Diva Ski Tips

Sometimes in skiing, life, business and bike racing things go wrong and you get sucked into mental quicksand. I'll let a great thinker explain it. (It's at 1:14) In my first post I'll talk about ways to avoid getting yourself stuck or getting out. In the second, I'll talk about what to do when one of your student's is sucked in. Full disclosure: Managing your emotions and stopping negative thoughts is not easy. It takes self-awareness and discipline. This is what I try to do, sometimes it takes a while to succeed. Last weekend I was in a race and I really wanted to get on the podium for the first time. This race was one of my best chances to do it. I flew off the start line and into the first turn ahead of the field. Then I got a flat. That ended my race and I was not in a good mental place to race again a few hours later. I have been in the trees and made a bad turn that turned into a series of bad turns and ended with me crying and having difficulty...

If you are a new instructor we've got everything you need to know in one easy to access place. If you aren't finding what you need, let us know and we'll write a post for you. Did we miss your favorite tip? Put it in the comments.  A noob’s guide to ski teaching A noob's guide to clinics and training A Noob’s Guide to Networking Should I join PSIA? The Divas' Guide to teaching CLC: Etiquette of ‘Do’s and ‘Don’t’s in the Corral

I'm a few weeks into cross season and playing in the mud means that playing in the snow isn't too far away. I'm signed up for a five day event in early December to kick start my season. Going to a PSIA event takes a lot of time and money, so how you do make sure you get the most of it when you can't control the weather? In my experience it's all about picking the right group and instructor. I reached out folks at my mountain and will offer my own in this post. Why are you there? " What your goals are for the week. are you looking to generally expand your knowledge and improve your skills? are you looking for skill-specific or exam-prep training? are you looking for a fun ski vacation with lots of socializing and a little bit of ski coaching on the side? once you identify what you hope to take away from your event, then you can begin to think about what kind of group you want to ski with " Share your goals with others as you mill around and start...

In all my training clinics I hear at in our teaching system the movements in beginning and advance sking are more of less the same.  So what separates wedge, wedge chrisite, basic parallel and dynamic parallel skiers?  How can the same movements create vastly different outcomes? Picture a hot skier. “The edges are released and re-engaged in one smooth movement,” according to the Visual Cues to Effective Skiing cards. There’s no bracing, dead spot, quirky stuff or corrective movements. Now picture a wedge turner. Do they change edges? No. Why not? You can’t change edges without flattening or releasing the edge. Once the ski is flat you can steer it to a match. The earlier you flatten the ski earlier you match until the skis become flat at the transition between turns. Then you’re skiing parallel all the time. The timing makes all the different between a wedge christe and parallel turn. Duration - Length of time you do something Intensity - Power or ...

Helping people enjoy the sport I love When your coaching helps someone enjoy skiing more, conquer their fears or achieve things on the snow they didn't think they could do it is a pretty good thing.   Access to some of the best ski teachers in the country You can learn from great skiers at your mountain, in your region and even the PSIA national team. Great teachers for your friends and family   My boyfriend doesn't ski ( I love him anyway). I found him a great skier, with a good eye for movement analysis who knows how to coach him. My boyfriend said that he learned more in 30 minutes with his coach than a whole day of following me around, I'm going to let that go. Developing skills I need to rip When I started as a ski instructor I was a upper body rotating, foot picking up, z-turner and now I love to play in the trees, steeps, bumps, powder, crud and more.   "Networking" The Divas love to network in the bar apre ski or on the chairlift. We wil...