Settle Down, Non-Believers

All too often I meet instructors and former instructors who quit or stopped their certification pathway because they felt the certification process didn't reflect their learning process and competencies. I disagree with them. So many instructors think the PSIA certification pathway doesn't reflect the competence of an instructor simply because they can have a great lesson with great outcomes — even if they can't describe their decision making process in words afterwards. They say PSIA isn't tailored to skiers who've been skiing religiously since birth. That it doesn't represent high level skiing or the alternative motives to ski — the skiers who aren't coming to the mountain to ski like Olympic skiers. I disagree. PSIA isn't here to tell us how to experience the mountain. They are here to guide us in delivering an effective and consistent way to get people around the mountain. An engaged ski instructor understands this right away. PSIA helps us package a lesson so it is consistent nationally and gives us the tools to keep guests safe. Nothing in the PSIA handbooks or resort policy prevents you from going bird watching, tree climbing, hiking, building an igloo, having a snowball fight, making graffiti in the snow with food dye. If you think it's PSIA's job to get to know the guest for you, you've got it all wrong. If you think PSIA is here to police and limit what your lessons should look like, you've got it all wrong.

PSIA gives us proof of this idea first thing in their beginner progression manuals. If they were hellbent on teaching everyone to ski a GS course, would the wedge be part of the skiing progression? We know that the wedge is a completely optional technique in skiing — we don't use it when going fast and we only see it at the top and bottom of the mountain in the Olympics. Without the wedge, I never could have gone on a safari during my children's specialist level one exam. I never could have gone birdwatching with Timothy. These same misinformed rookies often love to argue that PSIA isn't for high level skiers either. That's right — because that's not their job. Their job isn't to develop high level skiers. It's to give you the knowledge and resources to develop them yourself. Yes, many ski instructors are old, and ski slow. But they always enthusiastically, and often even expertly, serve their function: to teach skiing at the level they are certified to teach. And the less time and effort you spend trying to figure out how to get your guests to progress, the more attention you can dedicate to the personalization of a lesson.

PSIA's job is to make sure you are not full of crap. Whether you want to become a creative and engaging instructor who represents the fantasy of living in the mountains is up to you.