Any tips? They must have decent boots. Take it slow and easy and try not to wear 'em out too much.
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Any tips? They must have decent boots. Take it slow and easy and try not to wear 'em out too much.
Dr. Scotty recommends drinking early and often.
PM Bushwackerinpa he is the self professed "best instructor in America".
^
Not to mention best skier, equipment expert, mtb rider, bike tech, trail builder and I'm sure several other things I missed.
BWinPA is la rawj?Quote:
Originally Posted by FussyDutchman
Creaky Dooshbag claims to be a ski school teacher. Maybe he can help you out with some pointers on how to alienate and insult the new skier.
Depends on where you teach...Quote:
Originally Posted by cmcrawfo
In Vermont we ski either like wood fire grilled pizza or non GMO tallow cooked ff's.
HAHAHAHA!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDaddy
Expect to spend very little time actually on skis.
Drinking helps. The right amount is tricky, though.
When he was teaching 3-4 year olds my kid figured out that if you explain to them that real skiers get their pants wet all the time it saves you from having to change their underwear when they pee their pants. (He's bumped golf cars, cared for a paralyzed man, been a Squaw pro patroller, and is now a surgery intern. Teaching those little kids was the hardest job he's had. Picking them up off the snow is hard on the back.)
are you planning on committing a few years to being an instructor and climbing the ranks from snot-wiper to privates, or is this just a job for a year or two so you can "ski bum"? ....If it's the latter I wouldn't even consider instructing. get a evening job. never ever work days
Stay away from fat people that & politics in SS.
lots of patience .... and drinking that's good too
magic carpets are awesome .... rope tows suck
teaching skiing is actually very fun, especially if the conditions suck.
Don't let them do anything until they master the wedge wiggle.
Seriously though the hardest thing to correct I see is folks way back seat.
As a job or for friends/family? Age(s)? Can't really answer without this info.Quote:
Originally Posted by HeSaidSheSaid
If you actually love skiing.......don't.
You get to deal with the douchey older instructors who teach their private clients how to do the perfect turn on lame short, skinny/carving skis. Glad I never instructed. I work at nights & only do one lunch/dinner double shift a week. For myself, practically everyday is shred day.
safety meeting and a small flask in your top pocket....lots of patience...at least this is what i have been told to do with my 2 year old this winter
Can't believe your girl is two already!...Quote:
Originally Posted by mtnbiker/boarder
My tip is to carry a pocket full of Hershey kisses. Gets them through everything except compound fractures...
skittles / mm's. wrapped candy sucks on a cold day.
Dumb.Quote:
Originally Posted by RaisingArizona
Sharing something you love with the people you love is a double win.
Pussy... ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Canada1
True, but they stay clean all week. Sometimes I pre peel.
Make sure your teaching skis don't have anything "offensive" on the top sheets. (We all know that the nude female form is a testament to the glory of God, but management somehow doesn't see it that way. Bunch of atheists I guess.)
Like the VJJ, I asked an extremely religious gal I know about her new skis and she couldn't even say VJJ she said they were JJ's
teaching skiiing, ski patroling, swinging chairs is what it is ... but it ain't skiing
Agree. Sliding around on some flat sticks in wintertime is fun! Everybody should do it.
Lol, your students are breaking their legs in multiple places? Ouch!
Patience is key. Probably my own personal fail. "Just do it like I said, retard!"
Get this book, Ski Tips for Kids. Your kid will love the cartoons.
With a kid that age? Your goal should be to get 'em to shuffle around/walk in their skis and boots without pitching a fit. Keep her close to a bathroom, plenty of snacks and don't let her get too cold.
Making turns is not a priority. Climbing on snow mounds and throwing snowballs can be just as effective. You want her to get used to being outside in wintertime.
How about working with 4 year old twins at the same time? Done it one at a time and did it successfully with their bigger brother.... the goal is for their mommy to get some skiing in with their big bro while daddy is with the little ones on the bunny hill. Im thinking about using a long bamboo pole with each holding on. We are set with harnesses. I should be able to handle getting them on and off the lift. They are small and light for their age.
Tia
Well that explains a lot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grape_Ape
EDIT: I'll be doing the twin-dance with 2 year olds this year. Lucky buggers learned to ski 21 years earlier in life than I did!
Or after noon...Quote:
Originally Posted by flowing alpy
How big are these twins, in terms of weight? I've used boo and tethers with a rather athletic but total newbie skier weighing ~45lb. I learned that a good amount of centrifugal force is generated by a 45 lb kid at the outer edge of a pole - crashes can be, shall we say, spectacular, especially when the boo breaks. Trying to handle one on each end seems on the zany side for anyplace but the magic carpetQuote:
Originally Posted by bodywhomper
When you say harnesses, are you talking about tethers? If long enough, you could prolly handle both of them at once (one pair each hand) while they do wedgie wiggles. At least they will be crashing into each other and not you.
