#SkiSpec Welcome Session

Even though we’re not in Breckenridge, Colorado, throw on your favorite winter sweater and join us for this welcome to Ski Spectacular 2020! Tune in to listen to Glenn Merry, Executive Director of Move United, Lori High from The Hartford, Will Reynolds from Move United Warfighters, and Paralympic athlete, Keith Gabel, speak about the different fitness-based and educational sessions, as well as interactive challenges that we have to keep you engaged and moving at home!

Start Time: 12:00 PM
End Time: 12:30 PM

Alpine Skiing Dry-Land Basics

Join us for the Virtual Ski Spectacular Alpine Skiing Introduction session where we will be focusing on the basics! In this session, we will focus on what is alpine skiing, what kind of adapted equipment is available, where can I access a program near me, and how can I return to the mountain during this time of quarantine.
Start Time: 1:30 PM
End Time: 2:15 PM

Snowboarding Dry-Land Basics

Join us for the Virtual Ski Spectacular Snowboarding session where we will be focusing on the basics! In this session, we will focus on what is snowboarding, what kind of adapted equipment is available, where can I access a program near me, and how can I return to the mountain during this time of quarantine.
Start Time: 3:00 PM
End Time: 3:30 PM

Nordic Skiing Dry-Land Basics

Join us for the Virtual Ski Spectacular Nordic Skiing session where we will be focusing on the basics! In this session, we will focus on what is Nordic skiing, what kind of adapted equipment is available, where can I access a program near me, and how can I return to the mountain during this time of quarantine.
Start Time: 4:30 PM
End Time: 5:15 PM

Breaking into Snowsport Competitions and Races

Join us for an elite level athlete panel to learn more about how they started competing in snowboarding, alpine skiing, and Nordic skiing! This 1-hour session will be interactive, where you can talk to National and Paralympic level athletes about their own journeys and how can you get involved in your local competitive program!
Start Time: 10:30 AM
End Time: 11:30 AM

Increasing the Mental Game

Participating in sports requires a combination of mental and physical strength. Tune into this 1-hour session to learn more about general athlete wellness, how to put yourself in the right mindset for competitions, and to learn more about breathing and meditation as a tool to calm your mind and body! Speakers: Audrey Shaw, Reggie Showers, Kep Koeppe, Jane Barber
Start Time: 12:00 PM
End Time: 1:00 PM

Alpine Skiing Dry-Land Strength Training Beginner

Tune into a cardio endurance fitness session focusing on exercises to increase your alpine skiing abilities. This session will utilize the cordless jump rope, exercise ball, towel, and elastic bands from the Ski Spectacular Fitness Kit, but if you don’t have a kit, you can still join with your own equipment. Exercises will be suited for all abilities and skill levels!
Start Time: 1:30 PM
End Time: 2:00 PM

Snowboarding Dry-Land Strength Training Beginner

Tune into a cardio endurance fitness session focusing on exercises to increase your snowboarding abilities. This session will utilize the cordless jump rope, exercise ball, towel, and elastic bands from the Ski Spectacular Fitness Kit, but if you don’t have a kit, you can still join with your own equipment. Exercises will be suited for all abilities and skill levels!
Start Time: 3:00 PM
End Time: 3:30 PM

Nordic Skiing Dry-Land Strength Training Beginner

Tune into a cardio endurance fitness session focusing on exercises to increase your Nordic skiing abilities. This session will utilize the cordless jump rope, exercise ball, towel, and elastic bands from the Ski Spectacular Fitness Kit, but if you don’t have a kit, you can still join with your own equipment. Exercises will be suited for all abilities and skill levels!
Start Time: 4:30 PM

End Time: 5:00 PM

#SkiSpec Game Night

Nothing can replace our in-person Casino Night and Theme Night, but get your game face on and join us for the #SkiSpec Game Night! Come for a little bit or fight to the finish in trivia, music, movies, and more with old and new friends as you compete against each other in virtual games.
Start Time: 5:30 PM
End Time: 7:00 PM

Snowboarding Dry-Land Intermediate Strength Training

Tune into a strength-based high intensity interval training fitness session focusing on exercises to increase your snowboarding abilities. This session will utilize the cordless jump rope, exercise ball, towel, and elastic bands from the Ski Spectacular Fitness Kit, but if you don’t have a kit, you can still join with your own equipment. Exercises will be suited for all abilities and skill levels.
Start Time: 10:30 AM
End Time: 11:00 AM

