More experienced instructors- can you shed some light on what to expect/how to prepare?

[bounceswoosh]

I get sooooo anxious when that happens, because I'm sure that's when we'll get stuck, or someone will fall or heaven only knows what other disaster but I just KNOW it'll happen then!

I've refused in the past. I probably wouldn't these days. But yeah - it's a lot of responsibility!

 

[marzNC]

I've seen instructors basically deputize adults in the lift line, asking the adults if they'll ride up the lift with some of the little guys.

Saw that happen regularly at Bridger when the mid-mountain beginner terrain was served by an old double lift. Those were mostly local kids and old enough that it wasn't a big deal. The instructors only sent kids up with willing adults, who were often parents or grandparents.

 

[marzNC]

@climbingbetty : how long was the class of 10 kids? At my small home mountain, there are young assistants (age 16+) who help out with groups of kids in the full day ski school children's program. Even so, it's rare to have a group of more than 8 young kids (under age 8). The groups are split by age whenever as much as possible, especially when it's busy.

 

[climbingbetty]

@climbingbetty : how long was the class of 10 kids? At my small home mountain, there are young assistants (age 16+) who help out with groups of kids in the full day ski school children's program. Even so, it's rare to have a group of more than 8 young kids (under age 8). The groups are split by age whenever as much as possible, especially when it's busy.

Two L O N G hours... We have an AM session from 9:30-11:30 and PM from 1-3. Four of my 10 kids had been with me in the morning session as well. I left from the school with 8 kids in my afternoon session, but had two 'dumped' on me because they weren't quite good enough to keep up with the Level 3 kids.

 

[abc]

had two 'dumped' on me because they weren't quite good enough to keep up with the Level 3 kids.

Yeah, but I do the "dumping" too!

I'm a little bit more selfish (on behave of my charge of kids). If a kid can't, or not willingly do what I asked them to do, I send them back to the lower level!

You don't want to turn? Back to the lower level! So if you can turn but don't want to, down you go (after ample warning). I picked that up from another instructor.

I only had to do that to one girl. For some reason, she just didn't want to do a wedge. She just straightline every run, plowing into the crowd at the bottom. Got back up to the top and repeat! Maybe she got the wrong rental boot, maybe she got the wrong rental ski, or maybe her parents overstated her level. But there's no respond when I tried to work with her. I really didn't have the luxury to figure out what her problem was. I was horrified that she would hurt someone. To be fair to the rest of the group, and other kids on that same slope, I sent her back to the lower level at the smallest bunny slope.

(Again, having runners at the beginner area means I didn't have to walk her back. One of the runner took her to the lower group)

Most kids want to learn, or at least want to ski. So they will do what I ask them to do. Especially if I dangle the carrot of taking them up on the longer lift that goes higher up the hill. So it's easy to see who's having real issue which I can then help to address specifically.

Maybe I'm lucky and didn't realize it. The hill I work at have a pretty successful kids program. The "runners" (only a couple) do run back and forth, taking kids to a new group, or just holding on to the kids who're crying non-stop for no reason while the supervisor call their parents to come pick them up.

The grouping of kids are not always perfect. So not all the kids gets the most efficient learning from us rookie instructors. But the least I could do is to make sure they all got to enjoy some supervised skiing. To be honest, that's often what the parents really care about, supervised skiing.

 

[climbingbetty]

@abc runners would be helpful!!! I'm jealous! My supervisor was on the hill helping me with the one kid's binding that kept pre-releasing every 10 feet, but when I needed someone to take one child to the bathroom, it took a little work to find someone.

Also, again, I think Level 2 is hard...I thought about dumping one or two of my kids on to the next level down, but they were far enough above the other levels 1s that they would have just got bumped back up...

 

[bounceswoosh]

Also, again, I think Level 2 is hard

I think you're dead right on this one. I swear I once heard an instructor say, off the record, that almost everyone who takes the level 1 class goes straight to level 3. So when someone shows up and says they were told to sign up for level 2 - that's a sign something is off, and it's going to be a tough class. However that may have been based on full day classes.

 

[Pequenita]

I've refused in the past. I probably wouldn't these days. But yeah - it's a lot of responsibility!

