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The Best Lesson You Ever Had

Wannabeskibum

Out on the slopes
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Nov 12, 2015
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441
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Boston
Two lessons actually - one @ Vail and one @ Breck
  1. Vail - moving my pole plant back to just forward of the rear binding (several years ago when the coach said his goal was to reduce the effort I was making so I could ski at age 88 like I was at 58)
  2. Breckenridge - finally getting the feel of femur rotation along with getting balanced on the inside edge of the outside ski and really riding that ski and eliminating the tip wash from the rear of the ski
 

Marker

Making fresh tracks
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Joined
Oct 16, 2017
Posts
2,351
Location
Kennett Square, PA & Killington, VT
A lesson at Killington where the pole plant lightbulb went off! I never took them too seriously before, but this lesson made everything easier, steeps, bumps, etc. I'm still a work in progress so if we get to ski together again this year, I need @Wannabeskibum to show me what he means.
 

Wannabeskibum

Out on the slopes
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A lesson at Killington where the pole plant lightbulb went off! I never took them too seriously before, but this lesson made everything easier, steeps, bumps, etc. I'm still a work in progress so if we get to ski together again this year, I need @Wannabeskibum to show me what he means.
@Marker - I would be happy to pay it forward. I have been very fortunate over my many decades of skiing to ski with a bunch of top notch pros and something that I continue do to improve and refine my skiing
 

Gary Stolt

Mr. Style
Team Gathermeister
Joined
Dec 14, 2015
Posts
478
Location
Franklin, KY
Though it rarely shows, I've had two best lessons. The first was from my good friend and ever patient "JIMMY" - the next was ski week at Taos. Now I need to remember some of those lessons.
 

Guy in Shorts

Tree Psycho
Skier
Joined
Feb 27, 2016
Posts
2,168
Location
Killington
@Marker - I would be happy to pay it forward. I have been very fortunate over my many decades of skiing to ski with a bunch of top notch pros and something that I continue do to improve and refine my skiing
Killington, serious pole lesson, trio of Marks, count me in. Traded poles last season with @Marker for a run. Love active hands or what I call the Killington Pivot.
 

Wannabeskibum

Out on the slopes
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Nov 12, 2015
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441
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Killington, serious pole lesson, trio of Marks, count me in. Traded poles last season with @Marker for a run. Love active hands or what I call the Killington Pivot.

Sounds like a plan in the making for the three Marcos
 

pchewn

Skiing the powder
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Apr 24, 2017
Posts
2,607
Location
Beaverton OR USA
1968 Loveland Valley Colorado. My parents signed my brother and I up for a full season of lessons every Saturday for X weeks. My best friend also joined the same program. We followed the Austrian ski instructor all over the mountain, doing whatever he showed us to do. We snowplowed, we stem turned, we jumped jumps, we skied ice and powder, we learned to absorb bumps, we went through the trees, we played "ski under the legs of the person in front", we did races, we learned to skate on skis, we side-stepped and herringboned our way uphill.

My dad would tag along and ride the lifts with us during the lessons. That's how he learned to ski.
 

val

Booting up
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Feb 9, 2020
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92629
I was 18 and worked in the ski area cafeteria. Considered myself a pretty hot skier. I'd taken lessons as a small kid but never since. One day I was going to ski with my buddy Steve and he said he wanted to take a lesson instead. I tried to talk him out of it. I told him he didn't need a lesson, and it would be a waste of a good ski day. He insisted and said said he'd see me later. Reluctantly, I agreed to join him, thinking what the hell have I gotten myself into.

From the very first run the instructor made it clear I wasn't as hot as I thought. My ego suffered a lot that day, but I loved skiing, and really wanted to be good at it. I started taking lessons regularly and the next year tried out for ski school and a few seasons after that was full cert. I ended up teaching about 10 seasons including one in New Zealand.

Looking back, that ski lesson (and Steve) changed my life.
 
