“My short turns feel like shit. I’m heel pushing to slow down cos I can’t turn my legs to finish my turn because I’m not crossing over because steeps terrify me.” That was part of a recent conversation I had with a fellow instructor who was preparing for an exam. In that sentence, she…
Put any fool on two planks and they’ll be able to head straight down a hill. Gravity ensures it. Skiing is all about turns though. And we should make turns for two reasons only; “We turn to change direction or to manage our speed via turn shape.” A huge bonus is that those turns start…
In my first few seasons of instructing, I had the good fortune of teaching an honest-to-god rocket scientist (who shared with me that rocket science is actually a lot simpler than a whole lot of other sciences out there). He was an inquisitive student that was learning the snowplough turn. I remember one of…
OK, let’s take a break from skills, strategies and concepts. The brain and body can only absorb so much. Let’s hurt something else. Our wallets. Equipment is something that we all can change relatively easily. Compression clothing really does help a skier. I don’t pretend to understand how it truly works but it does. With…
Every start of the season, after a few runs of clearing the cobwebs, I find myself skiing quite well. Then somehow through the season, that feeling slowly but surely dissipates. It happens almost without fail every season. Through shared conversations with other instructors, I’ve discovered that this phenomenon is not unique just to myself. So…
As strange as that sounds it holds true and very much so for many instructors I know as well. Although more accurately it should probably be, “…so I could learn how to ski better“. Being a ski instructor has several advantages in that pursuit that others cannot usually get, not at least without great expense.…
