Edelweiss Volunteering

Volunteer ski partners are the core of our program. We need intermediate or better skiers (parallel skiing) who can devote at least six weekend days to skiing with us. Volunteers must be at least 15 years old, own their own equipment and have transportation to the ski hill. If you would like to volunteer, please contact the Program Coordinator.

Volunteer Appreciation and Incentives

As each skier requires at least one volunteer (and often two) as partners, the number of skiers that Edelweiss can accept into its program safely is tied directly to the number of volunteers available. To this end, since 2007/08 we have capped our skier total at 0.7 times the number of volunteers available.

Pre-Season Training

Before the start of the program, a two day training session is offered to all ski partners. The session lasts from 8:30am until 3pm, with most of the time being spent on the hill. Trainees are assigned to a certified instructor who takes them through all the skills and knowledge needed to perform the role of a ski partner. It is very important that all volunteers, new or returning attend the training sessions as it provides our first opportunity to walk through changes to the program, review safety requirements, and most of all, improve our skiing and teaching techniques!

There are two distinct streams, one for people who wish to tether sit skis and the other for everyone else. See the schedule for the dates of the training weekend. Sit ski tetherers will be required to return for a second day of training and evaluation.

New to 2015: there will be clinics offered at Calabogie as well as Edelweiss for the sit ski stream. Sign up for Calabogie will be in December.

On-going Support

During the course of the program, instructors will be visiting skiers and their ski partners and providing instruction to both. This is augmented by Tuesday night ski improvement sessions at 7pm for all partners, where you can work on improving their own skiing abilities..

In addition, supervisors are available throughout each program day for guidance.

 

Certification

We encourage our experienced volunteers to become certified CADS ski instructors, and even certified CASI ski instructors. But it’s not necessary to be certified to start.

Schedule of CADS courses within the NCD area 2016

 

 

 

  Program Coordinator:
Jeff Boucher

email EdelweissProgram@CADS-NCD.ca
613-884-3637