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Skiing Tasks and Exam Protocols

Click to View All Certification Skiing Tasks

 

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Alpine Certification Skiing Tasks

The Alpine Certification Skiing Tasks are essentially the same as the Alpine Movement Learning Activities, applied to Exam situations, and organized according to Certification Level.

What: During an exam day, you will be observed skiing during your teaching segment (demos), when you perform as a student in another candidate’s teaching segment, and skiing a selected series of these benchmarks (at least four).

Why: The Tasks have been selected to ensure that the skiing skills being evaluated in PSIA-C Certification Exams represent the PSIA National Standards at each Certification Level.  The use of these Tasks helps to ensure that our exams are conducted with consistency from Examiner to Examiner and Exam to Exam—throughout our division—and are likewise consistent with all the other divisions of PSIA.

How: Successfully skiing these Tasks requires you to commit the time necessary to develop experience with (Level 1), competency in (Level 2), and mastery of (Level 3) the 5 Fundamentals of Good Skiing as outlined in our National Standards. You can begin by exploring and practicing the Alpine Movement Learning Activities for Developing Skilled Skiing (link in the Alpine Resources Portal). Attend appropriate PSIA-C Education Events, work with trainers at your local or nearby ski schools, get friends to video your skiing, collaborating with your peers to help each other prepare for success.

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Skiing Activities (“Tasks”) Protocol in Exams

Every Exam, including Level 1, will include—in addition to free skiing and in-class demonstrations (your performance while teaching or as requested in another candidate’s teaching segment)—a selection of at least four Tasks with the sole purpose of helping both you and your Examiner discover your strengths and weaknesses in the Five Fundamentals of Good Skiing, as outlined in the National Standards. The Tasks themselves will NOT be graded but used to help evaluate your overall skiing competency.

The Tasks may be assigned in a number of ways:

  • To exploit available terrain. (Pitch may be available but crowded and/or unusable certain times of day)
  • To exploit available conditions. (Hard snow early would favor sliding /slipping or dynamic, high-speed activities; soft snow favoring rotary focus like bump skiing)
  • To aid in the flow of information/learning. (Tasks might help highlight someone’s teaching, or flow nicely from a teaching segment)
  • Randomly. (Sometimes the group will find itself in an ideal spot for a Task)
  • Upon request of a candidate, as part of a “teaching opportunity.”
A Task may be selected, at the discretion of the Examiner, from the list at your Level, or from a lower level, as an exploration of the D.I.R.T. (Duration, Intensity, Rate, and Timing) aspect of the group’s skiing or to utilize available terrain to help evaluate one or more of the 5 Fundamentals.

Remember, you will not be graded on the Tasks themselves, but on how the highlighted (Level 1), or blended (Level 2), or refined and accurate (Level 3) fundamentals are presented throughout the day in all aspects of your skiing performance.

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