New Adaptive Alpine Technical Manual Helps Instructors Improve Teaching Skills

Adaptive snowsports programs and ski instructors across the country can enhance their teams’ professional development with a new resource, the Adaptive Alpine Technical Manual, released this month by the Professional Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI). The new manual is available for purchase in the PSIA-AASI Accessories Catalog, or online on the PSIA-AASI website.

“The highly anticipated adaptive manual is out in time for the 2017-18 season,” says manual technical reviewer Geoff Krill, a PSIA-AASI adaptive team member who suffered a spinal cord injury which drove him to become an adaptive instructor. “The updated manual is industry encompassing, a great learning resource to compliment other alpine teaching materials. Remember, skiing is skiing. Expand your teaching potential to share your love of the sport with a more diverse student base.”

Katie Zinn, co-author, Adaptive Level III examiner, Alpine Level II, Freestyle Specialist 1, and Children’s Specialist 2, explains the new educational resource highlights how an instructor can use PSIA-AASI’s student-centered approach by exploring teaching techniques for helping students with disabilities experience freedom on one ski, two skis, or sit-sit equipment, and develop a lifelong love for skiing.

“It’s an indispensable resource for anyone in the alpine or adaptive disciplines,” says Zinn. “Covering a variety of topics, including student assessment, equipment, and progressions – and enhanced by supplemental video – it’s a must-have for all instructors who work in the adaptive field or want to gain a new perspective on teaching.”

The manual is available in print and digital versions, or together as a bundle. Krill explains, “Both the print and digital manuals help instructors learn how to meet their students’ goals and desires by keeping up to date with current trends and technology.”

The digital version of any given technical manual (which can be purchased as a stand-alone product or part of a bundle with the print version) helps instructors:

• See learning techniques come to life by watching instructional videos
• Save time by digitally bookmarking pages to return to the content later
• Personalize their learning by adding notes and highlighting text

All of these digital resources can be viewed on a computer – or on a smartphone/tablet as part of a free Snow Pro Library app for Apple, Android, and Kindle Fire users. The digital editions of the Adaptive Alpine Technical Manual are only available to those who have purchased that resource. For those instructors that prefer the print version of the new technical manual, they can use the QR codes and Tiny URLS within the photos to access video online.