10th Mountain Division

I started skiing in the Army in 1977. Even before I was released from active duty I was working part-time as a ski instructor at Monarch in '78. I had never skied before in my life having grown up in Connecticut where the snow is icy and, in my opinion back then, dangerous. Soon after I entered the service and transfered to Fort Carson, Colorado, I volunteered for special duty to be a member of the Moutain Skills and Survival Training Committee. We taught summer and winter mountain survival skills, which of course included rock climbing in the summer and skiing in the winter. It was a wonderful time, it changed my life dramatically, and I'd love to tell you more about it sometime. The main reason for this post is that the MSSTC was actually a decendent of the 10th Mountain Division. The 10th was inactive at that time. There is an interesting series on NPR all about the 10th Mountain Division. See/hear it here http://media.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14594652 . The men from the 10th had a huge part of establishing the ski industry. From my own personal experience, it is easy for me to understand why these men would do what ever they could to continue skiing after their release from the military. Some of them are still skiing today in their 80's and 90's. That means some of them have been skiing for over 70 years!

Opening Day at Monarch

Opening day at Monarch is the day before Thanksgiving, the 21 of November. I think that's 56 days from today. It's been so windy here in Salida lately that I haven't been riding my bicycle for a few days. I'm gonna have to get my butt out there regardless of the wind and chilly temperatures. I'm not about to start loosing all the fitness that I've gained over the summer just before the season starts.

Rikki, my daughter, is living up at Crested Butte these days. She says she's going to try for a small job at the ski area so that she can get a pass. I'm trying to encourage her to apply as an instructor. She thinks she's not good enough to teach, but I think she's much better than she realizes. Rikki worked at Monarch for two years on the Farm Team (that's our instructor apprentice program) and then two more years as a part-time ski instructor. She has more experience than she realizes. I really believe that her time spent learning the trade has helped her in many ways in her life. She learned to talk to people, how to be responsible, how to be in charge, the importance of figuring out what motivates people, and much more. Snow sports instruction is hard but very gratifying and rewarding work. I am very thankful she had the opportunity and I hope she tries for it again at Crested Butte.

Stop In and Ski Monarch

Crested Butte is giving out free lift tickets between Nov. 25 through Dec. 15. It's also a four hour drive from Denver. Why not just stop at Monarch instead? Early season passes are only $27.00. And we always have better snow and no crowds.

My Business Cards

Here is an image of business cards that I used most of last winter. The phone numbers are the ski school sales office. I'm thinking of adding my own mobile number, email address, and this blog URL to the card.

Normally I have not involved myself in booking lessons for guests. I leave that all up to the sales staff. I'm wondering if I can offer better service by becoming very involved with helping my guests choose the best product (which will require me to really know all the many available products) and assist in their scheduling of our times together. My thought is that it will facilitate better relationships with my guests which is better for Monarch and for my guests.

Out About Town and Pressure Control

We were out in town last night enjoying the many friends we have here in Salida at our favorite watering hole, Benson's Tavern. I got into a discussion with Boyd about pressure control. He and I go back and forth on this every once in a while. I mentioned that I believed ski racers actually loose time when they become airborn. It was kind of funny because he said yeah, but that's because they are sailing sometimes for 2 to 3 hundred feet! He's got a point there. In normal everyday skiing where we're regulating pressure between the snow and skis, decreasing pressure does not seem to slow you down. In fact it probably causes you to go faster. Increasing pressure would seem to cause you to slow down. I have to give this some thought so that I can go back to Boyd and somehow explain that I'm talking about a more even distribution of pressure through out turns equals more efficient, better balanced skiing. I'm thinking the opposite of someone that is braced and braking and trying hard to increase presssure under their skis to create friction to slow down.

Fixed Gear Bicycles and Pressure Control

I've been riding my fixie quite a bit lately. I'm reminded of an idea I had a few years ago about how presure control is used in riding a fixie and how it is used in ski turns. If you could hook up a machine that could measure the pressure under your feet as you ski or as you ride a bicycle I think you would find some interesting comparisons between the two, especially if your bicycle is a fixed-gear. They say the most efficient peddlers are those that can pedal in circles, that is apply a more equal amount of pressure to the pedals throughout the peddling stroke. This is especially evident on a fixed-gear because you can be thrown off the bike if you forget you're on a fixie and try to coast. In other words, if you try to stop peddling you will be surprised at how much force your momentum has when one of the pedals comes up the back side and literally lifts you off the bike. My thought a few years ago was that if the most efficient peddlers are those with the most consistent pressure, that same idea be applied to skiers. The idea is that if a skier could maintain the most consistent pressure under foot he would be most efficient in descending a slope. In races he would be the fastest, in bumps he would be the smoothest, he would have an eaiser time staying in balance throughout the run and throughout all his changes of direction.

More on this later.

