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Instructor Ken Walters

Ken has been enamored of skiing since he first began Alpine skiing in 1971. He was fortunate to be able to combine this love and work first in 1972 with a job on the U.S. Army Ski Patrol in Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany, then again in 1976 and '77 on the professional ski patrol at the Arizona Snow Bowl, AZ.

In 1974 Ken started cross country skiing, which he found far more entertaining than lift serviced skiing. With cross country skiing, one could (and this one did) ski anywhere, everywhere there was snow—total freedom, total fun. Backcountry skiing, cross country ski racing, it was all great fun. And sharing the fun with others was also great, and led to his becoming a Professional Ski Instructors of America Full Certified Nordic Instructor in January 1977. Then it was time to combine play and work again: Nordic Director for the Arizona Snow Bowl, Flagstaff, AZ (9/77 to 4/79); Nordic Ski School Director then owner of Sacred Mountain Ski Tours, Flagstaff, AZ (9/82 to 4/92); Nordic Director at the North Rim Nordic Center, Grand Canyon, AZ (8/92 to 4/96).

At the same time, there were other fascinating things to learn about snow and skiing. In the winter of 1977-78, Ken attended the two-week National Avalanche School, then helped found the San Francisco Mountain Avalanche Project (1978-84) to do more research into the avalanche phenomenon and pass the information on to the public via avalanche clinics. Continued ski education resulted in certification (by PSIA) as a Backcountry Ski Instructor in 1982 and as a Certified Level III Nordic Coach by the U.S. Ski Coaches Association in 1988.
 
Since 1995 Ken has been a part of the PSIA Education Staff, teaching ski instructor clinics and certifying instructors for both Cross Country and Backcountry. Since 1996 he has been lead instructor at the Flagstaff Nordic Center, and since 1999 he has been a coach at North America’s premier cross country race camp held every November in West Yellowstone, MT.