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Nordic Chariperson Reports Nordic Chair Report - Spring 2008 by Angela Patnode It’s that time of year to either hang up the skis for a bike or start carrying them on your back to find hidden treasures of corn snow in your favorite places. We had a wonderful winter in Montana and even more snow fell in areas of Wyoming and Utah to reward anxious powder skiers suffering from last years drought. Along with the snow, we had an exciting year of Nordic events in our division. It started with the West Yellowstone Fall Ski Camp, where Scott McGee from the Nordic Demo Team facilitated a Cross-Country clinic for NRM members, as well as at Fall Fest (Big Sky) in December with the Telemark DCE/NES training and a member’s clinic day. Scott continues to provide new material and innovative teaching ideas to keep things fresh and fun for folks of all levels – thanks Scotty! This was also the year of new Level 1 Cross-Country and Level 1, 2, and 3 Telemark Certified Instructors. There were two Level 1 Cross-Country Certification Exams – one held at Lone Mountain Ranch in December, and the other at Bohart Ranch in March. On the Telemark side, Red Lodge, Lost Trail, and Big Sky all hosted Level 1 Exams in February, as well as Bridger Bowl in March with the Level 2/3 Exam. Congratulations to the following:
We welcome the new members and those who broadened their education through Nordic from another discipline. We encourage you to continue your learning through Fall Fest, clinics at your local area, and further certification to level 2 and 3, Clinician, and Examiner. If interested, contact the Nordic Chair to request a guest clinician or to host a certification event at your area. The workbooks and Nordic Handbook that is in place on the website has been very well received in helping folks prepare for their events. Please send any recommendations for modifications regarding these two documents in the next couple months, as there will be an update on the materials before next winter. New for the upcoming year is the formation of a Nordic Committee. This Committee is open to any level 3 Cross-Country or Telemark Instructor who is interested in providing input and helping out with tasks to assist the Nordic Chair with their duties. The Committee meeting will be held one to two times a year with at least one summer meeting to plan for winter. This summers date will be posted on the website with location and time along with an email sent out – all Level 3’s are welcome to attend. Lastly, we are currently seeking a new Nordic Chair for the NRM Division. Randy Wall is unable to take the position as planned. Responsibilities include writing the newsletter article, Nordic member communication, coordination with the web master to keep the website updated, as well as member recruitment, material updates, event planning, and logistics. Requirements include a Level 3 Instructor Certification in either Telemark or Cross-Country, and a dedication to the Nordic program for the greater good of the NRM Members. If you are interested in applying, send a resume and letter of intent to angelapatnode at yahoo.com, or director at psia-nrm.org. Have a wonderful summer! Nordic Chair Report - Fall 2007 by Angela Patnode Welcome back to ski season! With snow in the surrounding mountains, it’s easy to be thinking about making those first turns of the season… Throughout the summer month’s, I’ve been working on getting all the Nordic documents completed and put on the website. By going to the PSIA-NRM website and making way to the Nordic page, you will find links to XC Level 1 and 2/3 Workbooks, Telemark Level 1 and 2/3 Workbooks, the Nordic Handbook (these are to be used in preparing for your Certification Exam), as well as the DCE Accreditation process (which we are now calling Nordic Education Staff – NES). These documents are in place to help give you success in your exam, as well as give a very clear structure and path to becoming a clinician and examiner in NRM. Thank you to Randy Wall for formatting the documents, and Karin Kirk for getting them onto the website! In cooperation with PSIA-Intermountain, we are doing a Nordic event advertising exchange. This means that you will see Nordic events on our calendar that are being held at Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole. These events are Intermountain events, but open to NRM members (registration must occur through psia-i.org), and then can be transferred to our division (guidelines are in the Nordic Handbook for transfer). We are doing this to help fill our and their events, as well as offer members of both divisions more Nordic options. On a side note, they have a strong, active Backcountry Program in the Teton area as well as in Utah. If you are interested in pursuing a Backcountry Certification with PSIA, go to psia-i.org for more information. Some exciting news for our Nordic division