DANIEL MONAGHAN

People of APSI

 

Certification/s and year achieved.

  • 2000 APSI Adaptive cert 
  • 2006 Lifetime Membership
  • 2006 APSI Advanced Children's cert
  • 2011 APSI Snowboard 4 with Race and Freestyle
  • 2016 APSI Nordic 4
  • 2016 APSI Alpine 3
  • 2017 APSI Telemark 4
  • PSIA Nordic 1, Telemark 2, Alpine 1
  • AASI Snowboard 3

 

What was training with the APSI like when you achieved your certification and how would you compare it to current times?

My first course with the APSI was in 1989 (just as Hotham, Falls Creek and Mt Buller lifted their bans on snowboarding) the Snowboard Proficiency Test (examined by Ian Bruce and Geoff Sawyer). Training was harder for a Victorian, there was very few full cert snowboard instructors in the country and most were in NSW so it was hard to get guidance to improve. I did feel I was out of the loop and improvement was hard. Having race and halfpipe in snowboard was very demanding but great.

 

Which Australian Snowsports School did/do you work with?

  • Mt Hotham 1995-2000
  • Mt Baw Baw 2000-2002
  • Mt Buller 2002- present

 

Did/do you also teach in the Northern Hemisphere and where?

  • Big White 1995-1996
  • Beaver Creek 1996- 2010

 

What position/s did/do you hold in the APSI (include year's held)?

I have been on technical committees for Snowboard, Nordic. I'm a currant Trainer & Examiner for Snowboard and Nordic. I was an APSI National Snowboard & Telemark Team Member at the 1999 Interski in Norway, and
at the 2007 Interski in Korea on Snowboard.

 

APSI National Snowboard Team: Daniel Monaghan, Tim Stuart, Jason Clauscen, 2007 Interski, PyeongChang, Korea

  

What made/makes you most proud of the APSI at that time?

The fact that the APSI is a body that is run/owned by its members and is in good standing with other instructor bodies around the world.

 

What important events happened during your time with the APSI?

I feel our ability to remain a stand-alone association than educates quality instructors and maintains our high standards. There have been times when other pathways have been suggested but happily, we are still in charge of our own destiny.

 

With regard to your work with the APSI, what accomplishment/s are you most proud of? (share all that apply)

Being able to help re-sits candidates work towards their goals after failing a level. (I had 5 re-sits to finally get my Snowboard full cert)

 

How did the above accomplishment/s change the APSI moving forward?

I feel the APSI is a lot more empathetic to our trainees. This is reflected in a better retail product to the public.

 

Describe how the APSI compared/s to international instructor organisations at that time?

I felt that our snowboard mantra at the time "anything, anytime, anywhere." set us at or above what was expected around the world.

 

How did/do international organisations view the APSI? Was/is there much communication/sharing of information between organisations?

Interski is a great help in keeping us relevant with the rest of the world. A greater proportion of Southern Hemisphere Instructors head north rather than vise-versa, we continue to improve through our experiences. We are respected internationally.

 

During your time with the APSI, who were some influential/inspiring people within the organisation?

Tim Stewart, Jason Clausen, Ash Muller, Heather Phillips (RIP), Keith Jeffcott (RIP), Kerry Lee.

 

Please share a funny or interesting APSI story from your time with the APSI.

In 1999, I was asked at Interski to do one of the Telemark Demos following Heather Phillips down. The demo was pretty basic and was to show our Tele progression as we skied down the run. The stands were full of great instructors from around the world, not being my primary snow sport I was pretty nervous. Things went well and we made it to the bottom with a cheer from the crowd. In leaving I managed to get my left ski caught between the right boot and ski and somehow jammed in the binding. I fell over couldn't get up and had to take my binding off to leave. I was the first to fall on the demo hill at Interski. I felt... well you can imagine. The next run was the Japanese demo team, they never fall, except for that one run. My take home, "we are all human".

 

Is there anything else that you think would be interesting to share about your time with the APSI?
Over my 35 years of experience with the APSI, it has expanded my passion for snowboarding into a lifetime career of teaching snowsports. I can't think of a better way to have spent my working life. The good days more than make up for the bad ones, the pay could be better, the scenery couldn't. "it's a wonderful life".