Levels

Accreditation Level - Green

The Green instructor has the ability to teach PMTS Direct Parallel from beginners to parallel skiers on green terrain. Achieving the green level is a noteworthy teaching level and requires more substantial capabilities than the PSIA level II certification. Achieving the Green level demonstrates the ability to teach not only Direct Parallel, but also to teach parallel skiing to wedge and wedge christie skiers. The ability to bring skiers to parallel in a few short lessons differentiates PMTS instructors from traditional instructors.

 

Green level instructors teach using, and understand, Student Directed Ski Instruction. The skiing ability of a PMTS green-level instructor is clear: he/she is able to ski uninterrupted parallel turns using the proper order of release, transfer, and engagement on groomed, blue terrain. No fudging of movements is acceptable even at this accreditation level. A parallel turn is a parallel turn, not a pushed, well-disguised, small, quick, wedge christie. A system that purports to train an understanding and technique of skiing geared toward parallel, but that certifies instructors who can’t make a parallel turn, obviously isn’t creating the desired performance in the instructor. How can it possibly do so for the student? As a PMTS accredited instructor at any level, you are guaranteed that you can make an efficient parallel turn. The Green Level doesn’t require candidates to ski bumps.

It is misleading to try to draw equivalencies between the three levels of PMTS accreditation and of PSIA certification because the systems, exams, and skiing and teaching standards are so different. The PMTS green level is well beyond PSIA level I capabilities, and it cannot be deemed equivalent to the PSIA Associate or level II certification. The PMTS green-level instructor is qualified to perform and teach accurate parallel turns and knows how to help motivate students; his/her traditional instructor counterpart is not required to do any of these.