Has anybody attained new certification this season?

[Tricia]

It is somewhat amazing to watch ski instructors try to perform a wedge christie. All they need to do is look at what their Level 3 or 4 students do. The clients are better at it than the instructors....

And it is also amazing how the wedge christie task emerges as an exam task in everything from the Level 1 exam to demo team selection...

I have to admit, I thought I could do a proper wedge christie, but when I was working on my L1 I found that I suck at it.
Now, Spontaneous Christ....I got that!
*usually when my legs are fatigued.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Good luck on your exam Mike! Maybe it's today? I saw some AASI guys working on something at Stowe today. Possibly Dev Team?

With regard to cleanup of the thread... personally, I like to see people's true colors, if that's the kind of stuff a person wants to post, we are all grownups. Unless the "target" requested moderation, I hate to see it happen.

 

[Mike King]

Thanks Erik. My exam is Thursday (teaching) and Friday (skiing). I'll take MA later in the month so I can do some reconnaissance at Vail prior to the exam.

There's several of us who have been working with Tom Gellie and Sam Robbertson in preparation for exams/demo team tryouts. This morning we had a chat with Sam (former WC super G racer from Australia) that focused on a few things, but one of the most important was discussing performance anxiety. He characterized the stress as having two components: good and bad. The bad stress is related to preparation. At some point, you just have to put all of the preparation away -- you have what you have. Perhaps you had a great and well adjusted preparation, perhaps it wasn't everything you wanted, or perhaps you chose not to do some of the work that you should have. But at some point well before the event it is too late to do anything about. Now it is time to go and show what you've got.

The good stress is the opportunity to show what you've got. So forget what everyone else is saying to you -- they went through their own journey to get to the event. Their coaching cues are specific to their journey, not yours. Shut them out. Visualize your stuff. Do your thing. Don't do someone else's.

So, I'm trying to focus on my good stress. Although I will experiment for a very little bit tomorrow to see if I can get my cant in my boots back to where it was a week ago. Then it is solely time to perform.

BTW, I didn't request any cleanup of this thread. I've got a pretty thick skin and a great set of coaches who I listen too. I don't listen to anyone else. Maybe that's the problem (I should listen more to my wife...).

Mike

 

[Steve]

@Erik Timmerman I hope my posts that showed my true colors as being somewhat irritable at times weren’t part of what you’re talking about

 

[Steve]

Also my tendency to stick up for people who probably didn’t need my help. @Mike King

 

[Steve]

Good luck Mike, I've watched you improve over the last year, not your skiing, but your communication skills. I'm sure you're a great teacher.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

@Erik Timmerman I hope my posts that showed my true colors as being somewhat irritable at times weren’t part of what you’re talking about

Nope.

 

[François Pugh]

Regarding thread clean-up. I get it. I recall my thesis supervisor's advice on how to prepare for my comprehensive exam (all doctoral candidates and former candidates can probably relate). I asked him what he thought I should concentrate on studying. His answer: Enjoy your two-week holiday in BC and Expo '86; at this point you know what you know and you needn't mess yourself up worrying about what you don't know yet.

Yeah, I wouldn't be making any changes just before the exam.

I also wouldn't mind if someone suggested changes to make, which I would not even consider until after the exam was over; I might even appreciate it.

Good luck to all candidates! I'm happy not to be taking any such exams and can ski however I like.

 

[whumber]

There’s a L3 at Killington tomorrow. Probably others too.

I got my L3 skiing at Killington today but was the only full pass out of 15 or so candidates.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Nice! Way to go. Teach tomorrow?

 

[whumber]

No more exams this season AFAIK. Didn't want to try the teaching exam this year though since I wasn't actually teaching and thought it would come off unpolished. I'll probably do it early next season.

 

[Chris V.]

Outstanding, whumber!

 

[markojp]

Never waste a flat! Another Bob Barnes-ism that I’ve always liked.

Use every foot of vertical to suck less... and have fun of course!

 

[James]

I got my L3 skiing at Killington today but was the only full pass out of 15 or so candidates.

Congratulations!
So, you did all the modules with two examiners in one day? That’s the new format? Or had you already passed some?

Never waste a flat! Another Bob Barnes-ism that I’ve always liked.

That’s a good one. Most waste it all the time.
You can also widen the stance and roll one ski from big toe to little toe edge and back.
I think I’m going to have to learn switch railroad tracks on slalom skis.

Another good one I got from Bob is skiing uphill and slowly turning down as you’re almost coming to a stop. Doing it with no stems or sudden movements. So it's like throwing a ball up and at the apex you’re coming back down in a turn.
You can combine it with uphill arcs. If you have enough space to

 

[LiquidFeet]

I got my L3 skiing at Killington today but was the only full pass out of 15 or so candidates.

Congratulations!

 

[Mike King]

I got my L3 skiing at Killington today but was the only full pass out of 15 or so candidates.

Congrats!

 

[whumber]

Congratulations!
So, you did all the modules with two examiners in one day? That’s the new format? Or had you already passed some?

I had already gotten two of the modules earlier in March at Whiteface and then the module I failed was slightly controversial. They nailed me on medium radius turns in mountain skiing because I was trying to match the demo from the examiner and detuned the bottom of the turns quite a bit, which in turn they really did not like. So they threw me a 2 on that while also giving me a 5 for free run (which was 90% medium radius turns on steeper terrain) and a 5 for performance medium radius turns in the skiing at skill level category. Somewhat fortunately, I got the same examiner again and the exact same set of tasks at Killington so I felt a bit vindicated this time. Lesson learned is don't always do exactly what the examiner demos, they don't always do what they think they're doing.

 

[Mike King]

Sounds like you can bank portions of the ski exam. We used to be able to do so in RM, but now have to pass the whole thing at one go.

 

[dbostedo]

Another good one I got from Bob is skiing uphill and slowly turning down as you’re almost coming to a stop.

We did those at my lesson at Ajax most of the way down Spar Gulch... as it's got a bit of a natural half-pipe feel to it, it helped with the uphill and slow turn back down the slope.

Big congrats to @Erik Timmerman , @whumber, and anyone else who had a big achievement... that level of skiing is something I can only aspire to! And good luck @Mike King !

 

[whumber]

Sounds like you can bank portions of the ski exam. We used to be able to do so in RM, but now have to pass the whole thing at one go.

Yes, that's correct.