Greetings. It’s a privilege to be your new Alpine VP, and I’m looking forward continuing the excellent work done by Elianne Furtney, I’m also eagerly anticipating another epic season on the slopes of the Sierra.
This summer we lost the great Gerry Berg who passed away while riding his mountain bike near his home inColorado. “Bergie” was one of PSIA’s most influential ski pros having served as a national team member and examiner for Rocky Mountain for more that 20 years. I had the great pleasure of hanging out with him several times on various PSIA ventures toColorado. Here is one of the classic Bergie stories as recounted be Bob Barnes.
“It was the evening before the Ski day of the PSIA-RM Full Certification (Level 3) exam at Taos, New Mexico. All of the candidates were assembled together for an overview of the coming day. We announced that the “Variable Terrain and Conditions” run would take place on “Juarez,” an awesome chute accessed from a hike high above the tree line along Highline Ridge. A candidate in the back raised his hand and complained that he didn’t think it was appropriate to ask people to hike, that he wasn’t a hiker and we shouldn’t have to work that hard, or something to that effect. Bergie looked directly at him and said, “no problem. You don’t have to hike. We have something just for you. Level 2.” The candidate was silenced. But he hiked the next day, and actually had a great run inJuarez. After it was over, I overheard him thanking Bergie for pushing him to accomplish something beyond himself.”
Apart from remembering a true legend of our profession this story also highlights the fundamental purpose of certification which is to hold a standard and to require candidates to stretch the boundaries of their thinking and preparedness for events. If you are a Level Three instructor you can relate exactly with this story, if you aspire to any level of certification let this story be the foundation for your training regimen. A successful exam candidate is typically the one that has done more that the minimum requirement and stretched the boundaries what he or she understands to be the minimum requirement for success.
I hope that you all have a fantastic season and able to accomplish something beyond yourself.
May the force be with you, always….
FinlayTorrance
