tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32567011585826298662024-03-05T10:02:36.411-08:00AlpenglühenStories from the front line of the snowsport industryOff-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-26393243950629158952012-11-12T13:53:00.000-08:002012-11-12T13:53:06.709-08:00DubaiI've long heard about the ski resort in Dubai. I've seen it featured in several films, briefly, and often thought how much fun it would be to try it for just one day. Thanks to Arc'Teryx and Jordan Manley though, you can get a pretty good view of the place, the people, and the experience that it is. Check out the video:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="375" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/53121242" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="667"></iframe><br />
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Then go check out the rest of Jordan Manley's videos over on <a href="http://vimeo.com/jordanmanley/videos">Vimeo</a>. Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-91536630107353782092012-11-08T11:07:00.000-08:002012-11-08T11:07:59.249-08:00Outlook for 2012 SeasonAs fall fades away and winter is getting a start in much of the NorthEast of the US, most of the people I know have had their thoughts move to the idea of sliding down snow with some wood attached to their feet. I know I have. I know a lot more have judging by the recent rash of swap meets, snow films, and emails going back and forth between friends. The fact that ABasin and Loveland both opened already doesn't help. I can honestly say I'm ready for the season. <br />
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NBC News had an article today that seemed to be a nice intro for the season. The article (http://www.nbcnews.com/business/ski-industry-hopes-big-rebound-season-1C6875330) talks about how the ski industry is looking to make a recovery this season after last season's dismal performance. <br />
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Lastly, having run into my TD (Technical Director) at one of the gear swaps, I've been informed that his goal for me this season is to finish my next level of certification. This basically distills down to needing to pass the skiing skills section, as that is all that is left. He promised to put in all the time I'd like with him to help make that happen. Then I found out this week that he's stepped down as the TD, and possibly not coming back. Not sure if that is a good or bad omen for the season.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-19872233111151098532012-10-18T17:23:00.000-07:002012-10-18T17:23:37.181-07:00DurabilityOkay I know this is an add for Contour and their POV cameras, but it's still a pretty great testimony regarding some of the build quality. Check out the vimeo site for the full story and links to other stories about it. <br />
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Basically, the user got caught in an avalanche two years ago. He was okay through the process. Somehow though 2 years later his friends were hiking in the area and found his goggles with the camera still attached. You can now see the entire thing from his POV. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/50417601" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="500"></iframe> <a href="http://vimeo.com/50417601">Fissile April 4 2010</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/leelau">Lee Lau</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-4577518979358135292012-10-10T15:52:00.001-07:002012-10-10T15:52:44.969-07:00Approaching the 2012-2013 seasonIt seems yet another summer has come and gone. We're fast approaching the 2012-2013 season and I'm busy getting back in shape for the season. This season will see me replacing many of my base layers, socks, and external shell as none of these seemed to survive the spring/summer. It's bound to happen eventually after the wear and tear many of these pieces are subjected to. <br />
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While in my search for some updated layering techniques, I came across an interesting video on Patagonia's website on layering. Yes it's mostly an advertisement for their gear, but the basic principles are the same. Check it out:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="322" scrolling="no" src="http://video.patagonia.com/video/Layering-for-Backcountry-Snowbo/player?layout=compact&read_more=1" width="416"></iframe><br />Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-2111634521786225602012-02-27T16:12:00.000-08:002012-03-02T18:22:06.203-08:00Students Have Bad Days TooHad a first for me in my several years of teaching skiing recently. In my multi-week kids program class, one of my students was having a bad day. All morning he wasn't interested in skiing. By afternoon, he was just not having it. His parents, unable to resolve the issue before the end of lunch, left it to me (and the rest of the class) to work with the student who was now just having a complete fit. At this time it was his goggles which wouldn't stay connected to his helmet (because he hadn't closed the back latch). After a little peer pressure from the other students, he came out to ski, while continuing to complain the entire way to the chairlift. Complaints ranged from his gloves being too hot, his goggles were off center, to his helmet was choking him. Each of these complaints included a complete melt down with tears and lots wailing sobs. At some point the rest of the class got tired of it and started telling him to be quiet, although in less nice terms. After finally reaching the top of the mountain, we had a new problem. Having spent so much time making our way to the chair lift, a storm had rolled in with the wind picking up, lots of snow dropping, and now a cloud arrived to further reduce visibility.<br />
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Knowing these students weren't ready for skiing without their primary sense (sight), I made a decision to take a little more advanced trail. The theory was this trail would be wind protected by the trees surrounding it, and usually has some good snow pack on it. In general it's a favorite run of mine most days.<br />
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Skiing down to the start, everyone was doing okay a mixture of snow and flat light.
