The National Ski Patrol Southern California Region

Certified Clinic At Mt Baldy 2007

OET Instructors and ITs,

It’s been a while since we have all gotten together, and although I have been able to visit your hills and talk with many of you, one on one, I believe the value of us all getting together on the snow and sharing skills with each other is indispensable.

Since each instructor must be recertified every three years, I would like to get all the instructors, ITs, and potential (candidate) instructors together on the snow this season (2009-2010). I have scheduled two instructor refreshers so most should have no excuse for not making one of them. The first will be held at Bear Mountain on the 12th of December 2009,and the second will be on the 9th of January 2010, at Mt. High.

This will be an opportunity for all of the OET instructors to get together and spend a day refining your teaching skills and helping your brethren by passing on things that work for you. I would also invite you to bring any instructor candidates you may be mentoring as this would not only be an opportunity for them to learn new skills but also an opportunity for them to be coached by some of the best instructors out there. We will not be signing off any instructor candidates on Sat since it is an instructor refresher. It will be a fun educational day with no testing pressure.

We are also scheduling a Senior Ski and Toboggan (OET) clinic for the Sunday of each of these weekends so any Instructor candidates would have the opportunity (if their mentor feels they are ready) to teach and be observed by an IT on that day. This would be a great opportunity for hills to get OET instructors certified.

So what I am asking of every instructor is to pick a weekend that you can make it to, and reply to me with which one you are planning on attending. I would like it if you could get any candidates you may be mentoring to attend the same dates as you are. I would ask for each IT to try your best to make it to both weekends and I would ask everyone to help us out on Sunday for the Senior clinic. This will act as day two of the ski trainers workshop and will allow everyone who attended Saturday’s clinic a chance to practice the skills with students who will be participating in the Senior clinic. I would also ask for you to put the word out to your patrollers about the Senior program and get them involved and to attend the clinics. There will be more Senior clinics in addition to these weekends that will be scheduled soon, that your patrollers will be able to attend, so put out the word and get as many people into the Senior program as you can.

Now one last plug for the Certified program. Each and every one of you who have made it far enough to become a OET instructor have the potential to become certified. This program is one of the most challenging and henceforth, rewarding things you can strive for in your patrolling career. If you haven’t started the process I would highly encourage you to make this the year you do. If you have done some of it in the past and just never completed it, now is the best time. You will find many of our OET instructors have already become certified and I challenge you to do the same. If you are interested drop me an email and I can get you started.

I look forward to seeing you all on the snow this season, let’s all think snow!

Doug Gilchrist
NSP SoCal Region OET supervisor,
douglas.gilchrist@socalnsp.org