learn to other careers. Courses are delivered with such a consistent approach that they now earn academic recognition, which is a means of communicating that learning to potential employers.
SNOWSPORTS: MORE THAN JUST PHYSICAL EDUCATION CREDITS Similarly, in the U.S., there are several universities and community colleges that offer some form of accreditation for learning – and even teaching – snowsports. However, more often than not, those college ski and snowboard instruction courses have been almost exclusively paired with gaining physical education credits. Te Dartmouth College Snowsports School offers a PE credit for every snowsports course a student takes (three are required for graduation), while also awarding instructors a credit for each level of PSIA or AASI certification achieved. But for Emily Burack, a Dartmouth senior who is co-director of the school, the experience as an instructor has been about a lot more than just showing someone how to slide down a slope. Whether it’s been introducing many of
the school’s foreign students to snow, teaching seniors when she was just a freshman, or hiring a new class of instructors before she had seen them ski or ride, Burack said her time teaching skiing at the famed Skiway is one of the most rewarding things she has done at Darmouth. “In all of my studies, being an instructor has helped me be a better communicator, be more organized, and it’s helped me problem- solve because as an instructor you are always trying to figure out a better way for your student to understand what you’re trying to teach,” said Burack. “It’s also introduced me to so many other students who I probably otherwise would have never met.” Providing an outdoor learning experience that augments indoor academics is also key to the snowsports school program at Michigan Technological University. Unlike other college snowsports programs, however, it’s also about teaching a lot of classes to the public. Michigan Tech owns Mont Ripley, a 440- foot hill known for some of the state’s steeper slopes, deeper snow, and a late daily opening (open 3 to 9 p.m., Monday - Tursday), as well as a ton of kids’ classes. According to Dan Dalquist, a former Tech student who returned to teach and supervise at
the snowsports school after retiring as a financial advisor, “Tere are up to 400 school kids on the slopes each week, and to teach that many people we need a certain critical mass.” Of the approximately 60 instructors doing the teaching, the majority are Tech students. In the university curriculum, students can gain PE credits for taking the courses, and also for training to be an instructor. Dalquist said the school has a similar program for its ski patrol. In both programs, students are encouraged to train for and take the certification exams. As Dalquist explains, “Tech is big on students earning national credentials.”
THE FUTURE OF COLLEGE SKI PROGRAMS, INSPIRED BY THE PAST One of the most successful and storied collegiate ski instruction programs was based at Washington State’s Wenatchee Valley College. From the early ’60s – right after PSIA was founded in 1961 – into the ’80s, the two-year college prepared thousands of students for a career in instruction and ski area management. According to the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center, the program, which was founded by ski coach Bill Penhallegon, “attracted students from 30 states and four countries eager to learn the ins and outs of ski-lift maintenance, teaching techniques for racing and jumping on skis, and the related fields of biomechanics and kinesiology.” “We had a really good recreation program, as well as a good forestry program,” said
Sandy Cooprider, a former coach and faculty member at the college who would often videotape students. “A lot of the students would fight fires in the summer and in the winter come back and be ski instructors. Some of those instructors were everywhere – in Vail, Sun Valley, Europe. Te program had a reputation as being one of the best.” Cooprider said the program was canceled in the ’80s after a student hit a tree and was killed, and the college president deemed it a liability to the institution. Bob Gillespie, who is the coordinator of the Agricultural and Natural Resources program, said that in recent years Wenatchee has begun offering a class in ski and snowboard instruction although, “It’s a long way from having a certified program for ski area management.” Still, the program left some deep tracks.
Daniel Huston, Director of the Loveland Ski and Ride School, was inspired by what he heard from Wenatchee graduates. “Hearing about that program left an impression me,” said Huston. “Instruction has been my profession since 1980, and I’ve always been impressed with the depth of Austria and France’s training programs, where people would attend an established school, and I always wondered what it would be like if ski and snowboard instruction could be on that level and have that kind of program here in the U.S.” A year ago, Huston started working with the
Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Colorado, to do just that. Under the umbrella of the Parks and Recreation Department, the school offers a “learn to be a ski or snowboard
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