The wrong trail can be worse than a Dad Joke

It's time to start thinking about getting the family out on the slopes for some much needed fresh air, exercise and time away from zoom.

Coach Jay has some tips to share for parents eager to rip up the double diamonds with their kids. Skiing is the greatest when the fun factor is high and the fear factor is low. Starting slowly and building up the skills required to handle more difficult runs is the key to your child's success. 

Here's a PSIA video that shows you how to tell if you're on too tough of a trail for your little one. The images showing defensive body position are fantastic. But rather than push until you see dramatic visual clues, here are some ways to know you're making good trail decisions.

• Your child can tell you a story or discuss what they want for lunch, while making turns.
• They can play follow the leader and successfully turn where you turn.
• No white knuckle grips on ski poles
• They're smiling more than concentrating

Other things to remember:

• Splitting and meeting at the chairlift is way better than forcing a novice skier to follow an intermediate sibling down something he or she wants to hit.
• Younger siblings may need you to protect them from their desire to keep up with their brother or sister.

 

It's not too late to get in shape for your ski season!

Beaver Creek is scheduled to open November  26th and my alma mater, Northstar California opens on November 21st.

Will you be ready to ski? Will your little ones ski circles around you? Will you be too tired to  get in the hot tub? It's a bit late for a comprehensive, pre-season nutrition and exercise plan for us ski instructors, but if your first ski trip will be over the Christmas holidays, you've got time.

I've taken several approaches over the past few years, some more effective than others. Four seasons ago, I worked out with a personal trainer focusing on core strength and balance. That delivered some benefits, but my cardio fitness was lacking. Three seasons ago, I skipped the gym and only cycled and paddle boarded a bunch. That helped with balance and cardio-vascular fitness, but my skiing suffered from a lack of core strength. The last two seasons, I've focused on cardio, core exercises and leg specific training, specifically a daily regimen that strengthens my innermost quadriceps (the vastus medialis). This muscle is vital to keeping your knee tracking correctly, and building it up can help prevent as well as treat past injuries.

Get after it!  I've got a feeling we have powder days ahead in both Colorado and California. Any advance workouts or in-season work outs will pay huge dividends.

Coach Jay

Helpful Answers to Ski Season questions

With the ski season upon us, I've been getting l questions from clients and friends referred to me about booking ski lessons, sharing private lessons, gratuity etiquette, etc.

So, here's a helpful overview that attempts to answer many of the most frequently asked questions.

When are you available? To help people with booking private lessons, I keep a calendar updated and online at skiwithjay.com, where you’ll also find blog postings geared toward making skiing low-stress for your family.

Where do we meet? Lessons can start in the Northstar Village, at the mid-mountain ski school or at the Ritz Carleton and are available in these configurations:

1 hour "rise and shines" from 8:30 to 9:30
3 hour morning or afternoon lessons, starting at 9:30 and 1:00pm; or
6 hour all day lessons, which start at 8:30

What do private lessons cost, and how do I book a lesson?  Pricing (not including tax or gratuities, which are greatly appreciated) is available on on the Northstar website. If you book any lessons or Northstar tickets online, I believe you get the lowest possible rates. Alternatively, you can call 530-562-3848 or 530-562-3800 to speak with a booking team member. There can be some hold time when we’re busy, so there is an option to leave a message for a call back.

Many of my clients share their lessons with another family to reduce the costs for each family. With the exception of the rise and shines, lessons can be divided between students, or up to 6 skiers of the same ability level can be taught at once. As you would expect, one on one attention delivers more rapid skill development. Another thing to remember is that private lessons, unlike group lessons, do not include lift tickets or equipment.

One more thing I do for busy guests is facilitate the scheduling process via email. Simply send me an email saying something like "We'd love to have your 9:30-12:30 slot on December XX for our 8 year old, Johnny.  We'll be staying at the Ritz and would love to start the lesson there.  Can you have the office call me at 415-XXX-XXXX to confirm the reservation?"   This most important thing in the email is your phone number, as the office will review all the details when they call you.

