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Tried and failed to get a lesson at Liberty

mdf

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They knew most of you were PugSkiers who will give great social media recommendations. You got special treatment me thinks..
I don't think so. They like to teach, and getting there early doesn't really inconvenience them. Several other groups routinely started at 9:45.
(There is also a culture of good tipping at Taos, which probably helps keep everyone happy.)
 

mdf

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[...150 ski weeks ]
@KingGrump ?
I did mine 20 yrs ago and had the same instructor as Tony S did this year.
Nah, I think he is somewhere in the 20 to 50 range. A pair known as "the twins" seem to hold the record.
 

dbostedo

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I’d say most everyone there had no idea what a pugski was before we arrived and didn’t really understand all that much better after we left either.
I don't know... I talked to just about everyone in my group about it. Two of them said they visited the site, and were thinking of joining up for next year's Taos Gathering.
 

mdf

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I’d say most everyone there had no idea what a pugski was before we arrived and didn’t really understand all that much better after we left either.
I did include a pugski sticker with my tip.
 

SKI-3PO

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I heard a lot of discussions about it...and I also saw a lot of dazed/confused looks.
 

Pete in Idaho

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Sounds like you and the instructor both got screwed. Taught at Homewood (tahoe) and Silver in Idaho and what happened to you would never happen at either resort. You should challenge the Boss on what they did. Stupid, Lazy, cheap, unorganized ?
 

MarkP

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I've never taken a lesson at Liberty, but I've taken one each at Roundtop and Whitetail, quite a few years ago. Both times I was the only one above beginner/intermediate level. Both times the instructor asked if I wouldn't mind cutting a half hour off the time, which I thought was fair enough for getting a private lesson for a group rate.
 

LiquidFeet

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I've never taken a lesson at Liberty, but I've taken one each at Roundtop and Whitetail, quite a few years ago. Both times I was the only one above beginner/intermediate level. Both times the instructor asked if I wouldn't mind cutting a half hour off the time, which I thought was fair enough for getting a private lesson for a group rate.
Wait. Really? You paid for an hour and a half, and got only an hour because no one else showed up which was no fault of yours? This happened twice? I hope you didn't tip these guys after they asked you to give up a half hour that you just paid for. And I'm an instructor who likes tips as much as all other instructors do.
 

KingGrump

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They knew most of you were PugSkiers who will give great social media recommendations. You got special treatment me thinks..

No. No. & No.

@KingGrump ?
I did mine 20 yrs ago and had the same instructor as Tony S did this year.

Many of the Taos instructors have been teaching here forever. A few years back, I did a ski week with my first ever TSV ski week instructor from 1989.
Lots of tradition here.
 

MarkP

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I've never taken a lesson at Liberty, but I've taken one each at Roundtop and Whitetail, quite a few years ago. Both times I was the only one above beginner/intermediate level. Both times the instructor asked if I wouldn't mind cutting a half hour off the time, which I thought was fair enough for getting a private lesson for a group rate.
Wait. Really? You paid for an hour and a half, and got only an hour because no one else showed up which was no fault of yours? This happened twice? I hope you didn't tip these guys after they asked you to give up a half hour that you just paid for. And I'm an instructor who likes tips as much as all other instructors do.

I forgot to mention these were $10 early season (something like before December 17). I felt I got my money's worth. And yes, I tipped.
 

Pequenita

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Several years ago, I was around some Liberty instructors. One of the guys said Liberty had around 400 instructors. And they can't attract, cultivate, and schedule high-level instructors?

That seems like a really high number, but I think year to year turnover for instructors in the mid-Atlantic is really, really high and mostly part-timers. Whitetail wanted me to commit to 25 days during the season. If you think about how short the season is in the DC area -- mid December to late February more often than not -- a 25-day commitment from a part-time instructor with a M-F job is a lot.
 

dbostedo

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That seems like a really high number, but I think year to year turnover for instructors in the mid-Atlantic is really, really high and mostly part-timers. Whitetail wanted me to commit to 25 days during the season. If you think about how short the season is in the DC area -- mid December to late February more often than not -- a 25-day commitment from a part-time instructor with a M-F job is a lot.
Seems high to me too... maybe that's Whitetail, Liberty, and Rountop combined?
 

HardDaysNight

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How has participation been trending through the past decade or so?
I’m not sure to be honest. There seemed to be about the usual number of groups out on the mountain this year. I have the impression that most of the participants are local skiers and that at least some of the groups are the same folk year-to-year.
 

EasternSkiBum

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There's a lot of assumptions going on in this thread I'd like to clear up.....Rocdoc I'm very sorry to hear about your experience at Liberty. Your experience was highly unusual....the mountain frequently sends out classes with only one student. I was not at the mountain on Jan.31...so i don't know what was going on at the time, but the instructors standing around were likely not qualified to teach your level. The instructor was pulled away from you for valid reasons...I've never seen seen it happen for frivolous reasons.

The snowsport school is between 350 and 380 instructors with only a handful being full time. The turnover every year is relatively low. There are a couple dozen PSIA/AASI level 3 and 80+ level 2 instructors in addition to 3 eastern ed staff members on staff. Liberty attracts instructors from other areas who come because of the training and education culture present. Several of the instructors teach at both Liberty and other resorts out west and in New England.

On busy days if a couple of instructors call out sick....it can make the difference between having and not having the staff to cover everything. It is notoriously difficult to predict how many and what level of instructor is needed on a given day since so many variables exist when your a day trip place. I do not envy the people in charge of schedules...they have to balance an estimated need with real time availability of resources...not a winning proposition.
 

markojp

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Could be, for sure but the original instructor that approached him certainly thought he was qualified. I simply hate to see this occur for both @rocdoc or any other students trying to get a lesson at our local resorts. Honestly, I hate it for the ski school as well to pass by a higher level lesson opportunity as they are certainly a rarer occurrence at Liberty. It all adds up to more mediocre instructors and skiers imo.

You'd be surprised at how many less experienced instructors need the reality filter of a hill supervisor.
 

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