Jonathan Lawson

Images and elements of "Good" Skiing

2010-03-02T03:02:56Z

When I was training for my PSIA Full Certification (Level 3) in 1993, and Trainer Accreditation (1999) I would watch good skiers for about 15 minutes every morning. Of course back then it was on VHS video tape. Now you can just book market this post and watch away. Some of the videos resembled what I used to watch.

Medium Radius Carved Turns

Short Radius Performance Turns

Performance Mogul Skiing

Skiing Variable Terrain

Great job Jonathan Ballou (Aspen) and PSIA-RM for putting these images together. To get this type of performance from your instructor, REQUEST a FULLY CERTIFIED PSIA/AASI professional for your next lesson.

Babes on Bumps 2010 - photo review

2010-02-27T14:08:31Z

I had a great 2 months skiing with the ladies of the Babes on Bumps. We came to the season with diverse goals.

1) Improve our skiing

2) Have fun

3) Push a few of our limits

After the first lesson we talked about Zones of Comfort, Performance, and Fear

Here is a slide show of a few of our adventures

We trying to focus and integrate 1 of the 3 skills (Rotary Movements, Edge Ctrl Movements, and Pressure Ctrl Movements) during the first 4 weeks of our time together.

We use a variety of Fore/Aft Balance queues (feeling the shins by flexing/extending the ankles)

Foot to foot balance in soft snow. Finding our equilibrium 80/20, 70, 30, 60/40, or 50/50

We also skied across the bumps to develop an awareness of movement in the ankles, knees, and hips. Specific focus was give to "short circuiting" the extension reflex. Flex as we cross the face of the bump, rather than extend or brace against the bump.

A constant theme was developing a "softer" ankle while we skidded through our turn. Understanding that a less edged ski as it skids will create friction, and friction will contorl our speed. If we want to increase our speed or hold our line we can roll to a higher edge and develop a carve.

In the second half of the sessions we traveled the mountain and worked more on application. Whale's Tail, North Bowl, Snow White, and E-Chair were fair game. We still have plenty of practice to get in. But I hope it was a fun time had by all.

Thank you Babes!

Here is a second and shorter slide show

Dynamic Warmup for Skiing - Elsbeth Vaino

2010-01-23T15:33:03Z

This is a repost of Elsbeth Vaino's MySnowPro.com Blog. This is an excellent pre-ski day routine. Visit Elsbeth's blog regularly. You may follow it via an RSS feed, by selecting "subscribe to the feed" in the right hand column of her blog page. Thanks Elsbeth.

If you've ever wondered whether you should do some sort of warmup before a day of skiing, I can provide a simple answer for you: Yes. What you should do is a bit more of a challenge. To help with this, I have created a video that shows a set of 9 activation exercises and dynamic stretches that will help to prepare your body for the ski day ahead.

Each exercise can be done on snow, in your boots, and the only equipment you need is your poles. The warm-up includes:

- Pectoral stretch

- Lower trapezius activation

- Thoracic spine rotational stretch

- Fore-aft leg swings

- Rotational leg swings

- Psoas activation

- Glute medius activation

- Lunge stretch with lateral reach

- Lateral squat with hip rotation

Do 5 reps of each exercise on each side with a 2-3 second hold for each. Then follow it up with an easy run to get a feel for the skis and the conditions. Move a lot during that first run - think 1000 steps and exagerated and repeated flexions/extensions (small/tall). Try a few hockey stops and a few roller blade turns. Then you'll be ready to enjoy the fact that you're spending the day doing he best activity on earth.

When you're back at home or in the hotel room, think about foam rolling: your body will thank you tomorrow if you do. If you're not familiar with foam rolling, check out this blog article about it, as well as this set of how-to videos.

Wrapped up MLK weekend skiing in Breckenridge

2010-01-19T16:41:16Z

We just finished a busy and pleasant weekend in Breckenridge, CO. Skiing and riding was reasonably good. I can't wait for some "horrible" weather to replenish the soft snow on the mountain. It looks like storms are rolling through.

I have been sampling a few tune shops in town. I have been using Pup's Glide Shop. They have been putting on fine tunes. Although about 3 weeks ago I took my skis to Breckenridge Sports in the Maggie (Village of Breckenridge). Rafe is the main tuner there. Wow, he has been doing FANTASTIC work on my skis. The edges are great, and his base structure work is impeccable. I can't say enough about how much pride Rafe takes in his work. I have been been sending my students to both of these locations for ski repair work this season. And heaven knows we need to have our skis repaired from the early season beating they have all taken.

