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Australia – Moving with Purpose

Attending the APSI presentation from Kylie Dwyer, Jon Steele and Jason Clausen was a pleasure. They presented several aspects of their riding techniques that are specific to the Australian snow conditions:
– Anticipated position where hips and shoulders are aligned across the angle of the front foot, and the lead shoulder is externally rotated and shoulder blade actively retracted towards the spine,
– Movements at the transition between edges in which re-centering over a flat base is prioritized, and
– Full body steering throughout the turn.

Due to the generally icy conditions Down Under, the APSI places importance with keeping their centre of mass over the board. To do this they use up-unweighting throughout all of their levels to help recenter more reliably from turn-to-turn, although down-unweighting is used. Early steering into the inside of the turn, and movements from front- to rear-foot (from start to finish) to drive the board through the arc.

To exemplify the differences between up and down-unweighting, they took us through several tactics, ranging from their exam criteria short turns from their Level 2 all the way to linked heel-to-heel advanced short turns. While they acknowledge that down-unweighting tends to be faster and more powerful than up-unweighting, they caution that down un-weighting tends to put us in more inclined and less balanced positions throughout the turn.

The Aussies continue to have a unique perspective in snowsports and their techniques can give us a positive nudge in a different direction than we’re used to.

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On the way!

I’m writing from the car as J.S. Forget (from the CSIA) and I are on the way to YVR to begin our trip to Finland; we’re both giddy with anticipation.

I’m excited to represent CASI and our methodologies on the world stage. I’ve been lucky enough to get a few opportunities to practice presenting our on-snow session and I feel like it does a great job of showing our strengths.

I’m also excited to take in what the other organizations have to offer. My schedule is packed full of interesting session topics. I’ll have reports for all of you here soon! Stay tuned!

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Préparation de l’équipe Interski 2023 – Mont Orford

L’équipe Interski de l’ACMS s’est réunie à Mont Orford du 22 au 24 janvier afin de se préparer pour l’événement d’envergure internationale qui aura lieu en Finlande du 26 au 31 mars 2023.

Interski est un événement permettant à l’ACMS de connecter avec les associations des moniteurs de partout dans le monde et ainsi de partager des idées, valider certaines et en ramener aussi à la maison. Il va sans dire qu’une préparation rigoureuse est de mise.

Les objectifs principaux de cet entraînement étaient :

#1 Définir le contenu de nos ateliers que nous présenterons devant les autres pays participants à l’Interski.

#2 Expérimenter nos ateliers en les présentant en mode « co-enseignement » devant les autres membres de l’équipe.

#3 Pratiquer nos démonstrations techniques pour l’événement. Notamment celles des descentes d’ouverture et de fermeture (descente du type « spectacle » en groupe).

#4 Rencontrer l’équipe Interski de l’AMSC et de CANSI avec qui nous formerons la délégation canadienne 2023.

    Les discussions furent constructives et productives. Nous avons mis nos idées en commun afin de concocter des ateliers dignes de la réputation de l’ACMS.

    Le plaisir est toujours au rendez-vous dans ces rencontres avec l’équipe. C’est dans une ambiance décontractée et structurée que notre entraînement s’est déroulé. Recette parfaite pour créer et tirer un profit maximum de nos échanges. Il faut être prêts, puisque cet événement haut en intensité demandera un bon niveau de forme physique et mentale à notre équipe.

    Un merci spécial au Mont Orford qui nous a accueilli sur ses pistes pendant ces trois jours!

    Les arbres étaient de toute beauté à Orford et les conditions de neige plutôt belles!
    Trees were pure beauty in Orford ans snow conditions were great!

    Session des membres avec l’équipe Interski
    Nous avions aussi organisé une session des membres le dimanche 22 janvier. Plusieurs moniteurs de snowboard sont venus d’un peu partout au Québec mais aussi de l’Ontario pour participer à cette session d’amélioration technique et de formation des moniteurs. Ils ont pu rencontrer les membres de l’équipe Interski qui les représenteront lors de l’événement. Ce fût une belle journée sur les pentes tous ensemble où les sourires, les beaux virages et les discussions poussées de snowboard étaient évidemment à l’honneur.

    La suite…

    Dans les prochaines semaines l’équipe continuera ses préparatifs pour Interski – qui viendra bien assez vite – le tout en étant activement au travail sur le terrain pour nos différentes formations de l’ACMS.

    L’équipe est évidemment fébrile de se retrouver en Finlande… Suivez-nous dans cette belle aventure !

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    Team Prep Camp Complete!

    Team CASI is ready! The last few days saw the Interski team come together at Mont Orford, Quebec to focus on the coming Interski congress.

    L-R: Mellen Jay, Dom Oshanek, Adam Gardner, Genevieve Pilotto, James Hyland, Jeff Chandler

    A huge note of thanks goes out to Mont Orford Resort for hosting us, along with our partner associations at the CSIA and CANSI. It really was a great venue for us to focus on preparing to present Canadian snowboard teaching to the world.

    Day 1: Jan 22
    On Sunday, we invited all CASI members in the area to attend a free on-snow session with members of the Interski team. With a huge turn-out, we have the opportunity to start to work out some thoughts and details regarding our on-snow message in Finland, and to share some of Canada’s best snowboard instruction with some of our CASI members. The stoke and enthusiasm was amazing to see, with members travelling from far and wide (some driving through the night!) to attend.

    (Most of) Sunday’s Member Session crew!

    Day 2 & 3: Monday / Tuesday Jan 23, 24

    With the Member Sessions complete, it was time to get to work.

    A big part of Interski is showcasing the Canadian snowboard technique in a way that conveys performance, demonstration and fun! The team spent the early runs on Monday getting accustomed to riding together, following someone that they might not ride with regularly, and testing out different speeds and turn sizes.

    Following that, much of the rest of the day focused on early discussions and preparation of our on-snow workshops. We are planning to present two workshops in Levi, with the goal of giving the other nations a glimpse into what we consider important aspects of great snowboard lessons.

    Working in pairs, the team had a chance to hash out some presentation notes and ideas.

    Testing out workshop tactics.

    Day 2 of the camp started off with more group riding, with a focus on matching line and speed. Our goal for the demo runs is to showcase fast, smooth riding. The group found a good balance of speed and turn shape, and had some great early-morning warm-up runs together.

    The rest of the morning was spent in presentation mode with some practice presentations of our on-snow workshops. It was a good chance to get feedback from each other, and make some notes about the best ways to convey our messages.

    After lunch, the CASI, CSIA, and CANSI teams convened on the “demo slope” to work on the task of incorporating a demonstration run that includes all three disciplines (alpine ski, snowboard and telemark). The group found a flow together very quickly, and we’re looking forward to putting on a Canadian snow sliding show!

    Overall, the time spent together building a cohesive team, fine-tuning our riding skills, and polishing our presentations was really valuable. We’re looking forward to the event in Levi in March!