Question for Weems regarding Brilliant Skiing ...

[Monique]

Question for @Weems Westfeldt if he's checking in -

I'm reading Brilliant Skiing Every Day, and it seems to me that a major thesis of your book is that if you ski enough, your body will find ways to become better at skiing. You give suggested ways to help this along - skiing top to bottom, skiing small radius turns on groomers, etc, etc - but they seem targeted at letting your body find its way.

Maybe I'm reading too much into what is supposed to be one section of a larger outlook throughout the book. But if not, what do you see as the role of the instructor?

 

[markojp]

They simply help us suck less and smooth the bumps in the learning curve.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

If I can try to answer your question, I think Weems would tell you that all 4 corners of the diamond are things that the best ski teachers coach during a lesson. They know which ones to do and when. When you are a beginning skier you may need a lot more help from the "Power" corner, and later on you might not go there as much.

 

[Weems]

Hi Monique! Sorry I took so long to answer this!

First of all you are correct. The idea is to practice. And to practice in different ways over long periods of time. This gives the body and mind a lot of time on task, and you figure out a lot of what you need. It also gives you time to relinquish judgment and substitute curiosity and fascination with how your body works in different situations. I think that people often take lessons and don't go out and "work" the new material. Or even ask the instructor to give them some guided practice time within the lesson.

The instructor's role, in my view, is to present and teach new material and to guide the practice so the new material can get settled within the skier. Practice without any guidance can create lots of non-sense. But carefully guided and prescribed practice can be magical. Ultimately the instructor should create an independent learner/skier. Such a skier, will always come back to that instructor for more because the instructor has liberated her rather than trapped her in unattainable goals.

And, yes, Epic. You are completely correct. Thank you!

 

[Monique]

Thanks, @Weems Westfeldt ! I take a lot of lessons through the Breck lesson club, but outside of early season when the good stuff isn't open yet, they tend toward guided skiing (ie, a pro's opinion on the best snow on the mountain, and the opportunity to use the ski school lift lines) with some pointers. I chatted with Matt Belleville about the book (he said he knew of you but hadn't read your book), and he said that skiing with as many instructors as I do, I had heard and would continue to hear technical feedback plenty, so I didn't need to focus on that so much - he encouraged me to shut up my brain (he referenced self one from Inner Skiing) and work on flow and tactics, instead. My favorite pointer was to make race car noises throughout the turn - which sound more like a tortured cat when I make them, but that's not the point. The point is to keep the inner voice busy so it can't try to micromanage my physical movements, and at the same time to create a sound that evokes a round shape. I keep being shocked by the turns I can make in tight spaces when I make race car noises!

I definitely have a number of favorite instructors I love to ski with - they ski in ways I aspire to ski, and they can distill knowledge into bite-sized chunks. But most importantly - the instructors I love are all having fun. They love to ski, and it shows, even in crappy snow, even on bitterly cold days, even when they're teaching beginners or intermediates instead of playing on the most challenging terrain - no matter what. That's the sense I got from your book, and that's how I want to be about skiing.

 

[Weems]

Wow, you sound like you're having fun learning and skiing. You've got that sense of joy and child-like delight. For me this is a big part of the Touch corner--the feeling and fun of skiing--and apparently it's where you live!!. And certainly your race car noises are part of that. (I think I'll try that tomorrow!) I think Matt's advice is wise. Flow is another part of Touch and it's right up your alley.

Tactics is a different place. It's about Purpose. What is it that you want the skis to do as they go through the arcs? It's my strong suit. I'm tuned into what I want my skis to do in the snow. And that's where I spend most of my practice time.

Your attitude is great. And I think that's one of the reasons you stay so engaged: you don't allow yourself to be buried by technical pointers. And you "let self 1 play the game".

I think you're a wise student, and wish you well!

 

[Dave Petersen]

Here is what I like about Weems - his use of the phrase "in my view" and similar phrases.

I know some instructors and get along very well with them -- all but one. He has the attitude if you aren't doing things his way then you are doing it wrong.

