Breckenridge Ski Lesson Pictures And Some Food For Thought

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.

Tom & Patricia: Irving, TX. Think I opened a door for your skiing today, now it’s time to practice many thousands of turns, slips, hockey slides, hops, big radius, short radius, don’t get in a rut, as many different ‘things’ you can do with your skis the more accomplished the skills. A cold day, several breaks, some hot chocolate, inside tech session on how to release and steer. Focus and drills: tipping the new inside ski to release (so it doesn’t get hung up in a wedge), leg steering, skidding (this is so important), releasing (tipping, whatever works for you to call it) both skis together (this is ‘neutral buoyancy’), sequence: release, start to pressure the new outside ski (weight shift), start to steer both skis together, most of weight on outside ski (maybe 70% or so), skid the skis to shape the turn (don’t be too edgy, lower edge angle), stay lower, feel pressure of shins on front of boots, flex both legs (don’t be ‘bracey’ on the outside ski with too straight of a leg), hopping finds the balance stance, flatter skis have more friction and are easier to steer/shape/skid. OK, that should be enough to work on tomorrow. Great day, pleasure meeting you two and having some laughs along with the teaching and experimenting with new technique. Happy diving. Next year, ok? Cheers.

Sunday Club: Kay, Catharine, Don, Tina. Tons of powder, another 8 inches of light and fluffy last night, such a different animal compared to last Friday. Focus: can we make the commitment of simultaneous edge change with hips crossing over the skis (upside down) when the snow gets deep and the terrain gets steep. Answer: ‘sometimes yes, sometimes no’. Short radius turns (almost pivot), slice the tomato, strong torque, don’t tolerate just standing on the edged ski and watching the world go by. Contest bowl, Rustler, Pica, Ptarmigan (even the top rocky part was good today), 4 O’clock, chocolate for lunch. Today some of the best skiing of the year … well done to all, challenging terrain while trying to think technique … my god, if this got any more difficult they would call it golf.

Saturday Club: Brenda, Don, Sophie, Terry, Ernie, Kari. Nice day, windy (of course) but not that uncomfortable, lots of ‘snow devils’ whirling about. Serious crowds today, wow, I70 tonight will not be fun. Focus: powder skiing (more like cut up, set up, better buck up snow), video, the clean transition to both new edges SIMULTANEOUSLY continues to be a goal, pressuring the skis around the turn, never losing ‘greeeppp’, not squaring up (how many times has that cropped up in these posts, won’t be the last time), aggression, don’t hang on to the turn too long, actually look at ski tips during the ‘float’ to see them transition and steer into the new turn (cant’ believe I’m actually saying to look at your skis, oh well, why not). Most challenging skiing today, well done group! Rustler was hard, huh? We are not through with that run. Take care in the next two weeks off.

Friday Club: Ernie, Phil, Bob, Terry, Terry, Gina, Sophie, Don (always seems to be odd with the instructor). Powder day! 19 inches new, heavy, this stuff was tough until it got some tracks in it, not a day like this in quite a few years. Focus: alignment (balance), staying forward, clean release, shin pressure, does the pole touch really initiate the turn (don’t think so), patience, more rotary (but can’t over do it), more even pressure on both skis (but not 50/50), DON’T sit back, DON’T lift the new inside ski, DON’T over pressure the outside ski. Challenging day – so much fun!