Happy skiing!
Coach Jay

PS: For folks who'd like more guidance around gratuities on the mountain, here's a link to an earlier blog posting specific to that topic. I'll give a shout out here to Nancy Huang, a friend and client who told me how new ski families would appreciate the guidance.

To Tip or Not To TIp: Answering a Delicate Ski Lesson Question

Nancy Huang, a friend and parent of three great kids, let me know last year that many folks would appreciate knowing etiquette around tipping the coaches who guide and shape mountain experiences. Like a few other guests, Nancy didn't know until several days into her vacation that it was OK to tip one's instructor.

I've had multiple guests ask me about gratuity practices for group lessons for kids or adults as well as private lessons, so here's this instructor's take on the subject.

Q - Should you tip a children's group lesson instructor?  If so, what's the right thank you?

A - Gratuities for coaches are not a requirement but an appropriate and appreciated gesture. Many kids instructors rely on their gratuities to make ends meet, and work at night in restaurants and bars to help out! 

A good instructor has focused on keeping your child and up to seven other children safe, warm and happy over an extended period of time. A good instructor created a space where all of the children had fun while learning, and maintained this environment through various challenges such as separation anxiety, bathroom emergencies and the sugar induced boisterousness following a hot chocolate break. 

At Northstar new children's instructors receive 15 days of training to deliver the service parents are counting on. Many also invest in a Professional Ski Instructors Association membership and purchase additional training throughout the season. Some invest unpaid hours and days off to clinic with other coaches in order to pass PSIA certifications.  

$10-15 dollars is an average tip for a one day lesson. If your child had a blast, tipping at restaurant levels (15-20% of the lesson cost) is appropriate.

Q - What about for Adult Group Lessons?

A - With adult lessons, the person doing the thanking has directly experienced the quality of the instructor's service. A $15 to $20 tip is fine. Again, if the lesson was great, 15-20% will make your coach feel very appreciated and valued.

Q - What about Private Lessons?  Is it any different?

A - This question is a bit more delicate to answer, since I spend my days teaching privates!
When I've purchased lessons for my better half (Johanna), my snowboarding brother-in-law, Gary or my tentative sister, Susan, I book only the best, most experienced, and most entertaining instructors on the staff. These include Eddie Visser, Randy Bell, Matt Majersky, Jeff Hickel and Mary Ellen Pearlman. I tip these folks at the 20% level, unless Johanna or my sister beats me to it!

As a general rule of thumb from my experience on the receiving end, a $50 tip is a fine thank you for a half day lesson, and $100 is similarly appreciated for a full day private.

Let me take this opportunity to thank all of the parents who trusted me when I was a kids' group lesson instructor;  and, of course, all who've gone on to choose me when private lesson attention is desired.

Thanks again, and I hope this post is helpful to folks new to skiing!

Guidance from other sources on the web:

From Trip Advisor:  Tipping your instructor

From Park City Resort's Website:  Should you tip your ski or snowboard instructor?

Stress Free Ski Tip: Plan your drive up to the mountains

With the ski season starting this weekend, here's a tip and a link for folks heading to Northstar or any other California destinations.

During the winter months, the weather in the mountains can be unpredictable and the roads occasionally shut down due to accidents, slippery roads and low visibility. When it's snowing, chain control stations are staffed with friendly agents making sure your vehicle is either a 4 by 4 or has chains on its tires.

So before driving in the Sierras or the Lake Tahoe Basin, check the weather and the road conditions. Make sure you have your chains handy, and if you're traveling with the kids, a second movie might be a good thing to pack. (Snow and chain controls can make a long trip considerably longer than usual.

You can find out about the California road conditions here: www.dot.ca.gov or by phone at 800-427-7623.  Here's a picture of the road conditions widget which is located on the right side of the page.

An Award for This Mountain Life, all the way from Colorado

Have you ever googled yourself?  Admit it... you've done it....

Well, last night, while waiting 4 hours for Time Machine to restore my recently deceased macbook, I did a quick google search for my name, plus "skiing."

What did I find? Look off to the right side of this posting, and you'll see a shiny new badge, courtesy of the nice folks at  DenverAndBoulderRealEstate.com.

