Ski Instructor Demonstration Team

Each year competitive tryouts are held to fill positions on the divisional D-Team. D-Teams were originally established to fill a void between full certification and examiner status and to provide a small cohesive group that could interface between PSIA and the divisional staffs. Typically, D-Teams are composed of twelve instructors described as the top technical models of modern ski technique. D-Teamers may be involved in over thirty days of ski clinics or educational events, from fall seminars and winter day and night clinics to spring exams and summer race camps. Team members are involved in writing ski education syllabi, exam manuals, and articles for newsletters, and in planning and supporting ski-related events.

Tenure for D-Team positions is on a rotating two-year schedule, so that each year half the slots come up for grabs. Because current team members are well acquainted with the system and its requirements, it’s extremely difficult to unseat a team member competing to retain his position. Out of two dozen new candidates, perhaps only one or two may win their way into this group. Candidates are judged on skiing skills, teaching abilities, leadership qualities, personal interviews, and written work.