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- Nov 12, 2015
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So. A fellow Stowe instructor told me a story about an interesting lesson he had taught the day before. It was a Pakistani migrant living in Boston. He had skied only once before, and told Rick that though he had been skiing before, he had never ridden a chairlift. Being an experienced and sane instructor, Rick took him straight to the magic carpet where the man skied right down with no trouble. So naturally Rick gets him on the chairlift and as they are riding up the tiny beginner chair the man is looking all around in awe. "wow" he says. "wow, this is so big!". "Yeah," Rick says, "it's pretty big".
That's where the story begins. The mountain and the puny beginner hill seemed so big because the only place he had ever skied before was Cochran's. A year ago, the man and his wife and their two children decided that it was time for them to learn how to ski. So they did their research and somehow ended up deciding on Cochran's as their destination for a learn to ski week. They booked a hotel in Burlington and drove up. On Monday morning they drove over to Richmond and up the driveway to Cochran's. They pulled into the empty lot and found all the lifts silent, and the lodge locked. The man walked down the driveway and knocked on the door of the farmhouse. Eventually the door opened and there was a woman wearing a housecoat or pajamas. "We are here to learn how to ski". Now Rick was;t there, and neither was I, but I can imagine what she might have thought. She told him "just a minute" and closed the door. A few minutes later she walks out ready to ski. She walks up to the lodge and unlocks the door. She invites them in and sets them up with gear. Soon they are out on the oil and she is teaching them how to ski. When they are ready to go up higher she switches on the rope tow. As lunch time approaches she takes them back to the lodge where she makes grilled cheese sandwiches and then takes them back to skiing. As the afternoon wears on, their lone car is joined by others as ski coaches show up. Then the school bus pulls up. Lesson is over as the hill springs to life with after school kids and ski racers. They did this M-F. Rick asked him if he knew who she was. "Barbara Ann" he says. "Yeah, but do you know who she is". He did not. Rick told him he had had a 5-day private lesson with an Olympian.
Rick closed his story with "and he could ski".
That's where the story begins. The mountain and the puny beginner hill seemed so big because the only place he had ever skied before was Cochran's. A year ago, the man and his wife and their two children decided that it was time for them to learn how to ski. So they did their research and somehow ended up deciding on Cochran's as their destination for a learn to ski week. They booked a hotel in Burlington and drove up. On Monday morning they drove over to Richmond and up the driveway to Cochran's. They pulled into the empty lot and found all the lifts silent, and the lodge locked. The man walked down the driveway and knocked on the door of the farmhouse. Eventually the door opened and there was a woman wearing a housecoat or pajamas. "We are here to learn how to ski". Now Rick was;t there, and neither was I, but I can imagine what she might have thought. She told him "just a minute" and closed the door. A few minutes later she walks out ready to ski. She walks up to the lodge and unlocks the door. She invites them in and sets them up with gear. Soon they are out on the oil and she is teaching them how to ski. When they are ready to go up higher she switches on the rope tow. As lunch time approaches she takes them back to the lodge where she makes grilled cheese sandwiches and then takes them back to skiing. As the afternoon wears on, their lone car is joined by others as ski coaches show up. Then the school bus pulls up. Lesson is over as the hill springs to life with after school kids and ski racers. They did this M-F. Rick asked him if he knew who she was. "Barbara Ann" he says. "Yeah, but do you know who she is". He did not. Rick told him he had had a 5-day private lesson with an Olympian.
Rick closed his story with "and he could ski".
