ORIGINALITY OF THOUGHT

[cbraisby]

Today here in Banff it was Minus 29 Degrees Celsius and the folks who we were teaching (mainly from UK) found the weather (like us) pretty cold.

My colleague Neil Trevis (who is not PMTS qualified) but who has quickly been smart enough to see the enormous benefits of helping skiers learn to ski using PMTS made terrific advances with his beginner students.

Being around other CSIA pro's who have become 'indoctrinated' into following 'their system' isn't easy, and people often ask why you are 'doing so and so' when everyone else is teaching a 'different known method'

Neil had his students skiing parallel by the end of the day because they were taught a method that is efficient and correct.

Seeing this happen once again made me think how so few teachers and skiers have little original thought because life says we must 'follow what eveyone else does'! How sad this is!

In developing my SKI COACH training tool I see similar results with my students, yet Pro's around me aren't 'intelligent' enough to see the wood for the trees. I applaud people like Harald and many of you guys for at least being smart enough to 'venture' down different paths instead of following all the other 'sheep'.

There is a quote by the poet Robert Frost which goes 'Two roads diverge into the woods, and I took the one less travelled by'. I think this is a very powerful quote and that we as teachers and skiers should be more original in our thoughts for the good of our sport.

Thanks Harald.

[Rob]

It is quite obvious to me that this system works. I know nothing about ski instruction. In fact the whole concept of breaking out of the wedge and true carving is something I never figured out.

I learned about PMTS about two weeks ago. I have worked with my 4 year old for about 6 hours over 3 sessions. She is now doing garland step turns while lifting the free foot. She does not have the balance to hold it for long or at any speed, but she has actually carved quite a few turns and is stepping/lifting the free ski parallel. We are still going slower than those in the wedge, but unlike them she has actually carved some turns. She has never crossed her tips and very rarely falls.

There was allot parents and instructors yelling pizza and giving me strange looks as I am telling my daughter to step down the hill and up the hill. We are also yelling "we don't need not stinkin pizza" and "you can't turn with pizza".

These same people teaching pizza also complimented us on how well she is turning. Unfortunately they have no idea why. It may take us longer right now to get down the hill, but that will change soon enough. At least my daughter does not have to snow plow to avoid hitting someone, she just steps around them. It is a beautiful thing.

Rob.

[Belskisfast]

Love old Frosty...great name too..should be the official Poet of Skiing.

The final lines of that poem;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

are really what most seem to be experiencing with PMTS.
I didn't have my Ski Coach yesterday, but I swear I could hear those balls clacking...at least on the good HiC turns....

Rob I loved hearing about teaching your little one...post progress reports.

[Harald]

Thank you Chris and company, unfortunately the ?Road less traveled? is not often recognized as a better road in modern society and institutions. Preservation of ones position, status and power is much more valued by those in power (I don't call it leadership for obvious reasons) than doing a better job for the rest of society or membership.

What is truly amazing is how out of touch the constituents or members of these organizations have become. They turn into sheep or lemmings following blindly, even when science and biomechanics point in a different direction then what they are doing.

Why don?t instructors look for methods that produce results? There are many reasons for this and most of them have to do with the culture of ski instructors, ski instruction and ski schools. None of these cultures are healthy for the advancement of skiing or the student. I won?t go into to it here as it becomes very a very long topic.

What has PSIA changed in their teaching system since the shaped ski was introduced? Nothing!!

I hear excuses from instructors like Ott, about the terrain or the numbers they have to teach. Yet, has any one of them learned PMTS or tried different ways. No.

Has one stepped forward and said, before I open my mouth I?ll learn what there is to learn and then evaluate the situation from a different point of view. No never!!

I would rather take a beginner and teach him tools that will last a life time of skiing, even if I have to do it with three more sessions, before I send him up the slopes and before I?ll teach him a program that deadends his experience and introduction to the sport.

The ski teaching world is not short sighted, it is not sighted. In the mid west, Ohio or Iowa there are acres and acres of fields and grass lands. Most of the ski slopes are on farmer fields. There are plenty of opportunities to have wide flat areas for teaching beginners. There has just been no imagination applied.

In ski teaching ?The roads are well traveled and beaten down.?