It seems that they've ranked and compiled a list of the top 50 blogs related to living in the mountains..... and we made it...  In fact.... we're quite near the top of the list.

Well, that brought enough of a smile to generate a blog posting in May.  Hope everyone is enjoying their summers.

March Snowstorm on the way!

March 5th:  Happy day, happy Jay.

The snow is on it's way back to North Lake Tahoe with one to two feet possible tonight.

The full weather report I rely on is from the Tahoe Weather Geek

Here's an excerpt from his full posting today:


"At least two waves of moisture driven by a cold low pressure system will cross the Sierra Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing at least a foot of now and possibly two feet to the higher elevations around Tahoe. Snow levels should begin around 5000 feet Tuesday afternoon and fall from there to below 3000 feet by Wednesday."

So... if you haven't put your skis or your board away yet, come up this weekend!  The picture below is from last year, but I'll post a similar one if Mother Nature dumps on us hard!

Cheers,

Jay

Turning your students into Ski Instructors, a post for the Fantastic Four

It's President's Week, 2013, and the mountain is busy!  For me, this is the best week of the year at Northstar California, primarily due to The Fantastic Four, a group of sisters I've had the pleasure of skiing with every year for the past 5 seasons.

As you might imagine, the girls are very good skiers, and enjoy skiing all sorts of terrain.  This year, the older three (13, 11 and 10) are extremely focused on mastering all of the level 7 and level 8 skills, and exploring the final challenges of level 9 skiing.  The youngest skis with a fellow instructor, and she's mastering similar skills, as well as honing her snowball throwing arm whenever she sees me.

Last year we started a new practice during our week which proved to be a huge help for knowledge transfer and retention.  During the week, the girls take turns acting as our group's instructor, teaching the rest of us a movement pattern via a static exercise, a drill or a game.  

So... Fantastic Four members:  To help you pick a skill for your teaching session, watch this movie made by the New Zealand Ski Instructor's Association.

Your mission?  Choose one of the turn types, and get ready to teach the rest of us how to do it!  You have time to practice up through Wednesday, and Thursday, you'll each take the reins for a run or two, honing our skills in the skill you chose.

Evernote Hello makes ski lessons even better!

Today's post may be most interesting to other ski instructors, but I think anyone who meets lots of people and needs help remembering them, and more importantly, the context, will love this new application I've begun using recently.

Ski instructors meet lots of people, and we may see our students several times a year or far less frequently, like once a year during a family's annual ski trip.

Remembering your student's name and his or her face is important, but its even better to remember how they turned, what you worked on, and what you encouraged them to practice during your lesson wrap-up. My first year as an instructor, I used pen and paper on the hill, and transcribed my chicken scratch into a lesson log on my computer at night. Sounds great, but it was easy to forget to do the computer work or lose a few notebook pages pulling the pad out of the uniform pocket, and it was time consuming!

4 years ago, I started taking photos and videos of my students and that really helped me remember them, and what we'd worked on. Parents loved seeing the videos and sharing them with grandma and grandpa as well. But there was no linkage between my pen and paper notebook, my computer lesson log, and the photos and videos I took, or last year, the EpicMix photos taken for free by the pros at Northstar.

Enter the new application! Evernote Hello. These days, my student and I create a lesson summary in under 3 minutes during a hot chocolate break or on the chairlift! We take a quick photo and enter their name and an age or, with adults, we add relevant contact info. Then I can capture what we worked on and why, what the student should focus on now, and any other fun facts.
After the lesson, I can still edit and add to the summary, with a simple audio note, or by typing.

And, like a video or a photo, there are many ways to share the lesson summaries with my adult students or children's parents. Here's one from this past weekend. Kyle's parents gave the ok to share this on the This Mountain Life page, as long as we made sure to include only first names. I always make sure to ask before posting anything, and that's a good tip for fellow instructors as well.

Enjoy, and if you have app suggestions or questions about how I use this one, do let me know.

Winter is Back!

