What keeps you from taking ski lessons?

[Seldomski]

Well I did manage to get a group advanced lesson at Breck last season with a PSIA examiner. I asked him to do video analysis, and he did. This was a weekday.

So it is possible to get a decent group lesson at a Vail property. You just have to ask for specific things when you sign up.
1) Cert level (level 3+)
2) Video analysis

In my experience, you need to voice clearly why you are taking a lesson at the start. If you don't have a particular objective, you are likely to be let down. The instructor will need to guess what you want, or simply will hope that you are after the same thing as the other guy in the lesson. Your objective could be to find the best snow, or see the mountain. Those are valid too....

 

[François Pugh]

These days, I generally know what I want to improve and how to do it, but in the past there were times when I had no idea about what needed work. I imagine it could be the same for a lot of folk, not knowing what they want to improve their skiing.

 

[Corgski]

certain they know how to MA and teach people because they have first ascents....translation some of the worst coaches I have ever seen are "pro" with the exception of Glen Plake. If they had no name, no one would ever book a lesson with 99 percent of "pro" skiers.

I am also not saying PSIA instructors or PMTS instructors are any better, there are L3 and Ed staff member I know I would never recommend to anyone and some I know wont mesh with some people.

I do agree with you the money, curious where can you ski with north face athlete for 400 a day?

I agree, I was comparing the cost and income structure of ski coaching and something like climbing guiding, not really addressing the quality issue. Skiing is also more difficult to teach than climbing techniques.

The $400 reference was for a TNF sponsored climbing guide but he happens to do backcountry ski guiding in NH as well:
https://www.newhampshireclimbing.com/backcountry-skiing-ski-mountaineering/
I've used Mark Synnott as a climbing guide and would recommend him for that. Not ready to try backcountry skiing yet so can't comment.

 

[Josh Matta]

yeah the picture on the front page tells me all I need to know about his skiing. I am certain he is more experienced Alpinist than me, and I could see hiring him as guide for the right person.

 

[Johnny V.]

As a recent retiree,money is certainly an issue although I've paid for quite a few clinics in past years. Personally, I'd look for more race coaching rather than lessons. Unfortunately, not easy to find in our area for adults. Among the gang I train with (once or twice a week in gates without coaching) we try to exchange observations among ourselves which can be helpful.

 

[geepers]

From a presentation many years ago on business/process changes:

"People will change when the pain of not changing is greater than the pain to change"

Whilst that can be correct it's not necessary that people be in pain to change. Sometimes they can be happy where they are however the vision - what could be - draws them forward.

Pain tends to be negative emotion - as soon as people stop hurting they stop doing.

 

[Ron]

"pain" in the example just means in a situation that is not ideal. Pain = evolution or revolution. its a driving force in humans to improve.

 

[Dakine]

My main skiing partner is an ex PSIA senior technical examiner.
I try to ski like him.
When he says I'm making some nice turns, I just about fall off the chair.
My motto.."Ski like Doug"
He is all about efficiency in any condition and no amount of talk can beat watching a great skier.
I have had to re learn to ski after my knee replacement and I'm a lucky SOB to have a great skiing partner.

 

[Ron]

When he says I'm making some nice turns, I just about fall off the chair.

LOL, Good on ya'. An examiner is never happy.

 

[Ken_R]

Must Read:

https://www.powder.com/stories/ski-...-FVeuXRIcajeYQOXX-dMdBnefz9w0LxOREAB3p7l5APFU

 

[Eric267]

https://www.skimag.com/ski-performance/going-rogue-pirate-ski-instructors

Came through one of my feeds the other day

 

[Rod9301]

I have taken many ski lessons, and with one exception, they were disappointing.

I think, for me, the reason is the lack of consistency and uniform teaching. Most of the instructors, all level 3s, could hardly agree on what the ideal turn is.

The only one that really clicked was an instructor, again psia 3, who went to Harald harb's camps and was using their method for teaching.

I took 7 or so half day lessons from him, and i believe with great results.

All the other instructors, and took multiple half day lessons from each, would come up with 3-4 things to work on, then the next time another 3-4 things, so after 4-5 lessons, i had a whole bunch of things to work on, without any obvious priority, ie work on this first, then the other one, etc.

And, unrelated to skiing, it was the same thing in tennis. The best experiences i had were in tennis camps, where there was a uniform teaching method, as apposed to my weekly tennis lessons, one on one, where there was no structure.
And I'm a 4.5 tennis player, and an expert skier, so i can evaluate instruction and instructors.

 

[scott43]

I've probably had 3 lessons in my life. One was 15 mins and absolutely changed my ski life. One was a steeps lesson, but not anything I didn't already know and really was more about positive reinforcement from a mediocre instructor. Partly I think I'm a bit of a better skier than I think I am and he was probably not the level of instructor I needed. The third lesson was from when I was 12 and I don't even know what hill it was at. But that one lesson from a buddy instructor, gratis, gave me hope that lessons can help people. I'm not trashing instruction, I just can't justify the cost.

 

[Fishbowl]

Many recreational skiers do not believe that lessons will make them better. They may even think that lessons could be detrimental to their skiing.

And....many recreational skiers are perfectly happy to "just get down" the hill. They don't care about how they look, they don't care about how other people think they look. They don't feel a need to improve because they are already having fun. From their perspective, nothing is broken and nothing needs fixing.

 

[Old boot]

I get Lessons all the time, as I get older I need my body to be as efficient as possible so I don't hurt so much from using more than I need to, to get down the hill and enjoy it I find smooth helps a lot these days. I can ski more places and worry less about where my wife is going to take me and hit less trees and other skiers!!!

 

[Old boot]

Many recreational skiers do not believe that lessons will make them better. They may even think that lessons could be detrimental to their skiing.

And....many recreational skiers are perfectly happy to "just get down" the hill. They don't care about how they look, they don't care about how other people think they look. They don't feel a need to improve because they are already having fun. From their perspective, nothing is broken and nothing needs fixing.

Ya not everyone has the same mind set, people on this site on a whole are a bit fanatical. Some people just like to go and have fun from time to time

 

[Ken_R]

https://www.skimag.com/ski-performance/going-rogue-pirate-ski-instructors

Came through one of my feeds the other day

"The instructor likely has no insurance in case of injury" This is bullshit. My wife had a severe leg injury while taking a private lesson in Beaver Creek. We did not get paid a dime.

So the ski resorts use F.U.D. tactics to sell their ski instruction service but it is mostly a sham. It is a shame because there are some superb ski instructors out there. It is the system that plain suxs.

 

[Coach13]

I just saw where Loveland has a 5 lesson women’s clinic In Jan and another in Feb for $329 which includes the lift ticket. If you do both Jan and Feb it’s $599 and includes a season pass. That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

 

[fatbob]

I would say money but it's not really that - it's perception of poor value.

US lesson costs are obviously ridiculous and I am not prepared to shell out retail for the risk that I get a ho-hum lesson , or if in a group end up with a jerry there who spoils the potential of the lesson for everyone else.

European costs are obviously much more reasonable and I do have access to relatively cheap lessons from top pros on snowheads bashes. There I tend not to take lessons because its my end of season holiday and I'm enjoying social skiing in a corn harvest/spray and pray environment.

But above all I recognise that my aptitude to get the most out of any lesson is most dependent on my fitness, any niggles and headspace/mood on a particular day. If I'm itching to learn something then great, if I just want a tune up I'm as likely to get frustrated as improve. And I HATE DRILLS. Give me something I can work on in a dynamic, skiing A to B envirnment.

 

[KingGrump]

An examiner is never happy.

Not so. You just have to stop hanging out with the grumpy ones.