This is a guideline for three individuals, the Ski Instructor, the Ski School Director/Trainer, and the PSIA-NRM Clinician to educate, guide and give an understanding of what to expect during the PSIA-NRM Level I process. Printer-friendly PDF version of this guide
The Process
The Level I certification process has been organized so that there can be some practice time between the education the instructors receive and the time they are evaluated to determine if they have reached the standards for Level I certification. To become Level I certified an instructor must:
• Attend a ski school hiring clinic or early season training clinic
• Complete and pass the Level I multiple choice test with a passing score of 75%
• Attend a Level I evaluated clinic and demonstrate proficiency at or above the Level I national standards
• Be employed at a ski school or volunteer with a recognized instruction program, and teach at a minimum of 10 hours. The ski school does not need to be a member of PSIA-NRM.
• Become a member of PSIA-NRM.
Evaluated Clinic
The evaluated clinic is a two day clinic in which participants will be taught and coached on the material outlined by the national exam standard for Level I. They will be evaluated on their teaching, skiing, professional knowledge and personal mastery of the material that they are being coached on throughout the two day clinic. This is an interactive clinic that requires participation in discussions on and off the hill. Candidates should be prepared to lead a group through some basic ski instruction scenarios provided by the clinician.
It is not expected that Level I candidates will have in-depth knowledge and experience in each of the areas of competence listed in the national standards. It is expected, however, that candidates will be able to demonstrate basic competence and knowledge in all of these areas.
Outline of the Evaluated Clinic
It is up to the clinician on how the two day format is organized. This document is to provide an outline of everything that will be covered in the two day clinic, and gives you an idea of what you will see over the course of two days. It is the clinician's choice on what he/she covers indoors and on the hill.
What to Expect During the Evaluated Clinic
• Registration
• Discussion of Level I national exam standards
• Review PSIA-NRM Level I tasks
• An overview of all manuals, the ATS and the skiing model
• Written test (multiple choice)
• Skiing activities including demos, tasks and free skiing on green and groomed blue terrain.
• Teaching scenarios relevant to instruction of students in the beginner/novice zone.
SKIING
Skiing activities should be performed as if the candidate were leading a student down a slope and enjoying the terrain. Clinician will work with instructors to blend balancing, rotary, edging and pressure movements to demonstrate appropriate skill blending through the demos and tasks. Skiing will be evaluated on green and blue groomed terrain.
Level I Skiing Tasks: (complete task list)
• Balanced athletic stance and consistent speed control in all skiing tasks
• Straight run, stepping out of a straight run
• Gliding wedge, wedge change-ups, straight run to a braking wedge
• Foot steered turns
• Wedge turns, wedge traverse
• Uphill matching christie, wedge christies
• Sideslip traverse sideslip
• Patience turns
• Sideslip with a stop
• Basic parallel turns - short/medium/long radius
• Pole use
TEACHING
Assessing and then understanding a student's profile is critical to the success of guests, particularly at the beginning level. As such, the options for developing a teaching plan for beginning skiers is quite broad and is dependent upon appropriate selection of activities (Stepping Stones) that will lead to the development of a skilled blend of movements. In real life, you must prepare for any student and be ready to offer coaching and solutions specific to the guest's profile, skills and background.
At the evaluated clinic, you will be asked to explore different learning styles and methods of teaching to each learning style. One example of a teaching segment you may be asked to perform is teaching to transfer, for example teaching a basket ball shot and how that can help at a wedge turn level. Other examples are blind teaching, deaf teaching and team teaching. You will only have to teach skills or tasks in the Beginner/Novice zone. In front of the group, you must demonstrate awareness of a basic teaching progression (i.e. introduce an activity, develop that activity, offer feedback, and summarize).
Throughout the 2 day clinic the clinician will give examples of teaching segments and help develop your movement analysis skills. Examples of questions you will be exploring are:
• What skill movements are necessary to do a gliding wedge?
• Is there one skill movement that we can begin with to work towards performing the goal?
• What is a task that would help develop that skill movement?
• How can we build on that task?
PROFFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE
• Identify how your lesson activities relate to the development of the four fundamental skills (in a very basic sense).
• Demonstrate an awareness of good safety practices relative to all lesson activities and to your own personal skiing within the group.
• Describe how to change lesson activities in consideration of student age, the weather, or snow conditions.
• State the basic options, solutions, and benefits that modern ski designs provide.
Organizing a clinic
In-House Clinics
If your Snowsports School has an authorized divisional clinician or examiner on your staff, your school may hold a clinic for your staff at your mountain. (contact Jim Anderson for a list of qualified examiners at Andersons@wildblue.net) The only fee is a $20 administration fee (per person) to cover the cost of setting up new members. This fee only needs to be paid by those wishing to join PSIA-NRM.
Divisional clinics
If your Snowsports School does NOT have qualified examiners on staff, a clinic can be scheduled by PSIA-NRM and staffed accordingly. Contact Jim Anderson at Andersons@wildblue.net to book your event. The fee for this event is $90 per person. Scholarships may be available from PSIA-NRM or MSAA to help offset the cost of this event.
Membership
In order to obtain Level I certified status the instructor must become a member of PSIA. New Level I members pay a discounted membership fee of $60 after passing the Level I clinic. ($20 to NRM and $40 to National)
Participants that pass the clinic and pay membership dues at the time of the event will immediately be awarded a Level I pin and certificate. A complete membership application with payment will be sent to the division office where the new membership will be set up and a new member packet will be mailed to each new member.
If an instructor passes the Level I clinic but is not affiliated with a ski school, they have a one-year grace period in which to join a ski school and fulfill the 10 hour teaching requirement. At that time they may contact the NRM division office, join PSIA-NRM (if they are not already a member) and become a Level I certified instructor.
Resources Needed Prior to the Clinic
