Adaptive Spring News By Ruth DeMuth
A
s we all know, this year was particularly hard to commit to taking exams and clinics due to the recession. We all had to pull our purse strings a little tighter and it’s especially hard while volunteering at an adaptive ski program….. But as the snow kept falling and providing us with a great sliding surface, people started looking at furthering their teaching careers and Adaptive had a solid year of events with scheduled calendar events. We had lots of traveling clinic and exam requests for both Adaptive Alpine and Adaptive Snowboard. We hosted a total of 22 events with great success. In the first year of change for the adaptive snowboard instructor training course, we managed to increase numbers by holding two full events and holding an extra traveling exam at Vail in April. The participation this year from Level 1 through trainers has been outstanding. Now mind you an adaptive level 1 exam is no walk in the park. The achievement truly shows a level of commitment and an understanding of Alpine teaching and technical skills and the ability to understand disabilities and how to adapt to meet each person’s needs. Imagine what a trainer or level three candidate goes through; multiple disabilities, adaptations of equipment, extended level of knowledge and yes the ability to present information to their peers to help them get involved in the process of excellence. This year we had the highest number of participants take the trainer’s exam. Congratulations to all for continuing your path to greatness! Now on the dark side as the snow kept falling, so did our examining staff. Shoulders, knees and feet -Injuries really put a damper on how many exams we could hold. We thank the upcoming trainers for being so flexible and helping to reschedule the Trainers Exam. All in all we thank all the adaptive teachers and volunteers that participated in making this year great! A 6
PSIA-RM/AASI SPRING 2011