Just as we entered the run, one of the other students fell and required some help getting up. After hiking up to help, I return to find my problem student out of his skis, now with his jacket and gloves off, complaining that he was cold. Helping him get his jacket back on, then gloves, he couldn't get his feet in the bindings. This brought on the worst tantrum I've seen to date. Helping him again with the bindings, I started to see the snow changing color to yellow. When I asked the student about this he proudly told me he just peed his pants.<br />
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This just set the tone for the rest of the class for me.<br />
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Now, complaining about being cold again and wet, he stepped into his bindings in one quick movement, taking off down the hill. Collecting my skis and the rest of the class (who had moved on to sitting on the ground and building snowmen), we tried to follow the tracks to where he had gone, but the wind and snow quickly filled in his tracks. None of us could see where he had gone. Being upset that this kid had already given me a first, I was determined to not let him give me my first lost student. Especially with the conditions steadily getting worse.<br />
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The rest of the class and I slowly worked our way down the trail. Turns out my choice was both good and bad. Good because the trees added visibility. Bad because the one technical section had become wind blown ice causing all my other students to be frightened. Keeping an eye out for my now missing student, none of us could see him, and we were quickly losing his tracks due to the refill happening.<br />
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At the halfway point one of the stronger skiing students caught sight of the runaway student, and rushed ahead to catch him. When the rest of the class arrived, the now found student was still upset and crying. He was now upset that he had gotten lost.<br />
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Lesson learned: if your child really is just having a bad day, don't force them into a group class. They will just make the class miserable for everyone. All my students had the same comments to their parents and me afterwards: they didn't want to ski with the difficult student anymore.<br />
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[EDIT: fixed the formatting]Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-71407883030739831852012-02-17T16:41:00.001-08:002012-02-17T16:41:34.486-08:00Continuing the blogA little quiet of an update. I've been wondering recently if it's worth continuing the blog. Basic problem is there seems to be an over abundance of spam comments and replies. I had opted to use blogger because I had hope they would filter it, but it seems even that isn't enough.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-26113503181141679222012-02-06T16:37:00.000-08:002012-02-06T16:37:54.390-08:00GogglesI've spent many days out in the snow, usually with a pair of goggles on my face. I've tried the cheap $35 versions up to the higher end $200 version. My general opinion is that the $50 range is the right area to be buying goggles. They tend to work just as good as the more expensive goggles do, they have many of the same anti-fogging features, they cost significantly less so you're not worried if they get destroyed by a wayward student, and tend to last about 3 to 4 years. A few years ago I ran into a case of my goggles dying while on the mountain. Instead of wasting the day in the lodge, I decided to buy a pair at the mountain.
In a stroke of luck, the resort was having a massive sale on everything. I was able to pick up a pair of <a href="http://anonoptics.com">Anon</a> goggles. For the last few years, these goggles have been probably the best pair of goggles I've owned.
This last weekend I had the opportunity to teach a class of upper level skiers, all of whom wanted to work on their steep skiing skills. Riding the chair up, everything was good, we reached a steep run to enjoy, and I went first to show what we wanted to work on. Three turns in I find my goggles are fogging pretty badly. By the fifth turn I can't see anything and decide I need to stop. I end up cutting a little too hard, falling, sliding to the bottom of the icy face, and pretty much yelling back not to do that. Taking the goggles off I see that my favorite pair of goggles has now died; moisture can be found between the layers of the lens and that was what frosted up my view. One of the students loans me his extra pair of Smith goggles and we continue the class.
I have now been searching my local outdoor stores for a new pair of goggles. It seems none of them carry Anon anymore. Instead I can find Electric, Dragon, Smith, Oakley, VonZipper, Scott, and Spy. Having had a few sets of Spy, I wasn't very impressed with them and will not be buying them again. Anyone know what happened to Anon? Or better yet have a suggestion for an alternate pair of goggles?Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-35093302200967774142012-01-28T13:30:00.000-08:002012-01-28T13:30:00.482-08:00When to buy new gearI know I've spoken about it before; the continued use of old gear. It's something that happens on a regular basis at every resort. Working as a greater some mornings I'm more amazed at the amount of old gear people come carrying up than anything else. Two weekends ago I was able to witness a couple carrying vintage Raichle Ski Boots in perfect condition. The bottoms looked like they'd seen very little wear, the sides still showed the original paints and what not. It was enough for me to stop them and ask how long they'd had the boots. Sadly the couple couldn't remember, but they loved the boots.
