by Mr. T » Fri Dec 19, 2003 10:46 am
I have witnessed a few recent episodes locally that tell me that PMTS is slowly penetrating if not in the way to teach at least the terminology used by PSIA.
I think there are at least a few reasons why PMTS is not as widespread as it should:
1. Harald set high standards for his instructors. This is good or else it will become like PSIA, but it is also bad for there are too few "apostles" to spread the "gospel". The problem I have with this is the following:
when I took PSIA-style instruction, I demanded, repeat demanded, a level III instructor. I paid good bucks for those hours and I wanted
the real deal. Even with PMTS, I want black level certified instructors or else, I am being honest, I would probably not want to take a class.
I know that I am probably wrong, but it is my bucks that change owner.
2. I received instruction from Harald, Rich Messer, and Diana. I am not
discussing who is the best skier of the three. Their teaching was excellent
and I am as fine with Rich as I am with Harald. However, I wonder if all the other PMTS fully certified instructors can really achieve the level of the
three I just mentioned. If they all do, I take off my hat, sorry my helmet,
to Harald and his movement. For sure PSIA does not achieve this standard, not even close. If they are not at the same level, then I am afraid that even PMTS will not provide the super-high-standard teaching they currently do once Harald, Diana and Rich are not involved and perhaps give away some of his mistique.
3. To be fully certified with Harald, you cannot come from the Midwest or
small resorts areas, you have to really live where the big mountains are. I cannot practice black mogul runs, leave alone expert runs. Now, if you
are no longer in college, and/or if you have a family, you need a job that
allows you to make a living. With PSIA I can get certified skiing during week-ends and studying at home in the evening keeping my day job. Unfortunately, I tend to think that numerically the majority of skiers do come from not so blessed areas in terms of terrain to practice.
4. PMTS is easy and it is not. Sure, most of us can work on volume 1 of
Harald's books and come out with a general idea. But are we really doing the right things all the time? This is not to say that it is not good, PSIA on
the other hand at times is plain ridicoulous. Even an intermediate skier can
understand that some of what he or she is being taught is no good. But,
I attended the Kicking Horse Camp last year. I thought I was using PMTS,
but Harald, Rich, and Diana kept correcting me. And the other guys in my
group were the same story. We even asked ourselves if we really had understood what PMTS is about. Sure, you see Rich, Harald, and Diana ski
and it all seems like in the book, but yet we could not achieve that standard. And here we come to volume 2, by far the best of the two. It is hard work to do on your own. You can have the idea, but how do you know you are mastering the subtlety of the methodology? You will not be
able to keep your boots closed together if you do not have certain muscles developed. Period. I have been working on powering those muscles and now I can keep my legs close even on a black run. It figures that last year I could not despite my best efforts. Technique is one thing,
but you need also the right strenght to perform. And I played football so I am not exactly a little weak man.
Those like me who ski in ice (not by choice, I actually hate it) most of
the time have a very hard time to practice. Have you ever tried practicing on a sheet of ice? If you live in Minnesota or Wisconsin or even in Michigan that's what you get a lot of the times. And I fear that out on the
East coast is not too different. We do not have the nice, abundant snow of
Colorado and Utah. We ski at -20F at times. There is not much to tip at those temperatures as all your body feels like a single block.
Do not get me wrong, I swear by PMTS (and even managed to get two PSIA instructors to buy copies of the books, DO I GET A PRIZE FOR THIS
HARALD?), but I do not believe that you can become an expert skier just
by reading books. You need muscles, technique, versatility and a lot of
mileage. Otherwise I watch downhill ski racing on TV, eat chips and salsa,
and then I am an expert and go out to ski.
Either there are a lot of us under the delusion they know PMTS well, or my group in Kicking Horse was one of the sorriest bunches ever seen on
a ski slope. They were a lot of fun actually and, PMTS or not, I hope to find them all in Big Sky next February.
5. Goals. What are each skier's goals? I want to ski double black diamonds
like they were second nature. I read the books 4 times and I also studied,
not read, studied, the Instructor Manual plenty of times. Am I skiing double black diamonds? Unfortunately not. Am I a bad student? Yes, perhaps I am, but not in the traditional sense of the term. If we had an exam on theory I bet I get an A. It is just that PMTS is the means, not the outcome. If I want to get on expert terrain and you keep me on blue runs,
I just lose motivation. If skiing is to stay on blue runs or some black runs,
then I go home toss skis and boots and do something else with my life and then good-bye PMTS and PSIA.
I don't believe that PMTS = Skiing double black diamonds after two days,
what I believe is that PMTS is an excellent methodology, arguably the best on the market. But I do not ski to achieve the PMTS, I do ski to have
fun and achieve the goals I set for myself. And there are times when neither the PSIA nor the PMTS can give that to you. Not in my timeframe
at least. And that is a problem.