ESA Snowmass -Who's going?

With the announcement of the great coaching lineup, who is going to ESA Snowmass?

Also, if you're planning to attend, we have a block of rooms reserved until Dec. 10, so please book before then to get the great rate. We also need to book the rooms for our visiting coaches by December 10, and that's when we'll decide how many we will need based on the number of students registered and our target class size of 5. So c'mon, y'all.

It's a two edged-sword, isn't it, skier31? If some of us announce we'll be there, others may decide not to come... :

I'm comin'! 1st timer to ESA; 1st timer to Snowmass.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Here's a picture of Weems in a very tasty field of gumdrops at Snowmass at last year's ESA...

Here's Squatty with one of his crew at last year's ESA, at Aspen Mountain this day:

Ragin'( I'm still working on Cajun's Supreme Ruler, my wife!) will be there!

Wheres our new friend from Louisiana?

Just recieved a phone call from him..gonna return it today.

EEK! You don't want me coaching. That would be a sitcom!
Or maybe a horror movie!

PS - how is the "altitude sickness alert level" at Snowmass for those of us coming from the closer-to-sea-level parts of the US? I certainly "felt it" at Copper and Breck; did not "feel it" in Tahoe / Park City / Mammoth.

Living at or sometimes below sea level, I have found drinking copious amounts of water to be VERY beneficial. Leave the alcohol alone for at least a coupla days. Try to arrive on the Saturday before to acclimate and don't over do it the first day or two.....I have never had serious alt. sickness in Aspen/Snowmass, just a very mild headache every now and then the first day or two...

The base elevation at Aspen/Snowmass is around 8,000 feet, while Breck/Copper are at 9,700 feet. It is a pretty big difference, although you may still find it a challenge coming from sea level. Mammoth is roughly 8,000 feet, Tahoe is 6-7,000 feet, and Park City is 7,000 feet.

Mike

Thanks - I felt good at Mammoth over a 4-day stay, so I'm hopeful that there won't be too many ill effects at Snowmass.

I have the altitude problem. Copper and Breck. = Headache. Snowmass, Vail and Aspen = Good to Go. I forget the exact relationship but as you go down from 9,000 to 8,100 you pick up more than 10% in oxygen.

Then this is only fair...

Nolo chasing Cgeib (skiing with Charlie McArthur's class)

Lord, that snow was great!

Hi All,

Trying to decide whether to attend my first ESA (Snowmass 09). After reading past ESA threads, seems like I could benefit and have a great time . Wadda ya think?

12 yrs experience, 15-20 days/yr, level 7+, age north of 55

tnskier1, welcome to Epicski! Based on my own past experiences, I think yes!

Thanks for the reply bbinder.

If it's not too much trouble, could you (or anyone else on EpicSki) elaborate on those past ESA experiences, e.g., technique issues found via MA, new capabilities, tips for handling advanced terrain, good jokes heard ?

A fairly broad question, but I'll try. You may also want to look at/search for trip reports from previous ESA's.

My wife and I (we are both in our mid 50's) have been to 2 ESA clinics at Snowmass and 3 at Stowe. My friend Jon (60 this year) has been to 2 Stowe ESA's. We are all going back to Stowe in 2 weeks, and Marcia and I are going back to Snowmass. FWIW, none of us had taken lessons in many years (except that Marcia had been to 2 of Lito's Breakthrough on Skis clinics).

The fact that we keep going back is the best testimony of the overall quality of the experience that I can offer. Anybody that knows Marcia knows that she can fit in anywhere and have a good time. Anyone that knows Jon and me knows that we are basically curmudgeon's clothed in socially acceptable personna's -- neither of us would return to a clinic that didn't offer a really high quality of instruction (we are too jealous of our skiing time to do otherwise) and offered us a ton of fun along the way. I am poor at remembering jokes, but we seem to spend a large part of each day laughing.

How the quality of instruction pans out for you depends on what you put into it. The coaches all have many years of experience, and all have developed their own ways of communicating technical analysis -- it is my feeling that they are all excellent at it!. There is very little to no "jargon" communicated, just clean communication, coaching, and instruction based on each individual's needs -- my feeling is that if you don't get what you need from the coaching, then you either have not been listening and/or have not communicated YOUR needs.

In terms of what level of skiing is catered to here, the answer is all levels. Marcia is an improving advanced intermediate (correct me if I'm wrong, Weems), and Jon and I are fairly advanced -- we take a yearly trip to Alta, and ski pretty much everything there. We all feel that instruction at this point in our lives is enabling us to be much more efficient skiers so that we can continue to ski for years and years. So far, this expectation has held true (for me at least): I feel that I always improve from the clinics, and I feel that the past year has been tranformative for me -- I am skiing more efficiently and more effectively than ever before.

I'll tell you what I tell everyone: if you are looking for a clinic/camp, then ESA is an excellent one to try. It is by no means the only game in town (and from what I hear, there are many clinics that are great), but this is the one that I has worked for me.

Geesh, I don't even know if I answered your question -- if not, let me know.

Bob

Here the link to last year's report on the Snowmass ESA...

Bob, your detailed comments were most articulate and helpful ... thanks again for taking the time to respond.

My wife also enjoys skiing a lot (an adv. intermediate, too); in fact, she actually got me involved in the sport. Now she says that she's created a monster! Up until the last couple of years, we had made an annual pilgrimage to Alta, too. However, things just haven't worked out for one reason or another lately though. I've taken a number of lessons but never attended any multi-day camps such as ESA, although I've considered it a lot. She, OTOH, isn't really interested in ESA-type situations (the lessons, that is, not the social aspects) since having knee surgery a couple years ago. She's now back to her old form but has become considerably less aggressive ... you know, happy just to be out there and live to ski another day.

BTW, sounds like the ages and personality traits of you and Marcia match those for me and Mary pretty closely as well. We both like the sound of learning to ski more efficiently these days, too!

OK, thanks again!

P.S. SugarCube, thanks for your detailed response via PM; it also was very informative and useful to me. I didn't respond back via PM because EpicSki only allows that after making 5 posts.

What's with the Wildwood's 50% deposit at time of booking and crazy cancellation policy? Makes me want to wait a bit longer to see if any deals turn up at other lodging this weekend...

Marcia also had an ACL repair 3-4 years ago, and went through that whole how-aggressive-do-I-want-to get-on-skis thing. A nice thing about ESA is that you fill out a fairly comprehensive self evaluation ahead of time to help place you in a group. To this date, I have not participated in a "ski-off" at ESA, and Marcia, Jon, and I feel that we were well placed. Part of the self eval asks about what types of terrain you want to spend time on, and how aggressive you want to ski -- they even ask what percentage of the day you prefer to take rest and lunch breaks!

The lodging arrangements at the Wildwood are standard in Aspen--and many ski resorts. You are of course free to book elsewhere, but I hope you add in the great breakfast and convenient location a short walk to the slopes. I'm pretty sure that's the deal at the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird, the Huntley Lodge at Big Sky, and so on. I surmise that it's how ski resort properties mediate their risk.

I drove to the ESA Snowmass event last year. Once I parked the car I never got in it again for the duration of the event. Staying at the Wildwood is by far the best option. I think I was in the Poklodi lodge and felt that I was slumming it for relatively little savings. All the activity happens out of the Wildwood, so you are much more likely to hook up with other members and do things if you are already there. I highly recommend it.

What do you think Fox?



Seriously, that was an evening sitting around in the Wildwood lobby and enjoying the downtime company of coaches like Eric DesLauriers, Robin Barnes, Roger Kane, Nolo, Weems and many others.