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Show PROFESSIONAL SKI INSTRUCTORS OF ~~RICA - INTER~OUNTAIN DIVISION SPECIAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING A special board of Directors meeting was held February 24,1982 at the Granite Alternative School, 4800 S. Redwood Road. Meeting was called to order at 5:30 P.M. by President Norm Burton PRESENT The following members of the Board were present: Pepi Stiegler, Norm Burton,Doug Harmon, Nick Nichol, Fran Wikstrom, Tom Wood,Stewart Marsh, Duane Vigos, Jerry Warren, Gene Palmer, Tom Kronthaler, Victor Gerdin, Gary Summers, and Robin Locke. Absent was Bob Bybee. Norm gave out letters concerning an unhappy customer from Nordic Valley and told the board to study it for discussion at our regular Board Meeting. Fran went over the minutes for the Execut ive ~1eeting held January 26, 1982. He discussed the letterhead decided on by the committee, but a sample was not yet ready. Discussion was held on Northern Rocky Mountain Division and transfer policies. Robin made the statement that the reason we have dual memberships is for members from another division who are working in our division for maybe a year and want to maintain their affiliation with their own divison. ~.S.C. Kronthaler - Harmon To accept the Executive Committees proposal on Dual Membership. Fran brought up the subject of Board Members attendance at Board Meetings, reminding them of the Board Policy decision of Apirl t179. With the Board only having two Deetings a year, members must attend at least one meeting, or have no more than one un-excused absence. If a member is absent more than once, the board has the option to drop that member from the board. Fran also reported on Spring Clinic progress. Dual Members: N.S.C. Wikstrom - ~ichol That in order to hold an office of PSIA-I or a position a persons primary dues must be paid to PSIA-I. National Academy: Norm suggested a committee to select National Academy Participants Criteria for participants was discussed. M. Wikstrom - - Criteria for participation at National Academy: Full Certified, Involvement, Past attendance, geographic. Died for lack of second. Norm appointed Sal Raio as Chairman of selection committee, with Nick Nichol, Doug Harmon and Norm Burton on committee. EUREOPEAN CLINIC CF.EDIT: Tabled to regular Board meetiug. -2- Bob J. R. Smith had called the office complaining about receiving statements for his 1981-82 dues. He stated he had been one of the charter members and also the Treasure!:" at one time. He felt after being a member so many years he should have some privileges. He also felt he should receive a free pin, even though his dues were not paid. He stated he didn't want the office to send him any more statements, that he would get his dues paid. M.S.C. Palmer - Nichols: rhat Bob J.R.Smith is no different than any other member and should be sho\m no considerations. Next Board Meeting was discussed and the date of June 25 was decided on. DuaneVigos passed out a letter concerning an injury that occured during the Park City night clinic. Fran will get with Park City lawyer and submit a letter. Discussion was held on night clinics. The opinion is we may be having too many night clinics. Fran passed out an article he would like the Board to endorse concerning articles or letters to Editor. He will submit it to the Edge under his name. - Tom Kronthaler had a suggestion made to him of donation 10 to 25 cents per member to the U.S. Ski Team. The subject was discussed and Norm told of the proposal being brought up at the PSIA ~ Executive Committee meeting that they wanted a donation of $4.00 per member and it was not accepted. The subject was dropped. Gene has an instructor that was full certified in the East for fourteen years but let his certification drop for personal reasons. He has not taught for about three years. He would like to take the exam for full and By-pass the Associate exam. Joanne will check with EPSIA and see what their policy is before making a decision. M.S.C. Nichol - Harmon To adjourn at 7: 15 - February 1, 1982 Director. Ski School Park City Ski Corporation P. O. Box 39-TM Park City, UT 84060 Gentlemen: An unfortunate incident happened on Wednesday, January 27, 1982, while night skiing on the Pay Day run. My lady friend broke her lower right leg. which I believe is attributable to the attitude of your ski instructor's "training session" on the run that night. There were four to six groups of approximately ten people each in training by playing "follow the leader'" for segments of the entire run. This situation coupled with their speed, attitudes and yelling, quite frankly. "spooked" even me such that I was not enjoying my run. r·:y friend's leg broke in less than ten feet from a dead stop as she attempted to maneuver out of the way of some of your instructions comin~ down hill and several other ski patrol people also skiing "free". This lady. a medium intermediate skier, was skiing on short 140 cm skis for the enjoyment of it and in addition, it was our fourth day of skiing. ~Ie had already been down this slope once under the lights, so it was not as if we were not familiar with the :errain or ne~ our skiing. I I. .. .!rstand unfortunate things such as this happen sometimes. but quite frankly it is the inconsideration of other skiers by your employees and the management of the programs that concern me. There are direct techniques that could be employed to insure that such situations are reduced to a minimum. I might also mention that continiung alert management is the key to the ~ffort. I have nothing but praise for the ski patrol members who stopped, helped, and assisted all the way to the doctor's office. They even assisted in helping the doctor, whiCh I appreciated. To verify the seriousness of this accident, you may contact Dr. Robert Winn at the Park City Center for information. This was our first trip to Utah and it was very enjoyable. I certainly intend to continue to ski but it is too early to tell if my friend will want to continue. She has said that she is "hanginq them up". Considering the pain and trauma alonq with looking forwarli to a possible