As I was preparing for lessons that day in the Kids School, one of the employees from the sales area came walking back. Not terribly unusual but what was in her hand was. She was carrying the cuff to a ski boot. Apparently a family brought their child in for some ski lessons, bringing with them their borrowed gear from a family friend. Their child, once in the ski boot began to walk around, breaking the boot within a few seconds. It took less than a minute for the entire boot to disintegrate in the pay line. By entire boot I mean the plastic, the boot liner, and the buckles. All three were destroyed. The front desk employee brought the boot cuff back to give us warning that "Conan The Barbarian, Slayer of Boots" was about to be signed up for lessons, and left the boot cuff for us to inspect.
We all joked about it for awhile, and the general decision had been that whoever gets this child needs an extra cut in their paycheck this week. Then the decision was the boot cuff should be mounted and shown why using old gear isn't the best idea.
Ten minutes later I discover that "Conan" is one of the three children in my class. He was actually a fun student. After the class, I arrived at my locker to discover the Kids School had found some polished wood, drilled/mounted the boot cuff, and then hung it outside my locker with a name tag. The makeshift plaque now is going to be used to highlight the instructor who has had the most interesting pre-class story. So far I'm in the lead for 2011/2012.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-4823258280564292842012-01-27T14:42:00.000-08:002012-01-27T14:42:14.335-08:00Sometimes it is the gearWorking with children is always a challenge. Even when you ask what you think are the right questions, it doesn't always mean the children will respond with proper answers. For example in my pre-class checks I like to investigate the boot fit as it's not uncommon for people to rent boots too big. I run through a series of pre-class questions that look kind of like this:
<ul>How do your boots feel?</ul>
<ul>Are they too tight?</ul>
<ul>Where are they tight?</ul>
<ul>Can you feel your toes touching the front of the boot? (When standing up)</ul>
<ul>Can you try to bend your ankles?</ul>
I'll also do some checks where I see what has been stuffed into the boot (socks, jeans, etc) and check space for the shin bone. Often times just adjusting a little bit of the boot tongue is enough to make a tight boot suddenly feel a lot better for kids.
This past week I had a student, lets call him Brian, who ran through all of these steps and everything looked okay. As a class we took some time to prepare indoors for wedge and parallel positions, walking, getting in and out of skis, and general starting processes like that. Once the class made it outside, Brian suddenly had all kind of difficulty in moving around on the snow. It wasn't terribly clear to me at first what was going on, or why he couldn't do simple tasks like a straight glide. Some of that was because Brian was a constant ball of movement even when standing still.
About half way through the outdoor segment I started to see what was going on, his left leg was inverting at random times. It wasn't clear why but at lunch I had the chance to better inspect what was going on. It was at this point Brian was showing to the other kids in the school that he could turn his boot sideways and pop his foot out of the boot. The Kids School director and I promptly got Brian a new pair of boots that were a few sizes smaller, which made all the difference in his ability to control the leg. It did not however slow down his endless motion.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-27045346646429509952012-01-19T14:06:00.000-08:002012-01-19T14:06:05.432-08:00Sarah BurkeThis season seems to be off to an awful run. First we have had a complete lack of snow all around in the US (with one storm now dumping a lot on the ground). Now I read that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Burke">Sarah Burke</a>, Canadian freeskier, has passed away due injuries sustained in her January 10th 2012 accident. Full story can be found <a href="http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120119/sarah-burke-died-120119/">here</a>.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-61748449645613271482012-01-12T16:02:00.000-08:002012-01-12T16:02:23.950-08:00ski-blogJust wanted to give a shout out to Justin over at <a href="http://www.ski-blog.com">ski-blog.com</a> for a quick recover back to a season on the snow.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-3851162573786031192012-01-12T16:00:00.000-08:002012-01-12T16:00:05.977-08:00For those who haven't seen it yet, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apNKEhdokKM">Sh*t Skiers Say</a> is making the rounds now thanks to Whistler Blackcomb.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/apNKEhdokKM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-87616016579105940472012-01-10T15:00:00.000-08:002012-01-10T15:00:01.998-08:00What Snow?This has been a topic of conversation for most of this season. For the folks in the West coast the season started early (mid to late November) and then entered a drastic warm spell for December. For the folks on the East coast it's been a lot of warm with man-made snow being used as much as possible.