It was snowing today at Northstar, and tomorrow is my first day teaching.  I'll be with two great kids I've known for the past two seasons, and I know we'll be having fun while we're getting the rust off of our turns.  Tonight it's about making a good healthy dinner, loosening up with some yoga and getting a good night's sleep.  I'll be up at 6, stretching again for 30 minutes, than out on the hill and skiing at 8:30 sharp.  With the lesson starting at 9:30, I'll have one hour to get a bit more rust off of my turns before the kids arrive.

The forecast is looking pretty good as well, with snow at the higher elevations, and a lot more coming Saturday night.

As you may know, Mother Nature gets some big help at Northstar which is why we had so much terrain open during the dry periods last season.  What I didn't know was how the top brass feels about those snow-making marvels.  If you'd like a chuckle and some insight why it's so much fun to work at Northstar, check out Bill Rock, our COO, in this video, "Winter is Back."  And watch through to the end....the videographer also found Bill somewhere in the snowcat parking lot...

18 inches and Final Preparations for Ski Season!

Don't you love Northstar's countdown to opening day?  I love that it includes minutes and seconds.... We can be skiing on what promises to be a good base in 6 days, 14 hours, 25 minutes and 40 seconds....

And KRON 4 is reporting about Tahoe as I type. While the snow has stopped falling, chain control is still in effect on Route 80 in Truckee.  And the reporter can see that Northstar's snow-guns are going full blast.  Those guns are why Northstar had the most coverage of any Tahoe resort last season!

So two quick reminders:

First, Ask an Instructor Day is this Saturday, from 10am to 2pm at the Sports Basement in the Presidio.  If you happen to be a member of the Golden Gate Mother's Club, you can attend an early session at 9:30.

Anyone who signs up or stops by the Community Area to chat with us gets 10% off their purchases that day, even if the things you purchase have nothing to do with skiing or boarding.

Event details are here on this Facebook page, which you can feel free to pass on to friends with nascent or potential young skiers or riders.

The format is 15 minute talks on various topics along with a lot of personalized Q&A and shopping/sizing assistance from the instructor team.   Unlike last year, I've invited David Overfield, a great snowboard instructor from the Burton Academy.  Those of you whose kids are ready to break my heart and trade their skis for a board should meet David, as he's one of the academy's best children's instructors.

Second, there's a special number for folks wanting to reserve lessons prior to opening day.  It's (530) 562-3546. After we open, (530) 562-3848 will again be the private lesson reservation line.

As some of you have already done, the easiest way to book a lesson is to call or email me, and I will work with the office to block off the time for you. The office staff only needs a quick confirmation call if your details are not up to date in their computer system.

Hope to see you on Saturday at the Sports Basement, or very soon on the slopes in snowy Tahoe!

PS.  As always, I'm commenting here on my blog and on Facebook as a private citizen and crazy ski instructor. I'm not representing Northstar or Vail Resorts.

Safety Tips from Tom Sherry

This week, we've got a great blog post from Tom Sherry, a great instructor who also happens to be a ski patroller. Before you here all about keeping your family safe on the slopes, here's more about Tom from a recent bio.

Tom has been teaching children and adults alike for almost 20 years. He started instructing tennis after playing on his division III college team. He's been a medical and sled instructor with the National Ski Patrol for almost a decade. He's been teaching skiing since 2008 and is certified professional.

Before living the dream in the land of fruit and nuts, he attained his degree in Multimedia Technology and Business. He was a  project manger for over a decade with various different start-ups and dot-coms. Tom and his wife Kathy live in the Sacramento Valley with their two children, Sierra (8) and Rourke (5). In the summer he is the Assistant Tennis Director for Millennium Sports Club in Vacaville, CA.

As an active patroller for the last 11 seasons I've seen people's worst day of skiing. It says it on the back of all our tickets, skiing is inherently dangerous. Even with little skiers and riders the forces that come into play are serious. Believe it a or not a lot of these events could be avoided with some common sense and planning.

I'm going to discuss ways you and your children can be safer on the slopes. If your children learn these points early they'll be safe with or without you. We all know it won't be long before they say they want to ski with their friends :-)

When I'm teaching anything, Safety, Fun, and Learning are always in the back of my thoughts. Is the activity or skill, or game SAFE is always my first question.

Some of the points that I've passed along to both my students and children are as follows. 

