Luc Neron selected for Canadian Interski Team

After three years of attending assessments for the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA) Interski Team, Sun Peaks Resort LLP instructor Luc Neron has been named to the prestigious team. It’s the second time in history an instructor from Sun Peaks has made the roster to represent Canada internationally.

Neron will go on to represent Canada at the Interski Congress in Pamporovo, Bulgaria in March 2019. The event is considered to be the Olympics of ski instructing.

“This team represents a lot of research and development, they represent a ton of passion for building our industry,” said Warren Jobbitt, head coach of the Canadian Interski Team.“They go to this event, when they come back they go straight back to their ski schools, get right back in the trenches and start teaching skiing again.”

The team, made up of five instructors from Western Canada and five from Eastern Canada, is selected out of a pool of 100 CSIA Level four certified ski instructors. Over the years of assessments, the pool was narrowed down to the top 45 instructors in Western Canada. Among the top 45 were two from Sun Peaks, Luc Neron and Anne Terwiel, both who advanced to the final assessment.

The instructors are evaluated on their skiing technique and ability to run a workshop delivering teaching methodologies.

Jobbitt was looking for candidates with precise, adaptable and fast skiing techniques, all of which Neron excelled in.

“He has been working really hard on his skiing the last few years, he has been really dedicated to getting out there training, doing a lot of video reviewing his skiing. Refining it to a point where he was the best skier we had,” said Jobbitt.

Reflecting on her experience at the interski assessment Terwiel said the skiing test was the most challenging portion.

“You’re at the very top harnessing all the power that you can harness without getting over-amped or too nervous for me that was the biggest challenge,” said Terwiel.
Terwiel excelled in the teaching assessment scoring in the top five per cent of instructors, giving her hope for the next time she tries out.

Although she wasn’t successful in making the team this year, she said being in the room when they announced Neron to the roster was a thrill.

Neron is one of two athletes to make the team without any prior Interski experience, which Jobbitt said will allow the team to ramp up their skiing.

“Having a very experienced team I expect this team to start at a very high level. I’m looking for this team to be far and above the best team we’ve ever sent to one of these events,” he said.

In preparation for next year’s Interski Congress, Neron and his fellow teammates will work on their skiing skills to learn to ski uniform as a team.

“At the event, there’s a number of shows that we do where we ski as a full team of 10. It’s a choreographed run where it could be dangerous at times when they’re crisscrossing at high speeds coming down the slope all 10 of them,” said Jobbitt.

Along with their routine, the team will conduct a workshop where they teach participants from 32 other countries about Canadian teaching methodologies and techniques.

The Interski Congress is designed as an educational event in which upwards of 1,800 of the top ski instructors can learn and show their skills off on the global stage. For the Canadian Interski program, the goal is to help build lifelong skiers across the country.