Then a friend sent this little link to an article called <a href="http://www.onthesnow.com/news/8/a/105372/wheres-the-snow-and-whens-it-coming?utm_source=20111222_Nltr&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=W11_OTS_Nltr&utm_content=C8_story_1&XE_LNK=Newsletter">Wheres the Snow?</a>. It's an interesting read to see how things are going this season despite it being a La Nina season.
Despite my attempts at laughing at the lack of snow, I've come to the conclusion it must be bad. CNN has published an <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/06/travel/ski-season-seeking-snow/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7">article</a> talking about it as well.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-6251950087720927392012-01-09T16:28:00.000-08:002012-01-09T16:28:55.922-08:00Back alive on the blog. This one comes from the folks at Teton Gravity Research (TGR) to remind us to take care in the back country:
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/34534418?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/34534418">Puckerface avalanche</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user8720927">Jamie Culp</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Other details on this slide according to the American Avalanche Institute include a 36-inch hard slab, on a greater than 45 degree angle at about 11:30 am. Thankfully no one was caught in the slide.
TGR also provided this interesting link to the current tally of deaths due to avalanche this season: <a href="http://www.avalanche.org/accidents.php">http://www.avalanche.org/accidents.php</a>Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-41878221710962266512011-11-07T15:17:00.000-08:002011-11-07T15:17:50.058-08:00Snow on the groundSpent this weekend up at the mountain, cleaning up the rental cabin with my new roommates, and in general preparing for my home away from home. Ended up sitting around having a few drinks with the group when we got the brilliant idea to go climbing towards the summit for the sunset. About halfway up we found snow. Not just the usual dusting or few inches. Nope, we found knee deep left over from last season with several inches of fresh from the recent snow falls. The start of the season is just around the corner, is anyone else excited?Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-81469919255636094412011-10-10T17:41:00.000-07:002011-10-10T17:49:27.455-07:00Shake out the DustIt's that time again... yep time to shake out the dust on this blog. The winter season is fast approaching. Or really, correction:<br /><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/WolfCreekSki2/status/122125149750304768/photo/1">Wolf Creek</a> has already opened for a bit this season.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-48636009421556530932011-03-01T16:36:00.000-08:002011-03-01T16:51:52.115-08:00The End of a ClassThis year at Corpy provided me with my first chance to take part in a multi-week school program. Meaning one of the local grade/high schools would bring up a bus load of students on the weekends for instruction time. <br /><br />For the past 8 weekends, I spent each morning with 9 junior high school students who wanted to learn to ski. The afternoons were spent with 2 grade school students, and 2 junior high students. <br /><br />At the end of this past weekend, both groups expressed their disappointment that our time had come to an end. A few of the students also asked if they could continue on taking more lessons from me. They all seemed to say the same thing to me, they enjoyed learning to ski with me because we didn't do just drills. We did a few, but we spent more time going down runs fast, going down runs slow, cutting through trees, taking jumps, bumps, and learning to ride a box together. I watched one student move from never having skied to riding the black diamonds with us, only to consistently crash on the flat run outs back to the lifts. I watched all of them learn about the joys of riding in powder. <br /><br />For me it was a sad end. I really enjoyed working with these students over the weeks. It gave me a better clue as to how they were progressing as skiers, and really became a lot more fun once we got to know the names for each other. I'll miss my classes. But hopefully I'll see them on the slopes as the season continues.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-32515915128507896912011-02-22T18:12:00.000-08:002011-02-22T18:38:23.814-08:00Plague of the MountainIt happens every year, regardless of any corrective action taken by a resort. It swamps in and fills the resort both with money, but also with lots of frustrated, irritated customers. The "it" I'm talking about is high school ski race season.<br /><br />If your local mountain has any kind of slope to it, it's likely at least one local high school will be practicing, running races, or do some event at your slope. Every year these racers swarm to the resorts, and it's always entertaining to see the young racers working through their lines and showing off their skills.<br /><br />But there is also the dark side. Lift lines get insanely longer, with many of these racers feeling they are privileged to push in front of other paying customers. And then there is the lunch time rush. I'm not talking about the rush to get in line for the food at the resort. No, I'm talking about the tide of skis left strewn about the entire base area with reckless abandon.