 |
| Cool carving on corduroy at Beaver Creek Resort, Colorado |
Most sports
need some kind of instruction to be enjoyed to the full and to be safe. And nowhere
is instruction more important than in skiing and snowboarding which are conducted
often at considerable speed, in unpredictable terrain and in the company of
many other snowsports’ enthusiasts.
Every ski
resort has a professional ski, snowboard or snowsports school dedicated to
introducing novices in group classes to both sports and offering improvement
clinics for more advanced participants. There are also private instructors and
mountain guides available at every level. Even experienced skiers enjoy having
guides when embarking on new terrain.
Lessons
in technique teach the skier balance, control, how to slow down, how to stop
and how to keep out of trouble. Also, instruction helps you ski with the least
physical effort. Without technique tips, you could be expending far too much
energy unnecessarily - by using force rather than correct body position - and
end up exhausting or injuring yourself and possibly others.
 |
| Beginners at Banff Mt Norquay, Canada |
Many
people think they can just pop on a pair of skis, get a few pointers from their
friends or from watching others, and get the hang of it. It is not so simple.
For skiing, there are various important stages:
- snow plough (an inverted V
style of skiing and stopping) or wedge turn and stop
- linking turns
- side slipping
- stem Christie (progressing
from a snow plough to a parallel turn)
 |
| SnowSports School at Marmot Basin, Canada |
- parallel or hockey stop
- parallel turn
- short swings (short radius
parallel turns for narrow spaces)
- how to put on skis in deep
snow
- kick turns in narrow spaces
- mogul skiing (bumps)
- powder skiing (deep snow)
Ski
instruction tactics change over the years as well as from country to country so
you may not be taught all of these stages or they may be given different names.
Rebekka Vögeli, a ski instructor and administrator with the
Schweizer Schneesportschule Davos estimates that it takes around three days for
a skier to progress from the easiest runs - ‘green’ runs - to tackling an
intermediate or ‘blue’ run. From there it may be many more weeks of skiing
before black diamonds are possible. Much depends on the fitness of the
individual as well as their courage. “Children should be about three years old
before they start learning to ski,” says Vögeli. “And if a person is healthy,
can walk and do some sports, he is not to old to ski” - so there is no maximum
age.
 |
| Ski instructor training at Davos, Switzerland |
Davos, the highest city in the Alps, is a great place to
learn. It has dedicated beginner slopes as well as many intermediate and
advanced choices. There are also jumps, rails, halfpipe and a “monsterpipe” for
learning freestyle skills. “We have some good practice areas and nursery slopes
for beginners and our ski instructors are well trained,” says Vögeli. She also
advocates the famous Swiss resort for its wellness facilities and varied
nightlife: a great way to recover from the spills and thrills of the ski day.
Snowboard Instruction
 |
| Snowboarders aboard the Cascade Chair at Banff Mt Norquay |
Snowboarding is quite different
from skiing, more like surfing or skateboarding with a sideways stance. There are no poles to help balance,
turn or push along the flats with. This means that some traverses, catwalks or
paths can be quite challenging for snowboarders who have to rely on momentum
from the previous slope or resort to taking the board off and walking in order
to reach the next incline.
However, snowboarding in general is
easier to learn than skiing, says Rebekka Vögeli, an instructor and
administrator with the Schweizer Schneesportschule in Davos, a Swiss mountain
town established in 1213. Kids can start around age 5 or 6, Vögeli recommends,
and adults can learn at any age: “If the person is healthy, can walk and do
some sports, he is not too old,” she says.
 |
| Snowboard instruction at Davos, Switzerland |
The initial learning stages for snowboarding are:
- Getting to know the snowboard and its bindings
- Determining stance and stance angle
- Walking, turning around and climbing uphill on very easy
terrain
 |
| Kids' snowboard group at Davos |
- Skating on board with one foot out
- Gliding in the fall line with counter slope
- Stopping after gliding in the fall line
- Getting used to the snowboard
- Gliding, slipping, stopping
- Practice using the t-bar
- Riding chairlifts
- Skidded turns
- Stopping by counter rotation
- Waltzing
- Turns with pre-co-rotation (various turning techniques)
One of the main stumbling blocks for
snowboarders is coping with t-bar lifts which take a lot of balance and
strength. The next hurdles are conquering skidded turns and stopping. Vögeli
says it takes two days approximately to progress from nursery slopes to the
first green runs. After five days snowboarders should be able to cope with blue
runs and after ten days many snowboarders are able to consider reds in Europe
and blacks in North America. “You need a lot of practice before you are ready
for powder,” Vögeli says. “It really depends on the person.”
Vögeli has worked at the
Schweizer Schneesportschule in Davos for the past five years. Parsenn DavosKlosters has been a classic skiing mountain for more than 80 years, with
undulating, wide runs and mountain huts redolent with authentic local foods and
Alpine culture. It is the largest snowsports resort in the area with pistes for
all standards, boasting a 12 km run as well as illuminated night-skiing every
Friday from the Rapid chairlift. It is served from Davos by a funicular
railway, built 80 years ago, and from Klosters by the Gotschna cable car.
 |
| Boardercross terrain under Totalp Lift, Davos |
From the Totalp Lift
snowboarders can access a boarder cross run at Parsenn and there are two more
at neighbouring Madrisa and Pischa. There are also several snowparks with jumps
and rails, a halfpipe and a “monster” pipe in the area. All the separate hills are
linked by a free local bus system.
Cold Feet?
How come some skiers can cope with extreme cold while others cannot?
