Diva Ski Tips

In part one I talked about how to avoid getting stuck in mental quicksand.   Managing yourself calls for discipline, managing someone else's anxiety requires observation, empathy, trust and coaching. Your goal is to give your students the tools On the look out Some people are very aware and open of their issues with fear but many are not. So you need to be looking at their body language, listening to what they say and their expression. Building Trust My friend Brian has coached me through a lot of things that scare me. I trust him to know what I can do  even if I think I can't.  We build trust by: Showing that we care about our students as individuals Knowing their name, wants and skills Showing empathy and making sure they and their fear is accepted Choosing the right activities and terrain Demonstrating credibility Get to the Why  You need to know what scares your student in order to give them the right tools to combat it. Are they afraid of speed, pitch, loo

Ski good or eat wood. That’s only one of two mottos for White Grizzly Adventures , a cat skiing operation based in tiny Meadow Creek, British Columbia.  The other motto is considerably less family-friendly. I was a little excited to see the lodge sign... I should say, this was my first time ever cat skiing – it’s quite the splurge but can truly make a ski vacation a vacation – no worries, just lotsa skiing and eating (yes, we had sushi for lunch in the snowcat one day!). Appetizers.  Seriously.  The first question Carole asked when I called to give them my credit card - I’d already filled out about 3 pages of forms online! - was whether I’m an expert skier.  Did I know they ski steep, tight trees most of the time?  Did that sound fun?  Am I fit enough to ski a whole day without getting exhausted and increasing my chance of injury?  Um, yeah!!!  Epitome of a 'tree bomb'. Without a lot of wind, snow piles at the top of trees can be a problem. These stumps were more p

I'm not a feeler. So what.  I said this for a long time myself.   And I didn't get much better at skiing. I'm not a feeler, but I seek intrinsic feedback and sensation to ski (hopefully) better. Just because they are hard to gather, doesn't mean we should leave sensations alone.   What makes a turn "feel" good? I've spent some time asking instructors and students what they feel this year. I believe that we all feel, but to effectively coach (and self-coach), it's essential to identify where our primary sensations arise and train ourselves to recognize those and other sensations. Foot feelings: where weight is on the foot along the sole and notice lateral pressure.  sense changes in where the pressure is throughout the turn.  notice when footbeds are old or socks thicker than usual. Leg feelings:  getting to the 'corner of the boot' and actually know what it means. lighter and firmer pressure against the tongue of the boot.  no

I almost don’t want to write this.   I had so much fun that I want to keep these places secret.   But in reality, I recently got back from one of the best ski trips I’ve been on in a while. And I don't even think it was because we had such a short and marginal season in the East. Where I was and why you should go: It’s easy to fly into Spokane.   Make sure you have your passport to cross the border on the 2 ½ hour drive to the picturesque yet lively town of Nelson, British Columbia.   They love their coffee and food here.   Perched on an improbably beautiful lake – Kootenay Lake, in the mountain range of the same name, the locals resort – Whitewater - is a mere 20 minutes from town.    You’ve never heard of it, right?   Me either before I started my planning in February. Kootenay Lake I love Whitewater.   With three somewhat rickety lifts - all repurposed (read-as – bought from other resorts), a beautiful day lodge, reasonable ticket prices ($70/day – the Canadian d

I've heard a lot of our instructors talking about "feeling the side of the foot" when turning the legs.  When I ask if they can feel the side of their big toe during bow-ties or figure 8's in boots, they say they do.   Here's a secret: I don't .  And no, it's  not  because I have boots three sizes too big.  So can we really expect our beginner skiers to feel a such subtle difference - resistance from the side of the boot versus pressure down onto the foot?   That downward pressure isn't desired at the beginner level - it means our skiers are either tipping the skis on edge without control over turn radius or (more likely) are pressuring the outside ski to turn, a strategy that will not promote progression to parallel.   Part of learning any sport is becoming familiar with and paying attention to the sensations.  In another post, I'll discuss how you can tune into sensations to improve your skiing.  For now, lets think about it from the beginner s