Beginner Advice and

"Jrobb" wrote in message
oups.com...
I learned at the same age (actually a bit younger 13 I tihink) and I
had 4years of two -three days /year skiing Tahoe under my feet already.
I was up and "ripping" in 1/2 hour. I took a regular lesson though
and it was in a blizzard. THere were three others in the lesson as
well. I have always had above average athletic ability and have and
can do a bunch of different activities with decent competency. Jack of
all sports, master of none...sort of guy. Not touting my abilities but
just realtime evaluation of what can be expected of your youngster.
Regardless of the lesson type, the two will be stoked that they can now
talk boarding aspirations and techniques realisticaly. Private
lesson vs. group lesson as far as restrictions go vary from resort to
resort. Normally the restrictions are more of a common sense thing.
Ex. If you are in a beginner lesson you obviously won't be riding on
black diamonds. It's been a long time since I've been able to purchase
a kids ticket but if they are on the cusp you can get young adult
ticket if that will affect mountain access.

I took a private lesson three years later to refine some technique
issues and it was well worth the money. Your boarder will be bored in
a group lesson and the new boarder will be able to deal with either
(personal idiosyncracies aside) ...go with a private unless the group
lesson isn't filled up.
Good luck
J


Good thoughts.
Thanks.

"Jrobb" wrote in message
oups.com...
My sister learned two years after I did...the best thing for her was to
try to follow me around...when you can follow someone who is better
than you you can pick up cues by watching them even if they can
verbalize what they are doing. Your better boarder will be challenging
your new boarder (not a bad thing) when they ride together...and at
some point, they will learn from eachother. My sister now rides as
good as or better than most other females (though she doesn't do park
tricks but just freeride) mostly from following me into harder slopes
than she would think she could handle...it's inevitable to get better,
unless the person is a borderline weenie and just doesn't want to learn
in the first place.

J


Understood and agreed. More concerned at this point with getting up and
riding.
Thanks

"Bruce Chang" wrote in message
. net...

"Jrobb" wrote in message
oups.com...
My sister learned two years after I did...the best thing for her was to
try to follow me around...when you can follow someone who is better
than you you can pick up cues by watching them even if they can
verbalize what they are doing. Your better boarder will be challenging
your new boarder (not a bad thing) when they ride together...and at
some point, they will learn from eachother. My sister now rides as
good as or better than most other females (though she doesn't do park
tricks but just freeride) mostly from following me into harder slopes
than she would think she could handle...it's inevitable to get better,
unless the person is a borderline weenie and just doesn't want to learn
in the first place.

J


I can second Jrobb.. I posted in another thread that I didn't take a
lesson when I first started snowboarding. My friends had all rode before
me and were willing to teach me and because I didn't want to slow them
down, I pushed myself even when I was dead tired and catching edges left
and right. Like they say, "it's not the number of times you fall down,
it's the number of times you get back up." I think a lesson is a good
idea and having two of them so they can keep each other company is even
better.

-Bruce




Thanks

I'd recommend giving them three hours together without the instructor
and see where they stand. If he can stand up, slide twenty yards, then
turn before he falls over, he's doing pretty well. If it's not working
out, then you can pay for the lessons, but it's not like playing the
piano; he won't learn any bad habits on his own.

The first lessons of snowboarding are pretty hard to teach someone; you
just have to get them on a board and let them do it.

Oh.. and you really want that limited pass, at least on day 1. Chances
are there is a bunny hill somewhere that none of those other kids you
mentioned will go near. And he'll be sore enough that he won't regret
not having access to the diamonds.

I'm not too worried about the experienced rider; the real goal is to get
these two buddies at the same level, or close, as quickly as possible so
they can start catching the bus trips together (something they're looking
forward to).

In that case - stick with your plan



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wrote in message oups.com...
I'd recommend giving them three hours together without the instructor
and see where they stand. If he can stand up, slide twenty yards, then
turn before he falls over, he's doing pretty well. If it's not working
out, then you can pay for the lessons, but it's not like playing the
piano; he won't learn any bad habits on his own.

