Hopefuls!!
What another awesome day of program!! Nothing reminds me more of how much fun skiing is than shredding the gnar on Snowshed with a bunch of five, six and seven year olds!
This morning I had the Pole Group - where we were working on Fore and Aft balance using thousand step turns...it's amazing when a six year old can explain to you that they are in the back seat, how they were able to determine that from how they were lifting their ski off the ground and then listening to a group of them discuss what they could have done to be more forward. Watching young athletes discover their physical self-awareness is such an amazing moment :) Then we tried leaving our tip on the snow while lifting our heels - and even the kids who were convinced they were forward began to realize how much futher their skiing has to go. As we were heading into lunch, I heard one athlete tell another that they had the first part of the whirlybird down okay, but that they really needed to work on their tails for the second part. Analysis, Vocabulary and Understanding!!
I spent the afternoon with the Pinky Toe Team, trying to wake up that inner leg from its deep slumber. They were able to start tracing my tracks with their pinky toes - a great start :) but these first time Hopefuls were more interested in discovering the Secret Trails known only to Hopefuls. Ah, the Hopeful Secrets...but after a thorough secret meeting to discuss the technical and emotional requirements for these adventures, a great "A hah!" moment happened and we chose to spend the rest of December focusing on Skiing the Gnar (on Snowshed). So we worked on mastering our independant lift riding skills, making friends with the lifties on the Snowshed and Northbrook Quads. Who needs grown-ups, anyways?!
Two Trails Diverged in a Wood, and the Hopefuls? We chose the Gnarly one!!
This morning I had the Pole Group - where we were working on Fore and Aft balance using thousand step turns...it's amazing when a six year old can explain to you that they are in the back seat, how they were able to determine that from how they were lifting their ski off the ground and then listening to a group of them discuss what they could have done to be more forward. Watching young athletes discover their physical self-awareness is such an amazing moment :) Then we tried leaving our tip on the snow while lifting our heels - and even the kids who were convinced they were forward began to realize how much futher their skiing has to go. As we were heading into lunch, I heard one athlete tell another that they had the first part of the whirlybird down okay, but that they really needed to work on their tails for the second part. Analysis, Vocabulary and Understanding!!
I spent the afternoon with the Pinky Toe Team, trying to wake up that inner leg from its deep slumber. They were able to start tracing my tracks with their pinky toes - a great start :) but these first time Hopefuls were more interested in discovering the Secret Trails known only to Hopefuls. Ah, the Hopeful Secrets...but after a thorough secret meeting to discuss the technical and emotional requirements for these adventures, a great "A hah!" moment happened and we chose to spend the rest of December focusing on Skiing the Gnar (on Snowshed). So we worked on mastering our independant lift riding skills, making friends with the lifties on the Snowshed and Northbrook Quads. Who needs grown-ups, anyways?!
Two Trails Diverged in a Wood, and the Hopefuls? We chose the Gnarly one!!
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