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Show MINUTE:::> vI<' THE ISlA GENERAL MEETING - APRIL 18, 1959 Meeting was called to order by President Bill Lash. Not enough members were present for a quorum as required by the by-laws, as the road had been closed by the Forest Servioe and a large number of instructors had to leave prior to the meeting. Keith Lange moved quorum requirements be waived due to adverse weather conditions. Motion carried. F'irst order of business was the election of four new directors. Jim Shane moved that nominations be made from the floor rather than elect a nominating committee. Motion carried. The secretary read the minutes of the previous year which were approved as read with minor corrections. Paul Goddard, ¥resident of the ISA, was then introduced and he expressed extreme gratitude to the organization for an exoellent job done during the past year particularly the work done in going around to the different areas that needed help in ski instruction. He stated that there were about 4,000 children in the ISA that needed instruction this year. He also mentioned that he would recommend to the board of directors of the ISA that sponsorinl?: organizations that are sponsoring these ski schools should be ~iven an offioial vote of thanks. Finanoial report was read by the treasurer and approved as read. Bill Lash conunented that the policy this year to charge clinic fees of $10 for people not oertified appeared to be working satisfactorily. lie felt that they ~ot a lot of instruction for ~no, and this system put the organization on a pretty firm financial basis. In regard to going out to the areas in Idaho, 'iyoming and parts of Utah, Mr. J..e.sh stated that many of these people who will be teachinfl' probably never wi 11 be certified and do not need to be. But the ISlA c',n get them started on the right foot. ~uote: IISki teaching: ... s not too difficult if you know what you are doing". He felt the program so far has been satisfactory. . Nominations then began for the new board of directors: Those retiring: AU Engen, Bi 11 Lash, Junior Bounous (Rulon Nichol finished out his term when Junior was transferred to the F'.~lSA), Lou L)renz who was elected in 1957 for a two-year term. Those still in office: Bill Ashley, Woody Anderson, Ken Riggs, Earl Miller of Ogden, K. Smith, Bill Cook, Merlin Bingham Those nominated: Bill Lash, Alf Engen, Hugh Olander, Bill Thomas, Lou Lorenz, Jim Shane, !iulon Nichol, Adrien Segil, Sverre Engen, Don Greb, Nlanny Parker, Dan Kelly. Voting V'las done by secret ballot with Gus Hansen and Chuck Quinn appointed as the ballot counting committee. Bill Lash then opened the meeting for new business. K. Smith expressed his admiration to the demonstration team for this year's clinic. He stated that 2 or 3 years ago it would have been impossible to p:et 14 men on the slopes as expert as those who performed the demonstrations. They had complete mastery of every phase of their skiing, K. said, and it ,\,.rs.s a very Page 2 thrilling experience to watch them. Jim Shane reuw.rked that the ISIA is missing a little by not giving more instruction in gelandesprung which instructors are often asked to demonstrate or teach by interested students. Keith Lange stated he would be very hap py to help in this. K. Smith then started a discussion in regard to avalanche training. He was the deleeate to represent the ISlA at the avalanohe tra.ining school conducted this .nnter at Alta and found the course very informative and felt that this phase of skiing has been rather neglected to date. He requested that the handbook be made available to more instructors. Bob Safran of the Forest Service stated that the handbook was in the process of bein~ revised and would be made ava.ilable when the revised book came out. K. Smith further stated that he felt that there should be a little more cooperation between the instructors and the Forest Service in regard to disseminating information to the skiers in connection with avalanche conditions. Bob Safran stated that the Forest Service would be very glad to cooperate and that he had several suggestions to make which would be done at a future time. Bill Lash then introduced a discussion in regard to certified instructors not keepin~ up their standards. He stated there were several members in the organization who were not keeping up their hours and were not up on the latest technique, both skiing and teaching. He mentioned that in the pe.st he has done some complaining about the Pacifio NW Assn. whioh is a large organization with some 400 instructors and they have very large ski schools. Most all these instructors are certified and most of them are weekend instructors. The major school in the PHW is Sun Valley, but most of the certified peonle in the PN~ are not up to standards. He cited one man from the ISlA, namely John Church, who transferred to the PNW and is now headin~ a ski school there and who he felt did not properly represent the high standards of the ISIA as he is considered to be one of the instructors who skimped on his hours and technique. Bob Safran stated that there are some men in the PNW who are in accord with Bill I.e.sh and wish to raise the standards there. Manny .Parker mentioned that John Church is only an associate instructor but still certified. Bill Lash stated he is an instructor who haS not taught in a ski school since 1951. He maintained his hours in the Deseret News Ski School and other similar organize.tions B.nd has not attended the last three clinics. Bill felt something should be done to strengthen our policy and keep up standards. That is what makes the organization. He reque sted those present to think about it and if anyone had any ideas to let him know. Ken Riggs then asked how far in advance excuses will be accepted for not being able to attend clinic. Lash said there was no stipulation as sometimes it was not pos sible to determine this until the last minute, for instance if someone got sick or could not be released from his .iob, etc. It was suggested that a written excuse be submitted. Ken Riggs said he would ask the members as a wl-lOle to consider the possibility of re-examination every so often as a means of maintaining their standards in regard to proficiency of ski teaching and ability. Lash stated that he personally felt that if a man is teachinr, actively there is no need to re-examine him regularly. The problem is in the teaching hours. Menny Parker made a motion that the board of directors has the right to request re-examination of any instructor where there is any doubt as to his qualifications. Motion seconded by Keith Lange. Rulon asked if this viould be done without cost to the instructor. Bill Le.sh stated he felt there should be a nrovision added that this would be dore at no cost to the individual. Evelyn Engen sug~ested a policy whereby this could not be considered to be discriminatory to any individual. rage 3 K. Smith stated he felt that if we did have e. cese of re-exmination that it be handled as a specie.l case and that certain outside agencie s such as representatives of the ISA and the Forest Service should be included on the examining board. Lash specified they could not be on the exe.mininr: board but could be present as observers as they might not be qualified to serve on the examining board, the by-laws requiring that all examiners must be certifD d instructors. K. Smith's reason for includin~ the ISA was that we are a part of that organize.tion, and for the Forest SerVice was that they set up the requirements to be met by our organization. Ken Riggs asked if this v[ould be a yearly thing, and Bill Lash stated that the only way it could be done would be to have the board of directors review the teaching records once a yee.r and if there \~s a question they would then request the re-examination. Bud Temple suggested the board of directors examine these people each year before clinic time and notify them by letter. Ken Riggs asked if such a person who is below standards would then be re-cla.ssified as an associate or de-classified completely. It was stated that if an instructor was re-exe.minttd and failed, he would be declassified. If he was a full and only passed associate, he would become an associate until he could again pass his full. Earl Miller of Ogden stated it should be the personal responsibility of each ski school director to turn in a written report prior to each clinic time showing exact number of hours of each instructor. Bill Lash commented that the pro~lem is that there are Some instructors who are not teaching through a ski school and are certified. Keith Lange mentioned that this was the case of John Church who was once certified and still wears his pin and stated that there should be some way to te.ke care of this. Jim Shane raised a point of order and called for question on the motion. Hugh Olander said that if the board of directors sent him a letter informing him that his skiing and teaching were not up to par, he vrould attempt to improve himself at the clinic so that when the examination time comes up in December he would be able to pass it. Any good conscientious ski instructor would want to do this if he were notified that he were under observation, Hugh said. Lash said that even if an instructor does not believe in the new technique he must be able to teach it. Motion was carried. Ken Higgs brought up the point that in the rast some of tre se people purchased their pins outright. At the last examination the fee included the price of the pins. So he asked by what means could we redeem the pin which is his means of identifying his certification. Bill Lash stated tla t that is wm t the annual cards are for. All area operators should be educated to look to the oards to see if an instructor is still certified or not, and that he saw no way to force them to return their pins if they let their certification drop. Earl Miller of Ogden asked if there was anything to be said about course setters. Lash recommended that we request the ISA at their annual meeting that we be given the responsibility to determine certification of course sette~ and set a fee of ~25.00. Paul Goddard stated he would strongly recommend to the new boe.rd of directors of the ISA this year the.t we he.ve a racing camp. One problem in this area is the junior racers which are not as lucrative from a teaching standpoint and are therefore neglected. We are sendin~ our children out to compete a~ainst the best in the nation and the ISA does not produce enough better racers. He requested that we think of the situation very carefully and try to COTI1e up with an answer. He also stated "we are goin'S to have a racin~ school come hell or high waterlf. Not only for the juniors, but for the seniors. Earl Miller of Ogden moved that we refer this problem to the board of directors. Motion carrl:ed. Page 4 Adrien then stated that he felt that some stronger token of thanks otle r than a hendshake should be given to Bill Lash, Hugh ulander and others who spent so much time in their duties in connection with the ISlA. Rulon Nichol moved that a conunittee be formed to discuss this a little further, the committee to be appointed by the board of directors. Motion carried. Results of the balloting for four new directors: Lou Lorenz, Alf Engen, Bill Lash, Dan Ke lly Motion was made by Bud Temple and seconded by Keith Lange that the meeting be ad.i ourned. Submitted by: Elfriede Shane |