Hello Fellow Snow Pros!
I hope you have been able to get up here and enjoy some Spring time skiing, riding and teaching. Yesterday we had 14 people attend an Early Load Clinic with me – early morning laps on Shooting Star Ridge were incredible – great for wellness and we learned a few things like … how paired skiing and riding can be used to move a group and compare and contrast how people move differently and get different ski/board performances at different phases of a turn. We discovered common attributes of stance for skiing and snowboarding like flexed ankles and maintaining our center of mass over our base of support of skis or a snowboard. We made a pact to “not look like an instructor” when skiing and riding! What does that mean? That means “posing” or “being stiff” or “demo-ing” (is that a word?) – stance is important but it’s not fixed – you have to move and respond to terrain, forces in a turn, snow conditions, etc. and change the way you look (your stance). Bottom line: Don’t look like an instructor – look like an awesome skier or rider that moves (and grooves) to get the ski or board performance you’re shooting for when out shredding and teaching.
Ski & Ride School PAR-TAY and Awards – APRIL 23!
Don’t forget that next Sunday April 23 starting at 4:30pm will be our Ski & Ride School End of the Season Party. Awards, food, beer, wine, soft drinks, festivities and fun. We’ll be skiing and riding all day plus some will be teaching a few of the last lessons of the season. If you have not made a nomination for “Co-worker of the Year” award do so here:
https://mhm.snowproportal.com/current-staff/award-nomination
PSIA-NW Member School Clinics for Education Credit
We are offering a PSIA-AASI Member School Clinic here at Mt. Hood Meadows on April 22 and 23. If you need a PSIA-AASI education credit for the season this is a great option for you to attend. It’s $40 for the clinic (payable on the day of the event) and will count toward your PSIA-AASI education credit. These clinics also count toward your mandatory paid clinic hours (but you’re not paid for either of these clinics), so if you’re missing clinic hours, these count. Please SIGN UP IN ADVANCE on the instructor portal. Sunday will have more space available than Saturday. See these URLs:
http://mhm.snowproportal.com/events/psia-aasi-member-school-clinic
http://mhm.snowproportal.com/events/psia-aasi-member-school-clinic-2
Exit Interview and Surveys
The Ski & Ride School management team reviews the surveys and we personally read all the comments and suggestions you have made – REALLY – ALL OF THEM! Thank you so very much for your thoughtful comments on how we can make things better and where we are doing well. Our department and the resort as a whole have a growth mindset, and having your input is of high value! If you have not completed the survey then please check your email. If you have completed your schedule commitment for the season please complete an “exit interview” on the instructor portal. The link is here:
https://mhm.snowproportal.com/current-staff/exit-interview
Newly Certified Instructors and Exam Participants
Evan Rajbhandari, Ashley Kastner, Hallie Fall each received their Level 2 Alpine certifications and Cayce Pitts passed his Level 2 skiing module at Mt. Bachelor. Troy Hall also passed his Alpine Level 2 Skiing module and Alex Pugliese passed her Level 3 Snowboard Teaching module both at Stevens Pass. Ben Smith and Austen Popiel passed their Alpine Level 1 and Francesco Gentinetta passed his Snowboard Level 1 here at Mt. Hood Meadows. Many of you are attending the Children’s and Freestyle Specialist events next weekend here at Mt Hood Meadows – those events are now full, but look for options to attend these early next season. It is exciting to see so many people training hard to up their teaching, skiing and riding. Whether you took an exam this season and passed, failed or opted to wait, that fact that you are pursuing your professional development is inspirational and I am super stoked for everyone who has been training for their certifications regardless of the outcomes this season – you all rock!
Last Level 1 Exams of the Season
This will be your last chance to get your Alpine or Snowboard Level 1 Certification this season at Mt Hood Meadows. You must be a member of PSIA-AASI and can join here: http://www.thesnowpros.org/membership/divisions … be sure to choose “Northwest – Join (Registered Member)” if you are not already a member.
You must then sign up to take the Level 1 written exam on-line here: http://www.psia-nw.org/event/online-exams/?instance_id=2726 then you must also signup for the on-snow portion of the exam here for Alpine: http://www.psia-nw.org/event/alpine-level-1-on-snow-exam-mt-hood-meadows-2/?instance_id=2909 Or here for Snowbaord: http://www.psia-nw.org/event/snowboard-level-1-on-snow-exam-mt-hood-meadows-2/?instance_id=2911
To get more information about the exam and the pre-requisite clinics and information you need to demonstrate and teach, please come see an Alpine or Snowboard trainer and also go here…
for Alpine: http://mhm.snowproportal.com/events/level-1-exam-alpine-all-day-4
for Snowboard: http://mhm.snowproportal.com/events/level-1-exam-snowboard-all-day-5
PSIA-AASI NW “New Pro – Let’s Go” Clinics
If you received your Level 1 certification last season you may need an education credit this season to maintain your certification. You may attend a New Pro – Let’s Go! Clinic FREE as part of your Level 1 wexam fee you paid last season but you must sign up in advance. Please see these URLs for the event that is happening at Meadows on April 22:
Alpine: http://www.psia-nw.org/event/new-pro-lets-go-alpine-23-2/?instance_id=2742
Snowboard: http://www.psia-nw.org/event/new-pro-lets-go-snowboard-21/?instance_id=2741
PSIA-NW Technical Team Tryouts – support those trying out!
Jeremy Riss (current Team Member, Alpine Examiner), Jenn Lockwood (current PSIA-NW Divisional Clinic Leader) and Michael Birch-Jones (current PSIA-NW Divisional Clinic Leader) are vying for a spot on the PSIA-NW Technical Team, which is a grueling 3 day tryout April 28-30 at Mission Ridge, where their interview, skiing, coaching and indoor presentation skills will be put to the test. They, and 19 others, are vying for 6 spots open at this time for a 4-year term. Chris Kastner and I will be two of the six selectors (former Mt Hood Meadows instructor Rick Lyons and Technical Team head coach is also a selector) – it will be amazing to watch these pros give it their all. Send them your best wishes and thoughts for the tryout.
I have officially completed my schedule commitment too, but I will be around on and off mid-week this week and most certainly I will be here next weekend to ski or teach and definitely to attend the party. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you soon, as well as reading your suggestions in the exit interview – here’s that link again: https://mhm.snowproportal.com/current-staff/exit-interview
See you soon!
Tyler
p.s. The restroom inside the medical clinic is only for patients and clinic staff. To protect patient privacy and not risk traumatizing kids by what may be going on in the clinic; please no instructors and kids. I know there can be a long wait for the one out in the vestibule across from the parking office door but going into the clinic is not an option. If it is an emergency and the outside restroom is occupied the instructor can knock on the patrol locker room door and use those.