I was fortunate to ski with some very nice people over the past few days. On Saturday I skied with Vanessa R from Kansas City. It was her first day back of the year. Rather than skiing day one with her friends she joined me for a Level 5 lesson. We skied Peak 7 in the morning and Peak 9 in the afternoon.

A few focuses were flattening then turning the inside leg throug the transition of the turn. By the end of the day she was comfortably making parallel turns, and even skied a blue/black.

On monday I was fortunate to ski with Tom and Mary from the UK. They had been skiing with us for 6 days prior, and wanted to technique adjustments but also some adventure seeking around the mountain. We worked on some contemporary technique including an earlier tipping (rather than twisting) of the ski, and allowing a flexion of the inside leg from the ankle, knee, and hip. Prior to the coaching, they both had a simultaneous flexing and extending of their legs. This was leading their moving back through the shaping and finish of the turn.

Later in the morning we took this on to the T-bar and North Bowl. The snow was surprisingly good. Although only 3" of new snow was reported we found considerably more in spots. The terrain features had softened as well. In the moguls we focused on bringing the feet UP toward the hips rather than the torso down to the feet. This allowed better ski to snow contact earlier in the turn. In the afternoon we decided to move up into the Imperial Bowl. We skied Whale's Tail to Vertigo for our first run, and the Peak 8 Summit and Lake Chutes for our second. Our third run took us back to the Whale's Tail and the Boundary Chutes. My hope for them is the enhanced technique and the exposure to new terrain will make the next 3 days even more enjoyable.

Tom and Mary's Photo Album

Tom&Mary

We are also planning a second MySnowPro.com ski trip to Silverton in February. One day at Silverton Powerdercats, and the second at Silverton Mountain.

Zones of Comfort and Fear - Performance Skiing

2010-01-12T20:10:29Z

The contents of this post have been incredibly important to my ski and golf teaching. I have also used the concepts here for other types of athletes and performers. I labelled zones of comfort, performance, and fear in my own sports growing up (Motorcycle racing 1978-82, Surfing 1981-1992, Track 1986-92, and Cross-Country) I have found that several others have moved in parallel with these ideas. I first shared this with my students around 1992. In the mid 90's I started meshing some of the terminology and ideas of John Phillips from Aspen Mtn. I honestly don't know where my original ideas end and others began. And for the learner's sake, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that these ideas are simple and work well if used during a learning process and the student stretches their personal comfort zones. When I have the opportunity to have an "Adventure Lesson" with a skier I like to create a syntax in which the skier and teacher can communicate. I call this the Zones of Comfort and Fear.

All Zones are relative to the individual. They are not necessarily Green, Blue, and Black runs. They are influence by skier/rider ability, experience, and mental state at the time of assessment. They can also be influenced by terrain conditions (powder, ice, moguls, etc), Traffic on the run, and Time day (visibility, fatigue). Furthermore, these zones are not fixed. For example, a blue mogul run at some point may have been a yellow zone activity, however when the student gets comfortable with blue bumps it eventually turns green. It is also important to note when a participant is standing above a run and looking in, the "fear of the unknown" can be quite strong. Once the skier/rider "takes action", there will usually be a 1/2 to 1 zone drop in anxiety.

I remember a few times I've told myself, "Mind you can tell me how scared I was when we get to the bottom of this run. I will listen to you. Until then, body... do what I have trained you to do".

Green Zone - Comfort/familiar This is the point to add to the participants knowledge base.

An instructor can share and develop new movements, and exercises/drill in this zone. Learned and Activity knowledge can be co-developed in this range. This can be considered to shallow end of the pool. Remember that "a sailing ship is safe in a harbor, but that is not where sailing ships were meant to be sailed."

Optimal Performance Zone - OP Zone- Knowledge and developed skill in conjunction with stress/arousal creates an optimal performance zone for the athlete/performer. I monitor this zone in my golf game with an optimal heart beat. (My golf Zone Hb is 85-98). It is higher with skiing. I enjoy spending time with my student in this area. If I can pace the lesson properly we can stay here for an extended period of time. I will also try to "Anchor" feelings, emotional states, and performance queues while we are in the OP Zone. "What are you seeing?" "What muscles are firing?" "What thoughts do you have?", etc.

