Month: February 2019

Laurel, Rebecca, Mitzi, Jenny, Olive, Diane – the Thursday Club ladies (the ones that aren’t broken are travelling the world). Great day, a really great day: went high early and stayed there … Imperial Bowl, CJs, Lulu’s (twice, that was amazingly cool), Stampede, Contest (steep little rascal isn’t it), White Crown, Ptarmigan, Brill’s, everything high skiing quite well … you guys crushed it today, putting all the skills together and attacking the mountain. No instruction today, not one word, none was needed. Thank you for the party, Double Black, beers, food, conversation, laughs … what a fine year it was!!!

 

Paula, Tina, Annette, Catharine – Sunday Club … a delightful day (almost like we’ve earned it), some wind (but there is always wind), blue sky, sun, dandy good skiing. Go high, stay high, Imperial, T-bar, Rustler, Horseshoe Bowl, Contest Bowl, Whales, Y Chute, Snow White, some good snow and some good for you snow (such as the first two turns on Rustler). ‘Diving’ into the turn, not up, where does the hip counter begin for the new turn, functional pole plants, NO flat spots (aka traverse) from one turn to the next on the steeps, carry some energy to help the hips cross over. Ok, that was probably enough for one day. We skied lots of vertical with some ‘don’t doze off’ snow … was that fun or what. Chocolate for breakfast and lunch … now that’s what Club is all about (or at least one aspect).

Brenda, Don, Nick, Meow – Saturday Club … got to be one of the coldest days of the year, the traverse over to Whales was death defying (really), some serious frost bite … top part of Whales a challenge (8″ of cut up powder with low visibility and a gale), once out of the wind (somewhat) the skiing was primo … Deb’s Alley another challenge as it always is – after that adventure it was a unanimous vote not to repeat. Chocolate for lunch, that always a must. No real focus … a few wedge back hops, wedge side hops (those kind of difficult), more flex (get lower) in the steep cut up snow, be sure to plant the pole, when do the hips start to face outside the turn (that was a bit of mind twist), being ‘upside down’. Everyone skiing impressively – thank you for being such dedicated skiers.

 

Elaine, Bob, Paul, Violeta, Sophie – Friday Club … and we had so much chocolate it exceeded the consumption (and that’s hard to do). Violeta’s 78th birthday, she skied Rustlers for first time (thought it was hard, she has a point), we bought her two muffins for a cake and divided them up so all could share, next year she gets a candle (we put reminders on our phones). Peak 8 bowl, Rustlers, Whales, Vertigo, Dukes, more Dukes, High A, Crescendo. Focus was on stuff that that helped ski the steeps and bumps … it’s coming together!!! One of these days another instructor will look at this class ski the steeps and say: ‘they know what there doing’ … and that day is not too far away.

Laurel, Mitzi, Rebecca, Diane, Olive – Thursday Club minus a few of the players. Good day, no wind (need to be careful writing that too loud), workable cold. Focus on leading with the new inside hip in a diagonal direction (forward and down), sets the hips to open early to the outside of the new turn, ‘upside down’ right after turn initiation, facilitates carving the round turn with ski grip right for the ‘get go’. Stayed high most of the day, CJs was worth the effort to get there. Baklava from Romania for lunch (thank you Mitzi), how cool is that – not sure that could even be had at the Ritz in Beaver Creek.

Michael & Emily – Atlanta, GA. Another delightfully cold day, 5 to 16 degrees with a healthy dose of wind, sticky grabby snow, good day for the Magic Carpet and Rip’s Ride. Gliding wedge, wedge change ups, straight run to a wed slow down/stop, easy direction change, what happens when skis are not weighted equally or steered equally, on to the Poma, how to keep the new inside foot ‘flatter’ so it doesn’t drag, matching skis in the traverse, slipping on the berm (this was the break out maneuver), two laps on Rip’s, speed control with turns and friction. Great morning, you (plural) are off and running, enjoy the vacation and hot pools.

Eugene, Johanna, Ronia – Cambridge, MA. Started out 6 degrees, maybe made it to 16 degrees, snow squall about 1:00pm that dumped 1.5 inches, did that ever make the skiing good, no wind today (not sure how that happened). Ronia was a level 4 last year, low level 7 now, this kid is rocking, dad a level 7, mom a level 8 … couple of years from now will have a hard time keeping up with them. Race course (one silver and a couple of bronze), leading with the hip, initiating with the hip, come to the new edges then anything is possible, how to steer and shape a turn, skis working together, side slips, coming off the hard edge (this is definitely a recurring theme in teaching), where is balance and how to stay there, finishing the last 10% of the turn, how each leg needs a fulcrum, some bumps, keeping the skis more parallel, Ronia first time up T-bar. This was a killer good day progress day for all, so fun to see advancement, that’s what makes teaching the passion.

Michelle – Wolverine Lake, MI … a cold day but nothing like yesterday, much less wind, a little sun, mountain most busy. Michelle no ski in five years, like riding a bicycle, no problem. What is leg steering, boot work practice, how do tipping and steering play together (been volumes of material written on this subject), not so ‘one ski’ dependent, initiating with the new inside ski (or at least not initiating with the new outside ski), how and when does the weight transfer, how to make shorter radius turns, flexion of the ankles/knees/hip, what is a balanced stance and how to maintain it throughout the turn. It was not an issue free day – husband damaged his knee, Alex had no lunch money, daughter rocked it and embraced children’s ski school. Thank you for an enjoyable day, may your week be completely hassle free … no overthinking this stuff, ok, just go out and have fun, the pieces will start to fall in place.