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Pierre

Putting on skis
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May 11, 2017
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73
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NE Ohio
I was 4. My Dad gave us skis for Christmas. We skied straight down into a small ravine (Probably 6 vertical feet down and a run of 20-25 feet) and walked back up. About 30 times. Had a blast.
This description is exact for how I started to ski. That was Christmas 1959

My most memorable ski lesson was maybe about 30 years ago. I was not skiing alpine at the time and took a tele lesson at Crested Butte. I told them I was good as I could hack my way down anything there. The gave me an Aussi instructor whom kindly brought me down to the reality that, yes I was good but I lacked critical basic stuff that he could only give me on easy terrain. That did open up my eyes and I started to progress in my skiing until now I am at the top of my game. That instructors name was Ross Matlock. I can now credit a D team member for getting me started on the right path.
 

Bad Bob

I golf worse than I ski.
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Dec 2, 2015
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5,843
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West of CDA South of Canada
The most "memorable" was Fall of 68 was attended a PSIA clinic at Steamboat Springs. Like most teaching clinics, most of the time was spent on the beginners run at the bottom of the mountain to have appropriate terrain. This is also where they had the music playing. The ONLY song they played was The Unicorn Song! It is still burned in my brain.

Must have been a good clinic. Passed the exam on 1st attempt.
 
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Ron

Seeking the next best ski
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GREAT THREAD. my best lesson was skiing with @Dan Egan in Chile. I learned I sucked. I also learned to get back up and keep at it. it was a love/hate week of experiences. I pushed my limits all week long. I didnt truly appreciate it for a couple of years. I also learned to never ski with a soft banana in your ski jacket when skiing on narrow chutes....

The other was probably with @James who got a green light to turn on when skiing bumps. it was an Aha-moment and from there I really progressed. Thanks James!

One other was skiing with @Eric Lipton in Chile. Was able to articulate what I couldn't understand. It was also amazing to just watch him ski.

The last best was my second day on the snow in Beavercreek skiing with Clients, At the end of the lesson, skiing out, I fell nd broke my thumb. I felt it break but I couldn't let on to the old lady with an Austrian/German accent who skied over to me to see how I was :). I skied the next 3 days in a cast on painkillers. I went home, had surgery and didnt ski anymore that season but I was hooked on skiing from that point on. :thumb: <--- get it?
 
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Jerez

Skiing the powder
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Nov 25, 2015
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New Mexico
Three stand out.
1. A clinic with Ross Scott 17 years ago at Sugar Bowl. The snow was awful; no new snow in like a month, surface was like polished marble. But he gave me the first feeling of a real carved turn.
2. A never-ever tele lesson with Rusty Guy from Epic (remember that?) He had me making good turns on blue runs in less than an hour and learning how to make a good tele turn definitely helped my alpine turns. Amazing. I was terrified, but he made it happen.
3. The very best clinic I ever took (so good I took it the last two years in a row, and wish I could do it again this year) was the PSIA Fall Workshop with TJ Metz. He is by far the best instructor I have ever had. He completely changed my skiing and made it so much fun while being very, very strict. He just has an amazing ability to watch out of the corner of his eye and then produce a drill that forces to you feel what you need to do. That, in turn, allowed me to "know" what to do and work on it after as well. I had so many Ah hah! moments. Thank you TJ!
 

Seldomski

All words are made up
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Sep 25, 2017
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'mericuh
Not really a lesson, but biggest breakthrough was purchase and fitting of ski boots. Without that, advanced skiing would have been always out of reach.
 

Ron

Seeking the next best ski
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Steamboat Springs, Co
Not really a lesson, but biggest breakthrough was purchase and fitting of ski boots. Without that, advanced skiing would have been always out of reach.

I had something similar but it was Dr Phillipon repairing my hips so my femurs could move correctly. :). it seriously was a big improvement in my skiing. I remember the first time back on ski's after my 2nd hip surgery and how much better I was skiing.
 

Pasha

i hiked the ridge... twice...
Skier
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Feb 11, 2019
Posts
843
Location
New Mexico
1. Pole plants in rhythm for every turn - learned that myself in ~1995 after the first long break from skiing (due to no money due to immigration). Don't know who planted the idea about pole plants into my head but once I tried it, there effect was mind-blowing. The short carving S-turns have finally became a reality. IMHO, the lack of pole work is what keeps beginners struggling on the way to become intermediates. I passed on this skill to several beginners i had pleasure to introduce to skiing.'
2. Are simple key words from instructors that remind me of a technique: 'banana' for counterbalancing (?) and Vision: look where you want to go (e.g. shoulders square to the fault line)
3. Learning drills. After another long break form skiing (due to no particular reason), I set myself a goal to improve (especially bumps) so I looked up the drill on youtube and elsewhere. Two words: pivot slips! In more words: every sport has fundamentals, learn them, drill them, get better.

