ESA for FREE Contest Official Entries Here

  As a "chronic" ESA, attendee, I have a pretty good idea about what to expect from these events:  great coaching, wonderful people to ski with (coaches and students), a lot of laughing, a lot of fun, a lot of skiing.  Did I mention the great coaching and "game-changing" instruction?  In addition to all of this, the thing that keeps me coming back to ESA is that I keep learning new stuff that gets me skiing better with less effort, more fun, and less drama.  I have been skiing since 1970, and my friends will vouch for the fact that I am a better skier now than I was 10 years ago.  I am certainly skiing tougher terrain, with more grace, than I ever have before.

   So, I have already achieved a lot of goals from previous ESA's.  Some breakthroughs:  1) my legs are no longer "glued together" -- yes, sometimes you can even see a little space between my legs; 2) I have better alignment, thanks to good boot-fitting; 3) I have better fore-aft and side to side balance, even in uneven terrain, thanks to improvement in technique; 4) better rhythm and less weariness when skiing bumps; 5) less skidding, however you want to try and define it; 6) etc.

    So what do I want to achieve this year?  I would like to improve in the transition -- at this point, I feel that this is key to making me an even more effective skier.  Sometimes, my edge change is rushed, sometimes it is sloppy, and I suspect that smoothing out the transition will help this.  Of course, this all goes out the window if a coach decides that I need to work on something else -- I am game for anything that will keep me improving.

All right, if no one else enters, then I win!

I'll chime in as the opposite of bbinder, the chronic ESA avoider! What I hope to get from ESA, if I were to attend: I want to know what it is I'm doing on skis, and how to do it right. But it is absolutely necessary for it to be fun -- for that's why I ski. I understand the importance of rules and drills and study and technique ... I do it in my other sports. Everything has to be by the book, inside the white rectangle, 100 forehands 100 backhands 100 serves. Skiing, though, is my release: skiing is freedom, it's laughter, it's speed, it's sensation. I don't want to mess it up by thinking. Problem is, the back of my head always has that tiny voice, "You should really do a drill, or a clinic, or a camp ..." Yet it's easy enough to wave it off and decide to spend the money on another trip to Utah or one more pair of skis. At this point, though, I've met and skied with enough of you guys, and heard enough accolades, to give in and do it. Because I know it will be fun. (But it still has to be free. ;-) )

Since having attended the ETU at Stowe in December of 2004 I have wanted to attend another ESA event but have been unable to afford it.

I would love to train with the likes of Bob Barnes, Weems and the other amazing coaches that run these events.  I would hope to make huge improvements in my skiing from their Movement Analysis skills applied to my skiing.

Here's my official entry:

'To know what I want from this class,

 You need to have witnessed my past ...

 With no skis as a kid,

 All I learned was a skid ...

 So I often would fall on my a**!

 Now that I'm old with some gray,

 I would like to make NOW be "the day"

 I become a real skier

 The path is quite clear ...

 All I need is a FREE ESA!!!'

I've been at the threshold of expert level skiing for a long time now. When I'm skiing with friends or on my own I don't take the time to self correct even if I had a clue as what to do. Some days my skiing is on and some days it's so-so. I'd like to blame it on conditions but as BushwackerinPA once said, "It's not that you can't ski moguls, it's you can't ski and the moguls prove it." There is truth in that, as harsh at that sounds. Icy moguls eat my lunch. I'd like to believe that my lack of powder experience is what makes skiing really deep powder an effort for me. I know that's true to a point but I think good technique is independent of conditions. At an ESA I'd like to begin to refine my technique, identify my strong points and lay a foundation that will take me to the next level and that includes my psychological approach as well.

Oh, and I want to laugh a lot and have fun too.

The big thing that I have learned is that I still have so much to learn and that better technique matters. At this current time I feel like there are still some holes in my skills and I could use feedback form a knowledgeable coach to figure some things out as this is a experience I have never had before. Also its want to have someone who will push me out of confort zone and share their own unique perspective. After going to Big Sky in 09 as the third wheel when my wife and sister-in-law were doing their ESA, I have seen first hand the level of instruction and the quality that this program brings to the table. Working with a coaches like these and with the awesome "class mates" to participate with I know I would learn alot and have a real blast. I would be stupid to not want to experience that and the fact that it would be free makes it a no brainier.

I have attended every ESA since the 2nd one at Snowbird, where Weems was my coach, and each time since then I have not been disappointed. For me the event has come down to 3 things, repeated each year, that I look forward to all season- (1) great instruction and coaching, (2) the opportunity to interact and form friendships with truly world class coaches, and (3) the fun and camaraderie that comes from skiing with a great group of friends. I started skiing, very poorly, as a kid, and it is only in the last 10-15 years that I have made strides at breaking all of the years of bad habits that became second nature after all of those years. I have ESA and my coaches to thank for helping me enjoy skiing more each year!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkiMangoJazz 

Since having attended the ETU at Stowe in December of 2004 I have wanted to attend another ESA event but have been unable to afford it.