The key is tether length - 10' is usually enough to stop/avoid their sudden faceplants. Four feet gives you enough time to think "don't crush the kid" before their helmet whacks your ribs while you perform a maneuver that I'm told looks like a running buffalo getting shot.
In either case, please wear a GoPro and provide footage of your adventure. There's a kids stoke thread dying for content.
A fine traversing wedge will save your ass everyday of the week and twice on Sundays.
Lol, ain't nothing wrong with a T-bar up a steep hill. Surface tows are okay. SAID NO ONE EVER.
thanks for the response. i've wondered about the pole breaking and the forces involved if they're ggo different speeds or directions. i've also considered the hula-hoop technique, with one hoop in each hand. the 4 year olds right now are ~35 and 30 lbs.Quote:
Originally Posted by telebobski
with their older brother, we never used the pole method (maybe tried once or twice just to check it out). he went from between my legs to out in front of me with 10' tethers kept loose unless i needed to save him from running into something. (10' tethers were barely long enough, ime). we'll probably need to try a few things out and not get too fancy/experimental until they are comfortable with the skis and snow and snowplow again.
other suggestions?
i would love for my whole family to be on skis at the same time.
uckin fay, you and Gape Rape think you know me so well, you should just live my life for me. you already have assumed the right, may as well shoulder the full responsibilities package.Quote:
Originally Posted by meter-man
exactly. best advice is just let 'em have fun in the snow, the ambition should come from the child and not from the parent. remember kids are pretty different on when their body is not too floppy to try sliding on skis. toddlers have huge heavy heads relative to the rest of their body and it's tough for a still-floppy kid to balance well enough to slide. earliness of loss of flop doesn't depend on Star Athleticism in the parents, it depends on the individual kid. a kid who's introduced to fun outdoors in the snow has a greater chance of loving skiing than a kid who is pressured to slide when still floppy. also, short attention spans mean adult-centered learning pace is wrong, so the patience suggestions above, I'd echo and multiply.Quote:
Originally Posted by HeSaidSheSaid
G,
Random thoughts in no particular order having taught hundreds of kids that age:
1. boo can work. I didn't use it that often because I feel like boo and leash/harness systems teach poor balance/weight distribution early, so it ultimately takes longer for them to ski without the crutch. That said, if you have a kid who doesn't listen well, the harness/tether may be a necessity. I still managed sizable classes without though. Tether is fine if they're not leaning into it, as you mentioned above.
2. Skiing backwards in a reverse wedge while holding their tips together works. It helps when you're in your late teens/twenties though... :biggrin: I actually liked this better than throwing on an edgy wedgy and calling it good. You can move their skis and articulate them for them to help them learn the muscle memory, and your arms are obviously stronger than the rubber band, which often pops off without too much force.
3. Somebody mentioned a traversing wedge, and that's definitely key. I used to line the kids up with my skis off, and then have them ski one at a time at first.
4. The shallowest pitch you can find is good. I assume you have a SB pass again, so Christmas Tree probably. Even the stuff off Jerome is kinda steep for their first or second day. The old Nugget Chair at Boreal was perfect for this. The beginner chair at Soda is awesome too. Magic carpets are good, but I like to get them on the lift pretty fast.
5. I honestly think the quickest and least fussy way to do it with your own kids is one by one, and then skiing backwards holding tips. And then slow terrain progression. With bigger classes (I'd occasionally have 10 by myself, and I remember 17 with a partner instructor on a busy day), things are different.
Edit: This is all premised on what creaky and others said above. My advice assumes they can already stand and shuffle around without falling over, and that they're generally stoked to be out there. That's obviously priority #1.
[QUOTE=bodywhomper;.
other suggestions?
.[/QUOTE]
I'm not a fan of trying to force kids into a wedge. Most will end up in one because they don't steer their inside foot very actively, but I don't like teaching it explicitly, especially to children whose goal is to rip advanced terrain. Better to teach them to control speed via turn shape imho.
Teaching a braking wedge is useful if you've got a gaper on your hands and their objective is to be able to get off the bunny hill and ski from the top as soon as possible. It's definitely the quickest way to achieve that goal.
I'd rather spend a whole season without leaving the bunny hill and then be able to quickly ski the gnarly shit than move on to a blue groomer in a month and get stuck there for the next 5 years.
1.Avoid teaching wives/girlfriends to maintain relationship harmony.
2. Kids less than 3 do best with a ratio of 2 adults- 1 kiddo.
3. Poles are not an important piece of beginner equipment.