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Teaching friends to ski

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wasatch_rat
Posts: 1772 - Karma: 2,951
so tomorrow i'm teaching my good friend and his younger brother how to ski, neither of them have ever been before. any tips on ways to help me teach them would be much appreciated, +k
Nov 22 2010 5:48PM
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Imagination
Posts: 2501 - Karma: 73
Be patient and try to have fun while you're skiing and just cruise around and hit little sidebooters and jibs and such. It makes it much more fun and it doesn't feel like you're teaching them at all, and they feel like it's fun as well. And it's better to take them down a cool little "secret" trail that's the same difficulty as, say, the bunny hill, because it makes the experience more enjoyable and adds to the commaraderee (sp?). And don't forget about positive reinforcement. Good luck!
Nov 22 2010 5:53PM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
PSIA dissagrees with it, but Aspen/Snowmass doesn't teach the snow plow and it works really well. Don't teach them to pizza until they know how to ski parallel decently. If they need to stop, they can keep turning until they go uphill again and lose momentum. Don't push them by putting them on more advanced slopes than they're ready for. Don't use your upper body to steer. Those are the biggest things IMO.
Nov 22 2010 5:56PM
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wasatch_rat
Posts: 1772 - Karma: 2,951
hmm, thats an interesting tip. while i agree that going from the wedge to parallel turns just wastes time, i think that a wedge would keep them from falling as much and getting frustrated. i'll definitely take that into consideration though. both good responses, +k. keep them comin!
Nov 22 2010 6:03PM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
From experience, the kids i teach that go straight to parallel fall much less because they don't get their tips crossed and they learn to stop faster. The key is teaching them to turn one direction at a time. Like, have them turn to the right until they go so far back up hill that they lose momentum and stop. Then have them do that back the other way. Then, when they get the hang of that, have them start linking the turns together.
Nov 22 2010 6:14PM
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Ducky.
Posts: 5811 - Karma: 1,420
Good luck. It pretty much sucks
Nov 22 2010 6:27PM
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Mex_LineJib^a
Posts: 3928 - Karma: 65

i have CERO experience teaching professionally and i'm nowhere near getting certified, but one thing that has worked with gaper buddies that need a friendly advice is: once they can move around the hill a bit and learn a bit of posture... when i see them strugglin to mak turns, i usually ask them to lift their heel/leg/ski to which ever way they want to turn. example: coming from a left turn and want to turn right, lift right leg a bit in order for them to move their weight/edge to the inside of their left ski, and making them carve a little natural right turn without much hassle. usually works... at least with my friends who are handicapped at skiing!  nah but most importantly, teach them to have fuun out there!!

Nov 22 2010 6:34PM
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pdxplanker
Posts: 137 - Karma: 53
this is a good point, turning is all about certain pressure switches from uphill to downhill ski. turn right...take a little pressure off your right ski and apply it to the downhill left ski, opposite for when you turn left.

i would teach them proper stance and body positioning first. knowing how to stand on skis properly will save them from trying to figure how to balance themselves when making turns and use their momentum.

if they are having some real difficulties controlling themselves then teach the pizza/french fry, otherwise i would try and get them to use that as little as possible. it can be a tough thing for some people to kick when they learn how to properly parallel ski.
Nov 22 2010 6:52PM
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Morginsfreeski
Posts: 129 - Karma: 10
threads.. im also teaching some of my friends to ski this year, hopefully they will pick it up quick!!
Nov 22 2010 8:02PM
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TRSkier415
Posts: 137 - Karma: 71
I taught a few of my friends last year and this formula seemed to work really well:

First, as mentioned before, let them stand up on the skis and get used to being in the equipment before actually taking them out on the slopes. This will let them get the feel for how their weight shifts and how the concept works before actually putting them in the hot seat.

Then, take them to the bunny hill and teach them the basic pizza-french fries deal. The biggest fear for new skiers is stopping, so once they know how to stop, their confidence should go up and they will be more willing to get a little adventurous. Give them like 2 or 3 runs of this until they've really got the feel of stopping and going.

Next, I like to teach them how to turn in the pizza position (it has some fancy german name, but basically its just putting your tips together and then gently pressuring one ski more than other to make a slow, snowplow turn). Start on one side of the bunny hill, have them follow you across the fall line all the way to the other side, and when you get there, tell them to stop (pizza) and then demonstrate how to turn and explain the whole weight transfer thing. Let them try, and repeat.

From there, they'll pretty much have learned the basics. Keep taking them from one side to the other and back until they get more and more comfortable and want to try getting a little more speed with their turns. If they do well, take them on a slightly more difficult green and just let the magic happen.

hope that helps.


Nov 22 2010 8:43PM
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