Huh. I've done it at Mad River Glen. I was more concerned about what appropriate conversation on a lift with a 5 year old was rather than her falling out of the chair. Like, am I allowed to ask their names, or is that a creepy predator question?? Instead, I just asked silly things like, how long have you been skiing?

I think, the chair thing for me wasn't an issue because I've been that small in a chair...

 

[abc]

I was more concerned about what appropriate conversation on a lift with a 5 year old was rather than her falling out of the chair. Like, am I allowed to ask their names, or is that a creepy predator question?? Instead, I just asked silly things like, how long have you been skiing?

Or, like, what am I going to say to a French little girl? How about Hello? What am I going to say when she starts to babble off in French? What's French for "I don't speak French"???...

About 10 seconds after we sat down, she asked in English "Can you please help me with the safety bar?"

 

[powderfan]

Huh. I've done it at Mad River Glen. I was more concerned about what appropriate conversation on a lift with a 5 year old was rather than her falling out of the chair. Like, am I allowed to ask their names, or is that a creepy predator question?? Instead, I just asked silly things like, how long have you been skiing?.

Sometimes the problem solves itself.......We were in a chair with a five-year old (I guess) German girl. She started to talk the moment we sat down and didn't stop untill we arrived at the top. By that time we knew everything about her school, her brothers, her holiday (first week with mom, second week with dad), her mother's new boyfriend ......

 

[MaineSkiLady]

...what appropriate conversation on a lift with a 5 year old...

Or (my personal favorite escort-kid-up story) - you get one who won’t say A Word. She was beyond adorable, in all pink, probably 4 (nodded to that number, I think), knew the procedures/drill.

Sugarloaf has kid-beloved costumed characters on skis, notably “Amos the Moose.” The costume is such that Amos is mute.

I finally said, “So - I guess you’re just like that moose, huh?”

The expression on her face was beyond priceless, I will never forget it, that twinkle in her eye and hearty positive nod : )

She exited the chairlift with precision - and was gone (to her group, as instructed).

 

[climbingbetty]

Talking to kids is the easy part, for me at least. With two nieces, I know most of the words to Let it Go, so I'm quite popular with the little girls. I even got a tip today because one poor little guy started crying about wanting to go back with his dad. I dried his tears, wiped his little nose and asked him if he would be friend for that day and show me how to ski, and we were off to the races. All smiles and fun the rest of the afternoon. Apparently Dad witnessed the whole thing and appreciated the special attention paid his son. And I appreciated his appreciation!!!

In other news, one of patients yesterday was mildly horrified that instructors basically assume responsibility for the kids in their care, which is a lot, and for the most part, get paid minimum wage. Its' not like you're sitting them in front of the TV and just being there in case of an emergency for a few hours. Skiing can be and is often dangerous. Its a lot of responsibility to keep a group of little ones safe in that environment.

 

[volklgirl]

@climbingbetty - back to the topic you asked about......

L1 is a lot easier than what you have in your head. Study the manual and possibly the Children's program before you take it. They expect you to be able to ski open parallel on black with basic skills, and to be able to demo and teach beginner skills like one-ski and flat-land ground work, riding the magic carpet or rope/chair, the bull-stance turn around, sidestepping, straight runs, gliding wedges, wedge stops, and possibly starting parallel turns, depending on how your ski school or division is set up. If you can demonstrate all those coming toward the class and going away, demonstrate basic safe class handling (like having each student stop below the group to avoid the domino effect), and explain why and how you do each maneuver, you'll do beautifully. It really is the most basic certification and they try to make it easy to achieve, both to build up confidence, hook instructors into the program, and to bring in $$$, of course.

Speak clearly and loudly, keep moving as much as possible, and have fun! You'll be just fine on this one.

 

[climbingbetty]

@climbingbetty - back to the topic you asked about......

L1 is a lot easier than what you have in your head. Study the manual and possibly the Children's program before you take it. They expect you to be able to ski open parallel on black with basic skills, and to be able to demo and teach beginner skills like one-ski and flat-land ground work, riding the magic carpet or rope/chair, the bull-stance turn around, sidestepping, straight runs, gliding wedges, wedge stops, and possibly starting parallel turns, depending on how your ski school or division is set up. If you can demonstrate all those coming toward the class and going away, demonstrate basic safe class handling (like having each student stop below the group to avoid the domino effect), and explain why and how you do each maneuver, you'll do beautifully. It really is the most basic certification and they try to make it easy to achieve, both to build up confidence, hook instructors into the program, and to bring in $$$, of course.

