Course Conductor Training - December 6-7

One of the things that was exciting about getting my Level 3 before the start of the season is being able to become a Level 1 Course Conductor. This weekend I did my first on-snow course conductor training. About 60 Level 3's were there. I was happy to see quite a few familiar faces - Rory, John, Phil, Sasha, Anik, Pam, Dave, Mark - among the Level 3's. I knew most of the Level 4's from training to get to the Level 3 standard.

The first day I was put into a group of 6 with Ian Kirkpatrick from Horseshoe. I had never skiied with Ian before. What impressed me most about him was his enthusiasm. Even in the cold damp day, it was really infectious. He also had a really nice touch on the snow. My group consisted of John Fortin from Craigleith, Andrew from Alpine, Lianna from Devil's Glen, Sean from Snow Valley, and Larry. I'm not sure where Larry teaches - he was sporting a course conductor suit.

We worked on ski improvement in the morning and then got into teaching fast track to parallel (FTTP) in the afternoon. What I worked on personally was not edging too early in the turn. Edging too early gives me nowhere left to go at the end of the turn. It is also not easy to emulate and does nothing to work on my pivoting skill. I was really getting it by the afternoon and felt a lot smoother by consequence.

For FTTP I led the session introducing the class to mobility. Not having taught many never ever's, the exercises I used are ones I remembered from my own Level 1 course! What really worked well was having a mix of experience levels in the groups. The rookies brought a fresh perspective while the experienced course conductors (CC's) had a lot of great ideas from courses they had taught.

The drive home Saturday night was exhausting. What took me an hour and 15 minutes on the way up took me 3 1/2 hours to get home. There must have been an accident earlier on the 400 or 401 as the 400 to get on the 401 was backed up almost all the way to Major Mac. Sunday morning was especially treachorous getting back up to MSLM through blowing snow and snow-covered roads. Next time I think I'll splurge on a room in Barrie!

We stayed in the same groups for Sunday but changed instructors. This time we had Doug Leeming. Sunday morning was spent on class management, safety, and lift operations. It was a COLD morning for standing still looking at lifts but Doug moves it along as quickly as possible and kept it interesting and interactive.

Sunday afternoon was the most fun. We focused on fun tactics with which we can arm our Level 1's. We did things like Follow the Leader; finding loose snow, jumps, and natural ramps; synchro; skiing backwards; 360's. Wicked fun! I really enjoyed the run Andrew lead us as it was fast, fun, and challenging with little verbage.

All in all, it was a great experience. I learned a lot and got great feedback on my skiing and good feedback on my pedagogical skills. It was fun skiing with a strong group of skiers that had all achieved the Level 3 standard. It reminded me of when I first started training for my Level 3 and found this whole new group of people with similar skills and objectives. I guess at each level you get to, there is always a new group of people there already to welcome you. And what a fun new group to be a part of!