This week we went through the CSIA Level 1 course.  We are both now officially qualified to be ski instructors. YEA! NonStop prepared us really well for the CSIA Level 1 course. The CSIA level 1 course span over three days and is based on continuous evaluation.  You had to show an acceptable level of competency in your own skiing as well as teaching the basic of skiing.

Although it was a little painful at times to be demonstrating a snowplow while fresh powder was calling, I am glad we persisted.  We both had great course evaluators that help us not only improve our own skiing but also master the teaching aspect.

My CSIA level 1 Group, with Louisa our Instructor Photo: Courtesy of  Jonathon Ralfe – http://www.drduvel.net

As part of the course we got a copy of the Canadian Ski Teaching Manual. The manual covers all aspects of ski teaching; the way the Canadians believe it should be done, including guest services. A big part of a ski instructors job is to make sure the guests have a great time and come back in order to make the industry more viable.

Motor learning happens is 5 stages: Initiation, Acquisition, Consolidation, Refinement and Creative Variation.  In order to pass CSIA level 1, your own skiing has to be at the Acquisition stages for all 5 of the basic skills in skiing. The basic skills are:

1. Stance and Balance
2. Pivoting
3. Pressure Control
4. Edging
5. Timing and coordination

By applying these skills appropriately to skiing it creates three basic competencies: A centred and mobile stance, turning with the lower body and balance on the edges of the skis.

We also had to learn how to teach a real beginner, somebody who has never skied before, and get them to skiing parallel. This process is called “fast track to parallel”. There are 5 steps to achieve this:

1. Mobility.  Getting guest familiar with the equipment and conditions. Including safely carrying the equipment.
2. Sliding.  Getting comfortable with sliding on the skis. Usually starting with one ski, then the other then on both skis.
3. Stopping. Getting comfortable with stopping in a snowplow.
4. Turning. Doing slow snowplow turns, first to one side and then to the other.
5. Linking turns. Linking left and right turns together.

Once a guest can link two turns they are ready to go up one of the chair lifts and get some mileage.  They also need to be taught to get on and off the chairlift.

We also worked through the 6 steps to for a great lesson: Assess the students, consider terrain, assess basic competencies, choose development tactics, evaluate progress and guided mileage.

Proof that I passed CSIA level 1 – YEA!

I can’t wait to teach my first class in a few weeks so I can put my newly acquired CSIA level 1 to use!

There are many great things about the NonStop Programme.   One of my personal favourites is the additional activities they organize.  There is a long list you can choose from, or you can do them all.  I particularly looked forward to doing the AST (Avalanche Safety Training) course.

Being from South Africa, I had very little exposure to snow and therefore avalanches while growing up.  Since we started skiing regularly, I have always been fascinated by the amazing power that avalanches have, but have never really gone to any effort to learn more about them.

The Avalanche Safety Training gave me a great introduction about avalanches.  We learned some very basic tools to help start the learning process in order to travel safely in avalanche terrain.  Avalanche risk has three basic elements: unstable snow, suitable terrain and people or property.

We learned a bunch of tests to help test the stability of the snow including: Burp test (Shovel tilt test), Compression test (tap test) and Rutschblock test.  The interesting thing about snow stability test is that are a good indicator of instability but not really a good predictor of stability.

Our Instructor Mark prepares for some of the test on our Avalanche Safety Training field day

From 1997 to 2007 there were an average of 40 fatalities among recreationists in North America.  In Canada the average fatalities are about 14 per year. Avalanches are classed from 1 to 5, with 5 big and strong enough to destroy a town or forest of 40 hectares and would run for multiple kilometres.

The New York Times recently did an amazing multimedia production about a fatal avalanche that happened last year at Tunnel Creek next to Steven Pass ski area in Washington State.  It shows how even some of the best skiers in the world with loads of experience can make mistakes that kill them. Here is one of the videos:

In western Canada about a million destructive avalanches occur every year.  Luckily most of them happen away from property and people.  The amazing thing is that people trigger most fatal avalanches.  This is usually either the victim or somebody travelling with them.

Backcountry travel seems to have grown over the last decade, and I can see the allure it offers.  Skiing fresh powder that is thigh deep, away from the crowds, in the peace and quite of the backcountry must be amazing.  This week we are planning to go on our first backcountry trip.

There are three basic tools that you must have for a backcountry trip to do self-rescue: shovel, probe and transceiver.  Airbag backpacks that help you float on top of or near the top of the avalanche is gaining popularity and report up to 98% success rate in surviving a avalanche.

The experts say that trips like these are never 100% safe, and it is really about mitigating the risk and finding a safe way to enjoy yourself, based on your level of experience and knowledge.  A big part of the challenge is that many of the slopes that offer the best skiing are prime terrain for avalanches.

This Avalanche Safety Training Course was just a first step for me to learn much more about this fascinating subject.  There is a second level of Avalanche Safety Training that I can hopefully do soon!