Yellow/Thrill Zone- High State of arousal. Some of my students talk about this zone as the "Yellow - wanna pee my pants" zone. Depending on the performer this range may see an elevated "fight" performance throughout the thrill zone. They perform well. They thrive in this zone. Others may encounter a "flight" response as they move through this zone. These "flight" skiers would prefer to finish the lesson segment and go back to their green zone. A skilled instructor may be able to keep their student performing in this zone by encouragement, focus on the activity, and/or anchoring of the experience.

An important part about this zone is to realize that either response should be noted, as well as performance. All results should be applauded NOT criticized at that moment. Some feedback can be given and should be given as an observation. i.e. There is an up-unweighting/extension movement at the beginning of the turn, rather than the absorption/flexion movement we have been developing. The instructor can move back to the "green" or OP zone to work on skills that need enhancing/correcting.

In a learning environment the student/instructor would be best served not to spend an extended length of time in the Thrill zone. Much like the driver who keeps their car in 2nd gear at High RPM for extended period time, excessive wear can be created. Balance learning among Green-OP-Yellow-Orange zones.

Orange Zone - Think of this as the beginning of the Red Line in a car, or anaerobic in workout. An instructor or coach can help manage the anxiety which is inherent within this level. An instructor/coach's presence, words of encouragement, tactical advice, and reminder of goals/incentives can all be beneficial to the learner. In fact, this is an important reason top athletes hire coaches. They help the athlete focus when their world is "spinning".

A skier can play here for a little time, but extended exposure to this mental state will start to see significant performance deterioration. A skilled coach can move the skier between the OP Zone-Yellow-Orange which will expand these zones outward. The terrain or situation which was once orange, can become yellow, or even green with a few journey's into that environment. This can also be viewed as the peak of an Adventure lesson. Celebrate the effort and the experience rather than just the performance. Most of our skiers are not peaking for the olympics or a major performance. They wish to move beyond what they have previously accomplished. Instructors and coaches can help a skier rapidly expand their skier's vision and ability by venturing into the OrangeZone. However, skill must be taken to select environments in which the skier may decompress back to a "safer" zone quickly if necessary. In most cases it is best to celebrate it without critique, but exposure to this zone is important for the skier to grow. This zone also provides fantastic stories for student to share with friends and family during apres-ski!

Red Zone - If a person steps beyond the optimum performance and thrill zones they enter a "danger zone".

Performance will decline rapidly as higher levels of anxiety or discomfort occur. Sometimes lessons go here without the intent of student or instructor. We sometimes call this "TF'ing" the student. If at all possible, it is to be avoided.

After a Red Zone experience, it is often advised to go to a "GreenZone" run to decompress. Then you can build back toward the OP Zone.

I like to introduce these concepts to my students. If I am planning an adventure lesson with a student either today or in an upcoming lesson

The reasons are three-fold:

1) Allow them to experience what is going on and identify these states

2) Allow us to have common language to describe the mental state of the skier/rider

3) Set a gameplan for understanding my feedback, and the reasons we are moving from zone to zone.

Skiing on a Monday in Breckenridge

2010-01-12T19:31:18Z

I greeted Monday morning to sunshine and comfortable temperatures. But here in Breckenridge we love Mondays. There is more room to ski and you can just about ski right onto the lifts.

Midweek days are usually fun to teach on because the folk who ski often have taken their vacation to ski. January 11th was just such a ski lesson with Dave A. from the Highlands Ranch area. Dave took advantage of the new Adventure Session product with Ski School. This session is offered for between 1-5 guests, and starts at 9:15. It is not designed as a lesson but rather a guide around the mountain. A buyer of this product usually isn't able to request an instructor for this product.

I met Dave about 9am, and he had a few terrain goals. Being that he was a Level 7 skier, I had a few ideas. When I saw that he was up for being an "All-Terrain" 7, we were off!

We warmed up on upper 4 O'clock from 6-Chair on Peak 8 (P8). We slipped around to the Front Bowl (Horseshoe Bowl) so that I could determine his comfort level. We used a Green, Yellow, Red model to help me determine his level of "mental" comfort on certain terrain. When we dropped in the snow was very good. From there we skied the "Swamp", then headed over to the T-bar. Dave did well across Front Bowl area. He told me that he had thought of skiing from the top of Imperial Bowl "12,900" and he wondered if he was able. After seeing him ski and knowing a few things about skiing people from the top, we loaded the chair. In 4 minutes we were on top of the world. Pike's Peak was in clear view (90+mi away). We skied the ridge, then reloaded the chair. Now it was time for the Imperial Bowl itself. We entered and took bite size chunks of the bowl By the time we were half way down the comfort level was high and we skied all the way down. We skied a few runs on Peak 7, including Ore Bucket. We took one more run off the T-bar, then had a few more runs before lunch at Spencer's on Peak 9.