Using This Technology

I ran across another site that seems to be dedicated to a similar concept as I have here. Actually it is probably more thought out and seems to be developed more as a business model. It's called MySnowPro.com. According to the site it's been set up for snow pros who want to have web sites to enhance their relationships with their clients. The main writers on MySnowPro seem to be Jonathan Lawson and Greg Davis from Breckenridge. It looks like a great site and the content on it seems to be quality. However the last entry seems to be from March 2007 from Greg. Jonathan seems to have added an entry in August. This is interesting in light of my own efforts to feed my own blog. Are they running out of steam? Is there not enough interest? My own efforts are not nearly as grand. I have no desire to sign up other instructors. I am not trying to set up a web site dedicated to helping other instructors stay connected. I applaud Jon and Greg's efforts, but I think they tried to create something bigger than which they have time and resources. I'm sure as professional snow sport instructors/trainers they are very busy as it is. The reasons they give to join MySnowPro website as an instructor are all very good. The last sentence in their reasons for joining MSP is, "MySnowPro.com is the best customer service tool for instructors that you can get! And it's an incredible thank you to your students." The idea of thanking my students and customer service are a couple of the main reasons I created this blog. As a matter of fact, if I had seen more current entries on their site, I probably would have joined immediately. I'm usually not one to try and re-invent the wheel. Oh well I did sign-up for their newsletter, I read through their whole site, watched their videos, and got some cool ideas for my own site. They've done a great job. I hope they get more entries for themselves and even other instructors to sign up for their service. I'm considering signing up for their service for my own promotional efforts.

Nice to see I'm not alone and the more interconnected we are the better. Here's another site, Ski-Blog.com with similar purpose and seems very current. Are we seeing a trend here? Maybe someday you'll need to have your own website or blog to become fully certified with PSIA!

Only 74 days until Monarch opens on November 17th!

The Age Thing, Perspective

So I'm talking to my about-to-turn-23 year old daughter, Rikki, this morning. She told me she thought it was funny she thinks almost the same exact thing about feeling like she was fit when she was 18 but now has to resolve herself to being too old to compete at the world class level. Really I was not trying to sound sad or sound as though it is too late to accomplish goals as you grow older, which in this case for me, is PSIA Level III. But I do think one must face reality and make the best of what you have. And heck, there are advantages to getting older. I remember an old cyclist telling me that what he looses in physical ability he gains in wisdom and trickery. As a ski instructor I have gained a great deal from all the years I have spent teaching skiing. From my experience with all kinds of people over the years, I have learned a tremendous amount of appreciation and skill in helping others reach their skiing goals. I have learned to figure out what people really want, what their motivations are and help them fulfill their wants and needs. I definitely did not have that same level of skill in my early years as an instructor when I was full of myself and very physically fit. Guess it’s all a matter of perspective.

BTW, here is a picture of Rikki competing at Worlds when she was 18.

The Age Thing, Physically

All my training is paying off, but slowly. I'm really starting to feel fit again with all my riding. The only problem I feel is knowing how fit I once was. It wasn't so long ago that I was training as a serious athlete with a goal of winning a medals at Masters' Track Nationals. Ahhh, but life happens as they say. So now I'm working at getting fit again with a goal of earning Level III at PSIA certifications. Last year during exams my back hurt and I guess you could say I was feeling my age. Then there was this guy taking the exam in his late 70's or early 80's! He did not pass at that particular event, but apparently it wasn't his first attempt and he keeps trying.

Yesterday I finally got up the courage and felt fit enough to join the local group ride. These are a bunch of young guys, in their 20's and 30's mostly, who race regularly on the weekends in this region. They're pretty fast, and I would say, very fit. It was great to get to ride with these guys and test myself, but again the only problem was remembering how fast I once was, when I was their age. On the positive side, I was able to keep up pretty good. I think with a few adjustments to my equipment and my diet (read, no more beer), I could actually compete with these guys and give 'em a run for their money. That feels good. I just need to remember that my new goal does not really mean "beating" competitors, it is more like becoming the very best I can personally be (reminds me of a joke I used to say about I was already in the Army).

I'm pretty sure that I'm not too old yet to physically meet the demands of Level III if I make the effort to be fit for the event. It makes me wonder though, is there a point where one must finally admit that one's time is past? Riding with this young group of very fit men sort of puts things in perspective. Seeing the older gentleman still trying to attain Level III in PSIA puts things in a different perspective for me as well. It's looking at two extremes in the aging process of an athlete. So what's the moral of the story? I may come back and edit this, but I think the moral for me is to just do the best I can while trying to balance my expectations with reality.

Generalist vs Specialty Skis

I totally agree with an article in September Ski magazine about having the right ski for the given conditions is best, "Put Your Best Ski Forward." Since I usually have limited cash, I generally try to find a ski that will do it all, also known as an “all mountain” ski. But as the article points out, this is a compromise. Last year I really felt the difference in my ability to ski gates fast when I switched to a ski designed for racing the kind of course found in Monarch’s Town Challenge. My times dropped immediately. My all mountain ski is too short and has a tighter turning radius than needed on the course. This resulted in my tails breaking loose and slowing me down. Once I put on the right skis I was able to hold the edges much easier and thus reduce or eliminate any skidding and slide much faster through the gates. Having nice sharp edges helped a lot too. My all mountain ski, since I’m on them all the time, need tuning more often, and as a very busy ski instructor, I don’t get to it enough. So it only makes sense that I would not ski the course as fast as someone with the right equipment optimized for the task. Only makes sense, doesn’t it.

I’m wondering what adjustments I need to make in my tools to optimize for the task of passing Level III this coming year. Last year I worked on my boots, poles, skis, but I’m not sure I got it quite right. I think I can do better with more modern boots. I think I went too short for poles last year. I can see now how shorter poles altered my technique. One of the things that I was getting gigged on was that my hip was dropping to the inside causing too much angulation. Do you think poles that are too short could contribute to over angulating? I do.

The article talks about the width of skis and their purpose. Wider skis have a harder time maintaining an edge on hard pack, for example. Narrow skis don't float as well in powder. It all makes sense. The right tool for the task is the way to go. Guess I better start looking into getting a pair of race skis and some powder boards and keeping my everyday "all mountain" skis tuned up.