I have Weem's book and appreciate his approach.

 

[Monique]

Wow, you sound like you're having fun learning and skiing. You've got that sense of joy and child-like delight. For me this is a big part of the Touch corner--the feeling and fun of skiing--and apparently it's where you live!!. And certainly your race car noises are part of that. (I think I'll try that tomorrow!) I think Matt's advice is wise. Flow is another part of Touch and it's right up your alley.

Tactics is a different place. It's about Purpose. What is it that you want the skis to do as they go through the arcs? It's my strong suit. I'm tuned into what I want my skis to do in the snow. And that's where I spend most of my practice time.

Your attitude is great. And I think that's one of the reasons you stay so engaged: you don't allow yourself to be buried by technical pointers. And you "let self 1 play the game".

I think you're a wise student, and wish you well!

Thank you so much for replying to me!

There are days when I couldn't find the joy - several early this season - and part of clearing up that problem was reading your book and getting my head on straight. So thank you for that. Part of the problem was getting buried under technical pointers to the point that I forgot how to ski. I had to switch groups from an excellent instructor who did more clinic-style teaching. Some people (like my husband) thrive on that. But for me, after every lesson I lost all confidence in my own skiing. I had to switch to a different group with a different style. The thing is, the instructor was great and he was also someone who finds the joy in skiing. It just wasn't the right approach for me.

It was pretty amazing skiing through the Windows (a tree area off of Breck Peak 9) with an entire lesson group making race car noises. If you like the exercise, I definitely think you should try having a whole group doing it in a place where people are usually Very. Serious. Skiers.

And just to be clear - the idea is the eeeeooooowwwwwww sound of going around a corner not vroom! or the like. Matt claims that a sound associated with rounding a corner helps you make rounded turns. I can't disprove it!

 

[Weems]

Here is what I like about Weems - his use of the phrase "in my view" and similar phrases.

I know some instructors and get along very well with them -- all but one. He has the attitude if you aren't doing things his way then you are doing it wrong.

I have Weem's book and appreciate his approach.

Hi Dave! This is an interesting point. Yeah, I pretty much reject dogma, although I appreciate conviction. But I've got enough experience to know that things change, and there are many different points of view out there. I also know that, although I've tried to be the best I can be, there are always opportunities to be humbled.

 

[Weems]

Thank you so much for replying to me!

There are days when I couldn't find the joy - several early this season - and part of clearing up that problem was reading your book and getting my head on straight. So thank you for that. Part of the problem was getting buried under technical pointers to the point that I forgot how to ski. I had to switch groups from an excellent instructor who did more clinic-style teaching. Some people (like my husband) thrive on that. But for me, after every lesson I lost all confidence in my own skiing. I had to switch to a different group with a different style. The thing is, the instructor was great and he was also someone who finds the joy in skiing. It just wasn't the right approach for me.

It was pretty amazing skiing through the Windows (a tree area off of Breck Peak 9) with an entire lesson group making race car noises. If you like the exercise, I definitely think you should try having a whole group doing it in a place where people are usually Very. Serious. Skiers.

And just to be clear - the idea is the eeeeooooowwwwwww sound of going around a corner not vroom! or the like. Matt claims that a sound associated with rounding a corner helps you make rounded turns. I can't disprove it!

Glad the book was helpful for you. And more than glad you're finding what works for you. Now I offer a challenge! As you grow in your skiing and understanding, definitely stay with your learning style, but at the same time it will be useful in the long run to not ignore the other styles--or the other corners of the diamond. Take your time with this and make it fun. However, learning to profit from your understanding of all the corners has the same effect as learning to ski better by skiing in all terrain and conditions.

And for those people who try to bury you in the technical, just look at them straight in the eye and recite the tech babble from Leon Littlebird on p. 97. It makes their eyes rotate in opposite directions.