Nordic/Alpine Skiing Dry-Land Intermediate Strength Training

Tune into a strength-based high intensity interval training fitness session focusing on exercises to increase your snowboarding abilities. This session will utilize the cordless jump rope, exercise ball, towel, and elastic bands from the Ski Spectacular Fitness Kit, but if you don’t have a kit, you can still join with your own equipment. Exercises will be suited for all abilities and skill levels.
Start Time: 11:30 AM
End Time: 12:15 PM

Adaptive Yoga

Tune in for an adaptive yoga session with Jane Barber who is an adaptive skiing instructor with Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center and E-RYT 200 certified yoga instructor. Learn how yoga can increase your abilities for daily life, but also on the mountain too! This 45-minute yoga session will be suited for all abilities and exercises will be tailored for seated and standing participants.
Start Time: 1:15 PM
End Time: 2:00 PM

#SkiSpec Closing Session

It’s always hard to say goodbye, but we appreciate you joining us for The Hartford Virtual Ski Spectacular! Join us for event highlights as well as the announcement of our Trek to Breck winners!

Start Time: 4:00 PM
End Time: 4:30 PM

NAA Free Session: Psychological Wellness on the Slopes: Culturally-Inclusive Work with Veteran Athletes through a Whole Health Healing Model

When teaching individuals who have experienced trauma, it is often helpful to work from a trauma-informed perspective but it is important to recognize the limitations of this practice. This 1-hour session will take a dive into what it looks like to use the healing-centered model to instill confidence in athletes, particularly those who have experienced trauma and veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In addition, this session will also discuss how the US Department of Veterans Affairs is advancing Whole Health, a cutting-edge approach to care that supports the overall physical, emotional, and mental health of veterans, and how you can integrate best practices into everyday teaching. This session content is CE pre-approved by NCTRC.

Speaker(s): Sarah Brindle,Ph.D., Staff Psychologist at Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury/Disorders Service in Long Beach, CA

Tony Drees – Move United Warfighter Ambassador

Start Time: 10:45 AM
End Time: 11:45 AM

Understanding Progression Building Through PSIA’s Teaching Fundamentals

Join Matt Boyd, PSIA National Team member, to learn about and apply the Teaching Skills segment of PSIA’s Learning Connection Model to lesson plans and progressions. Specific application discussions will cover connecting lesson activities, adapting beyond initial lesson plans when needed, providing time for students to learn from their experiences, and the value of movement versus talk.

Clinician: Matt Boyd

 Pre-Requisite Skill(s) Required: Current Snowsports Instructor  

Start Time: 12:30 PM
End Time: 2:30 PM

Virtual Clinics and Presentations

This interactive clinic is designed for school administrators, managers, and trainers who want to deliver effective online webinars and webcasts for employee orientation, team-building, and training purposes. With web-based teaching and communication techniques, along with practical technical information, this educational session provides the information you need to quickly develop your own webinars and webcasts for the upcoming season. NCTRC CE pre-approval pending.

Clinician: Ann Wing

**This clinic requires one hour of preparation work by attendees and will be eligible for 3 CEU hours.
Start Time: 12:30 PM
End Time: 2:30 PM

Assessment and Equipment Selection for Efficient Stand-Up Skiing: Physical Diagnoses

Appropriate adaptive equipment is the cornerstone for setting up successful lessons for guests with disabilities and their instructors. Information on performing safe and effective assessments in Covid times, tips for understanding physical abilities of the guest, and adaptive equipment selection to support efficient skiing by two-track guests with physical diagnoses are addressed in the session. Attend this virtual session with a Covid-safe partner, or come individually. This session content is CE pre-approved by NCTRC.

Clinician(s): Beth Fox & Katherine Hayes Rodriguez
Start Time: 12:30 PM
End Time: 2:30 PM

The Interpersonal Gap: Separating What’s Mine From Yours in People Skills

People Skills in PSIA-AASI help us develop trust with our students. The strategies to do so include: focusing on our communication, developing our self awareness and management, and deliberately managing relationships with others. Because there are at least two people in any interaction, recognizing which parts of an interaction we are responsible for is one of the trickiest parts of people skills. This session will present the interpersonal gap, a model for understanding human interaction. It will provide opportunities for reflection and practice, as we identify “what’s mine” in human interactions. This session content is CE pre-approved by NCTRC.

Clinician: Ann Schorling
Start Time: 2:45 PM
End Time: 3:45 PM

Recognizing Movement Patterns for Skill Development in Adaptive Alpine Skiers

Get ready to teach adaptive lessons by joining this video and discussion session on recognizing movement patterns common to guests with specific diagnoses. We will investigate the etiology of movements, how they support or detract from effective skiing, discuss whether or not the movement can be changed, and explore ways to replace or adapt movements to achieve desired results in skiing.