this winter: The Track DCE/NES will be held at West Yellowstone November 21 to coincide with the annual Ski Camp. This is a full day event being led by Scott McGee (newly appointed Nordic Demo Team Coach), and is FREE (does not include the $10 trail pass) with PSIA current membership (priority given to NRM members). Scott will cover teaching skills, and current classic and skate technique to start with, as well as requested topics. This event is in partnership with the West Yellowstone Ski Camp – thanks to Drew Barney and Jamie Greene for their support as well as the NRM Board for sponsoring the event. We encourage any Nordic Center Director’s, Trainer’s, and Nordic Ski Instructors to attend – it is limited to 9 participants, so register early! The annual Mountain States Rendezvous will be held at Grand Targhee November 26 & 27 for two full days of telemark and track skiing with Demo Team Members. This is a FREE event (including lift tickets) open to PSIA Member Ski School Director’s, Trainer’s, and Examiner’s from around the Nation. Register with PSIA-I for this clinic. The Telemark DCE/NES will be led by Scott as well at Big Sky, MT December 7. This will be a great opportunity as a Telemark Level 3, Clinician, or Examiner to get current teaching skills, new ideas, practice exam scoring, and improve personal ski skills with a Demo Team Member. Fall Fest 2007 Nordic Highlights: Dec. 8 and 9 is full of Nordic events to choose from! On Saturday, December 8, Scott McGee (Demo Team) will be instructing the “telemark tune-up” this year. He is a highly talented skier and teacher, guaranteed to leave you smiling and full of new information and skills to take with you for the season. There will be a skate clinic on December 9 at Lone Mountain Ranch taught by LMR staff. Dudley will again offer the multi-discipline Avalanche Workshop on Saturday, December 8, and new this year: a Level 1 Telemark Certification Exam being held December 9 and 10 at Big Sky to correspond with Fall Festival. I highly recommend registering early for these events, as they can fill up quickly! The Nordic Rendezvous will be held at Grand Targhee, WY April 4,5,6 2008. It has moved from Big Sky to Grand Targhee to start the tradition of a “roving” Nordic festival. We hope to have it move around to different resorts to keep things new and interesting for members. Mark your calendars and plan on attending, as it will be a very educational, fun three days! Position Openings: Lastly, I want to announce my leaving the Nordic Chair position after the winter season. It has been an educational and enjoyable time in this position, and I feel it is time to pass it on to someone else. Thanks to the Neil, the Board of Directors, and fellow Chairs for your support in helping further develop the NRM Nordic program. If you are interested in applying for the Nordic Chair position, please contact the Board of Directors to submit a resume and letter of intent and/or me for a job description. Time to do the big SNOW DANCE! Nordic Chair Report - midwinter 2007 by Angela Patnode It's been an interesting early-winter in the Northern Rocky Mountain region: a shallow snowpack, weak layers, ice and wind layers, and the occasional coveted 3” powder day. BUT, it is perfect conditions for working on technique. Because we do not have those glorious fluff days to go play, it is a great opportunity to work at that edging you have always wanted to learn, find the wax pocket on your classic skis, or discover what compression is on skate skis. DCE Training and Fall Festival were well attended despite the rock gardens at Big Sky, and it was a reminder for me that the most effective learning happens in the “green” terrain. At DCE training, I introduced the “ Professional Development Guide ” for Level 3 folks that want to take it to the next level such as clinician and/or examiner. The qualifications, application process, training and evaluation process are all clearly defined in this document. We are changing the term from DCE to NES (Nordic Education Staff) to emphasize the education quality of the program. I am currently working on finalizing this and will hopefully have it on the website before the end of winter.
Other noteable events include the Track Examiner's College held at West Yellowstone in November, Fall Festival with the multi-discipline avalanche clinic, telemark clinic and skate clinic, and a visit by Nordic Demo Team Member Scott McGee in January to Bridger, Lone Mountain Ranch, and Big Sky. The Nordic Rendezvous is quickly approaching! To sign up for 3 incredible days of learning and fun with the Demo Team, contact Neil Hetherington or register on-line. It's only $175 for all three days. Check out the website for a write-up and pictures from last year. Please contact me with any questions, concerns, praises, or jokes. Enjoy the slopes, tracks and perfect corduroy! |
We also looked at the new Nordic Handbook (on the