Never skied, wants to go, and doesn't want to take a lesson...

[crabjoe]

Ok... here's the story.. I ended up taking her and a friend of hers. And I will say I will NEVER take her again. Her friend was fine. But this one.. She thought she knew everything and was mouthy. Her idea of skiing was going then crashing to stop. Wouldn't wait or anything.. The only thing that got her off the slopes was after she ran into someone. Never again will I take her.

On the other hand, her friend was very polite, listened well, and took instruction. By the time we were done for the day, she was turning, stopping and skiing the greens. She had pretty good control.. at least with stopping and turning left. For whatever reason, she has trouble with right turns. It's like she's scared of her left leg. Sure her form was horrible, but as a 1st timer, she did excellent. I think she's hooked now. That was 2 weekends ago.

This past weekend, I took my 9yo son. 3rd time skiing and he's doing really well. On green runs, he's only slightly in the wedge. Real bunny trails, no wedge at all. On blues, there's more wedge in his form, but has excellent control. He freaked me out a couple times because of his speed, but after watching him, he had ZERO issues with any turns, stopping or avoiding obstacle, even the moving ones. I think I'm at the point with him where I need to really get him to work on getting his skis parallel. I don't see him lean back much. Once in a while, I see a little lean to the back, generally, he's either centered or leaning forward.

 

[LiquidFeet]

^^You are a brave man. Good job. Is your friendship with the dad in danger? What did you tell him about his daughter's actions and lack of accomplishment on snow?

 

[crabjoe]

^^You are a brave man. Good job. Is your friendship with the dad in danger? What did you tell him about his daughter's actions and lack of accomplishment on snow?

I'm friends with the mom more so.... I'm going to let her know this evening.. I think our friendship will be fine, I've known her for close to 40 years. When I see her dad, I'll let him know too. Whenever something comes up, mom always blames the dad, but what I see is the kid walking all over mom.

 

[Wilhelmson]

Lol My friends kid wanted to learn to ride a bike without a lesson and kept crashing!

 

[Tim Hodgson]

crabjoe: She has trouble with right turns because right turns use the left foot and she is right handed. When we are scared, we don't lean towards our fear - we lean away from it. When we get scared we default to our strength. So she leans back, locks the tail of the right ski into the snow which fights her turn to the right.

Bonus Question: Why does the wedge slow us and stop us?

 

[scott43]

Shoulda faked the injury..

 

[Coach13]

My 1st timer group lesson was awful. Not 1 person of the 5 of us learned a thing in 4 hours. Give it a shot, no way you could do worse than my experience.

When my wife wanted to learn, we went for s few hours 5 days in a row with me putting her thru a few turning and stopping drills, etc, then I turned her over for a private lesson a few different days. Worked well for her.

 

[SpauldingSmails]

It’s not just kids! I know lots of adults who claim they are advanced level because they slide around blues/blacks, but they are still wedging. The same adults also claim they love to carve when their skis’s edges have not touched snow yet...

I'm the opposite. I'm surrounded by people who've been skiing for decades and I've only been skiing for a few seasons so I'm reluctant to say I even know how to ski. I liked to say i know how to get down a mountain while wearing skis. I have a high standard. Last week, during my fifth season, after competently getting down a double black and then carving while going 45 mph I figured I could start saying I can ski.
But hey wedging down the blues same thing...

 

[beginnerskier96]

Be supportive.

Try getting her used to the feel of the skis at first. Say “you can do this” to her often to boost her confidence levels and morale. Learning a new skill is hard. I felt the same way when I had my first ever skiing lesson alone without my partner five years ago. I was scared. I also panicked. But you know what? It was totally worth the hassle. The line was worse after all in other words. True enough I loved the feeling of being on skis for the first time even if I wobbled half the time during my lesson. Skiing is great exercise. Some ski resorts do activities designed to build up confidence and introduce first time skiers to the sport. It might be a idea to find out more.

Find a good ski instructor at a ski resort and then book her a series of lessons at a ski resort. She will eventually learn to love it. Remember that all the tutorial videos on YouTube can only teach you so much. It is far better to work on developing your skills, technique and ability in lessons with a proper qualified ski instructor. Feel free to ask any other questions on here. No question is forbidden. Honestly. Try making a short list of goals in addition before each lesson for her.

Make sure to pack some snacks. Take a camera, a first aid kit in case and a bottle of water as well because you will need it.

 

[Bolder]

You are indeed a brave man and a good friend.

It's really interesting how different people take to different sports. My brother's wife took 2 one-hour lessons and after 5 days she could ski every groomed run on the mountain, even blacks. And not just bombing but parallel turning! Never seen anything like it. She is pretty athletic, but still. TBH she probably didn't even need a lesson.

My wife, otoh, never go over her fear of falling despite many private lessons with sympathetic instructors.

 

[hrstrat57]

YouTube first

There is gold out there, free.
Beginner lesson all visual turn off the nasty music
Hey it's free
Decent beginner series:
Deb:

Key is nose around find something that works for your learning style and go for it...
Visual learning skills help,

 

[crabjoe]

YouTube first

There is gold out there, free.
Beginner lesson all visual turn off the nasty music
Hey it's free
Decent beginner series:
Deb:

Key is nose around find something that works for your learning style and go for it...
Visual learning skills help,

LOL.. I had to laugh at your post because I did tell her to watch youtube videos and even sent a few links.. I guess being 16 and knowing it all made her think it wasn't needed. On the trip up, I asked her what if anything she might have leaned from the videos I sent her. She said "I didn't watch any, and I'll be fine because I already know how to ice skate." Boy was she wrong.