 

I would love to train with the likes of Bob Barnes, Weems and the other amazing coaches that run these events.  I would hope to make huge improvements in my skiing from their Movement Analysis skills applied to my skiing.

Ditto SMJazz, but it'll be doable next season(the way things look now)..........

Hope to get from the ESA?  What I know I will get, world class instruction, movement analysis, alignment correction and camaraderie.  The ESA has become the standard of clinic like ski instruction with some of the best, if not the best, instructors in the industry.  You add to that experience surrounding yourself with enthusiastic skiers that hang out here at EPIC and you have yourself a “ski-life” changing experience plus better skiing.  I never attended an EPICSKI event where I didn’t have a good time or come away from the experience with new friends.  An ESA offers you that same chance plus the chance to move your game up a level.  Heck I want to ski like Rogan!!  

Ed

•  Post one paragraph or more to explain what you hope to get from attending ESA if you win. This will not be judged--this is to qualify you for the drawing.

I hope to ski with maximum "efficiency" in all my movements, and find a way for better smoothness in the bumps.  This will allow me to continue to ski well as I age (and my knees continue to deteriorate).  And why not learn in a friendly environment from some of the greatest minds in professional instruction?

I did the same thing with a series of lessons from a good golf pro a few years ago.  The result was a simplified & repeatable swing that maintained almost all of my distance and eliminated unnecessary pressure from my back. 

The fundamental movements of any sport don't change over time.  The way we apply those fundamentals through technique and equipment somethings changes as we become older.  

I’ve been married for 23 years, and have never had a mistress. I’ve never owned an Italian sports car, nor have I for one instant considered using Rogaine, wearing a toupee, or having hair restoration surgery. I was indeed rather content with my lot.

Then, when I was 46 years old, during a family Christmas vacation to visit with friends in Colorado, on the last day of our stay, I was cajoled into joining our hosts for a day on skis. In a matter of a few hours a sleeping beast awoke within me, and I emerged as a newly risen fanatic. Thus was my own particular mid-life crisis, (skiing,) initiated.

As a goal-oriented, approaching middle-aged guy, with a propensity for rather eccentric behavior, (being a ski junkie from Florida is only a mild example,) but not completely impractical, I decided that it would be prudent to begin my skiing career by taking some lessons. This has indeed proved fortuitous, in that I do have innumerable faults, but being a poor listener is not among them. I paid attention to what some skilled instructors had to say, and managed to scale the lower levels of the ziggurat of skiing skills with surprising rapidity.

Then, three brief seasons ago, I had the good fortune to come across the EpicSki site. I cannot even begin to estimate how much of a positive effect this happy discovery has had on my life as a skier. I’ve read a ton of advice, (some of it has even been accurate!,) and have had the pleasure of meeting and skiing with dozens of Bears, almost all of whom have been much stronger, more experienced skiers than I am, and who without exception have been courteous, friendly, and enthusiastic. Several of these fine folk are now real friends.

So the idea of attending my first ESA is a no-brainer. Four days of skiing with a top-notch coach, and in the company of a slew of like-minded Bears? What’s not to love? My meager skills can’t help but improve, and I’m actually cognizant enough to begin to appreciate and utilize the concept self-analysis.

Just off the top of my head, I can lay claim to being friendly with people named Starr, Stinky, Spanky, Stretch, Slick, Sonny, and Sunny. That’s just the S’s. Do the ESAs in Colorado really offer the chance to meet a guy named Squatty? That alone is almost worth the price of admission.

This will be my third ESA whether or not I win or not but I still do not know what to expect. Yea sure I know pretty much how the agenda is laid out but thats it. With some of the best coaches in the world it always amazes me how different they each can teach the same concept so you never know really what to expect. The one thing that is certain is you will improve your Skiing ability as long as you are willing to try. You will also gain more confidence in your skiing ability than you ever thought you had. I personally would like to continue on my route to being an expert skier one day who knows maybe even a coach. I also would love to reconnect with some really good friends that I met in previous esa's too that I missed out on last year!!

Having never attended one of these, but heard great things, I'd hope for getting to know fellow members here and really learning how to ski, rather than what I've taught myself over the years.

I'd also hope to have my Pontoons made fun of, and MOST importantly, to come out with a good understanding of skiing movement so I can pass it on to my soon to be skiing little guy eventually.

I wish I could dance through the moguls like Dan Egan ...

I wish I was cool enough to be known by a single name - like Bono or Ronaldo … or Weems …

I wish I could ski like a girl .. say Robin Barnes or Sue Kramer ...

I wish I could shoot ski video like cgeib ...

I wish I could ride switch through Corbet's Couloir like Bob Peters …

I wish I had a little toe like Harald Harb (Oh!  How did that get in here  )…

I wish I could ski the slow line fast .. or is that the fast line slow?

I wish I knew half of what Bob Barnes is talking about without needing to reference The Complete Encyclopedia of Skiing … 

I follow the sage advice of Instructors and Insiders on the forums ..

