Leelanau School continues ski tradition of Hans “Peppi” Teichner

From staff reports

The long connection with skiing at The Leelanau School continues on, as the small boarding school in Glen Arbor has added to its curriculum an opportunity for students to become certified ski instructors. Spending daily class-time skiing during the five-week winter term is part of the experiential learning philosophy of the 90-year-old school. The Leelanau School has a long history of skiing instruction which began decades ago under Hans “Peppi” Teichner.

Teichner came to The Leelanau School in the late 1940s after coaching the Spanish Olympic Ski team and serving in the 10th Mountain Division in World War II. While Teichner coached at Leelanau School, he also directed ski schools in Traverse City and managed the Sugar Loaf Winter Sports project.

To his Leelanau School students, Teichner was more than a coach. According to Bill Winslow, class of 1958, “The last time I saw Peppi was at my track meet in Traverse City. I am pretty sure he was very ill at the time but he took the time to come watch me run the 880-yard run. He was an original; all the kids really liked him.”

Teichner can rightfully be called the “founder” of skiing in this region. The enthusiasm he generated was directly responsible for the “explosion” of interest in skiing in northern Michigan. He immediately recognized the need for trained ski instructors so he researched and developed standards and procedures for certifying instructors and presented these rules in 1955 to the Central United States Ski Association convention in Traverse City where they were adopted immediately. Teichner was one of the first certified Central United States Ski Association ski instructors and one of the instructors and examiners of candidates for certification.Hans “Peppi’ Teichner was elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1967.

Keeping the snow sports teaching legacy alive are four Leelanau School students, who in January 2019 were certified as ski and snowboard instructors through the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI). Ron Shepard, executive director at PSIA-AASI Central States helped coordinate the Leelanau students’ certification process through Crystal Mountain. Shepard’s son Riley graduated from The Leelanau School in 2014 and received his Alpine Levels 1 and 2 while still in high school, and, not surprisingly, was the winner of the Hans “Peppi” Teichner Award at Leelanau in 2014. Riley is making his career in the ski industry and has worked at Crystal Mountain, Steamboat, Aspen, Mt. Hutt in New Zealand and is currently teaching skiing in Japan.

The process of certification required a written test, taking a workshop and observing classes at Crystal Mountain ski school and culminated with a two-day training and testing by members of the PSIA-AASI Central Division. Jacob Roth, a junior from West Bloomfield, Mich., and Lance Berland, junior from Atlanta, both received the Snowboard Level 1 certification. Cecelia Denton, a junior from Leelanau County and Jacob Haines, a senior from Caro, Mich., received Alpine Level 1 certification.

Ron Shepard said, “The Level 1 certification process seems pretty straightforward, but participants learn much more than they may be able to articulate. Participants have to conform to a standard, and change the way they see a ‘sport’. They need to break their activity into its component parts, and understand how to describe, how to demonstrate, and how to assess performance. They have to develop the critical reasoning to determine if the real performance is within range of the ideal performance, to go back or to move forward.

They learn to read their students emotional cues, and to pace their content and delivery. They learn to manage risk and fear, and employ both in the course of their lesson. In some respects, ski and snowboard instruction is a lot like salesmanship-one has to identify a need (emotional or physical) and to address that need in a manner that matches the student.

While participating, these new instructors also learn to mirror the behavior of their examiner, as that person models good teaching and class handling. Their examiner draws them out of their shell, and helps them overcome personal fears- fear of falling or failing, of looking ‘dumb’— every candidate faces those, and with the support of their clinician/examiner, they prevail.”

Tricia Denton, mother of Cecelia said, “What an amazing opportunity and recognition of the diverse ways in which students learn and can contribute to their community in meaningful ways. She thrives when able to engage through movement in the outdoors, hands on experiential learning and teaching.”

Bruce and Laura Hood took over ski instruction at Leelanau School in 1993, and have taught hundreds of students over the years. Laura said, “We had four students this year with good mountain skills that were ready to push themselves towards becoming certified instructors. We are all very proud of them. For these students it was a good opportunity to push them a bit, and to help them pass on their love of the sport to the next generation, much as Peppi did at Leelanau 70 years ago.”

This story was written by Leelanau School’s director of advancement, Julie Povolo.