Clinician: Ryan Latham

 Pre-Requisite Skill(s) Required: Familiarity with PSIA’s 5 Fundamentals of Alpine Skiing 

Start Time: 2:45 PM
End Time: 3:45 PM

Utilizing Adaptive Snowboard Tools and Techniques for Touchless Teaching

Explore tools available in most adaptive programs and techniques easily accessed, to see how they can be used to provide more independence and touchless teaching options. This session will include sharing of information, easy tools to acquire, and strategies to navigate the challenges of teaching beginning adaptive snowboard lessons while minimizing touch.

Clinician: Christina Bruno
Start Time: 2:45 PM
End Time: 3:45 PM

NAA Free Session: Lift Safety and Evacuations for Adaptive Snowsports

On-snow safety information is present in most training sessions, but what about safety in the air? Chris Cameron will lead the group through chairlift safety considerations and the step=by-step process of lift evacuation of adaptive snowsports guests.

Speaker(s): Chris Cameron, Jamie Wolter

Start Time: 4:00 PM
End Time: 5:00 PM

NAA Free Session: Adaptive Snowsports Incident Trends & Best Practices

Incidents happen! In this session, we will take a look at industry-trends to help us identify high risk and commonly-occurring incidents as well discuss best practices around managing these incidents.

Speaker: Ryan Semke – Move United Insurance Program Manager

Start Time: 11:00 AM
End Time: 12:00 PM

Monoski: Matching Body and Machine

The basic precepts of monoski design seem fairly evident on the surface. This session, hosted by monoski designers and users, will delve deeper into the engineering of these amazing machines, examine how machine and body interface, and match characteristics of several current monoski models with their intended user group. This session content is CE pre-approved by NCTRC.

Clinician: Ed Meltzer

Guest Speaker(s): Bobby Luscinski – Enabling Technologies, Joachim Grenestedt – DynAccess

 Pre-Requisite Skill(s) Required: Monoski Experience  

Start Time: 12:15 PM
End Time: 2:15 PM

Touchless Teaching

Extraordinary times often provide unexpected opportunities. That is just what we’ll investigate in this session on teaching adaptive lessons with a hands-off approach for Covid era safety, instructor physical welfare, and increased independence by adaptive skiers. You will take away safe and practical teaching techniques and methodologies to use in lessons this season.

Clinician(s): Beth Fox, Ann Wing
Start Time: 12:15 PM
End Time: 2:15

Recognizing and Managing Challenging Behavior in COVID times

Challenging behavior can perplex and test the most seasoned instructors. Session participants will investigate functions of behavioral and social challenges exhibited by students and focus on solutions for working with these learners in a new world that includes Covid restrictions

This interactive Zoom clinic will explore various commonalities or differences in intellectual diagnoses and developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders that may present challenging situations in behavioral responses. The course will provide instructors information for successful lesson planning for students who have behavioral issues in the diagnosis; identifying behaviors in the escalating phase; applying behavior management strategies and safety precautions; teaching methodologies, and discussion on how some behavior issues could be impacted by Covid protocols. This session content is CE pre-approved by NCTRC.

Start Time: 12:15 PM

End Time: 2:15 PM

Exploration of Snowboard Fundamentals: How they Relate to Adaptive Equipment Diagnoses

Explore the AASI snowboard fundamentals and how they apply to common types of adaptive snowboard equipment and different diagnoses. Cause and effect relationships will be investigated as well as how each tool may enhance abilities and influence board performance. This session content is CE Pre-Approved by NCTRC.

Clinician: Christina Bruno
Start Time: 2:45 PM
End Time: 3:45 PM

Guiding Nuances

Explore the subtle differences required to successfully guide blind versus low vision skiers and riders. Participants will have the opportunity to view skiers and guides in multiple situations and on varying terrain while discussing safety and tactics with a Paralympic level guide.

Clinician: Diane Barres

 Pre-Requisite Skill(s) Required: Guiding Experience 

Start Time: 2:45 PM
End Time: 3:45 PM

Biski Independence

The Covid era demands that we look through a different lens when teaching biskiers with hand-held outriggers. What we see is the opportunity to approach the task with hands-off methodologies that allow the guest to discover their own role in skill development and skiing independence. Video scenarios, biskier profiles, and discussion in this session will help you gain experience assessing true skier abilities and matching them with proper terrain, selecting appropriate skill development activities, outrigger/set-up, and hands-off teaching methodologies to use in lessons this winter.

