Flagging up those patient instructors
TOMORROW marks the beginning of the Interski Congress 2019 which is a meeting of international ski instructors which takes place every four years.
IASI (Irish Association of Snowsports Instructors) will be at the event in Pamporovo, Bulgaria, participating in team demonstrations, workshops and lectures with all of the top ski nations in the world.
Fittingly, given the day that’s in it, they will also be kitted out in the most fantastic ski gear which has been designed in the Irish colours.
The idea behind Interski is for ski instructors to come together to share ideas, knowledge and new techniques. ‘As a small nation, Ireland may not be renowned for ski instructors but we’re up there with other nations and can hold our own. We’re also there to learn from others,’ IASI coaching expert Derek Tate has said in a previous interview.
But despite the fact that Ireland is a small nation without a traditional ski culture, IASI is a growing organisation.
In the last few years, its ski instructor courses have become increasingly popular internationally.
Amongst the IASI team in Bulgaria for the next week are Derek Tate and John Paul McCarthy, a London-reared Irishman who has his own ski school (AIM Snowsports Ski School) in Les Arcs in France.
Interski has started me thinking about the brilliant ski instructors which I’ve had the pleasure to learn from over the years.
Back in 2005 when I was training to complete the famous Haute Route ski tour from Chamonix to Zermatt, Dubliner Derek Tate and his wife Shona (through their Chamonix BASS school) taught me some crucial ski technique