Te Hāpaitanga Residential – Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand’s Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana provide dramatic landscapes and a challenging environment conducive to personal and professional development. The Te Hāpaitanga residential will be facilitated by High Performance Snowsports Coach and NZMGA Ski Guide, Tom Willmott, and guided by some of New Zealand’s leading mountain guides.
Itinerary
Meeting at NZAC Unwin Lodge in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, participants will be kitted out with mountaineering equipment and trek up into the alpine zone to a base at Mueller Hut in the Sealey range for a few nights on a journey of self-discovery. Practical activities and theory sessions in the natural alpine setting will explore the concepts of FLOW and SELF-EFFICACY and their application to high-performance coaching.
Mountaineering and mountain guiding involve constant situational awareness to ensure both guide and client safety. Mountain guides, like high-performance coaches, are experts in Professional Judgment and Decision Making and the process of plan, act, reflect (in-action, on-action, on-action-in-context), and learn.
Action and adventure sports are synonymous with getting into the flow state, the zone, or optimal performance.
By manipulating the challenge-skill balance through a series of mountaineering activities (eg. avalanche transceiver search and rescue, abseiling, glacier crossing…), facilitators will help to shift participant skill level from novice through advanced beginner to proficiency in basic mountaineering skills. Debrief sessions will review performance relative to different emotional states encountered in the learning process, including optimal performance (flow state). Application to personal performance as a coach and the performance of athletes will be continually referenced.
Equipment
Please see the equipment list below. If you have indicated in the Registration Form that you need to borrow any items (boots, sleeping bag, gaiters, trekking poles, or backpack) these will be provided. If you have any other questions about equipment, please contact us.
Meet the Team
Tom Willmot – NZMGA Ski Guide
Graduate of the first intake of the Coach Accelerator Programme, Tom is Head Coach of Snowsports New Zealand’s Park & Pipe programme. In his 5th Winter Olympic cycle as a high-performance coach, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Coaching, a Master’s degree in Physical Education and a Professional Doctorate in Elite Performance, Tom is well versed in the application of theory to the high-performance coaching domain. Tom also works as a heli-ski and split-board guide at locations around the world. He is also a keen ice climber and mountaineer.
Anna Keeling – IFMGA / NZMGA Mountain and Ski Guide
Anna is a former multi-sport athlete (winning both the Coast to Coast One day event and the world’s first expedition-length adventure race) with a Bachelor’s degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism management. Anna trains and assesses mountain guides in both New Zealand and the USA – where she spends part of the year, and has been a long-serving volunteer for the New Zealand Mountain Guide Association. She owns and operates her own ski and mountain guiding business based in the Craigieburn mountain range in Canterbury. She is a frequent contributor to various outdoor publications and was the ski columnist for the Christchurch Press 2011-14.
Tim Steward – IFMGA / NZMGA Mountain and Ski Guide
Tim is based in Wānaka with his young family. He has been climbing, skiing, and guiding throughout the Southern Alps since arriving in New Zealand from the UK in 2008. He has climbed and skied around the world. He owns and his owns and operates her own guiding business, is currently serving as Training Officer for the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association, and is also involved in the mentoring, training, and assessing or prospective ski patrollers and mountain guides. When not out in the hills guiding or instructing, he will be usually found introducing his young family to the outdoors, away on his own adventures, or out at the local rock climbing crags.
Petrouchka Steiner-Grierson – NZMGA Ski Guide and Aspirant Mountain Guide
Petrouchka (Pet) has spent several years working as an outdoor instructor and mountain and ski guide in New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Canada, and Japan. When not guiding she will be away on a personal adventure in the mountains or cruising up hard rock climbs. She also holds a Bachelor of Music.