Area of activity:
Jegersberg, Kristiansand, Norway
Description of area:
Mostly wooded area with some open areas, well-defined tracks and paths, large lakes, streams and gradients.
Qualities of area:
Allows group to practice skiing movement on uphill, downhill and flat tracks. Group is not far from populous centre in case of emergency and there is easy access to both the group and emergency services.
The Veileder:
The Veileder (Len) selected the above area because of the qualities highlighted and because he has an extensive knowledge of the area. This allowed him to plan a route that would challenge students at varying skill levels depending on how they approached different sections of the route. The session began with instruction on different ways to carry skis and the students were allowed to decide for themselves which, if any of the described techniques they wanted to use for the hike into the skiing area. Once in the area the students were allowed to see if their wax was suitable for the snow conditions and re-wax if necessary. This technique of allowing the student to decide the best way to complete a task continued for most of the day, for example whether to take ones skis off or keep them on when going up a particularly steep hill. This allows experiential learning (Kolb 1984) to occur and with the chance to apply this learning in the near future will be of more benefit to the student than merely being dictated what to do. However having said this the students were not just given free reign; there was a set route to follow and if a person was struggling or incorrectly completing the technique they were attempting then Len stepped in with instructions. This method of instruction follows, to an extent Priest & Gass’ (2005) directed teaching styles where the leader gives control of the experience to the student but keeps control of the planning and reviewing themselves. This allows the student to experiment and explore for themselves but leaves control over things like the safety aspects of the activity to the leader.
The Student:
Because the session had to be cut short to allow the student to go to an exam, the finer movement exercises and skills activities were missed out on. Due to this the session was only really practicing and expanding on previous, basic movement skills learnt in the initial session. This consisted of experimenting with going uphill, downhill, on the flat, braking, and turning.
As there are not many opportunities to practice cross country skiing in the UK and as I have never experienced it before I cannot speak for the leadership techniques practiced in the UK. However the directed style of leadership is used in many outdoor and activity centres to great effect.
Learning Points:
More practice is required going uphill and braking as I found this difficult.
Going out on skis more often in the Jegersberg area will be a good way to develop my all round skiing technique.
Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential Learning-Experience as the Source of Education and Learning. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Priest, S. & Gass, M. (2005) Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming. 2nd Edition. Champaign, Human Kinetics.