Category Archives: Mountain School

FEAR

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Winter.Snowbird.JaredAllen

By Skimum Valerie

FEAR.  It is my four letter word of the day.  I often wonder if I had learned to ski as a young child instead of a 30 something mother if I would have quite so much anxiety when I ski.  As much as I enjoy skiing the Lupine Loop trail in Mineral Basin on a sunny morning, I know that it is not going to make me the great skier I want to be.  Every now and again there needs to be a little fear – something to get me out of my comfort zone and that tests my skills and nerves.

So today the Skimums wanted to take the road less traveled and go off the beaten path.  Our ski Sherpa, Emilia, took us down skinny chutes, bumpy traverses, and crazy deep moguls.  As I suspiciously looked down over the edge of one particularly treacherous chute, I was convinced Emilia was trying to kill me.  I tried to remember all of the instructions she had been giving us about skiing moguls, “keep your hips open, shoulders downhill, and use a spring motion,” but her last inspiring admonition was “just point your skis downhill and go!”  So with much trembling and trepidation I pointed my skis downhill…and dropped into the chute of no return (That’s what I call it anyway).  And I’ll be honest, it wasn’t pretty.  In fact I’m pretty sure there was no grace or finesse involved at all.  But with my Skimums cheering me on, I slowly negotiated my way downhill.  I MADE IT!!   Looking back uphill at where we had been gave me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Maybe it was the adrenaline or endorphins, but I was even up to doing it again!

As I spent the rest of the afternoon on some groomers I was amazed how much easier my skiing seemed.  My confidence was way up.   When I returned home from skiing that day, exhausted…but all in one piece, I felt like I could take on the world.  I was no longer just mom, I was Supermum, ready to take on whatever the day might bring!  Thanks Emilia for scaring me today and thanks Skimums for cheering me on.  You ladies are the best!

Losing Fear Off The Beaten Path

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Losing Fear Off the Beaten Path

By SkiMum Nicole

February 25 was another Monday not to be missed at Snowbird with Skimums.  The weekend snowstorms produced over 18 inches of fresh powder.  Skimums was in luck to have a lesson organized for the morning with our awesome instructor, Emelia, from the Snowbird Mountain School. Being in a lesson on a powder day has its advantages, including, breezing through the growing lines at Mineral Basin, which offered some nice powder turns first thing in the morning.

Tramsecret powder stash call Dalton’s Draw.  As we headed into the steep trees near a cliff, I would face my biggest challenge yet — a crazy bumpy traverse.

One of the ladies laughed as she told me, “Our instructor was clearly trying to scare us.”  I knew that she was extremely nervous.  This was no joke as I waited for everyone to enter the trees.  Then she said to me, “So, what are you waiting for.  You can ski anything!”   She was right.  I could ski most runs at the resort (although it may not look pretty).  However, skinny traverses with bumps that drop 4 feet around tree roots on steep terrain with little margin for error truly scare me.  If my husband was with us, he would say, “Just go faster and you will hardly feel the bumps.”

After my friends vanished over the next bump, I cautiously entered the trees.  With no room to snow plow, I just went for it.  I was amazed that I stayed on the traverse as I brushed several 100-year-old pines trees.  This was truly the craziest traverse that I had been on in years.  It would definitely scare away most skiers because you could not see where it would end.  Coming out of the trees was an amazing sight, a beautiful run full of knee deep super soft powder completely boxed in by steep cliffs and trees.  There were no rocks or crusty moguls, just plenty of room for nice powder turns.  The tram passed overhead.  This was definitely the better snow on the mountain today.  Everyone agreed that it was so great we would try it again.  I did not even hesitate on the second entry in the trees.  The traverse, like so many things, was so much easier the second time.

How To Be A Snow Goddess

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How To Be A Snow Goddess

(Or No More Herky Jerky Down the Hill)

By SkiMum Paula

Legs together, standing tall, cruising down some crazy-steep black diamond at lightning fast speed.  Dream on, girlfriend!

Now, wa-wa-wait just a minute.  Why can’t I ski like a Swiss snow goddess? Because you started with pizza and French fries, that’s why.

On another outing with Snowbird Mountain School Instructor Emilia, several Skimums stated longingly that they wanted to “ski like that”.  Emilia had just cruised ahead of us to the bottom of a gully off of Lupine Loop.  Although she is petite, she skied tall with her legs together and her body square and pointed downhill.  She also made it down fast with few turns making it look like a graceful ballet instead of the Elaine Dance.  [For the young and culturally uniformed, this is a classic Seinfeld reference used to describe Elaine’s dancing style (set to Shining Star performed by Earth, Wind and Fire), which George called, “a full bodied dry heave set to music” in The Little Kicks episode.]

Because moaning travels downhill quickly at high altitudes, Emilia took pity and shared with us the secrets of skiing like a Swiss snow goddess.

