Best lessons in Colorado?

"Monique Y. Herman" wrote in message ...
Ooh, even instructors? I take it, then, that these are serious
improvement-oriented clinics rather than some marketing gimmick designed
to help rich women spend their money?

Not to sound cynical ...

How do they handle the different ability levels? Different groups for
different levels, just all happening to be women?

The ones I've observed were highly organized. The leaders even
brought different sets of women's skis for the participants to try
out.

Skiers were grouped by ability AND goals, according to some of the
participants I talked with on the chairlift.

Not all such programs are the same, of course, so you'd want to check
out the specifics of programs that interest you.

On 27 Aug 2003 04:35:01 GMT, Kneale Brownson penned:
"Monique Y. Herman" wrote in message ...

How do they handle the different ability levels? Different groups for
different levels, just all happening to be women?

The ones I've observed were highly organized. The leaders even
brought different sets of women's skis for the participants to try
out.

Skiers were grouped by ability AND goals, according to some of the
participants I talked with on the chairlift.

Not all such programs are the same, of course, so you'd want to check
out the specifics of programs that interest you.

Well, Keystone seems to have affordable all-day women's classes tuesdays
and thursdays, so I'm thinking I'll check that out:

http://keystone.snow.com/info/sr.adult.womens.asp

I could give a fig about the women-only aspect of the classes, but $65
for 4-5 hours of lessons seems pretty sweet.

--
monique

"Monique Y. Herman" wrote:

Well, Keystone seems to have affordable all-day women's classes tuesdays
and thursdays, so I'm thinking I'll check that out:

http://keystone.snow.com/info/sr.adult.womens.asp

I could give a fig about the women-only aspect of the classes, but $65
for 4-5 hours of lessons seems pretty sweet.

How many people are in the class? If you're skier #18 in a class of 20
playing folllow the leader, it's probably not that good a deal. Not
that I know much of anything about Keystone's instruction program, but
you should ask that question.

--
//-Walt
//
// "Fair and Balanced"

On 27 Aug 2003 16:10:01 GMT, Walt penned:
"Monique Y. Herman" wrote:

Well, Keystone seems to have affordable all-day women's classes tuesdays
and thursdays, so I'm thinking I'll check that out:

http://keystone.snow.com/info/sr.adult.womens.asp

I could give a fig about the women-only aspect of the classes, but $65
for 4-5 hours of lessons seems pretty sweet.

How many people are in the class? If you're skier #18 in a class of 20
playing folllow the leader, it's probably not that good a deal. Not
that I know much of anything about Keystone's instruction program, but
you should ask that question.


Well, even in that case, you'd at least get a guided tour of the
mountain and probably priority on the lifts ...

Actually, I've never seen a ski lesson larger than maybe 6-8 people.
I'd think a resort would reject huge class sizes as bad PR.

You're right, though, that it's a good question to ask.

--
monique

Monique Y. Herman wrote:
Well, even in that case, you'd at least get a guided tour of the
mountain and probably priority on the lifts ...

Well, I can give you that at Solitude for free. Plus free beer/wine on
the deck for lunch. Hmmmmm.. that gives me an idea.. maybe I should
start one of these all women lessons thingies.... It'd be a nice
change from the smelly tele skiers I ski with currently.

-klaus

On 27 Aug 2003 21:30:02 GMT, klaus penned:
Monique Y. Herman wrote:
Well, even in that case, you'd at least get a guided tour of the
mountain and probably priority on the lifts ...

Well, I can give you that at Solitude for free. Plus free beer/wine on
the deck for lunch. Hmmmmm.. that gives me an idea.. maybe I should
start one of these all women lessons thingies.... It'd be a nice
change from the smelly tele skiers I ski with currently.

I think my skill, or rather lack thereof, would disappoint you.

I don't see any reason why you *couldn't* start giving lessons, of any
sort you liked. I hear that women often get a bit of a crush on
particularly effective ski instructors ... but, uh, no personal
experience with that or anything. Honest.

-klaus




--
monique

Monique Y. Herman wrote:
On 27 Aug 2003 21:30:02 GMT, klaus penned:
Monique Y. Herman wrote:
Well, even in that case, you'd at least get a guided tour of the
mountain and probably priority on the lifts ...

Well, I can give you that at Solitude for free. Plus free beer/wine on
the deck for lunch. Hmmmmm.. that gives me an idea.. maybe I should
start one of these all women lessons thingies.... It'd be a nice
change from the smelly tele skiers I ski with currently.

I think my skill, or rather lack thereof, would disappoint you.

It just takes practice. I'm a tele skier, so falling is not an
option. It's a requirement. Skill means notta.... Besides, I'm sure
what skill you lack on the hill, you make up for in other
ways... cough

I don't see any reason why you *couldn't* start giving lessons, of any
sort you liked. I hear that women often get a bit of a crush on
particularly effective ski instructors ... but, uh, no personal
experience with that or anything. Honest.

Uh huh.....

-klaus

Jay Pique wrote in message . ..
I wouldn't worry about lessons right out of the gate. Get your legs
under you for the first couple of months and really crank up your
endurance, and you'll see huge improvements just from that. Then you
can just read all of the expert advice that's given out here on RSA
and you'll automatically become an expert skier.... If you'd like
to become a RealSkier, however, you'll have to move to Utah.