Don't break anyone's "magic bubble". This bubble extends from the tip and tail of your skis to the top of your head. If you never break a magic bubble you can't get hurt. 

Learn and follow the responsibility code:  

1. Always stay in control.  
2. People ahead of you have the right of way.  
3. Stop in a safe place for you and others.  
4. Whenever starting downhill or merging, look uphill and yield.  
5. Use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.  
6. Observe signs and warnings, and keep off closed trails.  
7. Know how to use the lifts safely. 

Learn and follow the slope style: 

1. Make a plan.  
2. Look before you leap.  
3. Easy style it. 
4. Respect gets respect.

Have a meeting place and time in case you get separated. The top or bottom of a lift is always a great place or near a "super sign". Teach your children that people in uniform with name tags can help.

Move quickly at the top of lifts and don't linger at the bottoms because these areas are the most congested. You could also choose lifts that are less congested, even if they are slower chairs or don't access the best terrain. 

I like to keep my students and children behind me, that way if they loose control I can stop them. If you have another parent or friend that can be the "caboose" they can block from behind. I always keep my head on a swivel, like a fighter pilot :-) 

Bar up or Bar down? I've heard arguments made both ways. Vail resorts requires all employees to have the bar down at all times. Other ski schools I've worked for specifically stated that the bar was not to be down for ski school. Children will assume that if the bar is down there is NO way the can fall and creates a false sense of security. Whether you put the bar down or leave it up, have your children "Sit Back, Sit Still, and Look Ahead"! 

I hope you will find these tips as helpful as I have over the years and I wish you, your family, and friends safe snow sliding this and all seasons!

---------------------
**Extra Tip from Coach Jay**
Tom can be reached for questions or to arrange a lesson at ski@thomassherry.com
His mobile is (707)365-9361

What do ski instructors know about stress?

Cool posters up in the Kids' Section at Sports Basement

As the snow starts flying in Tahoe (24 inches at Northstar's Summit on Monday) I'm prepping for our Ask a Ski Instructor event at the Sports Basement Presidio on November 10th from 10AM to 2PM.

We're going to be helping skiers and parents evaluate gear, plan their kids' first experience on the slopes, learn what's new in Tahoe, and answering any questions they might have.

We'll also be doing short presentations about specific topics, which should lead to good Q & A.

If you'd like to help us plan for how many ski and snowboard instructors we should bring down, please do sign up on the facebook event page.  The Sports Basement will be giving a 10% discount to folks who attend and want to shop for anything while they're there.

In case you can't make it, here's an advice article I wrote last year about one of my favorite topics....

How to enjoy a low-stress ski trip and create life-long skiers.

I started skiing at age 5 after my parents bought a cabin in Vermont.  We spent every winter weekend skiing until I moved west. Yet in spite of the 3,000 miles between us, we still gather once a year for a family ski trip. Now that I’m an instructor in Tahoe, my passion is helping other families create mountain memories and ski vacation traditions of their own.

When a family heads to Tahoe for their children’s first ski weekend, expectations can run super-high! Heads are stuffed with thoughts of rosy cheeks, roaring fireplaces, hot chocolate and perhaps some alone time for Mom and Dad as the kids enjoy a day at ski school.  Video cameras are packed to capture Mary or Michael’s first snowplow turns and how darling they look on those little skis clad in their helmets and goggles.  

Families making their second journey may have memories of a different nature.  The first trip may have felt like an expedition up Mt. Everest, complete with a treacherous journey from parking lot, a difficult schlep of equipment with Mom and Dad playing Sherpa, and the smaller team members breaking down in tears several times due to lost mittens and cold fingers, or an overcrowded lesson or simply a high-stress vibe coming off of a harried mom or dad. A phone call from ski school saying "please come pick up Johnny or Janie, we can't get them to stop crying" may have put the stress level on steroids and killed any alone time for Mom and Dad.

So,the experiences in the resort village, the rental shop and at a ski school can be really great or painful depending on a lot of factors.  But what helps most is what you know in advance.

So how can you minimize the stress and maximize the fun if you’re new to skiing or the resort? 

