Tag Archive for: PROFESSIONAL SKI INSTRUCTORS OF AMERICA

Alan Engen

Your Next (or Last) Ski Lesson Can Be Traced Back to Alta

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The origins of the Professional Ski Instructors of America’s (PSIA) harmonized approach to ski instruction in the United States can be traced back to Alta.

When skiing was first taking hold as a participation sport around the Intermountain region in the mid- to late-1930s, ski instruction was informal; limited to tips provided by anyone who had been on a pair of skis more than once.

By the early 1940s, many people were taking up the sport, and it became evident there needed to be some form of training, control, and certification for people teaching others how to ski.

During the 1946-47 season, the Intermountain Ski Association (ISA) took the first steps to form a unified approach to ski teaching in the Intermountain region. One of the organizers was my uncle, Sverre Engen, at the time, head of Alta’s ski school.

During the 1946-47 season, the Intermountain Ski Association (ISA) took the first steps to form a unified approach to ski teaching in the Intermountain region.                                                                                  Source: Alan Engen Collection

Two years later ISA conducted the first Intermountain region instructor examination at Alta.  According to Bill Lash, former Alta ski instructor and founder of the Professional Ski Instructors Association (PSIA), “Alf and Corey Engen ran the program.  The test was given in three grades: master instructor, instructor, and apprentice instructor.  The cost of the exam was $10.00 and the renewal fee was $2.50 per year.  In 1950, instructor pins were given out.  There were two pins and classes of certification: apprentice and instructor.” My father was Alf, who headed the Alta Ski School from 1948 to 1989 and for whom the Alta Ski School in named.

Early December,1950, another certification examination was conducted at Alta. This time, under the direction of Friedl Lang, a noted ski instructor who had been certified by the U.S. Eastern Ski Instructors Association. Lang had taught skiing in North Conway, New Hampshire for Hannes Schneider, father of the Arlberg Technique. He brought special insights to the new ski instructor certification process.

At the same time, the Intermountain Ski Instructors Association (ISIA) was created to oversee certifying instructors.

1958 National Ski Association Certification Meeting at Alta                                                  Source: Alan Engen Collection

Throughout the 1950s, Alta hosted numerous Intermountain Ski Instructor Association examinations. And in 1958, coordinated by the Alf Engen Ski School, Alta hosted the first National Ski Association “on-snow certification conference” to establish national certification standards. A significant outcome of this gathering was Outline of Ski Teaching, by Bill Lash. The first complete ski-instructors manual, it was distributed nationwide and became the basis of the American Skiing Technique. A few years later, in 1961, representatives of the National Ski Association met and agreed to formalize teaching the American Skiing Technique under a new umbrella: the Professional Ski Instructors of America.

So, wherever you take your next ski lesson at an area in the United States, if the instructor is PSIA-certified, she may not know it, but Alta played a role in bringing professional, harmonized instruction to the sport.

Pat McCloskey

A Day With Kathy Brennan, New CEO, PSIA-East

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Kathy Brennan, new CEO, PSIA-East, at Seven Springs, PA

I recently skied with Kathy Brennan, the new CEO of PSIA -E (Professional Ski Instructors of America- Eastern Division).  Kathy has an impressive background in the snow sports industry and is currently on staff at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. She has been touring areas in her division which extends from Maine to North Carolina.

An accomplished skier and excellent teacher, Kathy did something at the beginning of our session suggesting how she‘ll function in her new role:  She asked everyone for feedback on how to make PSIA better, any suggestions or comments on the organization and, in short, what she could do to improve the organization’s mission of being an education platform.

She received numerous comments and suggestions. I asked what PSIA was doing to retain older instructors. She said we never stop learning even after seniors are long past their certification exams.

She also explained that she’s dedicated to assuring that PSIA partners effectively with areas, suppliers, patrol, race programs, and the industry, in general. Educational programs can be utilized by any member, especially seniors who want to stay in the game and improve their skiing and teaching abilities. In her words, PSIA has changed from a “pin chasing” entity to an organization dedicated to providing programs for skiers and boarders of all ages. She’s meeting with area management to educate them on the value of the organization and how its current direction will lead to better instructor education, better lesson quality, and greater customer satisfaction. This approach also will help areas retain good quality certified instructors.

Our conversations were held on chairlifts. On the snow, she gave us – skiers, tele-skiers, and snowboarders – a clinic. Her emphasis, common to the three approaches: balance,rotary movement, edging, and pressure control.

I’m retired from ski teaching but maintain my membership in PSIA with the goal of learning something new every year.

Kathy’s goal is to unite the entities in the ski industry and to make them aware of the value of what PSIA brings to the table. From my time with her at Seven Springs, I’m confident she’ll have great success.