After a short but tasty lunch we headed back out to enjoy the bluebird day. It was gorgeous on the hill. We headed over to Peak 10 for a few runs. We took a look out on the "southside", then skied Cimarron and DoubleJack. Great times. With a few pointers Dave was skiing very well. As our legs began to tire, we headed back to P8 for another Imperial lap.

It was a great day to play on the mountain with temps in the 20-30s, and nearly cloudless skies. We skied about 19,000 vertical feet by the end of the day. That was a good Adventure Session. Thanks Dave.

WEB ALBUM

1st Silverton, CO trip

2010-01-10T15:29:24Z

Arrived home after a quick ski trip to Silverton, CO. I expected a big mountain, a slow 2 person chairlift, a quiet mining town, and plenty of hike-to-terrain. All of which we found.

Silverton, CO is about 5hrs from Breckenridge, CO. Chang W., Lucy W, and I left Breckenridge about 1pm and arrived about 6pm in Silverton on Wednesday.

The drive from Ouray to Silverton is pretty incredible. Have the best driver in your car handle this winding mountain road. It is a spectacular drive to say the least. The drive from Durango is much easier, although the last 15 mi of that drive is pretty thrilling as well. The drive was relatively easy, although significant storm activity could create a much longer drive.

We stayed at Villa Dalla Valle, an est.1901 historic home and now Bed and Breakfast. We arrived to wine and cheese offered to us by our host Pam W. We will look to stay there again on our next trip. We will also bring our guitars as they is an extra room to get a little rowdy and play some music. Summer is the busy time for Silverton, as the Durango-Silverton railroad makes 4 daily stops and brings 2000 visitors a day to the sleepy town. After dinner at The Pickle Barrel, I used the hot tub at Villa Dalla Valle and stretched by legs out. I wanted to be ready for the mountain.

In the morning after a nice breakfast with Pam, we headed to Silverton Mountain which is about 15 minutes from the town of Silverton. It is suggested that you arrive at 8:15am to check in. I would suggest to be their by 8am if you need to rent any ski/ride equipment or avalanche gear. You can leave your skis, boots, and remainder of your equipment in the parking lot prior to check in. The walk way from the lot to the "base tent" can be very slick. Less to carry the better. When you get to the base tent you can rent any additional gear that you require. Then go into the "equipment bus" located out the door and another slick walkway.

Checking in early will serve you in a number of ways, and is not due to delays or slow service, but rather it takes time to get your way around this "base area". Arrival prior to 8:10 will most likely get you a parking space right in the small primary parking lot. The rest of the parking is on the main road. (TIP) And since you usually get a ride back to the base area via bus/shuttle/or pickup truck and they drop you in the parking lot you can use your vehicle as storage each time you loop through the parking lot. This came in handy at lunchtime. We chose not to reserve a lunch and bring our own. The base tent will have your lunch there if you pre-order it. Otherwise, there are some snacks and basic bar in the tent.

Required gear:

Avalanche Beacon

Shovel

Avalanche Probe

"Required" Gear:

Wide skis 100+mm underfoot

Backpack with the ability to carry your skis/snowboard

Water (only bottled water for purchase available at Silverton Mtn.)

And a good night's sleep

Photo Album

2010-01-08

There is a guided and unguided season for Silverton Mountain. We were there on the final unguided weekend. They offer a maximum of 450 unguided skiers/riders, and 80 guided

visitors. Those meeting for guided tours meet in the parking lot (at the base of the 2 seat chairlift). Arron Brill (owner) did a quick sort of Fast and Medium hiking speeds.

The 80 guided visitor limit was filled. 2 moved into the fast group, and 78 classified themselves as Medium/moderate. Our group was originally 7, although 2 moved to a faster walking group on the second hike.

Kim G was our guide for the day. She asked about our shovels and probes in our packs. We went through a brief safety check of our avalanche beacons. After which we went up for our first run (9:05). Our first run didn't require a hike. We skied a bowl on an east facing slope. The snow was decent, but only a few inches of Powder.