• "Push your outside foot ahead through the turn so it is in a better place to support your center of mass "
• "Your stance doesn't need to change if you assume the basic stance it would take to balance the CoM over the BoS before picking up the ski."
• "Fore and aft balance adjustment as the ski enters and exits a turn is required to maintain centered pressure distribution, even though the edge angles are changing."
• "Realizing that both muscle masses that are predominantly responsible for the rotary movement of the body connect to the pelvis (quadriceps from the legs and back and abdominal muscles from the torso), we see that the hips are not likely to be totally associated with either the torso or the legs but will, depending on the degree of muscle tension generated by the twisting movement, assume an intermediary role."

Which helps ... BUT ... it doesn't help to identify MY needs, MY flaws, MY limits or the extent of MY skills.  To really advance you need a coach, a critic, a teacher ... someone who can evaluate your performance, your capabilities, your flaws, your fears and lead you to to the promised land ... or at least teach you to make better turns.

Having been to an ESA clinic once before, I know that after a few days with the best-of-the-best-of-the-best at an ESA clinic I'll be a lot closer to one of my goals … even if it's just learning to ski like a girl!

Oh .. and I still wish I could speak Yooper like TrekChick 

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldEasternSkier 

I wish I could ski like cgeib ...

Fixed it for you.

I wish I could spell like SMJ! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldEasternSkier 

 … even if it's just learning to say "Ya betcha, eh?" like a native!

Nov 1, 2010

Hi OES:

So you want to sound like Tina Fey ?

Think snow,

CP

I have now completed at least 50% of the ESA's I've attended.  I intend to keep that figure moving up.

What do I want out of ESA?  Fantastic instruction.  A breakthrough.  A good time.  And fantastic snow.  Which I'll define as 36 inches of fresh each night.  Ok, so it could be as little as 24 inches so that the lifts open.  Oh, and for Bob Barnes to carry my skis to the top of Highlands bowl.

Mike

Ooops, forgot that I also want my spouse to have a good time.  Which means a big bill at the spa at the St. Regis.

By attending ESA Stowe, I hope to learn one or two things that I can focus on during the season to improve my skiing.  Well, based on past experience I know I will get that.  Those focus points just never seem to be anything that I anticipated prior to the event.  I also hope to have a great time, skiing again with old friends and meeting some new ones.  I know that will happen based on past experience as well.  I hope I'll be lucky enough to ski on some great snow on a great mountain.  Even though this is the one I always seem to worry about the most, the snow gods have typically delivered the goods (I'll forgive that one year they overslept and forgot about us).  Oh, and I hope to see someone new win the ski raffle this year.

By attending ESA Snowmass.   It is possible but not probable that I may learn nothing.   Who cares because FUN, good folk, good beer, food and wine will be on the agenda and afterall isn't that what life is all about.   It is about the people !   Oh yeah forgot about the powder.  ESA Big Sky was on my Bucketlist and did that so thought I would add Snowmass ESA to the list.  What a year 2010-2011; Kicking Horse, Whitewater, Fernie, Taynton Bowl at Panorama, Red and ESA Snowmass.  Snow baby snow.

I'm not unhappy with my skiiing, but there are a couple of areas with which I've struggled upgrading from competent to good. It's been a while since I've had any kind of multi-day instruction, much less on the order of ESA, so maybe this is what I need.

Besides, it looks like a lot of fun

I want to ski, drink and eat with cool people.  Maybe some will rub off. 

I love to ski, to ski with friends, especially friends who can show me the goods, the run, the technique. to sit and discuss the day over a beer or two with those friends, those are the things I  come away with from ESA. 

What can I say?  I'm a skichik - I love to ski!!!! I love to teach!!!!! I love to learn!!!!  I've never been able to afford to go to the ESA. It would be an incredible experience for me to be there - Thankyou for the opportunity to play in the snow with the best of the best!

I don't want to ski like a spazz anymore, I want to ski like Milky. 'Nuff said.

I could say I hope to receive excellent instruction, have a great time skiing, and meet fun, new people.  But that’s a given when it comes to ESA events.  Each one I’ve attended has been a wonderful experience, and they get better each year.

I do hope  to see Nolo coaching this year, reminding us to “open the gate”, “go through the door frame” and “sit on the bar stool” (while sitting at the bar, I realized she may have meant that figuratively). 

I would very much like to attend an ESA event for free cause I'm to cheap to pay for it. Also I would like to put faces to names on this site. I am a PSIA certified instructor and would like to expand my meager fund of knowledge, Want to know nmore than I get in my ski area's short training blocks. I know this is a short paragraphb but these are all the words I know how to spell. I would like to attend the event at A-Basin, and will be staying in my car.

                                                                                                                                                                                   Thank you for your consideration,  Dan

I've been to the first stowe and then ESA Snowbird, so I have an idea what to expect and thats what is exciting about the possibility of winning.....I'm already committed to a clinic right after the snowmass event.....it would be so cool to extend that trip from a long weekend to an EPIC adventure!

Why do I want to attend?  I attend a great deal of PSIA training events, last season nine days in total.  I'd like to get a bit of a different point of view and maybe bring what I learn back to both my home mountain and PSIA-E.