Clinician: Ryan Latham

 Pre-Requisite Skill(s) Required: Experience teaching or assisting at least 5 biski lessons; ability to implement PSIA’s 5 Fundamentals of Alpine Skiing 

Start Time: 2:45 PM
End Time: 3:45 PM

NAA Free Session: Return to Play Panel Discussion

As the winter months approach, programs are eager to understand what the impact of COVID-19 and related guidelines will be on the adaptive snow sports season. This session will build off of the Return to Play conversation hosted in October, giving attendees an overview of where programs are at in regards to resort safety guidelines and protocols, and provide tips for working in tandem rather than isolation with your resort partners to create and maintain a positive relationship.

Panelists:

Pat Addabbo – Executive Director at Oregon Adaptive Sports
Beth Fox –  Adaptive Alpine Committee Chair PSIA Rocky Mountain
Jeff Inouye, Ski Program Director at Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center
Kelly Pawlak, President/CEO at National Ski Areas Association
Mary Ellen Whitney, CEO/Founder at STRIDE Adaptive Sports
Start Time: 4:00 PM
End Time: 5:00 PM

NAA Free Session: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Insights

Current events in the USA have brought diversity to the headlines. Archie Aquino will present information on diversity and popular culture that will help instructors recognize the value of all individuals and implement supportive practices for equity and inclusion of people in snowsports and beyond.

Speaker: Archie Aquino- USAF Veteran. Bronze Star (V) recipient.

Start Time: 11:00 AM
End Time: 12:00 PM

Transforming Compassion Fatigue into Compassion Satisfaction

Compassion fatigue is frequently defined as “burnout” – it is not! At this training participants will be informed of the symptoms of compassion fatigue, including the negative effects of compassion fatigue on the brain. In addition, steps to avoid and recover from compassion fatigue will be presented.

Clinician(s): Chris Straeter & Terry Jones
Start Time: 12:15 PM
End Time: 2:15 PM

Sitski Basecamp

Activate your sitski instructor brain during this group participation review of lesson duties. Quick assessment of physical abilities, general principles for equipment selection, ski balancing concepts, pre-experience activities, lesson management, and safety in Covid times will all be addressed. Clinician(s): Beth Fox & Sheila Farny
Start Time: 12:15 PM
End Time: 2:15 PM

5 Fundamentals Applied to Adaptive: Beyond the Basics

Are you fully employing PSIA’s 5 Fundamentals in your adaptive lessons? A quick overview of the Fundamentals will lead into observation of adaptive skiers of all disciplines, analysis of their movements, and group discussion about effective lesson activities that will help skiers advance their skills. You will leave this session with a pocket full of applicable information.

Clinician: Augie Young

 Pre-Requisite Skill(s) Required: PSIA Level 1 Certified or above 

Start Time: 12:15 PM
End Time: 2:15 PM

Neurocognitive Disorders: Deeper Insights for Snowsports Instructors

During this interactive session we will investigate the common threads of compromised brain disorders. Information uncovered will help you to support emotional and social goals of guests with neurocognitive diagnoses during your lessons this winter and beyond.

We will explore various commonalities or differences in neurocognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, TBI and even aging senior skiers with diagnoses that present challenging situations in supporting a person with diminishing brain capacity. The course will provide an overview look at the brain function and include information about successful lesson planning for students who need emotional and safety supports in lessons. Safety precautions; teaching methodologies, and discussion on how some issues can be handled will also be discussed. This session content is CE pre-approved by NCTRC.

Clinician: Mary Ellen Whitney

Start Time: 3:00 PM
End Time: 5:00 PM

Family Style Fun

Help put the family back into family vacations! You will be a catalyst for creating memories of a lifetime after attending this engaging session on teaching sibs and parents of all abilities and adaptive equipment to slide as a cohesive unit while meeting their individual, family, and “fun” goals. Clinician: Charley Phelan

 Pre-Requisite Skill(s) Required: Experience teaching snowsports lessons 

Start Time: 3:00 PM
End Time: 5:00 PM

Upper Level Monoski Skill Development Activities

View video and participate in group think to explore skill expansion activities for upper level monoskiers. Attendees will identify areas of movement need for Level 7-9 monoskiers and work as a team to set skill development plans and support activities that will lead to fun and effective monoski lessons this season on steeps, crud, firm conditions, and loading a variety of lifts.

Clinician: Jimmer Hayes

 Pre-Requisite Skill(s) Required: PSIA Level 1 Adaptive certified or above 

Start Time: 3:00 PM
End Time: 5:00 PM