Honorable mention: custom foot bed. If you are reading this site, you love skiing enough to treat yourself to a custom foot bed. You will notice a difference.
 

Mike King

AKA Habacomike
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Nov 13, 2015
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3,383
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Louisville CO/Aspen Snowmass
First private lesson I ever sold. To a father and son prior to line up at Breck. They wanted to ski the high alpine terrain and I said I could show them it and where the snow was the best.

After taking them into the ski school lodge and signing them up, we headed up the T-Bar. Just as we arrived at the top, patrol dropped the rope on 6 inches of fresh powder. The son (about 18) just loved his run. We put the son back on the lift solo and Dad and I rode together. I asked him if he was getting what they wanted. He said it was exactly what he wanted as he wanted to create an indelible memory for his son -- the Dad had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The memory of that day still brings tears to my eyes. And it inspired me to continue to share my passion for this sport with others.

Mike
 

Henry

Out on the slopes
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Joined
Sep 7, 2019
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1,229
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Traveling in the great Northwest
Week-long camp, today was mogul day. The coaches had six skiers each, but one coach got sick. His group got split among the others, no problem. On mogul day he was back on the snow, but they didn't reform his group. He skied with our group. Two excellent coaches with different ways of describing and explaining the same thing. Listening to them talk among themselves about skiing moguls was a lesson in itself; the returning coach was a former freestyle competitor. I finally learned how to ski moguls that day. I'm still not very good in the bumps, but I remind myself of what I heard that day and get through the bumps with no problem and sometimes a bit of fun.
  • Don't sit back
  • Don't lean into the hill
  • Don't rotate in the direction of the turn (do any of these 3, and you're doomed)
  • Keep the body centered over the feet
  • Keep the body aimed down hill
  • Look a couple of bumps ahead to pick the next one to turn on (that one..no this one, plant & turn)
  • Strong pole plant and always be ready for the next plant & turn, hold the pole out & low, ready to plant
  • Pivot in the gully & slide down the face of the bump (pivoting side slip)
  • Extend the legs while sliding down the bump
  • Deeply flex to absorb the next bump ('cuz if you don't flex, you can't extend)
  • Pivot the other way and repeat
This isn't competition style nor excellent rec skier style. It's how I get smoothly through moguls. It works for me.
 

Marker

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Oct 16, 2017
Posts
2,351
Location
Kennett Square, PA & Killington, VT
Week-long camp, today was mogul day. The coaches had six skiers each, but one coach got sick. His group got split among the others, no problem. On mogul day he was back on the snow, but they didn't reform his group. He skied with our group. Two excellent coaches with different ways of describing and explaining the same thing. Listening to them talk among themselves about skiing moguls was a lesson in itself; the returning coach was a former freestyle competitor. I finally learned how to ski moguls that day. I'm still not very good in the bumps, but I remind myself of what I heard that day and get through the bumps with no problem and sometimes a bit of fun.
  • Don't sit back
  • Don't lean into the hill
  • Don't rotate in the direction of the turn (do any of these 3, and you're doomed)
  • Keep the body centered over the feet
  • Keep the body aimed down hill
  • Look a couple of bumps ahead to pick the next one to turn on (that one..no this one, plant & turn)
  • Strong pole plant and always be ready for the next plant & turn, hold the pole out & low, ready to plant
  • Pivot in the gully & slide down the face of the bump (pivoting side slip)
  • Extend the legs while sliding down the bump
  • Deeply flex to absorb the next bump ('cuz if you don't flex, you can't extend)
  • Pivot the other way and repeat
This isn't competition style nor excellent rec skier style. It's how I get smoothly through moguls. It works for me.
Although the lesson I mentioned above was more about pole plants, the instructor showed me they work by taking me down a mild black bump run that had intimidated me until then. I still don't look good going down it, but I don't shy away from it anymore. His pointers were along the lines of yours above!
 

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