operation, I would not blame her for what she is saying at the present. It is my wish that you take my comments seriously and analyze the possible corrections of scch present attitudes for the future benefits of other skiers. Yours very truly, ~t Robert W. OPi~ 310 West Sunset Road San Antonio, TX 78209 R~la C( 'irector. Ski Patrol - Several recent articles in the Edge have sparked considerable controversy in the Division over the editorial policy of the E~ and the educational philosophy of PSIA-Intermountain. In a recent meeting of the Executive Committee, the five divisional officers discussed the issue at length in order to make appropriate r'?commendations to the Board of Directors. The Board recently met and adopted those recommendations. As a general policy, it was felt that the Board should encourage full and open dialogue among the members of the Division and avoid censorship at all costs. This goal must be pursued, howeve-r,in the context of the primary mission of the Ed~ which is to inform and educate the members of PSIA-Intermountain. The philosophy of those who have been in charge of the Division's educational activities in the past few years has been characterized by an openness and a willingness to con-tinually subject old theories to the test of new ideas. The continual evolution of equipment and ski conditions required a similar change in technique. No one can deny that it is much easier to ski now than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Fe\" would deny that we are better off without the intellect.ual rigidity and dogmatism which dominated ski teaching in the past. Fortunately, the Educational Committee and its leaders are aware that they hold no monopoly on the truth. They have en-couraged open dialogue and responsible criticism, recognizing - - Page two that we all will learn and grow as a result. This approach requires courage and maturity on the part of those leaders for it is difficult to be open to challenge. In order to succeed, it demands a similar level of maturity and responsibility on the part of the challengers. We have long recognized that one of the major problems in developing a technique of skiing is the difficulty of verbalizing what happens when we ski. As a result, we continually face confusing and conflicting terminology. Yet we recognize the importance of the process for the written word is our primary means of communicating knowledge to large numbers of people. Few people, however, have ever learned a sport solely from reading about it. We learn from observing and the trial-ander~ or process of doing. For obvious reasons then, the Educational College and our clinics are the primary means of providing continuing education to members of the Division. The goal of the educational program has been to make participating instructors excited about learning. Learning together is fun and the excitement is contagious -- it motivates one to share the excitement with others, our students. The shared process of learning is far more important than any methodology or technique because the process never ends. A particular methodology or technique is only a step along the way, soon to be left behind in the quest for knowledge. 1\. good teacher never loses his enthusiasm or curiosity about his field. It is axiomatic that to be a good teacher - one nrust first be a learner. The educational policy of the Page three Division has been designed to meet that need, to make us excited about our own skiing and want to continually learn more about Otlr sport. The large number of satisfied people attending the College and the clinics attests to the success of this approach. unfortunately for the Division, there are a few talented and articulate individuals who, for reasons unknown, have chosen to drop out of the mainstream of our activities. Instead of learning firsthand about educational developments, they rely on distorted perceptions from afar. Lack of understanding, rather than motivating a desire to learn, has resulted in intellectually irresponsible attacks on present policies. A recent comment that PSIA has lost touch with what the American skiing public wants is reminiscent of the story about the general who wanted to find out where his soldiers were going so he could lead them there. The fact of the matter is that ski instructors are largely responsible for creating the image the public wishes to emulate. Most people want to learn to ski like ski instructors. Even if this were not the case, we have a duty to make skiing as easy, efficient and fun as possible. If the skiing public wanted to ski with six-foot poles, obviously we would not encourage or accommodate them. Similarly, we should not be particularly influenced by any skiing style or fad. It is unproductive for us to focus our energy and attention on how closely together we keep our feet or whether or not we look pretty when we ski. The real issue is what is the most efficient and effective way to ski in each of the many conditions --1ge four a.nd circumstances we encounter. As we continually refine function, form will certainly follow. That form, marked by the clean, graceful artistry of the body in motion, will continue to be perceived by the public as beautiful and worthy of learning. So ' ... hat does all of this mean with respect to the Edge? It is heartening to see that the Edge has become a very worth\.,.hile newsletter, thanks in large part to the dedication of its editors. It is also encouraging that so many people are becoming excited enough to share their ideas with the Division through the Ed~. While the Edge will continue to print all viewpoints sub-mitted, as long as space is available, fairness and responsibility require that those who criticize or challenge what is happening -n the Division should make an attempt to learn firsthand vThat is going on. A responsible person cannot, for example. criticize the Divisional clinics when he has not even attended them. PSIA-Intermountain is full of talented people. We hope that they will get involved and share their knowledge and exper-ience rather than be arm-chair quarterbacks with few constructive ideas to add. - |
