Confessions...

When I started ski teaching it was probably for the same reasons that many people do. I might be able to save some money, I could hang around a bunch of cool guys and gals, instructing looked liked fun, and I could leave my equipment at the mountain. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I might learn something or become a better skier as a result of this adventure.

I did learn to ski in one of the "Bus" programs at Mission Ridge quite a few years prior to this undertaking and continued skiing through my college years as a casual weekend skier. I could ride all the lifts and get down most of the runs in one form or another. Being that my days were measured by the number of falls counted on two hands, I thought I was pretty accomplished.

I did get picked out of the hiring clinics to be a part time instructor and almost made it through my first season teaching when it happened. I have told the following to a very select few over the years. I was asked to leave an exam prep clinic in the last month of the season because I could not do a wedge turn! This was after a winter of teaching eight-week programs, Saturday's and Sunday's, and some midweek lessons. How could this happen? I was a ski instructor? I had a uniform! Public humiliation can be a good hammer, as it finally hit me that there was more to this sport than just the perks. Some people were serious about skiing well! Our ski school director, Gordon West, let me know that I could return to the training when I learned to do a "wedge turn".

A new focus...

I made the decision then and there that l would teach next season. I now wanted to ski well.(at least well enough to stay until the end of the clinic). The Skills Concept was fresh to the PSIA membership during this time period. Phil and Steve Mahre were in the news and the excitement of ski racing was having its effects on ski technique. We spent our hill time working on "Witherall Turns" and "Crab Walks", doing edge/pressure drills using lots of knee and hip angulation, lots of short swing and shod radius turns, we practiced our diverging and converging step turns, and skate turns everywhere we went. But needle to say l was not getting it the way that Bruce Ware, Jack Patton and the rest of the guru's were modeling. I was always ending up to far to the inside being told l was "banking", that I needed to stay over the outside ski to be able to finish a turn, and (heaven forbid) that I needed to slow down.

Words of Wisdom...

Luckily for me, PSIA published "Teaching Concepts" and through the ski school's weekly Tech Talks, we finally approached Chapter 2, "The Anatomy of Turning ", where the concept of the line of action was introduced and explained. The little stick figure diagram that is used on page sixteen generated the light towards understanding what l was being asked to do in my skiing. I could now visualize the movements and approximate the application at the various stages of a turn or type of turn. L began to understand the reason for flexing or lowering my center of mass through the turn. The reasons for extending. Creating lateral angles with ankle, knees and hips started to have a purpose other than just looking cool. I even started to understand the mystical statement that," it is easier to control balance from a tall stance and easier to maintain balance from a low stance". Big changes did not develop overnight, but I now could relate others feedback to feelings or sensations at various parts of the turn and focus attention towards the movements I was being asked to show. Still today, when I ski and things don't feel quite right, I call on that little stick skier to show me the way to better turns.