It was still a good one to get out of the way. Our second was a 25 min hike about 15 minutes below the "Billboard". It was tough for some members of the group as we were hiking above 13,000ft at this point. I don't usually hike with a backpack, but I would say that a good pack to hold your skis or board, snacks and water is all but a necessity.

On the second run, Kim found some very good thigh deep snow in the "Witch's Tit". I jumped in first and triggered a little sluff slide, but it was very minor and provided some nice fresh track opportunity.

After a brief 20 min lunch we went back up and skied over to "Coloradoian" and looked into the "Stooges" on one side, and the "100 acre woods" on the other. Our fourth run was in "Sunset" below the Billboard area. There is much more to explore, but it will have to wait until next time. Most likely the next time will be March 3-5th.

If you plan on skiing Silverton Mountain, be

prepared to hike above 13,000 all day. The mountain is open from 9-3:00 and 4-6 hikes is about average. We had a great time, but one of our party had a very bad afternoon reaction to the altitude. Bring your water and drink often. Although the only "facilities" are located in the white outhouse behind the base tent.

Call in advance for guided skiing. With Silverton Mountain becoming more popular the spaces are filling quickly. The bulk of the season is guide only. And although the unguided season is popular for the value shopper ($49), the $129 price tag for a guide and lift is very fair.

When I spoke with Kim she let me know how they guided and skied the mountain during guided only season. The mountain has a number of zones which are progressively opened Thursday through Sunday. Each zone is then "Farmed" to get max usage over the course of the week. Assuming there has been recent snow, this should provide fresh tracks for those who make the trek to Silverton, and the hike up Silverton Mountain.

We also recommend having a little cash on the side for the guide, especially if they help you find the goods on the hill. And if possible, ask for Kim. She is also a guide in Alaska Mid-March to early May.

Ski Lessons in Breckenridge - December 20-29, 2009

2009-12-30T18:31:29Z

Lessons for Ski and Snowboard have been busy over this Christmas holiday. I have also been transitioning from Futures and Dollar Index Trading back to equity options and teaching skiing. In addition we have been growing the MySnowPro.com instructor database, and growing our Web 2.0 reach via Twitter. You can actually follow us @MySnowPro or me personally @JonnieLaw on Twitter.

I say that to say... "I have been busy", but I wanted to share some photos and videos from the past week in Breckenridge. The T-bar, Falcon, and E-chair are open and skiing pretty well. One or two more storms should do us a world of good.

MySnowPro.com is planning a trip to Silverton Mountain, CO for a fun trip ($285). Arriving on January 6th and Skiing 7 & 8. Two nights (bed&breakfast), Two days on Silverton Mtn (1 day guided, 1 day without guide), 2 Breakfasts included, Wine and Cheese after skiing, and a ski movie on Thursday night. I will also be taking all video and photo clips and putting our personal ski movie together.

But more important that the future, here is some of the fun I shared with students over the past week. I have had the good fortune of skiing with many new people this Holiday period. Here are two lesson from the a week ago.

And here is a slide show from my day with Sherry and Valerie. We spent much of our day finding intermediate runs away from the Christmas rush. You can double click on the slide show to go to the individual photos.

I was also blessed enough to ski with the Smith family from just outside of Aberdeen. What a pleasure. We met in a Level 8 class in Breckenridge, and skied a private lesson two days later in Vail. We started at Vail Village and immediately made our way to the Northwoods (chair 14) area before the people found it. I skied with Sue in the morning. After lunch Emily, Rachel, Patrick, and I skied SunDown for a few runs. Whistle Pig, then several runs in Game Creek Bowl. It was a very afternoon route in which we found some very good winter snow and "Hero bumps". The theme of the afternoon was to maintain similar pressure between the skis and snow throughout the turn. We improved as the day went on.

Breckenridge still has another busy weekend ahead, and I have a Birthday tomorrow. So no rest ahead, although I can't wait to Ski Silverton Mountain next week. We still have some space available, so if your are able to join us we would enjoy having you.

Ski Tips from the Devil

2009-12-30T03:18:57Z

Ski Lessons from the hot house. Some say, "No snowballs in Hades!" I beg to differ. I will sit upon your shoulder and tell you a few of my favorite shortcuts for skiing better. But first, allow me to share where I received my idea for this topic.

