Canadian Ski Patrol Mountain Division Ski Improvement

Details and registration info for the 2024 CSP MD Ski Improvement Clinic have been released. 

For close to five decades (we’re not sure when it started) the CSP Mountain Division has been offering ski improvement clinics to its members, their families and their friends. It is one of the most popular programs offered by the CSP Mountain Division to support and develop its members skiing and snowboarding skills and grow the skiing and snowboarding community.

Once a program enjoyed almost exclusively by CSP Mountain Division members from Alberta and the Yukon, the event now draws Canadian Ski Patrol members and their family and friends from across Canada and around the world. In recent years we’ve had attendees from the U.S., Australia, Germany, Britain and other overseas locations. We are proud and happy to welcome the world. The CSP Mountain Division has become a de facto national Canadian Ski Patrol program, and we couldn’t be happier.

The idea is to provide a comfortable, positive atmosphere with top-notch instruction that matches the needs and competencies of those attending. The ski improvement clinics are intended to be in-depth, multi-day sessions that encourage and allow attendees to explore, develop and apply new skills in small groups that build confidence, camaraderie and improve competence in skiing and snowboarding. Groups for each of skiing and snowboarding instruction are formed with attendees of similar competency levels, and there is instruction available for all, from “never-ever” to superstar of all ages.

The multiple days of instruction are wrapped up by a banquet where groups “roast” their instructors and celebrate the improvements they’ve made, the new skills they’ve developed and the new friends they’ve made. You always make new friends at Ski Improvement.

The program is offered by the CSP Mountain Division at cost, which keeps pricing affordable and the clinic within reach for as many as possible. Accommodation is always at the hill and mostly condo-style with kitchens, encouraging groups to travel to the event and cultivating the active social dimensions of the clinics.

Over the years the venues have included Lake Louise, Fernie and Panorama. Since 2013, the clinic has been held at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, just outside of Golden, British Columbia. It’s about 3.5 hours west of Calgary by car and offers breathtaking scenery, world-class terrain and lifts, ski-in/ski-out accommodations (40 feet from the gondola!) and fabulous instruction by the Kicking Horse Winter Sports School. The idea is to improve your skills in a safe, supportive, team-oriented, comfortable – but most of all fun, environment.

Demand for the event has grown steadily over the past decade, leading to sell-out clinics in 2015 and 2016. In 2017 the clinic moved to offering two separate weeks, each accommodating up to 100 people. In 2020 both weeks reached sell-out levels. On each week the event begins on a Sunday night with a meet and great, includes four days of instruction Monday through Thursday, a host’s party, a banquet on the Thursday night, and a program-free day on Friday to enjoy your new skills. In 2023, we offered three weeks for the first time. All weeks sold out.

For more information on the 2024 CSP Mountain Division Ski Improvement Clinic, please click here.

Many clinic attendees return year after year, with regulars making the trip from Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, PEI – and of course Alberta and British Columbia. We are proud to have included guests from as far away as the U.K., Germany and Australia.