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Graeme Morris People of APSI |
Certification/s and year achieved.
What was training with the APSI like when you achieved your certification and how would you compare it to current times?
We did it on a wing and a prayer. At the time (mid to late 70s) there was virtually no certification training in Australian ski schools, except for some trainings held after you’d finished a day teaching for seven hours. This was unlike the PSIA at the time, which had training days where you’d sign off and train all day for your certifications. But training in Australia has progressed in leaps and bounds, and now we have dedicated time and some of the best trainers and trainings in the world.
Which Australian Snowsports School did/do you work with?
I worked at Thredbo from 1977 to 2009.
Did/do you also teach in the Northern Hemisphere and where?
Steamboat Resort, USA from 1976 to 1981 and again from 1985 to 1987
Vail, USA from 1982 to 1984
Telluride, USA from 1988 to 1991
I started teaching at Aspen Snowmass in 1992, and still teach there to this day.
What position/s did/do you hold in the APSI (include years held)?
My memory is a bit vague, but I was an alpine trainer and examiner for APSI from about 1986-88. At the time, the Australian Disabled Skiers Federation employed me through the Australian Institute of Sport to start teaching ski instructors in Australia how to instruct people with disabilities. In 1988 I wrote the original Australian Disabled Skiers Instruction Manual for instructors teaching people with disabilities which later got incorporated into APSI trainings.
What made/makes you most proud of the APSI at that time?
I’m very proud of the APSI and how it’s progressed. For me, a proud moment was having the APSI adopt the adaptive skiing segment into the teaching manual. Though, I can’t put a date on that.
What important events happened during your time with the APSI?
The introduction of adaptive ski instruction was an accomplishment. But in general, everything was changing. There was more emphasis on training for exams and allocating time for instructors to get certified. And a shift to developing instructors as technical skiers, but also focusing on their people and
teaching skills as well.
With regard to your work with the APSI, what accomplishment/s are you most proud of? (share all that apply)
I’m most proud of the development of the Australian Disabled Skiers Instruction Manual and having it
incorporated into APSI’s programming (not sure of timing, I think in the mid-90s). I was appointed the
Australian Paralympic coach from 1988-92, so I was a little unplugged from APSI during that time. But I
was proud to be acknowledged as a lifetime member of APSI at Falls Creek in the early 90s.
How did the above accomplishment/s change the APSI moving forward?
I was pretty focused on adaptive skiing. I’d like to think the early work we did creating the manual and conducting the trainings led to more people of all abilities getting into the sport. Plus, all the work APSI instructors did with Disabled Wintersport Australia has helped adaptive athletes improve and compete at the highest levels. I’m not involved anymore but it’s great to see how it's continued on.
Describe how the APSI compared/s to international instructor organisations at that time?
I really only dealt with the PSIA system (Professional Ski Instructors of America), which in the early days
was more established as a professional organisation. But during my time the APSI evolved dramatically to
become comparable with the international organisations.
How did/do international organisations view the APSI? Was/is there much communication/sharing of information between organisations?
Early on, all the exams were conducted by the Swiss and Austrians. My full certification exam in Buller was
conducted by professor Alexi Soudain from the French Alliance, Michael Porter from PSIA, Jorge Deucshi
from Germany, and a female ski racer (whose name I’ve forgotten) from Canada. At the time (1978), no
Australians were examiners and Australia didn’t have an official manual. It was really only the Australians
teaching overseas who were bringing info back.
During your time with the APSI, who were some influential/inspiring people within the organisation?
There are too many amazing people to name, but some standouts are: Nick Dean, Don McGuiness and
Paul Bow (those two wrote the first manual in the 80s), George Perry, Tina Burford.
Please share a funny or interesting APSI story from your time with the APSI.
The stories I can tell probably can’t be printed…