Breckenridge Ski Lesson Pictures And Some Food For Thought

Riley from Dallas (or somewhere close by). Main focus (well, actually the only focus) ‘eliminate the wedge and replace with more simultaneous ski turning, shaping and skidding’. Skidding exercises, leg rotation on the PVC pipe, more rhythm, how to get out of the wedge once it forms. Happy riding and basketball Riley … good to meet you!

Martha, Jimmy, Billy – focus: eliminate the ‘pivot and skid’ – replace with the ‘tip and shape’. Pole balance, turn on inside ski exercises. More turn shape, earlier edge (both edges) engagement, upper/lower body separation, let the inside ski lead/let the outside ski support the forces generated in the turn. Enjoy retirement! Thank you for your ‘heady’ questions.

Rob, Michelle, Kaden, Robert – Dallas … you guys ski quiet well for living so far away (and only doing this once a year).Made all five peaks with ease – Peak 6 the best I think (although our one run off the T-bar down Pica was a good one). Upper body stability, arm discipline and pole plant (forever more now Michelle), keeping skis on the snow, more tip and shape with less rotate and skid, patience with turn initiation, let gravity speed you up and slow you down, 360s, pivot slips (don’t give up on these, they will come) … Kaden and Robert learning to navigate the mountain on their own (not as big as learning to drive, but none the less important). Thank the four of you for a delightful day!

Laurel, Joe, Mitzi, Paola, Olive, Pat, Chong – screaming level 8s. Think these pictures tell the tale, there was some world class ‘crud’out there today, such good snow for you. ‘Dunes’ was a piece of work, ski the whale backs, only way to get through it. Everything about the edge today … how hard can it be. Thank you Paola and Mark for the Living Room social hour … so civilized compared to the Tbar. Have a great month ‘guys’ … be save and have fun … see you on April 9th.

Donna, Nancy, Meow, Kay, Roman, Steve, Paul Penny, Ciaran – Level 7. Right into the thick of it this morning – three runs on Rustler and two on Outlaw … and an interesting morning it was, a few situations brought up the need to discuss the basics of ‘self arrest’ when sliding on steep slopes. A few bumps in the afternoon with a bit of video. Focus: active lower body, stabilize the upper torso, start to get an early edge change before any twisting or rotary movements. Sunny and warm, Imperial chair busted for most of the day, lot of 6 chair and the front bowl. It’s a ‘journey’ with a lot of smiles along the way.

Laurel, Mitzi, Chong, Paula, Olive, Joe, Pat – What a great Crazy 8 day … could have been one of the best ski days of the year. Wind gusting to 50mph, snow loading all day in Horseshoe and Imperial, chalky with no bumps, will not get conditions like this more than several times a year. Focus: prime joint for fore/aft balance = ankle. This was a ‘light bulb day’, conditions just right to feel the skis arch and experiment with letting the lower body coil with the femurs rotating to allow the skis to shape across the fall line with a tight radius.

For some reason ‘March’ brings thoughts of spring, flowers, grass, trees – all that stuff … but not today! What more can be said than Georges Thumb … might not have that timing for years … it was our day. Most challenging event – pole balance down Horseshoe Bowl, that is not easy – without having that stabilizing pole plant turn initiation is a challenge. Found Julie at the bottom, she had got stuck in kind of a tree well but got herself out in about five minutes – glad we went back and looked, the right decision. Welcome to March Madness.

Great day of skiing and exploring Peaks 6,7,8 and 9 … a most dynamic group I must say! Thank you for the tequila and sharing the day.