Preface

Avoiding dogma

...and the reason why this book is on the web, and why it isn't made to be easily printed

Since the initial publication of this manual in 1990, Nordic skiing has matured yet further in Australia and is beginning to develop discernible specialist branches. With the increasing popularity of skating, and telemarking, today's Nordic ski instructor is faced with having to know and understand much more about the wide variety of skills and techniques available to Nordic skiers. The aim of this manual is to present a unified approach to Nordic skiing, recognising that as instructors we should be able to offer skills improvement in all areas of skiing.

For the benefit of beginning Instructors, more methodological guidance is given in this edition of the manual. However, as with the earlier edition, stereotypical teaching, and the dogma often associated with ski instruction, is less prominent, and the focus is kept squarely on a more lateral, or experimental, approach.

This is the mark of an instructor who will not only enjoy a better success rate, but who will also remain inspired and exhilarated by the delights of teaching Nordic skiing. Intended to be a reflection of this approach, this manual is an aggregation of my own experiences, and that of the many instructors with whom I have had contact over the past 13 years.

Why on the web?

The answer lies in the desire of the author to increase the level of instructor awareness beyond the reach of the printed manual, which was (from 1990 to 1999) the official Nordic Instructor Manual for all Ski Australia's National Coach and Instructor Scheme (NCIS) courses. I'm hoping that it will form the basis of the APSI Nordic courses manual. Even if it does not, I am confident that the bulk of what I have written will find its way into their course material.

Whilst it is understood that not all instructors have access to the web, the medium offers greater potential for distribution, albeit at a cost to the publisher rather than the consumer! The purpose of the manual was not a money-making enterprise (and indeed it has not been), but rather to offer insights and a heightened sense of awareness in those who explore, learn, and teach cross-country skiing.

Why make it hard to print from my browser?

Although what you see on screen may look pretty good, all of the images that are scattered throughout the manual look pretty terrible when printed at screen resolution. I haven't yet sorted them out, nor have I broken the pages up into more manageable chunks. But I will. I have not chosen to produce an Acrobat version of these pages (my views about the usefulness of acrobat documents and slow modems is unprintable), but will do so when time and resources permit. At that point it will become easier to print the lot and I may even be happier knowing that the content won't be cut and pasted across the universe.

I also believe that reading from a screen is a completely different process to that of curling up with a book. No doubt many will attempt to print these web pages and refer to them in book form, hence the need for me to retain most of the book characteristics in these web documents. But please remember that I still retain copyright over all of this material, including the pictures.

Ivan Trundle