A love of ski teaching

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 20

A love of ski teaching

Teaching ski-ing obviously is Liz Leipold’s true vocation. Even when she was working in Australia as a ski photographer at Perisher Valley last winter she could not resist the temptation. She would take a picture of someone and then end up giving him or her a “mini lesson.”

Liz Leipold, from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is the new instruc-tor-administrator for the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Association for Disabled Skiers, arriving in Christchurch 10 days ago to start her job.

She has taken over from a New Zealander, Robyn Plummer, who will still be at Mount Hutt, but in a slightly different capacity, as an instructor in the ski school. The American has taught ski-ing at Steamboat for the last 11 years, both to the able-bodied and the disabled. One of 200 ski instructors there she supervises a small disabled ski programme which lasts for six weeks.

Her qualifications include some pretty impressive initials, Professional Ski Instructors of America (P.5.1.A.) to associate

level and National Handicapped Sports and Recreation Association (N.H.S.R.A.) level two. She also has New Zealand disabled certification.

Ski-ing "down under” is becoming quite a habit for Liz Leipold, aged 34. As well as spending the 1987 winter at Perisher Valley, Australia’s highest ski resort, she taught skiing at Coronet Peak the two southern seasons before that.

She is looking forward to ski-ing again at Mount Hutt, which the Canterbury branch of the N.Z.A.D.S. uses for its skiing programme. In 1986 she taught ski-

ing at Mount Hutt for a week after an emergency call had gone out to Coronet (by then winding down its season) for instructors.

Both ski-fields appealed to Liz Leipold who says the States did not have wide, open bowls like Mount Hutt.

The New Zealand job will give her a chance to teach the disabled for a whole season. She will be working on the mountain four days a week once the season starts, most likely on Saturdays, Sundays, Thursdays and Fridays.

That will entail quite an amount of driving backwards and forwards from Christchurch to Mount Hutt, but she says she knows what she is getting into. “The helpers will help with the driving and I’ve got a new van in excellent running order.”

Liz Leipold said that one of the things she liked most about ski-ing with the disabled was the excitement and enjoyment they got out of the sport. “I believe anybody who has the desire to ski can, no matter what their disability is.” She said that the thing about ski-ing was its freedom of movement with

virtually no constraints and restrictions.

The Canterbury branch has recently been donated a monoski (by the Rangiora Flower Arrangement Society) which is being imported from Australia in time for the opening of the mountain. This allows people in wheelchairs to ski.

Liz Leipold will no doubt have to adjust just a little to Mount Hutt after just coming from Steamboat with its 20 ski lifts and vertical drop over 1000 metres.

She was ski-ing there as recently as the end of April. "When I left there was still snow on the mountain. That’s unusual, it was a late spring this year.” Steamboat Springs itself, 3km from the ski area, used to be a ranch town, Liz Leipold said, and is now trying to be known as a ski town.

She is hopeful that Mount Hutt will at least be open in time for the first helpers’ week-end on July 2 and 3. Meantime she is impatiently waiting for a chance to get out the boards and begin the ski teaching part of her job. “I’m ready to start now.” TIM DUNBAR