Month: February 2020

Diana – Macon, GA. Now that was good skiing for a southern girl! Once again no clouds, just amazing, two days in a row is unheard of, but take it! Getting rid of the ‘ride the rail’ (seems to be a theme, and so goes the L5 skier), tipping, side slips, hockey slides, open the hips to the outside of the turn (dang, how many times does that show up in these evening blogs), shaping and friction for speed control, don’t rush the transition, tip to release, let the tips drop into the fall line, stay off the high edge (it is not your brake), hockey slides, downhill slides, don’t panic when it gets steep (the hard edge on ice is not your friend). Thank you for the day, absolutely amazing you are out here on your own and taking lessons to improve!!

Kathy (Akron), Andy (Wisconsin), Lewis (NY), Brooke (NY), Beth (Boston). Sunny, not a cloud in the sky all day (seriously), comfortable temperature, think we have earned this day. Focus: getting rid of the wedge and reliance on riding the edge (not an easy thing to do), side slips, skids, hockey slides (groomed and bumps), releasing skis together, tipping before steering, guiding both skis in parallel, hands on knees, staying lower with flexed ankles/knees/hip, shaping turn with leg steering, using more of the bottom of the skis, friction and direction of travel for speed control, uphill arcs, counter (hips facing outside of turn), arms more in athletic position (getting ready for the pole plant, maybe that next lesson), patience at initiation, don’t be too twisty, turn shape more of a semi-circle. One ride up T-bar, Four O’clock, small bumps on Crescendo. A new mantra on what this ‘skiing’ is all about. Now for a few thousand turns to practice. Fun day – well done!!

Johanna & Ronia (Bullet) – Cambridge, MA. This was a good day, go high and find some ‘stuff’, Whales, Vertigo, Y Chutes, Imperial Ridge, some bumps, not many trees. Good flexion of the lower joints, counter with the hips (keep them open to the turn), hops during turns, one ski traverse, turns on inside ski (these are hard), side slip on uphill ski (these are hard also), arm position, pole plants, race course with no gates (why not, makes it a lot quicker), definitely some cut up snow, five double black runs. You guys crushed it!!! Have a great summer, see you next winter about this time. Cheers.

Will & Clark – Renton, VA. Another snowy day, maybe 8 inches new, and it was light, not too cold, but cold enough hot chocolate tasted good. Getting Clark out of the wedge the mission: hops, hop turns, hop in transition, hockey stops, shuffles, a few trees, taking turns leading, first day with poles (that attitude turned around by day’s end), staying more forward. Thank you for hanging with ‘Bob’, three years from now we will be skiing double blacks!!

Arianna, Alonso, Mateo – Peru. These kids have traveled the world, seen many sights. First time skiing (well, Arianna had been once at Mammoth) … back to the carpet, do the wedge thing until it’s consistent, down to Rip’s Ride, wedge into the Poma practice area, start changing direction in the wedge, now do the same with slight matching in the traverses, everyone learning quickly, everyone getting hungry (on a different eating schedule in Peru), once down Trygve’s, that turned out ok, so back up and down again. Not bad at all for first day on skis (and it was only 1/2 a day)!

Lauren, Kattie – Oklahoma. Starting on the magic carpet, making a wedge, sliding wedge, wedge change ups, wedge stops (that’s a lot of wedging). On to Rips Ride, follow the leader, changing direction for speed control, matching (just a little) in the traverses, riding the Poma, flexing ankles and knees, not sitting back, hop for balance. Nice morning ladies, don’t let your husbands push you too hard, take it at your pace to practice!!

Frat Rats: Mike, Greg, Sam, Chuck, Browning, Skiles … like clock work, every President’s weekend. Definitely found some ‘interesting’ snow, some good, some good for you. Brill’s, Whales, Y Chutes, Forget Me Not, Outlaw, Rustler, King, B-50 ridge, hike peak 7, Magic Carpet, Crescendo, Daydream, Bliss. Position of strength, quieter arms (set up for pole plant), tip before twist at transition, opening the knee to bring the CM forward and inside the new turn, one ski drill to drop the tip of new inside ski on snow, maintain edge grip at top of turn, rounder turns, counter balance with upper body, counter rotate with hips, patience at transition, feel the new edge then steer. One of best days, get to hang as an ‘associate member’ of fraternity and ski the whole mountain. Don’t get too wild … but wild enough!! Thank you.

Jesse – West Palm, FL. Valentine’s Day, sunny, warm, almost ‘weird’ seeing the bright orb with no clouds. Elevate class, one on one – thanks Stew, that was a treat. Taking away the edge (well, most of it anyway), learning to slide both skis simultaneously, skidding and shaping, friction and turning for speed control, more flexion in the knees, position of strength, hockey slides, leg rotation, turning both skis together, future (pole touch), most flexed at transition, outside leg gets a ‘little’ longer in middle of turn, pressuring the outside ski, easy bumps, holding a tighter line, cheated death from the ‘straight liner’ on North Star (that was an adrenaline hit), learned that B12 needs to be checked with blood work (thanks for that doc). A delightful day, opening up the door to proper fundamentals and movement patterns.