Breckenridge Ski Lesson Pictures And Some Food For Thought

Manu, Mita, Riya, Sonali – good progress for all … Riya and Sonali riding Rips Ride and skiing down with no assistance, Manu another run on Chair 5 and now starting to understand and have progress with ‘slipping’ the ski for speed control and shape … Mita can turn left now (surely you will sleep better at night) and making laps on Poma. Have fun at the tubing hill and skiing on Saturday – was a productive day!

Manu, Mita, Riya, Sona – first day (level 1). Start on Magic Carpet for 1.5 hours then progress to Poma. Working on gliding wedge, turning wedge, staying balanced, matching at end of turn, not being so ‘stiff’, using turns to manage speed, learning to slip.  At end of day: Manu level 3, Mita level 2, Riya level 3, Sona level 2. Get those kids in Kids Ski School, it will be a fun and productive day for them. Cheers to all.

Dave, Anh, Adrew …a lot of diversity and drills today (I like this picture, it is a good one). Let’s see if I can remember: four things for Anh (more upper body down the mountain, hands lower and forward, pole plant, separation between upper/lower body – you did amazing well at these tasks), for Dave and Andrew: hop turns, pivot turns, inside ski turns, outside ski turns, less edge and more skid with shape, ankle flexion, less big turns with lots of edge, bump tactics (where to initiate, where to shape, where to avoid), pivot slips, video, pole touches, run-away ski (that thing took off like a rocket), supple legs in the bumps (keep the head level), fore/aft ankle shuffles, back and forth shuffles, and more stuff I can’t remember. Don’t give up on the pivot turns and fore/aft ankle shuffles – do some every day – you will get better. Congrats on your new ‘digs’, must feel good – have a great week – it was a good day!

Joey – Alexander, AR (a Razor Back fan for sure). Sunny and warm again, snow still skiing well. More activity on inside ski (two traverses a day for this drill), initiate with new inside ski and let it help shape through out the turn, speed control from gravity, pole touches, let the waist twist (coil, anticipation, counter) happen on every turn to facilitate leg steering and turn initiation, pivots (practice four of these every day). Enjoy the vacation … better luck next year with March Madness.

Rich, Beverly, Max – level 8. Sunny day, blue sky … explore the mountain, a little technique and tactics. Max, good luck with ski racing next year … was fun to ski bumps and off piste with you this afternoon.

Leanne, Alexandria, Andrew, Areana – what a mixed bag of skiing today … from working on keeping the upper body quiet and letting the legs and skis do the work (plus a pole touch) to hiking Peak 8 and exploring Snow White and Zoot Shoot. Snow cone snow on Snow White, winter snow on George’s Thumb. T-bar time and White Crown for Leanne (looking good in new helmet and goggles) and Alexandria. Thank you family for a great (and interesting) week of skiing … have a safe summer wherever it may take you, see you again in December (that is unless you just happen to be passing through Moab).

Early church with Frank and Andrew, a binding issue with Frank’s skis, that had to hurt. Alexandria in the morning working on more downhill knee flexion, shorter radius turns with smearing, keep the rhythm going, lots of T-bar action with off piste snow – good job Moose/Mouse, what a change for you this year, I’m impressed and surely you must feel excited about your skiing. Afternoon with all (Areana, Andrew, Alexandria and Mary) – hand position (not letting the uphill hand/arm drop back), staying aggressive and balanced, starting turn with inside ski and not ‘lifting’, early and aggressive edge engagement of both skis. All the Latudas now ‘upper mountain rats’ … what a journey.

LeAnne & Alexandria – starting to work the upper mountain, now entering the level 7 domain. Pole plants, engage new edges before steering, more ‘counter’ to keep from ‘closing’ the turn, no pause between turns (link um with some rhythm). All the ‘stuff’ we did on the lower mountain we now bring to steeper slopes and more off piste (not to worry,no trees and only ‘little’ bumps).