First, tap your network for insider tips.Select your resort, your lodging, your ski instructor and even your departure time and route based on recommendations from those who’ve already blazed the trail.

Make getting to and dressing for the slopes easy on your kids:

• Eliminate a hike through the parking lot or the wait for a shuttle bus. 
• Use the courtesy drop off to deposit kids, skis, boards and one parent. 
• If you do walk and have your own ski boots, don’t don them in the parking lot. Wear warm and comfortable snowboots and utilize the resort’s lockers to store them during the day. 
• If you’re arranging a private lesson, leverage your instructor’s focus on customer service. Instructors love making every process easier for clients. I regularly meet clients at the courtesy drop off, ready to be their Sherpa, resort tour guide, rental equipment advisor, and escort through what can be a busy village. 
• Kids taking group lessons? At Northstar, all equipment is provided. Leave hats and that second pair of socks at home.  The hat won’t fit under the provided helmet, and the second sock layer causes blisters and can cut off circulation, creating very cold feet. 
• Are you planning multiple ski weekends? Visit the Sports Basement and do a season long rental or take advantage of their Ski Buy Back program to save 50% on new gear.
• Put your child’s name on everything they’ll wear, especially goggles and helmets. 
• Think like a kid!  Kids love stickers, and bright, unique ones which include their name do wonders.  If my helmet looks cool, I’m more likely to be willing to wear that heavy thing.  If my name’s on it, I’m less likely to lose it, and it will definitely improve my connection to my instructor if he or she always can remember (or read) my name when speaking to me.

Set everyone up for Ski School success:

• Greet your instructor warmly, as if he or she is already a friend of the family, as this will help your child feel comfortable, especially when you take your leave a few moments later. 
• Involve your child in the pre-lesson discussion, making the focus on their fun and adventure.
• Call the instructor “Coach” rather than “Teacher," because who likes going to school on the weekends?
• Make your goodbyes casual. Exiting the scene quickly will help your instructor during that first bonding conversation. If your child doesn’t notice you leaving because he’s just learned a pirate joke, the odds of separation anxiety hitting later are low. 
• If you’re not skiing yourself, make sure you dress for the weather. 

Lastly, consider starting your children with a private lesson or two, especially if they are under 7.
In addition to the individual attention, children in privates get much more mileage under there skis and grow skills more rapidly.
Older children do better in groups than those under seven.  Whatever their age, when a child who’s had some privates migrates to groups, they join the higher level classes which normally have a smaller student to instructor ratio and are taught by the most experienced PSIA certified instructors.

Do’s and Don’ts for After the Lesson

Do: Focus on the Fun!

Before asking the instructor “How did he do?” ask your child if the skiing was fun. When you ask what the best part of the day was don’t be upset or surprised if they say “We had hot chocolate!!!” or “We built a snowman!” Your child isn’t likely to say “we played monkey-see-monkey-do to get us moving forward over our skis”; or “We played a penguin game called “Happy-Feet” to developing our independent leg action!”

Congratulations are always in order, but focusing on how your child performed can associate ski lessons with pressure. 
If your child was moved down a level from their original group, this isn’t a cause for alarm OR disappointment. The ski school’s goal in adjusting groups is to give every child a lesson that moves at the correct pace for them and to maximize your child’s safety and fun.

Do: Learn what your child learned

The best questions to ask your coach include: What skiing game did my child like most? How can our family play it together? What type of trails should we ski on? What level trail should we avoid? What should we do tomorrow?

Is there anything my child needs that will make the experience more fun?  The most common things your instructor may mention are the fit of their boots, the quantity of their clothing layers or warmer mittens.

Don’t:  Take your child away from the bunny slope and up the chairlift to take “one more run to show Mommy and Daddy what you learned!”

Why not?  Your child may be tired, and far too many injuries sustained by novice, intermediate and expert skiers occur during that final run.

Secondly, lots of skier and rider traffic funnels down to the base lodge at the end of the day, and congestion can lead to collisions.  Your child may have internalized all the safety guidelines the instructor has used to keep the group safe during the day, but that’s not something I would count on. 

