Given,
The initial velocity of the skier, u=0 m/s
The final velocity of the skier, v=9.57 m/s
The time duration, t=.97 s
(a)
From the equation of motion,

Where a is the acceleration of the skier.
On substituting the known values,

Thus the magnitude of average acceleration of the skier is 4.86 m/s²
(b)
The distance traveled by the skier is given by one of the equations of motion as,

On substituting the known values,

The skier travels for 9.43 m in the given time.