<br /><br />At my previous resort, we tried to keep the racers contained to an area. We built an entirely new building for them to connect and have lunch at, with a huge open area in front. But this didn't work, and their skis continued to liter the entire base area. Eventually management's answer was a lot simpler; "step on them." As employees we were encouraged to just walk on the skis when we found them laying on the ground. When that didn't work, we bought a large push-shovel that we ran across the top of the snow and collected 20-30 pairs of skis in a push. We'd then pile them up in an area in front of their lunch stop without care. This worked a few times because it had a direct impact on the racers. They had no idea where their skis were, and only a limited amount of time to get to the start.<br /><br />It also had the effect of generating one great over heard conversation:<br /><blockquote><br />Ski Racer Dad: Are these your skis?<br />Ski Racer: Yeah.<br />Ski Racer Dad: (dropping skis and kicking them) How do you like seeing that happen?<br />Ski Racer: DAD!!! YOU'RE DESTROYING MY SKIS!!!<br />Ski Racer Dad: You think I'm doing it? By leaving your skis here the ENTIRE mountain steps on your skis. What's the difference if I do?<br />Ski Racer: .... <br />Ski Racer Dad: (grabbed another pair of skis) Look at this! See these burrs, those are from the staff here stepping on the skis.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />I was actually proud to hear Ski Racer Dad telling his son to take care of the equipment. Only a little disappointed to hear him blaming the staff for the burrs and not the fact that little Johnny probably got those from any number of people stepping on them.<br /><br />At my current position, the solution was to put up large amounts of ski racks for the racers to use. Judging from the carnage the past few weekends, this hasn't worked at all either. The racks, while used, were not enough to break the habit of the racers. Management's answer has been to not touch the equipment and raise the issue with the training staff directly. <br /><br />Just curious what other resorts do to contain this infestation of skis.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-66548830426521285442011-02-21T14:19:00.000-08:002011-02-21T14:22:33.480-08:00OverheardOne of my favorite overheard quotes from this past week at the resort...<br /><br /><blockquote><br />Skier 1: I just went over there and helped some people.<br />Skier 2: Why'd you do that?<br />Skier 1: I thought they were bro's, but they weren't.<br /></blockquote>Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-57682274905549880012011-02-16T13:22:00.000-08:002011-02-16T13:22:00.392-08:00Over-Protective ParentsSometimes parents get to be a little overly protective of the children, or really over state some special needs for their children.<br /><br />In a recent class I had two students, one young boy (we'll call him Charles) and a young girl (we'll call her Amy). When the class card was handed to me, the management of the kids school told me specifically that Charles was not to ride a chair lift alone. Apparently he had some issues with paying attention on the exit for the chair. <br /><br />Out on the slopes he really did well skiing, and was more advanced than Amy was. I spent more time with Amy trying to get her up to speed with Charles through the morning. She was struggling a little bit on the beginner slope with some of the ideas we were working on, but nothing too bad. Each time we made it to the bottom though, I rode the chair back up with Charles as directed to me. We eventually broke for lunch.<br /><br />At lunch, I joined my class eating lunch, which means the barely controlled chaos of kids school was everywhere. In keeping some of the chaos slightly contained, the front office people asked me to come out and talk with one of the parents who was wanting to talk with me. Turns out it was Amy's mother, who told me that Amy was feeling left out of the class. Specifically Amy felt that I found Charles more fun because I rode the chair only with him and never her. The front office rep and I spent some time explaining what was going on, and Amy's mom seemed to be very understanding of what was going on. I also went and spoke with the kids school manager regarding the earlier statement that I cannot let Charles ride without me.<br /><br />The manager and I spoke, and the reason this statement came down was Charles's parents put him in the class with the understanding that Charles would be distracted by the bullwheel on the chair lift. This was somehow translated to him being a danger to himself on the chair through a discussion with the front office staff and the parents. <br /><br />After skiing with him, it was clear he was neither distracted or a danger to himself on the chair. In fact he was just like every other kid on the lift; eager to stand up and ski some more. With my manager's approval I now moved to Charles riding every other chair ride with another adult. Amy's enjoyment of the class improved in the afternoon as we now addressed her major concern.<br /><br />In the end, we learned some new questions and behaviors to ask parents. It also became clear to me that, despite the best efforts of the front office and the school practices, some parents do provide misleading information in an attempt to get their child more attention. Please don't do this.