I was listening to Scott Fox's podcast with Jack Humphrey. Jack wrote a post "Blog Promotion Tips from the Devil". I found it to be an interesting approach to the subject.

Basically the opposite approach of many writers in getting a point across. What about the random ski tip in leu of ski lesson given by well meaning friends or family members?

Those who ski often may have heard of "The Intermediate Rut". This is a point in which the skier's current technique prevents them from skiing Advanced to Expert terrain without the "skill or grace" enjoyed on the blue terrain

As I listened to the podcast, it struck me that Ski Tips from the Devil would fit well in the realm of the ski & ride instructor. So often, well meaning friends give advice of which they know very little. Specifically, how to ski well. Usually these ski tips get passed down from person to person with their own little spin.

Prior to writing, I decided I should do some leg work and research the subject. Where to go to find those knowledgeable about the subject at 5:30pm? A local ski/ride instructor watering hole Quandary Grille in Breckenridge!

There were quite a few "devils" willing to share their stories. It was fun to knock one back and talk about a few war stories on the hill.

When reading over these, realize in many cases they are band-aids to a real underlying skill deficiency in one's skiing. In the case of equipment choices or off snow choices it is just listening what others have told them. Ignorance in it's most innocent sense.

Here are a few of our choice tips (6+6+6=18)

1) Push your shins into the front of the boot, and edge more to slow down

2) Just "duck the rope". The snow is better on the other side.

3) Turn your head and/or shoulders in the direction you want to go

4) Always lean back in powder, and lean forward when you ski

5) Use your poles to push away from the lift

6) Wear two pairs of socks to keep your feet warmer, and stuff your jeans into your boots

7) Place the metal snap on your snow cuff between your boot and shin as a positive reinforcement device.

8) Use the "Texas Tuck" to help you go faster across the flats

9) Impress your friends with jump tricks whenever possible

10) The "Texas Suitcase" or the "Houston Handbag" are the best methods to walk around with your skis and poles

11) Turn with your knees, and keep your feet close by attaching the boot's velcro straps together.

12) Let your friends "teach" you how to ski, and teach spouses and significant others whenever possible.

13) Once you "learn" how to turn and stop, you are ready to go to the top!

14) If one beer at lunch makes you ski better, two will make you ski GREAT!

15) Your instructor doesn't want a tip. "Cheers!" is reward enough

16) 1990's (faded) Neon will make you more attractive to the opposite sex.

17) Surprise your fellow chairlift riders by immediately pulling down the safety bar as the chair leaves the station.

18) If your legs are tired at the end of the day, lean against the rear boot cuff and take an extra run.

Socialism Defined

2009-12-24T22:02:53Z

This is from an Anti-Obama email I received. Before I start with the email, the reader may know that I voted for Obama. In my opinion, he was the best person for the job between our two main choices. Although, my first two choices did not make it to the Republican Presidential ballot. Furthermore, I believe the premise of "Obama's Plan" is not accurate. Changing the health system is an imperative. Although, I believe it can correct through business incentives rather than Congressional laws and regulations. I don't believe pure "equality" is the objective of the administration. But rather the "equal opportunity". And these are two very different things.

I would also recommend that the reader take the time to read or re-read Atlas Shrugged. Especially the chapters regarding the 20th Century Motor Company. The concept is very relevant to the professor's "expermiment" below.

Here is the professor who ran the experiment.It offers a very good lesson.

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class.

--------------------------------------------

That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK,
we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering,
blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

Here is 1 of 6 of John Stossel's take on Atlas Shrugged (Fox)

DewTour event in Breckenridge, December 19, 2009

2009-12-21T04:28:43Z

I taught all day and had a good time with the Level 8 class. The evening Skier Halfpipe is an INCREDIBLE event. Several thousand people smiling and excited for the event. The athletes rose to the challenge.

My favorite Xavier Bertoni was awesome, but Josi Wells and Mike Riddle were better. There were 12 finalists and I can certainly admire their go for broke approach. The entire weekend event was awesome.

The temperatures were very pleasant and very little wind. My wife "let" where my Christmas jacket early. The Mammut jacket is like wearing a -40 sleeping bag. I loved it! And prior to heading over to the pipe we spent a little time enjoying the warmth of the Grand Lodge at Peak 7.

I tried to get a few shots from different vantage points, and I succeeded. The bottom of the pipe was high energy. Since the kids couldn't see, we decided to move it to the top of the pipe. I love watching the athletes mentally prepare for their run. Visualization is key. Training and athletic ability is essential.

