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Tutor Training Day – Chill Factore
UK Snowsports’ tutor training day at the Chill Factore in Manchester was an early start for me. The 190 mile drive up was in thick fog most of the way but I managed to arrive on time ready to go.
After a nice cup of hot chocolate I made my way to the meeting room and met a lot of old faces and some new ones all in a good mood and raring for the chance to ski on the real stuff for a change.
Having already attended The Gloucester training day I was lucky to go straight out on the slope in a group with the senior tutors. Once there we were split into smaller groups for a coaching session with a senior tutor.
We had a discussion about the current views on training and methods and then put the ideas into practice. Richard Barbour was looking after 2 of us and very soon had spotted and helped to resolve some of the minor faults we had picked up over the years since qualifying, as well as guiding us into understanding and executing the new ideas.
After a quick lunch we gathered again on the hill with the rest of the group and continued exploring innovations in teaching that were being discussed which included making better use of the attributes of the “carving” ski in the development of skiers.
It was a very productive day for all who attended and my thanks to Tim, Chris,John, Richard, Mike and the others involved in setting it up and delivering the day. The Chill Factore is a fantastic venue and many thanks to Pete Hinde and the staff.
For me the day ended on a high, thanks to Richard I had corrected a lot of the minor faults that had crept into my personal skiing and had a lot of new ideas to take back to my club and ski slope. I must also thank Incline Sports for the great deal they did on my new Stöckli cross pro skis, despite my misgiving about using them for the first time on a day like this they proved to be more than adequate to the task.
Days like this are useful to all of us as the opportunity to exchange ideas and ski with our peers are few and far between. I have argued for many years about the need for a coaches development plan and now we have it, THANKS. I look forward to the next one.
John (Benny) Hill IVSI Uk snowsports L4 coach / Tutor | 
