Sitski Tetherer Quick Reference Guide (QRG) – Mount Pakenham Adaptive Snow School

Inexperienced to Intermediate Tethering

CADS Mission

Canadian Adaptive Snowsports (CADS) provides opportunities for people with disabilities to experience the joy of participating and competing in alpine snowsports. CADS achieves this by developing and promoting adaptive snowsports through partnerships, training and instructor certification programs.

Alpine Responsibility Code & Terminology

Terminology

The person in the sitski is referred to as the sitskier or skier
The person attached to the sitski via the tethers is referred to as the tetherer or sitski instructor
The person teaching the tetherer is the tetherer instructor or tetherer coach
The program coordinator is the person in charge of the overall program where the instruction and skiing takes place
The Mount Pakenham CADS program daily supervisor is the senior instructor assigned as the point of contact for all CADS related matters at the hill for that day and/or evening
A biski is a sitski that uses 2 skis (with or without handheld outriggers)
A quadski is a biski with fixed outriggers attached
A monoski is a sitski with only 1 ski attached

Equipment

Enabling Technologies Sitski

Dynamique Biski

Enabling Technologies Dynamique Biski

Weight – 43 pounds

Dynamique Quadski

CADS Mt Pakenham Canuck 1 (in Canada 150 Colours)

Weight – 50 pounds with fixed outriggers, skier handle, wide instructor handle & full foot plate

Monique Monoski

Enabling Technologies Monique Monoski

Weight – 38 pounds

Parts of a Sitski

Biski Rear View Single Tether Mounting Point Bitski Rear View Dual Tether Mounting Points Biski Side View Exploded Parts

The Basics

Key Principle: Learning by Doing

Learning to be a tetherer is a process, one that can take many hours of practice to master.
Learning is focused on understanding the tetherers role, the equipment and the basics of sitskiing and sitski tethering.
Good tethered sitskiing is a combination of “an art and a science” – a good tetherer is an artist who works in concert with a sitskier generating an experience like a smooth flowing, synchronized and effortless dance down the hill – to get to this point, a good understanding of the physics of the sitski and the hill are important.

Role of a Tetherer

Safety
Fun Generator
Assist with skiing
Coaching/instruction: Sitskier learning & improvement while having fun
Mentor
Ski buddy

Basic Skills required of a Tetherer

Having Fun while being Safe
The 4 Cs:
- Compassion, Communication, Confidence, Control
Ability to snowplow and hockey stop (edge control)
Intermediate or better skier
360-degree situation awareness
Ability to Multi-Task

Most Important Thing you can do to assist a Sitskier in Turning

Put the Sitski on Edge

Key Learning Points and Tethering Exercises

Key Learning Points

Helmets are mandatory
CADS jackets preferred – Vests mandatory for those without jackets
Weight considerations
Hill space required for a tethered sitski (see graphic below)
Use of Blockers – back and/or front
Understanding degrees and the clock system (see graphic below)
Stay away from the very edge of runs and coming too close to obstacles
Speed management
Thumbing (hands on instructor handle) is useful over flats, pushing sitskiers to lifts or for specific coaching moments but it is essentially skiing for the sitskier which is not our aim
Falling is learning – falling is different than crashing or tumbling
Incidents: 3 categories
- Minor incident – no ski patrol / no resort staff involved
- Minor incident – ski patrol or resort staff involved (i.e. on scene)
- Injury (Sitskier, Tetherer, Blocker or resort patron)
Always stop out of the way and in conspicuous places
Importance of terrain features – flats vs. slopes, steep incline vs gradual incline, rolls and bumps
Highlight single and double (off-axis) fall lines
Communications between tetherer and sitskier are critical

Sitski Tetherer Training & Exercises – No Sitski

Snowplow/wide and narrow wedge
Pedal turns
Skate/hockey stops
Side-slip & Falling Leaf
Snowplow into Skidded Parallel or traditional Stem Christie
Synchro skiing – connected turns
Individual practice of exercises/skiing manoeuvres above
Pairs practice of exercises/skiing manoeuvres above
- Start with shadowing
- Bamboo Pole
- Waist tether

Sitski Tetherer Training & Exercises – With Sitski

New Tetherer – Preferably, start with a weighted quadski (2/3-30 lb sand bags), then an experienced sitskier, then a new or inexperienced sitskier – in that order
Equip overview, strap-in, safety check/walk-around, confirm operating properly
Getting to the lift/hill plan/loading/unloading

Top of Hill

Weather/Conditions/Run plan/Communications/Blocker Responsibilities
Beginner Run initially
Attaching tethers
- Loop the tether through itself (Girth Hitch) around either your wrist or forearm with the straight part inside of the arm, in a way so that when you wrap the slack around your hand the girth hitch cinches around your wrist and the tether exits parallel to your thumb as it goes to the sit ski.
- Do not place the girth hitch above your elbow as there is then a direct pull on your shoulder. With the loop over your forearm there is some force absorption with your lower arm, and therefore less risk to your shoulder joint.
- Adjust the girth hitch above your gloves. A failure to do so could result in the runaway sitski if the gloves are pulled off during a fall.
- Wrap the slack around your hand, so the girth hitch tightens while being wrapped. This slack should be taken up under tension and equal on both hands so that each palm has a tight wrap of equal loops. Starting with unequal tether lengths is very uncomfortable and may lead to unintentional tension on the wrong tether.
- There should be a couple of feet of excess tether between the tetherer and sitski which gives you a good starting position when you release the sitski. While some slack is good, too much slack where the tethers are dragging on the snow is inviting the tethers to get caught around parts of the sitski or around parts of the tetherers skis or ski binding(s).

Blocker’s Role and Tasks

Blockers are safety facilitators and assistants
Blockers remain “inside” and high … create areas of protection leading the sitskier and tetherer
Blockers can also lead up front and create a protection zone where trails merge or there is significant amount of congestion (e.g. lift line entrances)
When blockers are creating a protection zone in a blind area, raise hands above shoulders at 45 degrees
When the sitskier and tetherer are visible from above, blockers point in direction of travel

Demo Teaching Points

Basic tether ski position (Angle inside of turn; appropriate length of tether for speed and terrain (use GS picture drawn on snow)
Tether tension (using steering wheel or banked hand position)
Tether positions/height/movement
Tetherer Positioning – Approx. 45 deg in general off the 6 o’clock (line directly behind the skier) or 4:30/7:30 clock positions (see below)
Appropriate use of terrain (run selection, not too close to edge, not going straight over rolls, blind drops, etc.)
Turn Shape – keeping the turns round – the key is speed management
Skiers Needs – call the turns and communicate with the sitskier
Demonstrate 4 types of stops
- Gravity-assisted
- Snowplow
- Hockey
- Emergency (Fast hockey stop in the appropriate direction)