 

[Monique]

Now I offer a challenge! As you grow in your skiing and understanding, definitely stay with your learning style, but at the same time it will be useful in the long run to not ignore the other styles--or the other corners of the diamond. Take your time with this and make it fun. However, learning to profit from your understanding of all the corners has the same effect as learning to ski better by skiing in all terrain and conditions.

Honestly, I'm still trying to understand the diamond! So maybe I missed most of the intended point of the book. (Sorry!!) But I did get a lot out of it on the first read, anyway.

To a certain extent, I've challenged my learning style. I took a private lesson a few weeks ago with an instructor who has known me and my quirks (mental, especially) for years, and we really dove down into the nitty gritty of technique - and it did put my head and my skiing into a spin for a few days before it all synthesized. I think there were a few reasons this approach worked for me.

* I knew her well enough to trust her absolutely, even when things felt weird.
* She knew me well enough to talk through those confidence minefields, or just preempt them. She reminded me to be kind to myself. She said that some days, some runs, she also can't quite accomplish the technique she's going for - and *that's okay*. She told me about times when she was uncertain, and how that played out.
* Because it was a private session, I could stand there and ask questions till we were both blue in the face. I didn't need to worry about respecting other students' boredom threshold. So when something didn't 100% compute, I could keep asking and asking until I really didn't have any questions anymore. (This is also where the trust comes in - I didn't worry about annoying her or hurting her feelings by not understanding. I didn't have to let it go to be polite.) On the flip side, when my brain was full, I could dictate that we just go ski.

My last private lesson was 18 years ago and two hours long with a random instructor. I'm thinking that I can spring for an all-day every year or two and really dive into the technical aspects.

 

[Weems]

It sounds like you've got a great private instructor! Those are just the right answers to your dilemma. And don't worry too much about the diamond. The best thing is to follow your own wisdom about how you learn, and challenge yourself to slowly, and without judgment, widen and deepen your scope. I've been doing this skiing "thang" all my life with many coaches and I STILL don't have it like I want it. But I get a little better every year. And I reconstruct it every year.

You do all the right things. You ask the questions. You don't get buried in trivia. You use your imagination. You've learned to be kind to yourself. And you look at many aspects of the sport.

And this (all of it) is the point of the diamond. I've just simplified it by putting aspects of skiing in four different categories: That which is technical, that which is sensory, That which is tactical. And that which is willful. I bounce around between and among all those resources, according to what I need for the day or the condition or the period of my development. It's what I use to self-coach.

Sounds like you're having fun and getting better. Just keep on going around the corners. Eeeeeooooooooowwwwww.

 

[Monique]

It sounds like you've got a great private instructor!

And just in case other people are reading this and looking for an instructor at Breck: I was talking about Jenn Losch. She's the best. She's worked on everything with me from the technical nitty gritty to how to prepare for cornice jumping. She's a total badass.

 

[crgildart]

I like the diamond because you can apply the same concepts to just about anything. It's good advice to attack anything from different angles while working towards goals and these are well defined yet leave a lot of room for adaptation and evolution.

 

[bbinder]

I like the diamond because you can apply the same concepts to just about anything. It's good advice to attack anything from different angles while working towards goals and these are well defined yet leave a lot of room for adaptation and evolution.

I even presented the Diamond to my staff as a way to deal with day to day issues at work

 

[Weems]

And just in case other people are reading this and looking for an instructor at Breck: I was talking about Jenn Losch. She's the best. She's worked on everything with me from the technical nitty gritty to how to prepare for cornice jumping. She's a total badass.

 

[Weems]

I like the diamond because you can apply the same concepts to just about anything. It's good advice to attack anything from different angles while working towards goals and these are well defined yet leave a lot of room for adaptation and evolution.

Exactly.

 

[Weems]

I even presented the Diamond to my staff as a way to deal with day to day issues at work

Binder, you so smart!

 

[bbinder]

I'm so bright that my mother used to call me Sonny.

 

[Philpug]

I'm so bright that my mother used to call me Sonny.

..and Cher -ing that with us makes my day.

It is great having @Weems Westfeldt posting, he is such a wealth of knowledge.