Interski report
	Italian Interski report - by Con Poulos The Italians also seem to shine at Interski, and this year was no different. They bring strong skiers, their work shops are keenly attended, and the lecture was clear and informative. But for me their show runs were among some of the congresses highlights. The show, where each nation had three formation runs, had everything. Some hoped and spun their way down like performing clowns, others ski pretty counts with lots of changes. But the best demos were skied fast, cleanly with loads of confidence. It show cased their technique best, and allowed us to observe the movement patterns. That is what I wanted to see. Get on you bike and go to the instructors demo competition to see pretty formations. Not Interski. The Italians had plenty of zoom zoom in their runs, one in particular sticks in my mind. A shmeemdium cross over turning into a lead follow. Technique - Their technique has them moving strongly forward, up, and across so that there is more shin pressure at the top of the turn. They enter the turn square and follow their skis until they start to angulate, and move in. They remain balanced over the out side ski and carve both skis. There is a emphases on maintaining reasonably level shoulders and moving down the hill. They have four main concepts. Gradual and constant up and down motion. In the past they looked poppy and static. Constant shin contact Ankle, knee, and hip used in combination. upper body and shoulders level. Teaching Style. It is quite evident that over the past eight years, all if not most nations had realised that we teach humans, and there for have to interact and listen to their needs and wants. The Italians made a point that they too are ‘student centred.’ Which is reflected in some part, in the way that the manual is to be used. They have 113 exercises to chose from which allows a less linier style of teaching. Leaving the instructor with more choices. The manual is one of the best I have seen for it simplistic easy to follow layout. There are three levels for skiing and each level has a basic and advanced section. Bronze- first timers to our stem Christie level. Silver- basic parallel. Gold- Advanced parallel. Each level starts with a turn description including photos, Then there are the 3-4 ‘skills’ or movement traits to be taught and developed. Each skill has a outline of why it is taught followed by and number of exercises to chose from. All with photos of the exercises. For example. Bronze- basic Technical objectives. Sequence of snowplough turns. At the end of the previous turn, with an upward extension release the edges of the skis and use body-orientation to begin the turn until the fall line is reached. Continue the turn by bending slightly to put weight on the out side ski, begin the next turn using the same sequence as before. Skills to be developed. Keeping balanced; Controlling speed; Changing direction. Keeping balanced- the following exercises are to help the skier find the right posture (position) suitable for maintaining balance when skiing. Then there are a number of straight run exercises listed all the a descriptions and photos. The same formula is repeated for the other skills. Below are the ‘skills’ that each level is taught. Bronze-advance. Closing the skis parallel, and angulation. Silver- basic. Planting the pole, edge control, guiding action of the skis, control of the bending and extension. Silver- advanced. Translation (cross over), directing and guiding the skis, adapting to different turn arcs. (short, medium, and long) Gold-basic. Maintaining a central position, increasing co-ordination, adapting to different turn arcs. Gold- advanced. Perfecting the motorail action (active cross over) managing the central position at speed, adapting to different turn arcs. For me their manual is a good model to base our next APSI manual on. A few of the team members have the Italian one, see if you take look. It is worth a look. To read more reports click here.