PSIA ALPINE TECHNICAL MANUAL Foreword–Evolution of the Skills Concept


Prior to the incorporation of PSIA in the fall of 1961, American ski teaching was composed of a vast variety of European ski techniques. Just about every approach known at the time was being taught at U.S. ski resorts. Ski schools actively promoted the benefits of their chosen technique, often at the expense of other schools. In fact, skiers who took lessons at different mountains were often criticized and reprimanded for skiing the “wrong” technique. Rather than promote the sport of skiing, this lack of continuity and standardization produced confusion and frustration within the consumer, and was perceived as inhibiting the growth of the sport in the U.S. In this environment, PSIA’s founders met to establish an American style of skiing that would create the basis for how the sport could grow. Te original goal was to have a national body of instruction to create consistency in the quality and presentation of ski lessons across the country, while allowing for specific regional styles. With this in mind, PSIA published Te Official American Ski Technique in 1963. It was built around seven basic principles of skiing: 1. Forward lean 2. Total motion 3. Unweighting by an up-motion 4. Counter-rotation 5. Weight transfer 6. Neutral positions 7. Angulation


While the actual mechanical progressions in the manual were a compilation of the best elements from the European techniques, the idea of looking at skiing as a blend of the seven basic concepts set the U.S. apart from other nations.


INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSION MAKES THE SCENE


Te late ‘60s and early ‘70s saw skiing take off, with new ski areas being developed and existing ones undergoing major expansion. Along with this new growth in popularity came an infusion of energy when the freestyle movement emerged. American skiers were breaking away from the more formalized “style skiing” into a very free, open approach in which individual expression began to push the barriers of traditional skiing. At the same time, pro mogul and pro racing events debuted, as did such ground-


breaking teaching progressions as Clif Taylor’s instant-parallel, short-ski approach and the graduated length method (GLM). Instructors could now consult the American Teaching Manual as well as numerous technical books, including Teach Yourself to Ski and Skiing: An Art, a Technique, by Georges Joubert; World Cup Ski Technique, by Olle Larsson and James Major; and Pianta Su: Ski Like the Best, by Ruedi Bear. Tis was probably the most prolific period of ski teaching journalism Americans had ever seen. Tese innovations were driven by breakthroughs in equipment: metal and fiberglass skis and the advent of plastic boots pushed the envelope of modern technique and style.


TheSnowPros.org FOREWORD: EVOLUTION OF THE SKILLS CONCEPT 7


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