When you see instructors skiing backwards in front of a line of students, it’s not entirely to assess movement patterns and provide encouragement or tips.  Skiing backwards allows the instructor to see and steer the class to avoid uphill skiers and snowboarders who may not have the control to avoid the little ones.

Lastly, some parents undo many of the skills learned during the lesson by taking the child to new and more challenging terrain. Contrary to popular belief, children don’t learn quickly simply because they are fearless, and following a parent down a steeper blue run can take all the fun out of skiing.  More times than I care to recall, the focus of the second lesson is overcoming new-found fears and defensive skiing.  Your child’s instructor has built their success and confidence by teaching movement patterns on terrain perfectly suited for that task.

How do you know if you’re on the wrong trail if you forgot to ask the instructor where to go? A stiff-legged, slow power wedge straight down the fall line is as good a clue as a tearful melt-down, and noticing the former may help avoid the latter. A PSIA video of other visual clues is available on the “This Mountain Life” blog (www.skiwithjay.com).

My goal is ending every lesson with my students totally stoked for their next opportunity to ski or ride.  If my other clients (Mom & Dad) see this from the smiles during the debrief and wind up jealous, all the better!

The author, Jay Palace, is a PSIA Level Two instructor and specializes in teaching children at the Northstar Ski & Snowboard School. He’s also the founder of Group Experiential Learning, a company which helps executives build high performance teams via active learning experiences. The hints, perspectives and ski tips shared here and on the “This Mountain Life” blog (www.skiwithjay.com) are not representations of Vail Resorts or Northstar-California.  Jay is happy to answer questions, no matter where you ski, and can be reached at 415-601-1325 or skiwithjay@gmail.com

Getting your body ready for skiing

Northstar is scheduled to open November 16th, and even though it's still warm in Sausalito, I'm getting fired up!
 
Will you be ready to ski? Will your little ones ski circles around you? Will you be too tired to even get in the hot tub? Pre-season nutrition and exercise are on my mind, and I'd like to help you think about them as well.

I've taken several approaches over the past few years, some more effective than others. Two seasons ago, I worked out with a personal trainer focusing on core strength and balance. That delivered some benefits, but my cardio fitness was lacking. Last season, I skipped the gym and only cycled and paddle boarded a bunch. That helped with balance and cardio-vascular fitness, but my skiing suffered from a lack of core strength. The first 6 weeks of the season were hard, and I boasted about losing 8 pounds from November 18th through January 30th.

Now that I think about it, I realize that dropping a ton of weight at the start of the season is nothing to boast about. It's more of a sign that I hadn't prepared well enough to don that blue coat, the Northstar Ski & Snowboard School name tag and my skis.

This season, I've broadened my workout focus to encompass core strength, cardio, leg strength and flexibility.  And most importantly, I'm establishing nutritional habits that will have me at my fighting weight on day one.

None of this could happen without a lot of motivation and support.  Vail Resorts, Northstar's parent company, has some great resources for mountain employees, and takes us through a "Fit to Ride" evaluation prior to our starting work.

Locally, I've been working out with the great team of trainers at Crossfit Sausalito.  On the nutrition and good habits front, I just started doing a 60 day program called The Whole Life Challenge.  The Challenge is an online social game which inspires you to eat right, exercise and stretch everyday by allowing you to earn or lose points and track your progress. While there are prizes and a ranking of the 3,000 people who are doing it across the globe, it's much more about connecting with others than competing with them.  People are sharing lots of nutrition advice, recipes, and tactics for drinking enough water, getting enough sleep and making time for that yoga class.

Over the next 60 days I'll share some of the best tips with you here. If you're embarking on your own pre-season training regimen, post a comment here, or on the "This Mountain Life" Facebook page.

Get after it!  I've got a feeling we have powder days ahead where the advance workouts will pay huge dividends.

Jay

Remember those "Be Like Mike"commercials? I love that Northstar's own Superstar, Shaun White, uses the same chest harness to film his runs in those Super Pipes! I use mine to shoot helpful, movement analysis videos for adult clients, and fun "show-off your accomplishments" videos of clients' kids. If you've not seen them yet, click on the video tag to the right to see all the blog postings with fun videos, or visit the skiwithjay channel on youtube. Happy Powder Day! Jay

Lo.... The Snowman Commeth!

