Sunday: I wasn't booked for any lessons, so I was on standby - finally! This is good news because I get a rider improvement session from The Wizard (AKA Dylan, the resident level 4 instructor.) A level 4 snowboarder is a very rare creature, these guys can critique Olympians on their technique and go to annual CASI conferences to talk snowboarding and push the boundaries of our teaching and riding. Needless to say he's a very talented bloke and extremely knowledgeable. That's why I was so excited to finally have a Sunday morning free to train with him.
We rode all morning stopping often to talk about the new stance CASI is pushing onto their snowboarders. Instead of having your body stacked parallel over your board and squatting down (the way I was taught) you need to have your hips slightly open facing down the hill - resulting in a lower stance. Furthermore you should then have more freedom to manipulate your board using only the lower joints. Specifically your front leg for steering, and your back leg for edging, with a 40%-60% weight balance respectively. Now that may all sound like gobbledygook but for me its a new dynamic way of riding that was super fun to try out!
" *Update* Changed my snowboard bindings to better adapt to this riding mantra and it was super fun! Lovely snow today in Tayton Bowl, groomers and tree runs. Good day!"
We tore down some blacks and blues (runs) and then jumped into Tayton Bowl - Jekyll and Hyde. This is the furthest run out in the bowl and used to be out of bounds last year, its super fun: steep and deep just how we like it. There was some good snow out there and it was great to tear down as a group. We even found a gnarly tree jib with a good drop off at the end. I didn't hit but Michael and Dave did and they totally nailed it, it looked so cool.
After that we spent the remaining time learning how to Euro-carve, a carving turn wear you literally hug the ground as you spin around at top speed, hands dragging in the snow creating a half moon of snow spray. Its looks pretty epic and now I know the technique, I'd love to crack it.
Monday was brill because I got to shadow a level 2 / 3 ski lesson with three boys under the tuition of Mark. The nicest 6'7 bloke you'll ever meet, who used to be a polar bear tour guide! His explanations were so clear that even I learnt something. In the afternoon he got called onto a new lesson so I was left with the boys who were now progressing into level 3 which is when we introduce parallel skiing. So at lunch I got Mark to teach me how to teach them parallel as it was a small section of the level 1 course, and more like the drills we were being taught! By the end of the day however I got them all skiing 60% parallel 40% snowplow which was a massive win; plus me and the boys had loads of fun.
Tuesday/Wedsnesday: Days off to shop, clean, and organise my affairs. With the odd trip up the hill to work on my snowboarding following Dylans Sunday session. Also I am starting to study for my level 2 exam on the 23rd of March, I've been told I'm a strong candidate for riding, I just need to make sure my teaching is up to standard.
Love to all my family xx until next time
Keep it up....it's all sounding Amazing!
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