing at the client's level. Could this be the cause of his failure to pass the exam?
@Tony S got it right. Other racers and coaches at our club are still laughing at that assessment.
What's worse, is that he was lined up to take the level 2 CSIA the following week, to learn "the soft side of the business" as well and learn all that slow speed steering they teach there which he'll never get near again, after this experience.
The reason I brought the CSIA angle was because they failed all the racers at that race coach course and apparently told them to get some lessons from other CSIA level 4s specifically, in order to pass that course. I found that somewhat disturbing... but that seems to be Ontario for you these days. I remembered it more correct than political, back when I was going through these
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