Had a really nice experience teaching a young couple students last season. They called me up and said they were one-time Heavenly group lesson skiers and they didn't really learn anything, and they wanted to learn skiing. Determined as they were, they showed up with brand new skiing outfits, clothes, boots, skis, even to the new detachable wrist strap for their fancy poles. Yeah right, I thought.
I gave them four lessons (2 each week): 1) to ride the chair lifts, 2) snowplow--wedge turn, 3) christie turn, 4) parallel turn.
In the first lesson, I needed to know how much they did know, so I asked them to show me how to stop, they barely made it. For too much work to walk up the hill to practice that, I suggested we rode the chair up, the lady wouldn't want to go because she has never ridden one. I persuaded and took them up, they both fell on unload. Nevertheless, I showed them how to control the speed and how to stop and a little bit of turns, and they learned how to ski down the bunny hill. For the first day, they were happy that they can actually ski, so they scheduled a lesson the next day.
The second day they showed up dragging, because the fatigues accumulated the day before. I took them to "higher" lift for I thought that a longer run may give them better chance to pick up the rhythms of skiing. But the idea of "higher" spooked the lady, she frozen on the unload; I was holding her arm and thinking about supporting her as she get out the chair, but she didn't get out the chair, and the chair wrenched my wrist, yike.
Anyway, they learned wedge turn and snowplow skiing that day. They were happy and wanted other lesson, I told they to go practice some more first.
A week later, they called me up wanted to go for the "blue" runs. When I checked them out, they can snowplow quite fluently on the greens but still catch the edge on the inside ski quite a bit. I didn't take them to the blues but showed them the christie turn instead. They learned christie turn that day, and scheduled the fourth lesson the next day.
In the fourth lesson I was going to teach them parallel turn, so I showed them how to use poles to support their christie turn first. They couldn't catch up the timing and did poorly in coordination. So I asked them to give up the poles. The lady tried first and found it easier so she persuaded her boyfriend to do the same. And at the end of the lesson they both did parallel turn without using poles, though the man still carrying the poles for his security crutch. I took them to the top of the mountain and they came down on a blue run like a seasoned skier.
Come to think about it, in four lessons/days of skiing, they have learned/accomplished more than what I did in four years on my own. To pole or not to pole, is now the question.
IS
I gave them four lessons (2 each week): 1) to ride the chair lifts, 2) snowplow--wedge turn, 3) christie turn, 4) parallel turn.
In the first lesson, I needed to know how much they did know, so I asked them to show me how to stop, they barely made it. For too much work to walk up the hill to practice that, I suggested we rode the chair up, the lady wouldn't want to go because she has never ridden one. I persuaded and took them up, they both fell on unload. Nevertheless, I showed them how to control the speed and how to stop and a little bit of turns, and they learned how to ski down the bunny hill. For the first day, they were happy that they can actually ski, so they scheduled a lesson the next day.
The second day they showed up dragging, because the fatigues accumulated the day before. I took them to "higher" lift for I thought that a longer run may give them better chance to pick up the rhythms of skiing. But the idea of "higher" spooked the lady, she frozen on the unload; I was holding her arm and thinking about supporting her as she get out the chair, but she didn't get out the chair, and the chair wrenched my wrist, yike.
Anyway, they learned wedge turn and snowplow skiing that day. They were happy and wanted other lesson, I told they to go practice some more first.
A week later, they called me up wanted to go for the "blue" runs. When I checked them out, they can snowplow quite fluently on the greens but still catch the edge on the inside ski quite a bit. I didn't take them to the blues but showed them the christie turn instead. They learned christie turn that day, and scheduled the fourth lesson the next day.
In the fourth lesson I was going to teach them parallel turn, so I showed them how to use poles to support their christie turn first. They couldn't catch up the timing and did poorly in coordination. So I asked them to give up the poles. The lady tried first and found it easier so she persuaded her boyfriend to do the same. And at the end of the lesson they both did parallel turn without using poles, though the man still carrying the poles for his security crutch. I took them to the top of the mountain and they came down on a blue run like a seasoned skier.
Come to think about it, in four lessons/days of skiing, they have learned/accomplished more than what I did in four years on my own. To pole or not to pole, is now the question.
IS
:
:
