Two days to Selection and counting...

I often find myself in the position where I wonder where I am in my skiing. I have, for so long, been the weird girl that people generously not only tolerate but encourage and help. I'm the one in the group of outstanding skiers that is falling, coming out of her gear and skiing like a spaz.

There is still a voice in my head that says, "Hey, you are doing okay. I think you are skiing in the top third of the group. The bottom of the top third. Nice." and then there is a voice, about 75% off the time (Thankfully OFF snow) that says, no, that can't be right, you are surrounded by wonderful, loving people who are indulgent of your ridiculous optimism and when they say "That's good!" what they mean is, "That's good for you. But its still way way way far away from where you need to be."

My job this month especially, has been to gently and lovingly examine the source of that voice, rather than listening to it and capitulating, or listening to it and getting angry, or believing it, or any emotional reaction.

I feel that way because that was the truth for a while.
But that was me three and four years ago. I'm half way through the fifth year of my journey, and I'm realizing that I'm prepared for this exam.  I've trained to it, I've studied for it, and I've double checked my internal coach with the examiners and selector's eyes that I've been skiing with. It seems like when I'm skiing below the bar, I know it, and most of the time, I'm in the box.
Of course, there are several things to this selection aside from the skiing. There is movement analysis, technical proficiency, and teaching, as well as indoor and on snow presentations.

Today, a group of about 13 of us skied Highlands in a mock selection with John Wiltchen. It was fantastic. The snow was about as good as it can ever get, the bumps were perfect, the temperature finally warmed up, and the company was outstanding.

"Tom Repairing" went to a good home today, and the exam is officially ON.

I got to ski with Kurt and Cindy, two of my best friends and inspirations. Andrew Rumph, who I've been training with for a few weeks, got me back on the horse as far as being willing to pop off stuff and I even dropped about five feet off of a little rock, and realized that I can do this, I'm a solid skier, I have the technical ability to drop things. I'm back on the horse, and I have Andrew's inspiring and incredibly athletic skiing to thank for that, not to mention his infectious playful attitude.

The group was nervous as a whole, and it happened all the sudden. We got together, we were going to ski the tasks on the likely terrain we would be tested on. We rolled up to the top on the first run, and suddenly, it felt just like the exam. Butterflies galore.

It was a great morning, I was glad at first that it wasn't the day of the exam because I was so incredibly nervous, and I got to practice implementing my own performance plan on myself. It worked well, and in spite of the nerves, I felt like I skied to my potential.

On the chairlift, I found out that I had sold a painting, which means I can pay for my exam (nothing like three hours before the deadline!). I'm so grateful for that support, the timing is really not an accident, but I'm glad that I have something of value that I can give to the person who is so generously helping me reach my goals.

In the afternoon, we had some blow out fun runs on short steep pitches and then I came home to play with the kids and hang out with my friend Eric, who is here from Beaver Creek and crashing on my couch for the exam.

When I left Highlands today, I had an incredulous feeling. I felt solid, happy, and prepared. I feel like my skiing, in general, is where it needs to be do pass this exam, and when I am skiing really well, I might do really well on some sections of the exam.  I'm excited to go. My kids are excited for me.

Last night, Bodhi made me tea and tucked me into the couch while I read Harry Potter to the kids. Ethan got my heating pad all ready to go. Liat has been my dedication coach, my positive morale booster, and a great helping hand with the kids when it gets intense.

Tomorrow is a fun ski day with Schanzy and Cindy in the morning, and to bed early before the three day selection starts. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive, and good luck to all the TA and E1 candidates who are going this week!

TA Selection Study Guide

Those of you going for Rocky Mountain Trainer's Accred, I've compiled a study guide from all the places that I've found requirements and materials.

This, by the way, is what you need AFTER you complete the requirements for Application, which can be found here. 

OBTAIN:
Letters of reccomendation (no more than 2)
Letter of recommendation from your Ski School Director

READ:

• Core Concepts
• Alpine Technical Manual
• Bob Barnes' Complete Encyclopedia of Skiing
• Ron LeMaster's Ultimate Skiing (for physics concepts)
• Warren Witherall's Ski Technique: Learn and Improve (Chapter on Bootfitting is excellent)

STUDY AND KNOW: (many of these things are found in the books above, if they are not, I've included links to what I could find online.)

• Stepping Stones 
• ATS: A great description from the Nordic system is here.
• GCT: (Grids are available at here, the full workbook can be copied from someone who has an original copy from the Winter Park materials)
• CAP: interactive web presentation on PSIA here.  A more complete description can be found in this PDF from Children Specialist 2.
• Learning Styles
• Teaching Styles
• Maslow's Hierarchy
• The MA Model, applied to levels 1, 2, 3
• Basic Ski Physics
• Ski Design
• Basic Boot Set Up and Alignment
• The Skills Concept
• Bio mechanics of Skiing (ie: 4 types of rotary mechanisms)
• Kolb's Experiential Learning
• The Multiple Intelligences
• Bloom's Taxonomy
• Facilitating Guests Needs and Developing Goal Statements
• the IDPs for Movement Analysis, Skiing Standards, and Teaching
• Training by Objective Handout

WATCH: (DVDs, Internet)

• Movement Analysis
• Teaching Theory
• ITC Training
• Tech Foundations and Presentations
• Skiing Standards for Rocky Mountain PSIA

REVIEW:

• Clinic Outline and notes from Performance Skiing 401
• Clinic Outline and notes from Technical Foundations and Presentations 401
• The Alpine Trainer Selection Process
• Scoring for Trainer Selection

PRACTICE:
MA in exam Format:

From Schanzy and Rick V.

1. Pick 2 skills: Primary and Secondary
2. Talk about Primary through all 3 phases of the turn using DIRT for SKI performance
    Talk about Primary through all 3 phases of the turn using DIRT for BODY performance
3. Talk about Primary through phases of the turn using DIRT for SKI performance
    Talk about Primary through all 3 phases of the turn using DIRT for BODY performance
    Talk about Secondary through all 3 phases of the turn using DIRT for SKI performance
    Talk about Secondary through all 3 phases of the turn using DIRT for BODY performance
4. How do the skills enhance or hinder each other? (Relate back to the primary)
5. Relate to the ideal, creating prescription for change. GOAL. What is the result?
    Make sure you address BOTH skills and how coaching one effects the other.

6. Reduce to a Level 2 MA - Primary ski and body performance from one phase to another
7. Reduce to Level 1 MA - Snapshot of the Primary Skill for ski and body in 1 phase.

From John Wiltchen:

Level 1: Pick 1 skill and give a snapshot in one phase of what the ski and body are doing
Level 2: Add movement. What are the skis and body doing from one phase to another? Use DIRT.
Level 3: Pick a second skill. How does it enhance or detract from the primary in all three phases of the turn. Use DIRT.  (Comparative words, quantifiers)
Rx For Change: Compare to the ideal. There is NO teaching in Rx for change, this is a mechanical analysis only. ie: If this skier wanted to make a more ideal parallel turn, he would need to move forward in the ski to pressure the ski more in the center of the ski, allowing him to rotate both feet at a consistent rate through the entire turn.

PRACTICE:
Clinic Presentations

Download all 9 possible clinic outlines under Alpine Education Course Outlines
Complete Clinic Outline Form to reduce each one of these topics to a 15 minute presentation. (Review Tech Foundations and Presentations handouts and notes for help doing this)

• All Mountain Performance
• Performance Bumps
• Teaching Contemporary Skiing
• Extreme Mountain Performance
• Precision Skiing 301
• Teaching Beginner Bumps
• MA 201 on snow
• MA 301 on snow
• Jumping Improvement

COMPLETE:

• Proficiency Log
• NASTAR Gold or Platinum and attach
• Clinic Application
• Trainer Accred Application

SKIING PERFORMANCE VERIFICATION (Proficiency Log)

• Carved Uphill Arc (both directions)
• Wedge Turn
• Wedge Christie
• Sideslip in Fall Line or Guided Arc
• Linked Hockey Slides or Hockey Stops
• Basic Parallel
• Switch Basic Parallel
• Entry Level Bumps
• Linked Railroad Track Turns
• Medium Radius Carved Turns
• Linked Pivot Slips
• Performance Short Radius Turns
• Bumps
• Variable Terrain and Snow Conditions
• Half Pipe / Natural Transition Skiing

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Signatures from Ski School Director: This candidate is:

• learning to be a ski school trainer
• is a role model and a mentor at the home area
• contributes positively and is accepted by ski school staff

Additional signature from SS Director: Directors letter of recommendation

TA TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS
Signed off by a current home ski school trainer.

• Practice MA from video
• Practice MA on snow
• Teach MA clinic for Level 1 or 2 instructors at home area
• Create indoor clinic with technical content and materials
• Do MA on your own skiing from video
• Practice describing skiing in accurate, concise format
• Pinpoint cause and effect relationships in high level skiing
• Teach MA clinic for Level 1 or 2

TA CLINIC LEADING DEVELOPMENT
Signed off by a current ski school trainer, and a peer

• Lead a clinic at home area and have a trainer evaluate
• Attend a clinic and gain ideas on presentation skills
• Have a peer attend your clinic and provide feedback
• Create written lesson plans for developing clinic content
• Assess the needs of your home ski school and create clinics
• Create a series of 1 hour clinics in a progression
• Create a clinic in your weakest topic area
• Create a clinic evaluation form that will give you feedback
• Have someone video your indoor or on snow clinic

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN:

• Determine Goals for Personal Development
• Develop a plan and Time Line to Achieve Goals

TA SKIING EXTRA CREDIT
Verified by home ski school trainer

• Attend PSIA National Academy
• NASTAR verification (Gold or Platinum) : ATTACH RESULTS
• Ski fun half-day with another Ed Staff Member
• Peer Coach Ed Staff member during ski day

I get by with a little help from my friends! 5 Days until Selection!

There's a lot of material to know before going to the TA exam!

Yesterday, I was supposed to go train with my friend Cindy, who is an incredible skier, teacher and friend. And we had some hiccups in our communication, and at the last minute, I ended up crying in her bedroom and going through more tissues than one could think was possible rather than skiing.

Can I just say thank goodness for friends like this? Our miscommunication brought up some tough points that I needed to look at about scheduling and rescheduling. I have been working REALLY hard on being more consistent, on follow through, and on not overscheduling myself.

For instance, I KNOW that I am too busy to do ANYTHING else during ski season other than teach, train, and play with my kids. I had to say no about ten times to my massage job at the St. Regis, where I'd LOVE to work. But I know that if I commit to even one day there, I will eventually get overwhelmed, stretched too thin, and dissapoint the people who I love working for. Therefore, thank you so much for asking, the extra cash would really come in handy, but I can't say yes, because I KNOW I can't hold up my end of the bargain.

I'm getting better at it, but I did make a poor choice earlier in the year, when I asked Brian if I could keep Doc (the big horse I love) at my friend IVs ranch for the winter.

I don't have time to have a horse in the winter, I don't have time to fold the laundry, let alone drive to old Snowmass three times a week to care for and exercise a horse. I was initially thinking that once a week, or once every other week would be enough, and then I realized that I wasn't even getting out there once a month. Doc got rambunctious and difficult, IV had to take care of him, and he got in trouble.

Doc lives in Silt now for the rest of the season, and I am left with a reminder that I need to caretake my friendships carefully by saying no, thank you. It was SO lovely and tempting and delicious and to feel my family grow, to feel welcomed by IV and her family, to know that my horse was out there with Melissa's horse, to think that maybe we could keep that awesome connection going through the winter, that I overrode my gut to go with what I wished could be true.

Ultimately it was my responsibility to look forward and know that while it might hurt my friend's feelings in the short term that I can't come out to old snowmass to play during the winter (even though I really really want to), being clear with MYSELF with that boundary and honoring it will protect and caretake the friendship and relationships better in the long run.

I'm dissapointed in myself for not sticking with what I knew in my gut. I was hoping it would be true, that I could pull it off. But I know that in order to accomplish my goals and take good care of my kids, winter for me means home and work and that's it.

I'm grateful for the grace that I've gotten, but even more grateful for the lesson that I learned, first with Doc and IV, and yesterday with Cindy.

My little sister Liat has also been helping me be more efficient and on top of things than ever before, for instance after three months of trying, I finally got my phone linked to my calendar so when people ask me if they can come over for a massage (I do about 3 a week from my home when I can.), I can look in my phone on the spot and say yes or no without having to get back to them and then dropping the ball or being afraid that I've overscheduled myself once again.

I'm not sure why this has always been such a tough thing to do, but I've been diligently practicing for the last two years, and in the last month, I've managed to make big changes that make me feel really liberated and happy and I have MUCH less anxiety about the whole thing.

A big piece was yesterday, I had been afraid to clean my house because I was afraid that the three hours it would take would take time away from studying, but I didn't even know what I needed to study, because I hadn't had time to sit down and plan. I've been reading material piece meal as I've found it, and my study guide looks like a giant spider's web.

Cindy to the rescue. She found a way to string a few spare minutes together and help me get orgainzed, I now have about 4 1/2 hours of dedicated study a day, plus time to finish my passport on snow before the selection, and three days to train on snow, time to clean my house, do two massages and get my skis tuned.

This use of her patterned brain helped me see how to organize my own materails into time chunks that were managable, and also helps me say no. I'm busy right now! I'm super busy! Until February 15, I'm swallowed whole by the exam process and my kids.

The wonderful thing is, because of Cindy's help, I got my house clean without panicing, I gave a great 2 hour massage at my home and felt present during the whole thing and energized afterwords, I helped Ethan with his big school project, read some Harry Potter to Bodhi, and I STILL feel on track and on top of my own homework.

I get by with a little help from my friends. Thank you Cindy for your help and understanding, and Liat for your support and encouragment and holding space so gently while I practice all this stuff, and to Melissa, IV and Lissa for hosting Doc. I'm sorry that it didn't work out, and I'm grateful to you for all you did for both of us.

Five days to exams and counting, and the lessons of this journey continue to challenge me to be a better Kate. I'm grateful for the opportunity!

Cross Country Fun!

Bodhi with a little kick and glide

I just wanted to share a couple of smiles, I'm so lucky to have two amazing kids. Ethan and Bodhi and I went out cross country skiing the other day at the Nordic Center in Aspen. For $9 we rented a full package of skis, boots and poles, and we skied over a mile and a half!

It was a beautiful, sunny day, we sat and had a snack about half way around, and Ethan was sprinting along, showing us the technique that he had learned in AVSC, and Bodhi, his first time on cross country gear, got the hang of it really quick!

I think its going to be great for his Alpine skiing, as he has to actively stay forward, since the boots aren't rigid enough to hold him up if he leans back. He had a great attitude, got himself up every time he fell, and even got a little kick-and-glide by the last 1/2 mile!

The awesome Nordic Center staff helps Ethan and Bodhi get into their gear

What a great way to spend the afternoon!

Fuxi to the Rescue! HOT BAG is the only way to travel.

I can't believe I waited so long. I mean, granted, Hot Bags are expensive. But they are also incredible. I traveled to Whitefish, MT a week or so ago, and this is what it looked like to carry on my boots and helmet, the two things that I am NOT willing to check on a plane, because they can't be replaced once I get somewhere.

Yeah, its about 40lbs of stuff, boots, helmet tennies and coat hanging off the back!

That's a lot of stuff!

My friend Frans aka "The Fuxi" had recently sent out an email from his store that they were running specials on the pro size Hot Bag. I've always wanted one. You can put two pair of boots inside, there are pockets for goggles, hat, mittens, waterbottle, socks, keys, and helmet.

I called Fuxi from Whitefish, and low and behold, in two days time, there was a brand new Hot Bag on the doorstep at a GREAT price. I fit all 47lbs of stuff for the return trip comfortably in this bag, and best of all, my boots were WARM and DRY every time I had to put them on!

The bag has a car charger, too, so when I have to drive to Vail to ski, I arrive with my boots toasty warm (much warmer than they were when I had them shoved under my ski partners feet and against the heater), dry, and ready.

Its a great way to keep track of all of your gear, too, there is a pocket for everything. This is truly the ski professionals bag of choice, and once you get yours, you'll be amazed you ever went skiing without one!!

Saved by the Fuxi! Hot Bag to the rescue!

Visit Fuxi Racing to buy yours at the best price now!

Brilliant Skiing Every Day!

It's here! Weems Westfeldt has re written his most excellent book, Brilliant Skiing Every Day! This book is almost as good as having Weems in your pocket, its written in clear, personable language, taking the often complex concepts of skiing and making them really accessable.

Weems reintroduces the Sports Diamond, the framework on which the top pros at the Ski and Snowboard Schools of Aspen teach, and puts it in your own hands. The photography is spectacular, the writing is fantastic, and the content is essential! If you don't have a copy, GET ONE!

(Is that clear enough? This is a great book. You need it in your library. You need it by your bed. But you don't need a highlighter and protractor to read it.)

Visit Edgechange.com and get your copy today!

In which we get back on the horse after The Big Wreck

I was slightly terrified, I'll admit it. My pointer finger and thumb are still numb, and I'm not sure if that's because of the exacerbated injury to my neck, or because I did something bad to my shoulder, which still hurts quite a bit.

I'm choosing to believe that it's because of my shoulder. My body felt like it was run over by a truck until this morning, a week after the crash.

I'm still sore in my whole spine, and of course, more so in places where I was already injured, in the SI joint, and in the cervical area where I have previously compressed discs, and where I broke off the bone spur.

Yesterday was day one of Precision Skiing 401, a clinic that is a recommended prep clinic for the Rocky Mountain PSIA Trainer's accred. I was SO stoked when I walked in and realized that Jenn Metz was leading the clinic, the wife of Todd, who I had just taken Clinic Leading 401 from in Vail. How often does that happen?

These guys are inspiring for so many reasons, not the least of which is that they have been happily married for thirty years and are still madly in love. They are both extraordinary teachers, and I was excited to meet the other half of this dynamic duo!

Jenn has a truly inspiring way of presenting information, the group was moving, the clinic was tailored to the needs of the group really well, we got a wealth of deep technical information without bogging down our minds, and our skiing dramatically improved as a group. My only complaint is that I didn't have a video camera, because I would have loved to watch the things she told us over and over again so that I could remember every single tip and explanation. They were all really well said, clear, concise, and easy to digest.

Day one for me was scary, I was shaky on my skis, afraid to fall, worried what would happen if I did fall, and I felt like I was floating about six feet off the snow. Visibility was challenging, and we were skiing Snowmass, whose terrain I like, but I always feel a bit disconnected when I am there, slightly lost, even though I know where I am.

I felt like I demonstrated the worst of my adequate skiing, if that makes any sense, and I wondered, if I ski like this at selection, will it be enough to meet the standard? Jenn told me she'd let me know at the end of two days.

I stayed on my feet, and by the end of the first day, I felt much more connected. We got some great work done skiing basic parallel slowly through moderate bumps, and I was grateful for the pacing of the day.

The next day, today, was at Highlands, which is probably my favorite place to ski. It is also where the TA selection is going to happen this year, lucky me!!

I got back on my Blizzard Crush's (I had skied the day before on my GS skis, which are precise, for sure, but unforgiving), and we skied the 9+ inches of fresh pow with huge grins on our faces.

Something was different. My body still feels a lot of pain, but I was connected to the snow like I was before the crash. We dove into Sodbuster and skied what felt more like about 18" of windblown pow over huge bumps. It wasn't my best skiing, but it was okay, and I took three falls along the way. Hey, if I was going to fall, this was the place to do it. The snow was soft and forgiving, and even though the falls were ALL highsiding on a turn to the left, I landed comfortably and let go of my fear.

Sodbuster - like terrain

Jenn had some fantastic specific feedback, not just "do this" but why. Why she wanted it, the expected outcome on the ski, how successful she expected me to be at it, all the points that we are supposed to hit when we are giving clinics, but very few trainers hit every point every time. Jenn is so accomplished at delivering that message succinctly, that I felt really motivated to make a change.

Over the course of the day, my understanding depend, and my ability to move changed, and my skiing improved. It was an incredible day, no more falls after that. We skied hard all morning, double black bumps until lunch, and then got into Wedge Christy land. This went surprisingly well, Squatty's old advice about the slinky, about pressure management like a slinky going from one hand to the other is still fresh in my mind, and with some tweaks from Jenn, suddenly, I had a passing form.

We jumped into SodBuster again at the end of the day, and I was stoked to ski it well, even with tired legs, and no falls. I asked Jenn what she thought about the skiing over all, and she told me on the first day, I was below the bar to just touching it all day, and on the second day, I was above the bar to just touching it.

I was happy to hear this, as today I felt like I skied fairly average. It wasn't my most accomplished skiing ever, it wasn't a super star day, but it was solid. And what feels solid looks above the bar most of the time.

I am so happy to be in that place, I have some great notes to go work on and keep making positive change, I have a LOT of work to do to complete the application and requirements, and I have 12 days until selection!!

Thanks to everyone for their help and encouragement, and good luck to everyone who is going to selection for Examiner and TA!!

Good Luck!

Good luck to all the Level 2 and 3 candidates going for the ski exam today! I heard that the folks from our MA group did really well in the Movement Analysis portion, I'm proud of you guys!

A special shout out to Melissa, Candice, Mary Catherine, Patty, Denny, Alissa, and Will! Good luck guys!

Get after it and let us know how you do!

Trainers Accredidation for Rocky Mountain PSIA... 12 days away!

No, really, I got it. Its all under control...

Oh holy cow, here we go! 12 days to trainers accred, this is the Rocky Mountain equivalent to trying out to be a clinician. Last year, I decided not to pursue any accreditation, as I was looking to find my place in the ski school, see where I fit, meet folks, and get my feet under me (literally) as well as improve my skiing.

With the encouragement and help of a bunch of folks (Aspen is an incredibly positive training environment), I've decided to go for both in-house trainer as well as trying out for the RM-PSIA trainers accreditation. This would mean, if I get hired, that I get the awesome and excellent job of helping to train instructors at the ski school.

I started this year with hosting an MA group, which was a lot of fun, and really helped me deepen my own understanding. We had some simple, basic foundational things which we kept coming back to over the 14 weeks that we met. The group, comprised of level 2 and 3 candidates, worked really hard, was willing to practice, to try, to fail, to succeed, and to question. As a result, we had some pretty excellent talks about skiing!

In order to get to TA this year, I had to fill out a Passport for the ski schools of Aspen, which means that you get several skiing maneuvers signed off by verifiers, as well as attend a physics lecture, a bio mechanics lecture, host a trainer level MA group, get your boots checked and understand alignment issues, and that you are working as a mentor in the ski school.

The TA for PSIA is very similar, there are four pages of passport called the Proficiency Log which you have to get signed off, everything from ski with a mentor and critique their skiing to hold a clinic and get your own work critiqued back, as well as the skiing maneuvers. There are several mandatory clinics that we attend to qualify to go to TA, and you also need to have a platinum medal in NASTAR, as well as some additional certification (mine is in Freestyle).

The first clinic I took to meet the requirements was also the first PSIA clinic I have done since I moved to Aspen. It was amazing to be back in the fold again, and to see the process in this division. I traveled to Vail to attend Clinic Leading 401, which was led by Todd Metz, who I later found out was at Winter Park with my very first skiing mentor, Michael Hickey!

It was fun to find that out, and I thought a lot about Michael that week. I am still grateful to him every day for believing in me, taking a chance on me, and being willing to dive back into the PSIA pool with me after a long absence. Ever single time I teach, or use, a patience turn, I think of him, and I swear, one day, I'm going to make sweatshirts that say "Team Hickey: we leave our mark!" on them.

Clinic Leading 401 was excellent, it helped me to understand and integrate what the National organization wants as a structure under your clinic topic, so that there is some consistency from one clinic to another. It is a really well thought out skeleton on which you can hang any topic, and Todd led by example really well. He created an excellent environment for us to try and to fail, and to succeed in, and I was happy to feel like I belonged in the group.

It also helps that skiing with Todd is a bit like skiing with a border collie. Throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball! The group did not lack energy, that's for sure!

For once I wasn't the weakest skier in the group, I think my skiing was solidly in the middle of the field, and I was comfortable there, while still pushing myself to perform.

I went out on snow with one of our home trainers, Rick Vetromile, and my favorite training partner, Cindy Leuchtenberg (who is skiing SO amazingly well its inspiring every time I see her turn), and we worked on short turns. Rick let me know that the skiing he was seeing from me was withing the box for TA. YES, I was happy to hear that! I have a lot of work to do, but I'm on track!

Next up: adventures in getting back on snow after the Huge Wreck in Clinic #2, Precision Skiing 401 with Jen Metz!

The good news is, I didn't need the bone that I broke anyway.

The bad news is that the bone that I broke is in my neck.

Okay. Here's what happened. I went up to Whitefish, Montana to teach a mental performance clinic to the ski school, and while I was there I got to ski with the Mike Stief and his kids, which was awesome.

Ethan Stief is, as you would expect, a little ripper, at 12 years old, he's quite comfortable hucking himself off of 15 foot cliffs. As I'm preparing to compete in the Colorado Freeride Championships, I figured that a little freeskiing would be good for me, and chasing this nimble, Tigger-like kid all over Big Mountain seemed like a good idea.

We spent the morning hopping off of all the little hits and drops and basically having a ball. Then, the ante went up. Ethan dropped off a big rock, and I skied up behind him to look at it. He landed it clean, a little further out than I wanted to. I decided it looked good, and rolled off it, feeling happy and excited.

The transition was a bit abrupt, and I assumed that the snow was harder than it was, so I elected to come in at an angle closer to the ramp rather than really huck it and reach for a flat landing.

Turns out the snow was softer, WAY softer than I thought it was, and I stuck both the tips of my skis right into the snow below. WHAM, I went down, face first (and chin up) into the powder, booted out and my feet came up over my head. I flipped over, my face coming out last (and taking a really, really long time to come out.)

I laid there for a while seeing stars. Mike is a paramedic, and he was over at my side pretty quickly. "Gee, I wasn't sure your head was going to come out of the snow, Kate." he said.

I couldn't talk for a few minutes, I felt like all my systems were shut down and rebooting. I realized that my right arm was completely numb, and my neck, back and ribs were really hurting.

"Okay, just little movements, okay?" Mike said. I nodded slowly. I shook my head a tiny bit. I was okay. I sat in the snow for another fifteen minutes waiting for my senses to get back on line. I hadn't broken my neck. I hadn't broken anything, actually.

The rest of the day was a slow, confusing blur, we continued to ski, but way more conservatively. I didn't fall again, but I did find out that my pointer finger and my thumb were still numb on my right arm. By the end of the day, I felt like I was at about 70% of normal functioning, and the pain was starting to increase.

The next morning, I decided to go get an x-ray just in case. I spent the day doing errands and then went over to the urgent care center in Kalispell.

Turns out I did break something. Remember that car accident from two years ago? I have a bonespur on C-5 because of it. In hyper flexing my neck like that, on a disc that is already thin and compressed, I hit bone on bone and broke that bonespur clean off. Its now floating in my neck right in front of C-5.

There is some further slight subluxation of C-5, also as a result of the disc that is not the right shape or in the right place, allowing the bone to slide forward.

My flight got canceled due to fog, and I headed back up to the mountain the next day to get back on the horse. I was terrified to fall. I did three groomer runs, and then ventured into the off-piste, where I immediately hip checked (probably due to being so incredibly nervous) I barely tumbled and the movement of my head made my whole arm go numb again, and suddenly, it was back, and in screaming pain.

Oh, shit, I thought. I really did something bad. I'm hurt in a way that is not good. Now, normally, I am a very optimistic person, and it was occurring to me that this might be a situation where you can be as optimistic as you like, but you'd better also take into consideration the fact that you may be seriously hurt.

I wedged my way down the mountain and called it a day. I went into the Whitefish locker room to say thanks and goodbye, and was psyched to meet so many friendly and welcoming instructors.

The mountain is a truly special place, huge, open, with snow entombed trees on the top that the locals call "snow ghosts". The runs into the bowls remind me of the backside in Telluride, like a lift to the middle of nowhere.

The lodge boasts a huge pass through fireplace and enormous comfy chairs to stretch out in, the food is great and the skiing, if you can see where you are going, is phenomenal. I was sad to be leaving, and really bummed not to have a chance to explore the mountain more fully.

I came home and spent another two days off skis, laying on a heating pad and sleeping a lot. Then, it was time for a PSIA clinic that I needed to attend to prepare for the Rocky Mountain TA selection (clinician tryouts). More on that next!

Retraction Turn Dryland Exercise

Here's a quick video on how to practice retraction turns on dryland, for later use in the bumps.

Aspen Real Life - Blogging in Paradise and keeping it real.

Jillian Livingston is the mom of three boys, an adventurer, a writer, a dreamer and an all around amazing woman. She writes the blog Aspen Real Life and has the most amazing eye for a great local story! Of course, living in Aspen, local stories include ones like this; an interview with POWDER magazine's associate editor (and his nephew.)

Rock on, Jillian! Thanks for inspiring us all!

(You can always find Jillian's blog on the Blogroll in the sidebar on Skiing in the Shower.)

From Aspen Real Life:
My title is “blogger” but I consider myself a writer and feeling the need to connect with other writers, I contacted Mike Rogge, Associate Editor of Powder Magazine, for an interview.
Mike gives a witty account of what it is like to work for one of the world’s most popular ski magazines. Thank you Mike. And for the record, I’m up for hire!

For more of this article, follow ME!

Skiing AJAX with the POC crew! What a DAY!

Today is one of those days when you are really, really glad you showed up for work. I wandered into ski school to see if there were any lessons needing instructors, and I ran into Jarka Duba, the CEO of POC USA, my very first sponsor.

POC took a chance on me, opening the door to so much opportunity, and keeping my head, spine and hands safe while I learned to huck myself down the hill. I love their stuff, and I'm grateful for the trust they put in me.

"What are you up to Jarka? Are you free skiing?" I asked.

"Yup, we are skiing around, you are welcome to join us!" he said. I had no idea who "us" was, but I wasn't about to miss a chance to go play in the snow with these guys, its nice to say thanks by sharing a big grin on a bluebird powder day!

Turns out that "us" was Josefin Lowgren, head of Promotions for POC, Oscar Huss head of Helmets and Development, and Stefan Ytterborn, CEO of the whole shebang, as well as Jarka himself.

The snow was amazing on Aspen Mountain, and we skied everywhere, from groomers to the steeps in Walsh's, quitting for lunch at the Ajax tavern, where I got to know Stefan and Josefin a bit.

Like most excellent companies, this one is headed up by open, interesting, creative thinkers. We had a wonderful lunch talking about art, food, skiing, dreams, family, and so much more. I was struck by the similarities in my experience skiing with the TREW crew the other day, the folks heading up the company are real, they love to ski, they are dedicated to their product and driven to make it the best. I was proud to be a part of POC before, I'm really psyched, now.

I spoke with Oskar a bit about how the R and D department at POC is different than at other companies, what sets them apart? Oskar spoke passionately about the process of research and development for POC, they have several doctors; a brain specialist, a spines specialist, a neurologist and a doctor who deals almost exclusively with skiing induced trauma. Then they have a team of engineers. This unorthodox group meets in a "ski lab" setting and builds product from the injury up: what kinds of injuries are we seeing, and what kind of protection would reduce or eliminate this kind of trauma?

The engineers listen to the doctors and come up with solutions to the real world problems that high impact athletes face.

The company is so out of the box and progressive that they even designed a concept car based on the crash and impact data that they have gathered over the years.

It was a wonderful day of skiing, a real treat to be able to say thank you to the guys driving the product that I live in every day, and really nice to make some new friendships.

There's a possibility that there may be some exciting things that come out of this relationship... stay tuned for some (truly unreal) developments!

Dispatch from NASTC: Interski 2011 and more!

I got this in my mailbox last night, so many exciting things are going on in the world of skiing right now!! OH MAN I'd love to be at Interski! I'm so proud of our Team and all the delegates that have gone! Good luck guys!

From NASTC:

Some cool events are coming up in both the NASTC world and the ski world overall.  We've been hearing back from the U.S delegation to Interski 2011 in St. Anton, Austria and sounds like our PSIA Alpine Team is doing us proud.  Our team gave a strong presentation  on freestyle skiing, technology evolution and teaching and adaptive teaching that resonated well with the other delegations and audience members.  36 different countries are represented at Interski and it is the closest event to the Olympics for ski instruction professionals. 

The famous Hahnenkamm downhill and super-g races will go off starting this Friday and Saturday.  The town of Kitzbuehel in Austria will be bursting at the seams as fans from across the world will flock to this tiny Austrian village to witness one of the most exciting events on the FIS World Cup circuit.  The Hahnenkamm is known as the most difficult course on the World Cup circuit.  The course includes jumps up to 80m which is about 262.5ft!! Steep slopes with up to an 85% grade.  The skiers will reach speeds up to 140 km/h which is about 87mph (most people don't even go that speed in their cars), they will have less than 2 minutes to complete the 2 mile long course, with a vertical drop of about 2831ft.  This is probably one of the most difficult courses in the world.

Daron Rahlves Banzai Tour is kicking off this weekend at Alpine Meadows.  This will be the first stop in the tour circuit where competitors will be vying for a $50,000 cash purse.  It is an event that combines skier cross, downhill racing and big mountain skiing technique and tactics.  4 skiers will race each other in each heat through gates in off-piste terrain.  This is event is likely to attract top skiing athletes from all over the country, whose talent and courage will be showcased with each heat they run.

All Conditions-All Terrain course at Alpine Meadows will be going off this weekend (in conjunction with the Banzai tour!)
3 full days of skiing and coaching with Chris Fellows at a great mountain - well known for its abundance of off-piste terrain and scenic views.  Price for the course is $995!!  Come on out, rake in lots of mileage, get great coaching and feedback on your skiing and start making some changes in your performance!

If you would like to have a peek at what the NASTC Val Gardena course will be like, click on the link below and start day-dreaming or trip planning!  http://www.dolomitisuperski.com/en-US/ski-holidays-11EN.html

Don't forget the Snowbird Performance Camp coming up soon.......Jan 27-31.  Enjoy 4 days of great skiing and coaching with Richie Jameson - the guy from "down-unda" who frequently references koalas, kangaroos and seagulls in his teaching verbage.  If you have ever taken a course from Richie, you know exactly what we mean!  Hop on over to Utah for some good times and who knows your skiing might also jump up a level or two while you're there.

DONT CHOKE! - Mental Performance Coaching in Whitefish, Montana

Do you teach skiing in Montana? I'll be at Whitefish Mountain Resort in Northern Montana from January 24th through the 27th! Two clinics are scheduled and more will be added if demand warrants it!

 

Don't Choke!

Exam and Selection prep at Whitefish Mountain Resort in Northern Montana 

with mental performance coach

Kate Howe 

 

Coach to PSIA National Teams Candidates

"Kate's experiences as both an athlete and coach at the highest levels of individual sport give her a unique and valuable perspective. The biggest challenge in helping athletes as they become experts in their sport is working on a flat learning curve where each small refinement or achievement is hard won...

Kate's techniques truly shine when good enough isn't."

- PSIA Education Director, and former US Ski Team Adaptive Coach Ben Roberts, National Teams Candidate and client of Kate Howe

Tuesday, January 25

4 – 6 pm “Go Time” - indoor presentation

$20 per person in advance, includes materials $25 per person at the door

Wednesday, January 26

9am – 3pm “Pucker Factor” - On Snow Practical Clinic

$40 per person in advance $45 day of

Limited to 12 spots

Sign up for both sessions for $50 ahead of time!

katehowe@mac.com to register

Sponsor Appreciation Day! Thanks, TODI!

If you enjoy reading this blog, please visit the sponsors who make it possible!

Todi makes shoes for aggressive souls. They are the apres sport shoe of doom, and as you can see from this picture, I've worn one pair into the ground!

I'm gonna keep the new pair in the locker room for a little post ski Ahhhhh, and the other pair for my outdoor Ahhhh after I come down from a long back country ski or a day in the park on the slackline.

Those of you with tender, abused feet, this is the Rx! Click here to visit TODI, and here to "like" me as a Todi Athlete.

Thanks for visiting, reading, and supporting the sponsors!

Learning to Ski is Like Putting Together a Lego Car Without the Instructions: More Thoughts on Copy, Choose, Create

More than 25 pieces, the first build is always by the book.

My kids save up their allowance and buy little Lego kits that come with about 25 pieces. These tiny kits make up a Lego car, most of the time. I stand there with a handful of Legos, and I look at the box, and I KNOW this makes a car, because I see the picture on the box.

I feel this way lots of times when I'm following someone with real mastery around on my skis. Each of them explains what we are doing differently, each of them expresses the final idea with their own spirit showing through their skiing, but in all of them, the pieces are there.

I watch them ski away, and I think to myself, I see the pieces. I look at my hand. I see all the Legos. I know this makes a car.


Lots of times, I put the pieces together, and I have four or five left over. It looks kind of like a car, I tried to copy the picture, but there is something missing - I have rotation but no speed control; I have speed control but no ski-to-snow contact; I have ski-to-snow contact; but no flexion/extension.


Often on the lift, I flip through the Lego book in my head and go to the last page which shows the exploded view of how it all fits together. I can see the diagnostic, I can see where the piece goes that I was missing.


Most of the time, of course, the piece that I have left over goes in the middle, or in the base, and I have to take the entire freaking car apart to fit in that little, but important piece. Now my rotation matches the distance traveled down the bump, and I have rotary AND speed control, but I'm still lacking ski-to-snow contact.

One of the many ships Bodhi makes from his imaginiation

This place to me feels like the space in between choose and create, it's the space where you are skiing with choice, and seeing how often you are able to chose. Sometimes, it goes well, and you get a moment of freedom when five or six bumps feel like freedom and creation. And then, suddenly, there is a blank space: I don't know how to create in this terrain.


This recently happened to me in Sodbuster, a steep, long, fairly narrow double black bump run. There were sections in which I felt free to ski, speed came with proficiency, in these types of bumps, I could choose, and occasionally have moments where I felt like I was free enough to create.

Suddenly, we came across some bobsled run shaped bumps. I only know how to choose one line in here, i realized. I've spent three years trying to learn not to let the terrain dictate turn shape, but for some reason, I had yet to apply it in this type of terrain.

I asked Schanzy if he could show me several different turns in this situation, trying to free my brain from the prescription that it was wanting to hold on to. I had been skiing three bumps and stopping, trying to find the place where I could choose, but while I could chose on this bump and then that bump, I could not seem to string together any sort of fluid choice.

Schanzy skied away from me, and I watched the creative process, suddenly the prescription crumbled. I was in a place where I could copy, slower and more deliberately, but I could feel the liberation coming. I'm excited for the day when I can take apart all the directed kit cars I've made and mix the pieces up. I'd love to be able to come up with a cool car of my own design, like my kids do.

But I have to remind myself that while I'm eager for that kind of freedom, and I love to jump in and see how I do all on my own, its the learning to build that allows me to play with freedom in the future. Bodhi wasn't able to make the creations he builds out of his mind today before he spent years following the directions carefully.

When the Goal is not the Point

In our front yard, we have a pond. It is an incredibly inspiring thing to look at, in all of the seasons, but it's really exciting in winter. The ranch guys come out with a snowblower and a buffer and they clear the pond every time it snows so that we can all play broomball.

There are lights hanging from the tree at the water's edge; in the summer, we spent a whole night swimming in the freezing water and playing on a friend's stand-up paddle boards under the lights. We built a fire and tried to warm up after being dunked off the slackline, and eventually the evening turned into music and oversized sweatshirts by the campfire in our front yard.

Things are a bit different, now, the gaggle of kids that lived here over the summer couldn't come down and live here permanently, bringing its own challenges to all of us, and the house and pond feel empty without them.

My mom moved back to California, and my little sister moved here from Salt Lake City. Mike is in Africa and in Whitefish with his kids, and the rhythm of a seasonal life goes on. It's a hard reality that we are dealing with.

The pond froze over finally, after a few unseasonably warm spells, and I happened to be home on a day while they were resurfacing the pond for broomball. I had pulled a backpack out of the gear closet the day before, and looked at my skates, out of the closet only four or five times since I retired from skating in 1993, and that afternoon, I thought...

What if I went skating?

While this may seem like an easy, silly question, it's one that has been loaded for me for a long time. Skating, for me, was about winning. It was about the medal. It was about my parents' pride, about finally being good enough at something that they would be proud of me, that I would finally be good enough. Good enough to love, good enough to respect, good enough. I thought that if enough people said I was good, or if experts in the field said I had worth, my parents would have no choice but to agree.

For that reason, skating for me became nothing but the goal. There was no pleasure in the journey, nothing but single-minded focus on an absolute which is ridiculously difficult to obtain. Along the way, even though my parents held up sporting prodigies as models for how we all should behave, I was told that Olympic champions are born, not made.

I remember the day I won a full ride to the Olympic Training Center in Lake Arrowhead, California, having a conversation with my step dad, in which he basically told me that I had no hope of achieving, that this was a waste of time and money, a dead end. That if I didn't come from a long line of sporting champions, I had no hope of cracking the top 10, let alone making it all the way.

Meanwhile, he had torn a photo of Katarina Witt out of a magazine and put it in his briefcase to remind him that hard work pays off.

I was determined to prove him wrong. I was sure that no matter the obstacles that I was facing, I could, indeed, work harder, smarter, stronger and longer than anyone thought, and the reward would be the Gold. I went to the training center by myself, embarking on a journey whose goal was singular. To win. There was nothing for me but the goal as a terminus.

He also told me that there was no point in putting all my energy into skating because the end result would be that while I might be very good, athletes die if they aren't in the top two percent, because they can't get endorsement deals, so they spend their lives using their bodies and not their brains, and when they are over the hill at 19, they have nothing to fall back on and spend the rest of their lives in poverty working in a coffee shop and not fulfilling their potential.

I looked out the window at the empty pond from our house here in Aspen, and I held my skates in my hand and I thought how differently I feel about life, now. I took my portable radio down into the deserted front yard and pulled on my skates.

There was no one around, the pond surface was bumpy and irregular, and I felt wobbly beyond compare. But there were no judges, there was no audience, there were no parents, and I stroked uncertainly out into the middle. I wondered if I remembered anything. I was worried about how bumpy the ice was, afraid to catch an edge, lose my balance and hurt myself with ski exams coming up.

I turned around and suddenly I was flying backwards, and the sound of my skates cutting into the ice felt so familiar, and so happy, that suddenly, I was free. I was skating on the pond, I was just skating because it felt good, good to spin, good to jump, good to play, good to glide over every bump and twig out there. I didn't care what it looked like, it was just for me. It was beautiful. It was free. It was fun.

My step dad and all his judgment melted away, the pressure of a life lived perfectly evaporated, and then my sister rode up on her bike. She asked me, "Oh, my god, are you SKATING?" and I smiled. I was shy to have someone catch me at it, I wasn't sure how I would feel, now would I need to perform?

Liat asked me if she could get her camera, she is experimenting with low light exposure, and the sun had gone down, the single light was shining on one end of the pond. I trust Liat in a way that makes me feel safe in the extreme, so I agreed, and she came out and shot some photos. Looking through them later, I realized how different it was, how different everything is, from this side of life.

It took a long time, a lot of thought and purposeful action, over 18 years in therapy and studying, to separate my understanding of self, self worth, and personal action. I no longer feel like I, as a person, am defined by my accomplishment, and because of that, I'm free to learn and play and experience the road to a goal, without the goal being the point of the whole thing.

I have peeled myself away from the idea that to have worth, I have to fit into someone else's idea of who I should be. And I feel free.

Copy, Choose, Create: Skiing is just like Art School

I was skiing with Schanzy the other day in our Ski Lab (the group of folks from Aspen that are interested in training together before going to National Teams Tryouts), and we had a really great conversation about the bumps. I have been working on my bump skiing quite intensely this season, with LOTS of epiphanies, and the end result has been that I am suddenly able to SOMETIMES ski with more control, freedom and fluidity in the big double black bumps. Yay!

Schanzy said something to me that I've heard often before in teaching situations, but you know how sometimes you hear something in a different way when you are finally ready to take in the information?

It was something like, "You are caught in different moments somewhere in Copy, Choose, Create. Where do you think you fall in this terrain?" It was a great question, one that hasn't been asked to me directly, which it hadnt occurred for me to ask of myself in each type of terrain or situation. Its a wonderful diagnostic.

It occurred to me that learning to ski is just like going to art school. Lots of art school candidates enter school with a portfolio that we are proud of, a sense of where we want to go, and a feeling that going to Art School means we get to skip straight to the CREATE part of the equation. 

Self Portrait by Basquiat

Oh, if only we knew. The hard work begins. Our teen aged angst filled counter culture souls are begging to follow in the footsteps of Basquiat, Schnabel, Cy Twombly, Pollack, Anselm Keefer... let me express all 18 years of my deep, tortured experience in the next five minutes. That's why I'm here. 

Instead, we sit down and learn to sharpen a pencil with an exact o. We practice copying line width and characteristics, we practice copying the masters in one color. We practice copying the masters in two colors. We copy, copy, copy. We draw circles, cylinders, boxes. We draw everything mundane to train our hands to learn to chose line quality, volume, space. We haven't' even got to the part where we learn to chose the story, is it about the light? Is it about the shadow? Is the whole story about the shoulder of the model and nothing else?

Thus begins the painful process of the first three semesters of your undergrad experience: You are taught, and fight against the fact, that you know nothing. I attended art school at three institutions at various levels, first at Montserrat College of Art, then at the School for the Museum of Fine Art, then at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Because I came into each of these fine institutions with a long history of art appreciation (my mom was a painter and my dad an opera singer), and had spent most of my youth wandering around in museums, galleries and attending theater, I had a strong desire to skip ahead to the create portion of the process.

Eager to consume as much new information as possible, I was not realizing at the time that my early education, while a good starting place, had holes in it. It was full of observation, but lacked practical application, and I needed to spend some solid time learning to copy the masters before I could effectively choose in my own work. And that was years before there were moments when I could create. I suppose during this time I learned that part of the process of committing yourself to mastering something over time is being willing to find new information in bodies of information that you already possess. How many times have you re-read a book and found a deeper meaning?

Portrait of Madame X by Sargent

I loved and needed the hard realities of Art school, where so much of the discussion in the lower semesters amongst the students was about the institution's desire to crush your spirit (of course, art school is full of rebellious free thinkers, I can imagine that attempting to educate us is a bit like herding cats...). We griped while we sat on our charcoal covered benches cleaning our size o brushes, mixing pallets full of paint which we could do nothing other than paint a gradient of skin tone to compare to Sargent's palette and see if we had got the right mixture. Not a face, not a creative moment, a honing of the technical understanding of how the pieces interacted together before we were ever allowed to experiment with choice.

After that third semester of dedicated, disciplined, focused work, you find yourself having been beaten into copying the masters and being subject to brutally honest critique of your own floundering work, caught somewhere in between copy and choose, thinking always about the day when you won't get beaten about the head, shoulders and ego for desiring so badly to create.

I thought at this point about what it was like for the painters coming up in the Renaissance, grinding pigment for the master for years before ever putting brush to canvas. Years of rabbit skin glue, years of palette preparation. And finally, one day, if you were diligent, hard working, and your understanding of color and how the master worked, you could assist in putting in the sky. Perhaps the robe. Or a tree on a master's work. 

Art school was a great place to practice humility, setting aside of ego and personal want so you could HEAR what the teachers were trying to tell you. At the same time that you are absorbing as accurately as you can all the information coming to you, you must be nurturing and feeding your own voice, so that one day, the skills you have learned can flow together to show your person, your "muchness" as the Mad Hatter says.

Hamish Cox executing a blackflip with a twist off the Village Raceline. Photo by Charlie Brown

We see this in the best skiers. The technical foundations, well taught, absorbed through discipline of copy, copy, copy, underlined with a strong education in history, physics, bio mechanics, and a willingness to continue to evolve and learn, are present in almost every turn, but in the very best, you see them shine through, not willfully, but subtly.

This, I believe, is the moment of create. It is where the person comes back in, not through ego or desire to show oneself, but because of mastery, because the pieces exist in a way that choice happens almost unconsciously, there is a fluid playful experiential piece that inspires anyone who happens to observe, even and especially if it is in the privacy of the studio... whether that's late at night in the painter's private place, or off the backside by yourself in the trees.

RAT- Rocky Mountain Assessment Trials... here we go!

As you read this, you might want to hit PLAY.



Oh, my god, its becoming reality. Look what I am working on now:

2011 PSIA-RM TRIALS APPLICATION
Welcome to the PSIA-RM Assessment Trials (RATs). As a Division, we are creating this 3-day event to better prepare you for your process at the National Education Team Tryouts. An important part of the National Process is the Application that you turn in to the Selectors ahead of the event. This Application gives Selectors an opportunity to better know you and understand your goals and ambitions.

The selection process, while intense, can be rewarding. As Maverick says, "You never ever ever leave your wing-man."

Its time. It is finally time to begin filling out the paperwork and sending it in. I have such mixed feelings about this. First, it got here seemingly suddenly, as do many things once ski season starts. Bam! Its Christmas, see you in two weeks... work every day, try to keep food in and clothes clean... BAM! Christmas is over, fill your calendar with clients if you can and get your butt out there training because BAM its time for exams in February!

Wow. Here we are five years in to a six year process. First of all, I'm quite stoked to be able just to write that sentence. I think part of me was pretty sure I'd be shaken off my tree way before this by one thing or another.

I do know that my skiing and teaching and technical understanding is improving every day. I think my teaching and technical understanding are still far ahead of my skiing, and while I got several nice compliments from the TREW crew the other day on my skiing (blush), I got some video taken yesterday that made me want to crawl under the chair in Bernie's office and cry. Then I noticed my client saying "But it feels so much better than that! I can't believe it looks like that!"

I remembered Katie Ertl (nee Fry) last year sitting in the Movement Analysis watching her skiing from the year before get torn apart by a group of 40 trainers with a big smile on her face. She squirmed a bit, she was embarrassed a bit, she laughed, she taught us how to take it. Its never as good, as clean, as "correct" as we want it to be.

So my job here is to take my feedback from Andrew, Joanie, Johnathan, Scotty, Kurt, Trish and Weems and get out there and ski it until it sticks. I made some major changes in my skiing in the beginning of the year. When I looked at the video, I'd kept some of them and been lazy enough to let others go.

There is not time in life for lazy, let alone in the pursuit of a goal which has a definitive time line which is looming! If a change is made, it is my job to keep it. To have the discipline to hold it in my skiing as it tries to squirm its way out and default patterns, easier and somewhat efficient, present themselves as attractive options.

Train on, see you at Tryouts!