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-18329082963151420222011-02-16T12:11:00.000-08:002011-02-16T12:11:00.425-08:00Pre-class DiscussionsI recently had an all day student, we'll call her Julie. I first met Julie in the morning, she was already bundled up her gear, trendy goggles on, and ready to go. When I was looking for her in the children's lesson room, she quickly identified herself as Julie, and I brought her over to join the rest of my class. While talking there, I asked her to share her name with the rest of the class, at which point she told me her name wasn't Julie. Getting that sorted out took a little time, but in the end was kind of funny to me. I quickly made the connection that she was slightly shy and made a mental note of what I'd have to do to get her skiing.<br /><br />Once outside, she was skiing with a snow plow that turned constantly to the left. We began working on what we could do to fix this. We'd start at the top of the hill, she'd repeat exactly what she was going to do, and then proceed to not do any of it while skiing down. It was a little frustrating, but happens often enough. While talking to her, I noticed that she was calling things randomly different words making talking with her confusing. For example, she'd say a chairlift was an elevator. After a little while we stopped and broke for lunch.<br /><br />After lunch my class grew 3x larger, and a second instructor was added. We split the group up based upon skill levels a little later on. The second instructor opted to take the kids who were still on the beginner section and Julie went with the second instructor. At the end of the day I caught up with the second instructor who was frustrated beyond belief at how he couldn't communicate with Julie. We talked a little bit and I had noticed many of the same issues earlier. I had attributed them to her being a little stubborn 5 year old. It wasn't until Julie's mom showed up for the report card review that everything made sense. <br /><br />Julie wasn't a native english speaker. <br /><br />She had no accent, no indicators for us in why we might need to say something slower or a little different. In fact, after talking with her mom, we discovered english wasn't her second language either. It was her third. Both the other instructor and I felt we could have done a much better job describing things if we had just known this one detail.<br /><br />This highlights the most important detail for parents. If your child has some special needs, please let us know. Despite everything Corpy's children's program had setup, we're still not mind readers.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-31562146335953475582011-01-25T19:19:00.000-08:002011-01-25T19:59:46.249-08:00Breaking StereotypesI was running late arriving to the mountain the other day, getting to the parking lot along with a large number of customers. I was parked several rows away from the standard employee section, which just means I'd have to walk my gear and self to the lodge area a little further. While suiting up for the walk, a car next to me starts blasting some current alt-folk music by Mumford & Sons. This isn't the sort of music you expect to hear on mountain so I turned around to see who it was. <br /><br />To my surprise, the car blasting the music was a modified Subaru WRX, two snowboards attached to the top, with two early 20-somethings inside. Front windows were drawn just a little bit, with a little bit of smoke drifting out.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-67647437143998915152011-01-09T20:09:00.000-08:002011-01-09T20:26:51.682-08:00Snow TiresFor a long time now there has been a debate between my friends, coworkers, and I over the best type of tire configuration to use while traveling through the snow. There are essentially 3 main ways:<br /><ul><br /><li><span style="font-weight:bold;">Studded Snow Tires</span> - These are snow tires with small metal "spikes" on them. They aren't typically sharp, but they are good for pushing through the snow and providing a better grip in most areas. The downside I've found to these tires is on normal roads, they tend to rip up the roads. I also have found on wet roads they are completely dangerous, with sliding accomplished very easily. Oh yeah, they don't do any better on ice</li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:bold;">Stud-less Snow Tires</span> - These are tires made with a softer rubber that often utilize much different tread to accomplish a better grip while in snow. Some may have sipping in between the tread blocks. Currently these are my favorite type of tire to use (<a href="http://www.bridgestone.com/products/passenger_tires/blizzak/index.html">Bridgestone Blizzaks</a> to be precise). They work really well in the snow, excellent on normal/dry roads, don't tear up the road, and hold on the wet roads really well. Downfalls to these tires are the fact that the softer rubber wears down quicker, and the noise level on dry roads goes up (a bit) Like the studded tires, they're not terribly good on ice.</li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:bold;">All weather tires with chains</span> - This would be your standard tire wrapped with your choice of chain. I'm not a huge fan of putting on chains mostly because I do not trust the other drivers passing me while I'm attaching them. That said, there are times where chains are the only possible means to moving around on the mountain and I carry a set of 4 for my car at all times. That said I feel there are many downfalls to chains including damage to your tires if improperly installed, damage to others tires if you've improperly installed them, lower speeds mandated (unless you like replacing wheel wells), having to attach/detach on the side of the road. Unlike the other two options, chains appear to work wonderfully on icy roads still.