 

[crabjoe]

I'm the opposite. I'm surrounded by people who've been skiing for decades and I've only been skiing for a few seasons so I'm reluctant to say I even know how to ski. I liked to say i know how to get down a mountain while wearing skis. I have a high standard. Last week, during my fifth season, after competently getting down a double black and then carving while going 45 mph I figured I could start saying I can ski.
But hey wedging down the blues same thing...

I haven't skied for decades and just started again because of my son. Now I'm wondering how I ski.

I do know I don't ski nearly as aggressive as I once did, but going from 200 straight skis (skied these dinosaurs a couple time before getting new) to these 175 makes it feel so much easier. Still, I don't know how I once skied or now. I've got no comparison. I wish I had a video of me skiing to see how I look.

When I asked my son what he thought of my skiing, he said his goal was to ski parallel like me. I said that doesn't mean I ski well, and his reply was that I skied like the ski patrol, but was faster. I guess I'm skiing ok, but don't feel like I have that finesse, I see with most of the patrol skiers. I really need to get myself on video. I think once I can see myself, I can work on becoming a better skier.

 

[SpauldingSmails]

I haven't skied for decades and just started again because of my son. Now I'm wondering how I ski.

I do know I don't ski nearly as aggressive as I once did, but going from 200 straight skis (skied these dinosaurs a couple time before getting new) to these 175 makes it feel so much easier. Still, I don't know how I once skied or now. I've got no comparison. I wish I had a video of me skiing to see how I look.

When I asked my son what he thought of my skiing, he said his goal was to ski parallel like me. I said that doesn't mean I ski well, and his reply was that I skied like the ski patrol, but was faster. I guess I'm skiing ok, but don't feel like I have that finesse, I see with most of the patrol skiers. I really need to get myself on video. I think once I can see myself, I can work on becoming a better skier.

You sound like you learned to ski with that wedeln style or whatever it's called. My buddy skis like that, it looks effortless and his skis are close and parallel. I kind of wish I was taught like that but it was when he learned and the type of ski available (straight skis a long time ago). At first, when i just started skiing, I thought it was kind of goofy looking, like an 80s movie. But then over time I realized he's got a lot of skill. Good for you! Just like riding a bike...

 

[ADKmel]

Brats are brats. I had a kid (not a brat) last week that "only wanted to go as fast as he can" he Thought he didn't need to stop. When I told him Go Ahead, As fast as you can and Beware you'll hurt that much too.. he relented and did learn how to control his speed although Not enough to go ski the top.. when Kids know they are stuck on the bunny hill that sometimes makes sense and they learn. I also video them so they see they are not turning.

 

[crabjoe]

You sound like you learned to ski with that wedeln style or whatever it's called. My buddy skis like that, it looks effortless and his skis are close and parallel. I kind of wish I was taught like that but it was when he learned and the type of ski available (straight skis a long time ago). At first, when i just started skiing, I thought it was kind of goofy looking, like an 80s movie. But then over time I realized he's got a lot of skill. Good for you! Just like riding a bike...

Thanks. I hope I ski like that, but doubt it. I don't know how I actually ski but I have this funny feeling I look really goofy going down any trail... I'm self taught from back in the 80s. Back then, when I'd ask what the proper way to ski was, it was always keep skis parallel and close together, with weight forward. So that's what I always kept trying to do. Took some time, but eventually it became effortless. Now if my weight shifts backwards, I feel off balance (I'm off balance a lot too, lol). The other thing I used, other than what people told me was the proper way to ski, was watching Warren Miller videos. The skiing in those old videos use to amaze the heck out of me and still do to this day.

Oh.. and I feel like I'm cheating with this new short skis I got, 175 Atomic Vantage X 83 CTi ... They feel so light and the shape makes it way easy to carve turns, it's unreal. What's really odd to me is there's no tip chatter, no matter how fast I go. Back in the day, skis I tried under 185cm, I could make the tips chatter without much effort. Maybe they were just crappy skis then or I'm less aggressive now (don't go as fast as I once did?)? No idea.

 

[Sibhusky]

I ended up taking her and a friend of hers. And I will say I will NEVER take her again. Her friend was fine. But this one.. She thought she knew everything and was mouthy. Her idea of skiing was going then crashing to stop. Wouldn't wait or anything.. The only thing that got her off the slopes was after she ran into someone. Never again will I take her.

I could tell this was going to be the case just from the subject line. When a teen is laying down conditions, you just know they aren't going to listen. I couldn't believe you were going along with it.

 

[teejaywhy]

Be supportive.

Try getting her used to the feel of the skis at first. Say “you can do this” to her often to boost her confidence levels and morale. Learning a new skill is hard. I felt the same way when I had my first ever skiing lesson alone without my partner five years ago. I was scared. I also panicked. But you know what? It was totally worth the hassle. The line was worse after all in other words. True enough I loved the feeling of being on skis for the first time even if I wobbled half the time during my lesson. Skiing is great exercise. Some ski resorts do activities designed to build up confidence and introduce first time skiers to the sport. It might be a idea to find out more.

Find a good ski instructor at a ski resort and then book her a series of lessons at a ski resort. She will eventually learn to love it. Remember that all the tutorial videos on YouTube can only teach you so much. It is far better to work on developing your skills, technique and ability in lessons with a proper qualified ski instructor. Feel free to ask any other questions on here. No question is forbidden. Honestly. Try making a short list of goals in addition before each lesson for her.

Make sure to pack some snacks. Take a camera, a first aid kit in case and a bottle of water as well because you will need it.

Please read post #41.

 

[vindibona1]

Edit: I deleted the post, having written it before realizing that it was a done deal already.

 

[hrstrat57]

I think this activity is over?

Perhaps I’m confused?