In case you missed the first post from the Freeski Halfpipe Qualifier, enjoy it.

TOTINO'S OPEN
SEASON 2010

SKI SUPERPIPE MEN FINALS
1	Mike Riddle	93.00
2	Josiah Wells	91.50
3	Xavier Bertoni	90.75
4	Kevin Rolland	87.75
5	Justin Dorey	82.50
6	Simon Dumont	81.00
7	Matt Duhamel	76.25
8	Banks Gilberti	67.75
9	Dan Marion	60.25
10	Matt Margetts	50.25
11	Thomas Krief	46.00
12	David Wise	14.25

I hope you enjoy the video. It was fun to shoot, and I feel it came out reasonable well.

Breckenridge 09 - DewTour

2009-12-18T07:30:47Z

The Dew Tour is hitting Breckenridge. A tent city of swag is in the Base area on Peak 8. Lots of cool stuff, including GoPro HD Cameras! I made it there for Skier Halfpipe Qualifiers. 48 men trying for 9 spots in the Prelims (friday), who will eventually qualify for the finals on Saturday night under the lights.

There will be a number of exciting park and pipe events. I for one am in awe with regard to how these athletes put their bodies on the line. The back to back tricks they pull is quite impressive.

I don't have must time to type this out as I have spent a little time putting a video together to better show the time I was on the hill today.

Here is a slideshow using the photos of the day.

Thankful Thursday - Breckenridge style

2009-12-18T04:37:20Z

A few internet friends are creating a Circle of Thankful Thursday. I like this idea. I like it a lot. We all have the ability to create heaven or hell on Earth. Some people think one must wait to visit these places. I believe it is in your power to create either one.

How does one create these alternative realities. It is based on our beliefs. What have we come to hold as true. I have the ability to generate a great day. One in which ideal situations attract to me. I also have the ability to create a rotten day. This is to say, I have the God-given ability to respond to situations in anyway I see fit. I have the ability to manifest my reality. I choose Heaven. The writings of Don Miguel Ruiz resonate with me at a very high level.

This morning I woke early. I was pleased to see the market down and the dollar up. Yes, I was please. Crazy huh. Why... well in trading I have positioned myself for the US dollar to benefit from a sideways to up moves. And I have positioned myself to profit from the Equity Mkts to be sideways to down. If I am wrong, so be it. I limit my losses and move on.

I wake up to trade which I love. I then move on to teach skiing, which from this blog MySnowPro.com I obviously enjoy. This afternoon was shared with my son and daughter who are joys of my life. And tonight I went to visit friends and teammates with our PrePaid Legal Business, which is a product I believe everyone in North America should own.

It may have been a full day, but it was a full day of doing things in which I enjoy. A day I could have said, "Whoa is me. I have worked for 18hrs today." However I chose to say. "Wow, what a life. I am going to fill up my day. Then rest, and do it again tomorrow."

Into the swing of things - Breckenridge Dec 12 & 13 lessons

2009-12-15T00:04:09Z

Many of the local skiers are still in training mode as we prepare for a real snow fall. We are looking at the upper mtn wishing for a few big dumps. It will come. Breckenridge has had the temperatures to make snow. We have had the winds to blow snow into the bowls. We just need some more snow soon. Contest Bowl did have a brief opening on monday. ]]> Recent conditions have been good for working on carving, short turns, park skills, etc

Saturday and Sunday I skied with very fun Lvl 8&9 groups. We slowed things down and did a solid amount of skiing, but we really wanted to make sure our minds were "right". We took a little extra time talking about what we pictured a great turn to be. How did we connect turns, how do we start turns. And is there a "best" order of movement as the turn progresses?

I must apologize to my students: The videos I shot did not come out in a usable form. I can't get the HD video to process properly. Next time I will use a JPEG format. However, I have included videos which will offer good models.

When I was training for my exams Level 3 (1993), and Division Trainer Accred (1999) I would watch video TAPES of Michael Von Grueningen and Thomas Grandi EVERY morning. And I would try to emulate their moves during the first runs of the morning. Their flow, intent, and purpose. It is something I have always aspired to achieve. I may never get there, but as I watch them ski I think of "Flow" and the way the move in the direction of travel, rather than "against" their ski. Enjoy the visuals.