To give an alternative view (with apologies to Bob Barnes): Practise
does not make perfect, only perfect practise makes perfect. Practise
makes permanance. So be sure what you're practising is good, else you
become really good at skiing badly.


If you're planning to ski regularly, check out any extended programmes
your chosen resorts are offering. eg Masters, The Fossils etc. I
remember Keystone had some Fossils mob going (I wanted to join but
they said I was too young). Extended programmes are to my mind the way
to go, if you are in a position to commit to one.
If you're planning to do privates, then use the group to get
recommendations of who to ask for.
In terms of overall quality control, I'd say you're pretty safe with
BC, they are raising the bar all the time (and have the most
foreigners...).

ant

On 30 Aug 2003 10:55:08 GMT, ant penned:

Women's Programmes are great for many women. Women learn skiing
differently (I'm generalising but the more I teach, the more this is
validated!). In a mixed group, I notice that the guys tend to set the
agenda more, or the instructor is more attuned to their style, which
is more set to action and challenge. Whenever we're doing splits, and
I announce that my group will be taking it a bit easy, focussing on
technical stuff and not hucking cliffs, invariably the women march
over to join my group! Sometimes the odd guy does too, but in the
main, this is not their preferred style.

I find that women generally learn better when they are not scared,
they like ot learn incrementally, and then go test it out on something
a bit harder, as opposed to try and learn the new stuff on hard
terrain.
I also find that groups of ladies become quite supportive of each
other, rather than competitive.

I'm a whole-hearted advocate of women's programmes, and womens groups.
You get the odd A-type female who wants to measure herself against the
guys and compete (in fact I was skiing wiht one yesterday), but most
of the women taking lessons I've encountered seem to respond better to
a supportive atmosphere, controlled learning of new skills, and then
guided testing of those skills. But then, watch out! Once they're
comfortable, they'll be out there.
The difference being, the crash-or-crash-through style of learning is
not a good one for most women.

ant


Thank you for working very hard to use the terms "generally" and "most"
rather than "men learn this way; women learn that way"!

(I wonder if it should bother me, then, that there is no such thing as a
men's class -- I mean, I don't find that men are in the majority on the
slopes *or* in lessons. Or that we don't simply have "lessons geared
toward aggressive learners" vs. "lessons geared toward patient
learners.")

Just to prove the rule by providing the exception, being in a class with
only women will often drive me nuts! I want a very short summary of the
goal, followed by a whole lot of doing, interspersed with tips. I don't
want to spend forever talking about what we're about to do. I don't
want to get caught up in chatter when I'm in a lesson. I'm not there to
bond; I'm there to learn!

I've found that even one guy in the group raises the oomph factor
acceptably, though.

I remember, back in the day, my original taekwondo instructor had a
lunchtime class. It was dubbed a women's class, though men were welcome
if they could attend. Anyhoo, we're working on back kicks, and my
instructor has me take over the teaching. I'm holding this big target
and the women are chatting in line ... as they get to the target, they
take several seconds to set up in the "perfect" stance, then try, stop
half way through, go again, rinse, repeat. I eventually lost it.
"Look, you have an ATTACKER in front of you. When someone is attacking
you, you aren't going to be able to take your sweet time, and you WON'T
have second chances! Now get in line and take this SERIOUSLY!" My
instructor's eyes got huge as he watched, but he didn't intervene.

Um, I guess I wouldn't make a very good women's clinic instructor ...

--
monique "drill instructor"

On 2 Sep 2003 15:50:05 GMT, lal_truckee penned:
Monique Y. Herman wrote:


(I wonder if it should bother me, then, that there is no such thing as a
men's class CLIP)


There are "men's class" - they are marketed at Steep Clinics or Expert
Tuneups. Difference is, women who are so inclined are eligible to join a
"Steep Clinic" while men who would feel better in a supportive, lower
pressure learning environment are discouraged (maybe disallowed?) from
signing up for a "Women's Clinic."

See, they're not men's classes, and women will generally be seen in a
positive light if they join those classes (and belong there).

I know few men, on the other hand, who would feel comfortable enough in
their masculinity to sign up for a "kinder, gentler" lesson, even
without the deadly "women's" tag on it. And their buddies would harrass
them endlessly.

It's incredibly stupid, but I think it's true.

All I can say is my wife still (some years later) raves about her
multi-day "Woman's Clinic" - I think a major part of it was the
comradery built up over several days, including video reviews, as much
as the actual on-snow work. Also, just because it was a "lower pressure
learning environment" dosen't mean they didn't work on serious skills
for off-piste and steeper terrain. It wasn't a subterfuge for "Beginner
Leassons at High Prices."

*nod*

See, that's exactly it. I don't want bonding in my ski lessons, I want,
um, lessons.

It sounds great for the right demographic, and I think I'm going to try
one of these all-day women's clinics, if only because the price is
right. Hey, maybe I'll surprise myself and like the lower pressure
learning environment ... but my suspicion is that I'd prefer the more
traditional style.

--
monique