All it took was a drive down to the Bay Area, and Mother Nature decided to change her tune!  And I thought washing my car and giving away a few winter coats would cause the clouds to appear.  I'll have to leave Tahoe more often.

Click here to read the Tahoe Weather Geek's Weather Analysis

It's looking like a foot of snow by Wednesday night.

And if you can't remember what powder skiing looks like, check out this video created by Nat Fay.  He and I had helmet cams mounted on Feb 15th, which was the last day with significant fresh snow at Northstar.  It includes some good wipeouts and a few attempts to get some air.  In case you're curious, I'm wearing the blue coat with a horizontal white stripe mid-back, and my skis are red.  Yes,  I do wipe out in a pretty comical way, but at least it wasn't in uniform!

Northstar California Powder Day 15th Feb 2012 from Nathaniel Fay on Vimeo.

Video shot at Northstar California, Lake Tahoe, California, USA. Skiers are: Liane Fang, Jay Palace & Nat Fay.
Nat Fay was the principal editor of the video and the footage was shot with Jay's Go Pro and Nat's Contour Plus helmet cams.

What's it like to be a ski instructor? Funny photo and Video

Here's a viral image going around Facebook which shows what people think our lives are like and what they're really like.  I absolutely love it!

But, what I really do is have a ton of fun whether I'm teaching kids or adults.

If you want to find out what it's like, one way would be to take a lesson, even if you're already quite good.  We have a lesson called a "Rise & Shine" because it runs from the moment the lifts open at 8:30 to 9:30.  These lessons are great for upper level skiers who want to have their skiing assessed and get one or two things to work on to improve their skiing.

For a video taste, check out these two video clips of Bob Andres, a Rise and Shine client from earlier this week.  As I often do, I shot video during the lesson, and I'm sharing it here with Bob's permission so that he can see what he was working on, and show off how he's been ripping up our great groomers at Northstar this week.

Here's video two:

Another Ski Movie Trailer - Spies at Northstar!

Nat Fay is still visiting from Australia, and he continues to need to borrow my car.... so, he's continuing to help me craft some videos for some of the great kids I ski with, and their moms and dads.

This one ranks up there with the one of Mina, the snow-dancer, because it includes shots of both Olivia and Cole doing their own ski-dance, and in one clip, Mom is joining in.

Thanks, Nat, and great skiing, Cole & Olivia!

PS... It snowed 6 inches yesterday, and we expect another good hit of snow tonight.  Things are looking good for President's Week.  I've been booked up for a while, but have had one family give up three lesson blocks. If anyone wants to do some skiing, give me or the office a shout at 530-562-3848.  Available times are Tuesday afternoon (2/21) and all day on Friday, (2/24).

Cheers,

Jay

Kids ski, kids fall and my GoPro captures the moments

First... because everyone keeps asking.... Yes! We have tons of great snow at Northstar.  It's not last year, but it's better than any skiing I did as a kid in Vermont and New Hampshire.

And... the forecast is calling for 6-12 inches by end of day on Monday.

And... my GoPro has been getting a work-out during all the lessons we've got going on.

Thankfully, my friend and former NS Instructor, Nat Fay, is visiting from Australia, where he teaches video editing.

So, here's the movie trailer he helped make.... It stars two twins (A & Z) who will remain nameless here in this searchable text (by parental request and out of respect for a little wipe-out which might cause one of them some angst when she's old enough for a FaceBook account)

PS -  "A" did all of her own stunts, and most of them in only one take.
PPS -  No children were hurt during the making of this video.
PPPS - The views on this blog and in the video are my own personal thoughts.  In no way am I representing Northstar, Vail Resorts or the Northstar Ski School  (but the company loves helping families create memories like these, I'm sure!)

Mina Saves the Season!

A few weeks ago, we were worried the ski season would be a total loss, with no natural snow on the horizon and temperatures hovering too high for Northstar's snowmakers.

But after one small but special skier returned to Northstar after we thought we'd lost her to Squaw, things started looking up... check out this trailer for the movie documenting the miracle!