On Saturday and Sunday we did a number of drills and shared skiing ideas. Here is a compilation of the two days.

How do we think of turn shape? C-shape, S-shape, Apex to Apex. Where do our skis engage with the snow? What do our notions of turn shape create in the way of subconscious movements and ski-snow interaction?

Main Drills:

Apex to Apex focus (skiing from outside of the corridor to outside of the corridor)

Hop turns

Leapers

Inside Leg foot arcs (out of skis)

Tele turns

1) We talked a little about the skills concept:

a) Rotary Movements; specifically how do we start our turn, and how do we maintain our flow through the turn. We can start low in the foot and ankle or move up the leg to the femurs. Leg rotation, shoulder, hip, whole body. Different movements create different results and may require different reactions to change directions

b) Edge Control Movements - What body parts do we use to control edge angle? Where during the turn to we flatten our skis (neutral)? Where is there the highest edge angle? Opening of the Ankle joint vs closing of the ankle joint (planar flexion vs dorsiflexion) Why? What are we trying to accomplish?

c) Pressure Control movement: How do we control pressure between the ski and snow? What joints are involved? How can we keep a constant pressure between the ski and snow?

d) Alignment - how do we keep our skis on equal plane? How do we create parallel/well-aligned leg shafts? Fore-aft/dynamic balance. If we have too much "tip lead" it creates a flatter inside ski which opens the ankles and creates less control. It also can create a divergence from parallel.

e) Order of movements/Kinetic Chain - i.e. Tip/Flex/Turn, What happens if we change the order?

How can we create acceleration? How can we maintain a constant speed? How to carve or skid? We addressed a number of these relationships to help with understanding. As one can see, the coversations were quite varied. Some took place on the snow as a group, while others were brief chairlift conversations.

Well, there was an essay. Consider a specific skill pool as you watch these videos over and over. You will develop a better understanding of movements as they are applied throughout the turn, and you will become a better skier.

All told, I think everybody had a good time. We did our best to avoid traffic, came home safely, had fun, and learn a few things. I look forward to bring in some Jedi skiing in future lesson.

Umbaga!

Dec 3-6, 2009 in Breckenridge, CO

2009-12-07T13:09:38Z

It has been a busy few weeks for me. I have not been posting my own stuff as much as usual. The good news is that we have been adding dozens of new instructors on MySnowPro.com during that time. We are also improving the search feature, and doing a homepage redesign which will make it more valuable for visitors to the website. On a similar note, I made the Windows 7 upgrade on 3 of my computers. It was somewhat time consuming but not difficult. We have also been building a following on Twitter I will be posting from the mountain daily. We are also gaining a presence on the MySnowPro.com Facebook Fan Page. You can find the link in the right hand column of this MySnowPro page.

I have finally put this together a benefit to those who visit MySnowPro.com. You can get your own Blastoff Network homepage for free. This has been a real cost saver for my family. Also, a portion of actual purchases goes to the Educational arm of Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA-RM).

Breckenridge had a busy Thanksgiving week. Although peak 8 was busy (due to Gondola offload), peak 9 had few lines of more than 30 seconds. Continue to plan your ski day around this pattern. Skiers and Riders can get up the Gondola and then head to P9 (open now) or P7 (scheduled Dec 11). I have my ideas where the morning and afternoon powder stashes will be, but I will make sure my students are privvy to that knowledge.

I have been getting into the lesson teaching groove. Specifically making it as easy as possible for my students "get it". Rather than filling the lesson with fluff, there are nuts and bolts mechanics we can address as we move about the mountain. We then take it to the mountain and put the content (teaching) in to the context (different conditions on the mountain).

The past week has offered some good examples. It is important to remember that the first few days of a persons ski year (which I see all year long) requires dialing in our fore/aft balance. While I was skiing with Laura C. we identified such a situation. I placed captions below the slideshow.

This past weekend I have skied with some great people via private lesson. Specifically Ski.com put together a trip for a number of Ski Club board members from around the country. I skied with folks from Massachussetts, New York, and Florida. Yesterday and for the rest of the week I am skiing with a group based from St. Louis, although the members of the group are from Germany, China, France, and Belgium. This is one of my favorite parts of teaching.

As we move into December it is important to know that the Snow Guns have been working overtime. The cool to cold and dry temps have been fantastic for making snow. As of this writing we are expecting 4 days of snow. I will believe it when it is gliding over my boot tops.