Available Now — Teaching Children Snowsports: Alpine Field Guide
The brand-new Teaching Children Snowsports: Alpine Field Guide is available now as a print edition, digital download, or multi-format bundle.
This new publication is a treasure trove of 140 games, drills, and activities arranged by skier level and alpine skiing fundamental and is applicable to all age groups (including grownups).
“I’m so stoked to have the field guide available because we had a hole in our early-career instructor training,” said Jackson Hole Mountain Resort instructor, Advanced Children’s Educator (ACE) team member, and Intermountain Region Alpine examiner Ryan Ravinsky, who co-authored the book with Eastern Region ACE team member Mark Aiken and PSIA-AASI National Team member Kevin Jordan. “They didn’t have much in the way of resources, or a toolbox of how to teach, what to teach, and how to build a playful, entertaining progression for children.”
The field guide is small enough to fit in your pocket — or available digitally for your smartphone or tablet — and includes access to ever-evolving playlists of supporting video. This resource is an indispensable in-the-field reference and great companion piece to the Teaching Children Snowsports Manual.
“Many members ask for a bag of tricks and want more drills and activities,” Jordan said. “They’re hungry for this resource. From the very beginning of project development, we tried to imagine what this would look like with video access in print and digital format, so a reader could have options for how they consume the information they want to use.”
Aiken said inspiration for the video series came from the fact that he and Jordan were both coaching youth soccer while working on the field guide, and wanted to find an exciting, effective way to develop drills and skills.
“During project-development meetings we were both coaching 5- and 6-year-olds, and we would digress and talk about kids blowing dandelions in the wind during soccer games,” Aiken said. “I needed activities for practices, and Kevin turned me on to the MOJO Soccer videos, which became road maps for our field guide ski videos.”
“With this resource, I feel we’re providing great information in a way that not only teaches new instructors the what, but also the why, and the how, that leads to far greater understanding of the material and, ultimately, a better lesson,” said Ravinsky.