</li><br /></ul><br /><br />We debate the merits mostly between studded and stud-less tires a lot. I feel the Blizzak is about as good (if not better) than any studded tire I've had. Now I find a new argument for not using studded tires; Studded tires may harm your lungs and heart over long term usage.<br /><br />Huh? Over on <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40950286/ns/health-heart_health/">MSNBC</a>, they highlight a bit of research by some Swedish scientists observing the effects of studded tires. Anyways the MSNBC article is light on content. Either way, it's a fun fact for the next time we have this discussion in the instructor lounge.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-76847060448782444622010-12-31T13:58:00.000-08:002010-12-31T13:58:00.052-08:00Winter driving basicsOne of the biggest changes to come from my changing resorts, is the need to commute for an extra 30 minutes. Some days I take the employee shuttle, and some days I don't. It's usually a case of which classes I'll be teaching that day, or if I need/want to leave earlier than the first return shuttle operates.<br /><br />With that additional driving time comes the added danger of winter driving. And drivers. It's pretty common to hear everyone at the resort(s) talk about what an idiot this or that driver was. Never do we wish to believe we are that driver. Having said that, we're all pretty lousy drivers in the snow. Even the best of us. Just a few pointers to remind us how to be a better driver in the snow.<br /><br /><ul style="list-style-type:circle;"><br /><li><span style="font-weight:bold;">Just because you can't see the traffic lines on the road does not mean they can be ignored.</span> Case in point, this past weekend. There are two routes to the resort (call them East and West access), each brings you to the main resort access road. Access road East often has a large number of accidents on it and this day was no different. Word among the employees was that the East road was closed by three different accidents all currently being cleared out. I opted to drive the West route. It's a smaller two lane road that winds through the mountains with minimal up keep by the state road services. Traffic was running slow, about 25-30 mph, when a car passes me on the left. About 10 minutes later, all traffic on this road ceased to move. An hour later it starts moving again, at which point I pass by the cause of the delay. There on the side of the road is said car, T-boned smashed in the oncoming traffic lane along with three other cars it ran into in the aftermath of the impact. It appeared that everyone was alright, but the whole accident could have been skipped if he'd just payed attention to the traffic rules.</li><br /><br /><li><span style="font-weight:bold;">Turn signals are still necessary.</span> Similar to the previous statement, just because you believe you know what lane you're in, or what you're doing, doesn't mean the rest of us do. Turn signals still help communicate that to the rest of us. It's very difficult sometimes to discern if that sudden swing from your car to the right was intentional or because your car just slid off the road.</li><br /><br /><li><span style="font-weight:bold;">Give plenty of space between cars both driving and parked on the side of the road.</span> It sucks having to put chains on. Not only do you have to deal with the cold, winter weather, but you also have to deal with stringing out chains, laying on the side of a road with traffic passing, and sometimes the significant other hovering over you. Often the road is plowed while the shoulder is not, forcing a driver to use the road itself. While I don't encourage this behavior (chain up in the chain up areas if you think you'll need to), it's no reason for passing motorists to be dangerously close (especially in slippery conditions).</li><br /></ul>Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256701158582629866.post-46498437758967348442010-12-30T18:42:00.001-08:002010-12-30T18:50:44.511-08:00Bad Resort BehaviorsAs seen this week, while skiing down the main crowded beginner run with another new recruit (who just finished his shadow time). I stopped to re-plant the SLOW warning sign in the snow (normally a Ski Patrol job, but if it's down it's employees job to replant it) when I overheard the following conversation:<br /><br /><blockquote><br />Snowboarder1 (kneeling on the ground behind me in the center of the run): Hey Susie, you still need to go in?<br /><br />Susie (who wasn't easily seen): Yeah I need to pee.<br /><br />Snowboarder1: Yeah so did I, but I'm taking care of that right now.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />After hearing that statement I turned around. This guy was kneeling behind me, his snowboard was laying up against his body covering up his crotch with the un-mistakable line of yellow snow was running through his legs.<br /><br />Folks, if you're going to pee while out on the snow, PLEASE head into the trees. No one wants to fall and get a face full of piss.Off-pistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08839664289118758308noreply@blogger.com0