Here it is – Don’t carve.  Well, not in the traditional sense.  Not in the sense that was first explained to us when we first stepped onto skis 10, 20, ok, 30 and I’m not going any higher years ago.  You don’t ski pizza or French fries anymore, and you and your equipment have evolved from that first carving lesson, too.  By the way, what is it with skiing and food references?  Chocolate chips, mashed potatoes, death cookies, noodles, butter the snow.  Carving is what we’re all told to aspire to but, like most things, we often take it too far.  To make a clean arc, you want to get on the edge of the ski.  However, if you go beyond that (and, if you’re being honest, you sometimes do especially on a steep) then you are slowing yourself down, as evidenced by the rooster tail of snow produced by friction which, BY DEFINITION, means an opposing force is slowing your butt down.  The other pickle you can find yourself in is when you carve and then sideslip to skim altitude, the skiers’ walk of shame.

Emilia retaught us how to carve by deconstructing our turns and suggesting we flatten the skis half way through for a brief second, as in, when they are pointing downward!  Because physics works, this produced forward momentum and acceleration.  This also meant less braking in our turns and less sideslipping. While this may seem ridiculously simple and, actually, downright simplistic, like many of the visual cues she’s given us, it worked.

Many Skimums have realized that even when we know the mechanics, the mind can wreak havoc on our skiing.  We get so worried about our ability to turn and control our speed – things we truly know how to do and are all but guaranteed with modern equipment – that we try to fight the forces of nature (including, gravity, of all things) instead of using them to overcome those things we fear most.  By reminding ourselves to flatten after initiating our turns, we’re able to allow bodies and skis to take care of themselves.  By focusing on that one little thing, we engaged and centered both legs for a split second causing our bodies to stand tall and square and our skis to stay together and point down the hill.  We looked better and felt great.

Cue the music. I feel like dancing!

These Powder Lessons Give SkiMums a Healthy Glow

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By SkiMum Paula

Classic Tram Close

Recent storms cleared the valley air and brought great snow to Snowbird.  Unfortunately, after snowplowing behind the kiddos since Ross loved Rachel[1], most Skimums were a bit timid to take on the Bird’s renowned deep powder.  So, we did what smart girls do – we asked for directions.

On a Monday following a monster dump, the Mountain School provided the Skimums a powder lesson with Emilia.  Heading toward Peruvian with fat skis in hand, we passed several guys with bigger, fatter skis sporting frozen beards, caps and hair.  Not a good sign, but we were not deterred.

Our group of eight caught the lift and spent the ride catching up on Sundance, star sightings (check out Julie’s Instagram) and good new restaurants.  Do we live in the coolest place?  At the top, we got down to business. Halfway through a warm up on Chip’s Run, Emilia stopped to give us a pep talk.  “Just butter the snow,” she said.  Whaaaa?  She explained that, instead of “carving,” you need to stay centered on top of your skis, and keep them a bit flatter on the powder.  In other words, your skis are like butter knives; just spread it on.  I’m not sure of the culinary physics, but the mental picture seemed to work.  Heading down Chip’s Face, we tipped those fat skis downward and gave it a try.  Butter the snow, wax on, wax off, I don’t know, but the picture of using the skis to spread the powder underneath seemed to work, and I was floating downhill.  We all were.  No yard sales!!  On to Mineral Basin.

Ski Mums Powder

A small aside…  Can I just brag about my Skimums friend, Valerie, for a moment?  Oh, she is going to bust me for this.  Valerie is my hero this week.  She knows her limits, but will press them to move forward.  I watched her that morning when she looked (like we all do occasionally) a little bit hesitant.  Tipping over the edge of Nash Flora, a solid black that dives straight off the cat track down into Mineral Basin, was one of those moments.  Unlike me, who, in those situations, will gladly traverse to that nicely groomed run over yonder, Valerie pursed her lips and plunged over the edge.  No, she didn’t lead the way.  Instead, she carefully watched another Mum or two and followed them down — beautifully.  Was it not wanting to be left behind, yelling at herself to “just go already,” or believing that her girlfriends would show her the way?  I don’t know, but suspect that it was a little bit of everything and more.  I know that feeling.  It’s empowering, and that’s what I love about skiing with Skimums.

After a few runs in the Basin (powder days are great days to take advantage of the Mountain School priority lines!), the clouds rolled in, and our stomachs started rumbling.  Time to head towards food!  On the way, Emilia gave us a few more things to visualize explaining that, as in yoga, finding balance is a big key to powder skiing.  Picture yourself standing on top of those skis (so you’re centered) with your big toe grabbing the bottom of the boot (so you’re not sitting back).  The body remains upright (or, as SkiMum Kristen aka “Park City Kristen” declared, “Boobs out front!”), and legs are slightly closer together (better to butter with).  Maybe we just needed something to focus on other than the unknown, but visualization was the big lesson of the day.  Whether it was learning to butter the snow or watching your girlfriends show you the way, success was found when we pictured ourselves tipping our skis over the edge and floating all the way down.

[1] TV show, Friends, reference.  My teen just gave me a quizzical look.  OMG