The first lessons of snowboarding are pretty hard to teach someone; you
just have to get them on a board and let them do it.

I can't agree with much of this. Learning the right way to initiate a turn will make
the rest of a boarders experience much better. Many hurtful falls can be avoided.
It will also help avoid becoming one of those boarders that can't do a toe turn
when it matters, so they heel slide down anything of difficulty.

When riding up the chair, it's pretty easy to spot the riders that have had good
instruction. They aren't by any means in the majority. I know for myself the difference
it made in my riding when I started getting instruction in proper technique. The change
was dramatic.

Bob

"I expect the instructor to deal with each kid individually; it's only
2
kids. Mostly, I expect the more experienced kid to get a few tips and
ride
at will catching up to the beginner as often as he'd like to. The
skiier
(sp?) hates group lessons. "


This makes no sense. You have one kid who has 5-10 days experience and
one with zero. How is the experienced kid gonna "catch up" to the new
kid, who will be stuck in one small area for a day or more? The exper
kid needs and instructor moving with him on a real trail. I'd put the
beginner in a group class to start, then consider maybe private for the
second or third day. The exper kid may not need a lessson, but if he
does, a group one of the right level is gonna do more than being with a
private guy stuck with a beginner.

I" can't agree with much of this. Learning the right way to initiate a
turn will make
the rest of a boarders experience much better. Many hurtful falls can
be avoided.
It will also help avoid becoming one of those boarders that can't do a
toe turn
when it matters, so they heel slide down anything of difficulty. "
"

I agree with your not agreeing You have one kid with 5-10 days
experience and one with 0. Why would you put them together alone for 3
hours? One can likely be doing some runs enjoying himself, the other
doesn't know step one and needs to learn from someone that knows what
they are doing. Put kid 0 in a group class to start, then
re-evaluate for the second day. Either put kid 5-10 in a diff level
group lesson or just let him go at it, depending on what he wants to do.

If you have a chance to spend some time around kids in the near future,
pay attention to how they interact. They love to teach things to each
other, and they learn especially well from their friends, especially in
situations where there are unfamiliar kids around who have an
intimidating amout of knowledge. OP probably alread knew this; that's
why I didn't bother to explain it.

wrote in message
oups.com...
If you have a chance to spend some time around kids in the near future,
pay attention to how they interact. They love to teach things to each
other, and they learn especially well from their friends, especially in
situations where there are unfamiliar kids around who have an
intimidating amout of knowledge. OP probably alread knew this; that's
why I didn't bother to explain it.


The first kid was up and sliding instantly 4 years ago, but switched back to
skis after a couple of hours because of the frustration being experienced by
the second kid. The second kid was happier the rest of the day on skis.
The first kid stayed on skis the next few years. The second kid took a
snowboard lesson a couple of years later and has been on the snow 4 to 5
days total over the most recent 2 years and has no skiing experience since
his first attempt to snowboard.

The first kid can ski anyone's blue's (Sugar Bowl, Squaw, ...) competently
and will chase the ski patrol down any groomed black at Northstar (I know, I
know, Flatstar). This week I need to get the first kid up to the second
kids speed snowboarding. These 2 kids are 14 and have been best friends
since preschool and both are athletic (the first kid more agile, the second
kid stronger). The second kid will be happy to hang out with the first kid
during the morning, as a good friend would, knowing that after lunch they
will be playing follow the leader (the second kid) the rest of the day and
the next day. And the second kid can ride at will during the lesson if he
gets bored. I don't know why the instructor would have any trouble working
with 2 kids at different levels which is essentially a small group lesson
with it's inherent variety of talent.

I appreciate the different perspectives offered; the ideas will be helpful
when we hit the mountain this week. At this point I'm really wondering what
the general concensus is on how easy is it to get up and riding the easy
blues for a reasonably coordinated 14 year old with previous mountain
experience on skis. My out if it is too difficult for the first kid to ride
with the second kid in a short time is for the first kid to switch back to
skis for this outing, but we definitely want to try him on a snowboard and
see what happens.

Thanks