Speak clearly and loudly, keep moving as much as possible, and have fun! You'll be just fine on this one.

Thank you! I spoke with my ski school trainer this weekend as well. She echoed the same type of thing- basically, by virtue of passing the ITC and getting the job there, I can pretty much expect to pass Level 1. Also, she said that the way we have been trained to teach is based on the PSIA curriculum, so we shouldn't have any problem demoing the teaching skills. Its rather amazing how spending some more time getting the basics down in my wedge has improved my overall skiing! (Though my knee does not approve of this!) I wish I could explain to the parents of my children who are insistent that their child moves up a level and skis harder terrain, that there is still a lot of value in drilling and perfecting the basics on easier terrain. Even our race team drills one-leg skiing on green terrain!

Anyway, she said that the reality is that I'm starting to work toward my Level 2 (as in Level 1 exam is more of a formality than anything), which sounds like the exam I really should be anxious about. From what I've heard, it sounds like it takes several seasons and lots of hard work to get Level 2. And that's even for people who are way better skiers than I am. Being relatively new to skiing, I anticipate it taking much more time & effort on my part to get to Level 2, if I can get there at all. I plan to do my best though, if nothing else, the effort will improve my personal skiing. I'm starting right after the Level 1 exam, taking an Intro to Bumps clinic the two days after the exam. Currently, bumps are my kryptonite. I really don't care about being a good bumps skier, but I do care about skiing trees well (my skiing aspirations are generally of the backcountry variety). I figure bumps are less consequential than trees, so I'll start learning to ski trees by learning bumps. I'm also eyeing up taking one of the clinics on skiing ungroomed terrain as well- again, for my personal development more than anything else.

 

[bounceswoosh]

So about this skiing on one foot thing. I consider myself a pretty good skier, but I gather I'm not, because one foot drills are terrifying.

Exactly how good do you need to be at skiing on one foot to pass, say, PSIA level 1?

 

[climbingbetty]

@bounceswoosh Not very from what I gather. You may have to do some drills where you pick the tail of one ski off the ground when going across the fall line, to show a progression toward weighting the outside ski, but heavy-duty one-ski skiing is too advanced for beginner skiers. There would be no point in using that in a progression for new skiers who can barely balance on one ski. L1 exam is all about 'do you have the minimum competency to teach beginner skier?' from the information I have gathered. YMMV since you are in the RM division and not the Eastern division , like me.

 

[Skier31]

You do not need to be able to ski on one foot for level 1.

You do need to exhibit some basic mechanics, be enthusiastic, be on time and participate.

 

[climbingbetty]

You do not need to be able to ski on one foot for level 1.

You do need to exhibit some basic mechanics, be enthusiastic, be on time and participate.

Excellent! Check, check, check, and CHECK! Can I have my pin and .25 an hour raise now please???

 

[bounceswoosh]

Excellent! Check, check, check, and CHECK! Can I have my pin and .25 an hour raise now please???

I expect you also need to attend the level 1 exam .. just a hunch ;-)

 

[volklgirl]

I expect you also need to attend the level 1 exam .. just a hunch ;-)

Bwahahaaaa!!!

If I recall, 1 legged skiing is only a requirement for L3.

And, unless they've totally tightened up the requirements for L2, your skiing may still be lacking, but if your teachingskills, enthusiasm, and technical knowledge are on par, you'll likely still pass. All 3 of my examiners basically failed me on the skiing portion but passed me on everything else and said "Apply your knowledge to your own skiing". I should have failed all together, but strong teaching is much more important for teaching most classes than the ability to ski anything, anywhere, anytime - they save that requirement for L3. Hell, I think I even fell, like, 3 or 4 times during the exam (soooooo embarassing! ).

It wasn't until I stopped teaching and started taking lots and lots of race clinics and spending tons of time in the gates that my skiing skills took a huge jump.