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CERTIFICATION I, II, III


COURTESY OF CHRIS ROGERS


Ask any examiner; exam failures can really set you up for future success.


SEEKING CERTIFICATION? TRAIN… AND LEARN HOW TO FAIL FORWARD


By Chris Rogers A


s a training manager at Vail and a Rocky Mountain Division AASI examiner, I’m involved in many forms of snowboard and ski instructor training, but I hear the most feedback on certification training and the exam


anxiety that goes along with it. It makes sense – we train, take time off work, pay for the exam, and go into a stressful experience where our abilities are judged. I failed my first Level III snowboard exam in February 2007. What I remember most from results day was the feeling that I had let down my trainers and mentors at my home mountain. However, that failure set me up for success at my next exam, and I’m convinced it played a role in leading me to where I am now.


102 | 32 DEGREES • WINTER 2016


Based on my experiences on both sides of the exam process, here are three tips I share with instructors preparing for certification. First, train to be a better instructor and rider, but not just to pass the exam. A candidate who is ready for their exam performs above the standard on a good day, and is able to adapt to whatever exam day throws them. Write out progressions for all the possible teaching topics for your level, then take


them on snow in clinics with others. Keep the ones that work, and rewrite the ones that don’t. If the standard says you need to do a pivot OR pressure move on a box, learn to do both. If the standard is to spin 180s both directions, learn the 180s, and then learn 360s too. Second, take time off to train.


It’s easy to get caught up during peak business periods and find yourself too busy to train, but a day of freeriding or a lap in the bumps or the park at the end of the day is not the kind of training you need to be ready for an exam. Dedicate time to training with mentors who will give you feedback, and find training partners who you can trade feedback with. Te training-feedback cycle is


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