Being so geographically isolated from other skiing nations makes Interski such a significant event for the APSI. However with little knowledge of the NZSIA, and working with so many that hold a NZSIA certification, I thought this Interski would be a great opportunity to learn from this innovative and forward thinking organisation despite them being our closest neighbour. The NZSIA’s theme at this Interski was “How the NZSIA develops versatile instructors”. Given that this theme was identical to what we were presenting at Interski, I felt it would be helpful to absorb as much as possible to inspire innovation within the APSI.
The New Zealanders fielded an interesting team at this Interski with no returning members. Everyone on the team was attending Interski for the first time. As seen with all organisations, the preparation for Interski provokes a lot of change and forward thinking in planning content to present at the event. This was especially apparent with this newer team selected by the NZSIA.
I attended both the morning and afternoon sessions that the NZSIA offered. The morning session was led by Collin Tanner and Josh Duncan-Smith and focused specifically on the ski technique the NZSIA employ to create versatility in skiing. The following video report shares the presentation in details and breaks the turn down to explain their objectives:
In the afternoon I attended their on-snow presentation with Yusuke Inoue and Jon Gass who shared the NZSIA philosophies on creating versatile teachers. Up until this point the NZSIA had utilised a similar model to our 9 lesson essentials while also trying to incorporate several other teaching models and feedback loops. Their goal was to overhaul this system to simplify the process of teaching and examining teaching.
The group have come up with what they call the “Triple A model”. The A’s stand for:
Jon advised that the above is the core of true teaching and more focus should be placed on this model in both their lessons and exams. When I think about our 9 Lesson Essentials, I feel that the essence is very similar to the triple A model in that we loop through the middle “essentials” throughout the lesson. I appreciate the simplicity of the triple A model as is to the point and not a memory exercise out on the hill or during an exam. The NZSIA have not yet implemented this model and used Interski as chance to present the idea to the world before putting it into practise. How this new model would be assessed at the exams was a question posed during the presentation. It seems that they are still discussing the specifics of this and will report back to us at the next Interski.
All in all, I feel the NZSIA is working hard to adapt their teaching methods and ski technique to evolve with the guest and their needs. Skiing physics is at the heart of their skiing principles which a great thing and very similar to how we look at technique. Thank you to Collin, Josh, Yusuke, Jon and the NZSIA team for their time on snow presenting a well prepared, informative and professional workshop.