It all comes down to clothing and equipment. Cold affects
everyone in pretty much the same way, although there is plenty of research to
suggest women's extremities get colder quicker than men's.
The biggest tip for keeping warm is to layer against the
cold. Start with a really high-tech ski jacket, add a cosy mid-layer and down
vest, and invest in high-performance thermal underwear. Wool socks are a must,
as are a balaclava or face mask, neck warmer and good mitts. Well-fitting ski
boots also help as they facilitate circulation flow.
Toe and hand warmers -- available from drugstores and sports
shops -- are beneficial, and it's best to put them into boots and gloves 30
minutes before going outdoors. However, for really warm extremities, the most
effective boot heaters these days are lithium-powered.
Over the past few seasons, battery boot heaters have become
increasingly popular and more readily available. Top Shelf Snowsports at Fernie, for example, fits the Therm-icclimate control system in ski and snowboard boots. It involves just half an
hour of work (and around $300 outlay for equipment and installation), and can
be fitted to any brand of boot. They can even cross over to regular boots for
ice-fishing, hunting, outdoor winter work and other sports.
Brian Campbell has been working with custom-made boots for
more than 20 years at Whistler and Fernie. He says boot heaters will soon be
the norm for every skier. "The longer you've been skiing, the worse condition
your feet are in," he says. Campbell attributes this to regular freezing rather than the
years of wearing ski boots. "Once your toes become frozen a few times, they lose
about 30% of their heat," he explains.
The newest boot heaters are not bulky or uncomfortable. The
slim-line heating element slips into the boot footbed and is covered by an
insole which is tailored to fit into any boot shape or size. If the element can
be felt through the footbed, then punching out is sometimes necessary. The rechargeable lithium battery pack is attached outside at
the rear of the boot. The wiring from the element to the battery is run through
the bottom of the liner and up through the back of the boot. There are various
temperature settings.
In Fernie, the heaters are increasingly appealing to
mountain workers, instructors and skiers who have to stand around in the snow,
waiting for kids or lesser-ability ski buddies. Instructor Shawn Clarke ordered a set when he saw how beneficial they were for other instructors. "More and more of us are getting them as we have had to
endure frozen feet so many times," Clarke says. He teaches all ski levels at Fernie, as well as running the
advanced Steep and Deep Program.
These could be the
ultimate gift for ardent skiers in your family. And for Christmas kudos, there are remote controls and
an extension cord which helps maintain the battery during hyper-cold weather.
Therm-ic offers Power Gloves with integral lithium ion batteries and Burton,
Volcom and North Face also make heated ski jackets.
SNOWBOARDING FOR THE OVER 40s?
Females of a ‘certain age’ are not usually associated with
the youthful sport of snowboarding. So, what happens when a woman of 41
suddenly decides to take up the physically punishing sport?
 |
| Louise with Baby Boomer Boarder, Dawn Urschel on Continental Divide at Sunshine Village |
Lots of bruises and cricked necks, according to Calgary’s
Dawn Urschel, who was attracted to snowboarding after turning forty. “People
have asked me if it’s a midlife crisis but it wasn’t something I was trying to
fit in because I was getting older,” says Urschel.
Other snowboarders are shocked when they see her getting
ready in the lodge, putting on knee pads, wrist guards and helmet for damage
limitation. Urschel says it’s the men, in particular, who are surprised to see
someone of her age on a board. With only 14 percent of boarders in the 35-49
age-group, it’s no wonder she gets a few raised eyebrows. Canadian Ski Council
statistics also show that only 30 percent of all snowboarders are female. But
no-one has taken the trouble to work out how many boarders over the age of 35
are female – possibly because there are so few.
So what took Urschel, a children’s dental hygienist, out of
her comfort zone and onto the bunny hill with a board in the first place? “I
wanted a sport that would make winter more fun and something I could do with my
husband,” she explains. “The initial attraction was because my girls had an
interest in snowboarding and so we wanted to try it as we do so much together
as a family.”
Now, nine seasons later, Urschel is clocking up 25 runs per
day at Canadian resort, Sunshine Village and has also conquered dreaded mogul
runs on the backside of Lake Louise. “It was a steep learning curve, though,”
she says. “I’ve had some bad falls which have nearly put me off but I wear
padding to protect my assets.”
 |
| Early Morning powder at Sunshine in December |
She was motivated to persevere with the grueling sport
because she didn’t want her husband to progress and leave her behind. “I
advanced a little quicker than him at times because I had the chance to take
more lessons,” she explains. Initially, the couple took advantage of a lesson,
rental and lift ticket package at Sunshine.
Urschel continued with courses at Nakiska and Canada Olympic Park when she volunteered
to help out on her daughters’ school snowboarding trips. “That extra tuition
really helped me improve and now I can keep pace because I push myself beyond
my comfort level,” she says.
Boys in her daughter, Vanessa’s Grade 9 class were “blown
away” that a mother could actually learn to snowboard with them and the
19-year-old instructor wished that her own mom would consider taking up the
sport. Urschel, who also teaches aqua aerobics and enjoys Pilates and yoga,
admits she’s a bit of a daredevil. “Now I can go around the whole hill,
challenging myself, getting into a rhythm that feels just like dancing,” she
says.
One of the best things about the sport is being able to
share it with her daughters. “It was amazing to be riding up the chairlift with
Vanessa on her sixteenth birthday. I wouldn’t have believed it four years
before.” Now her younger daughter, Sydney is also hooked on boarding.
Like many snowboarders - of all ages - Urschel avoids flat
stretches and long traverses, but she enjoys Sunshine’s undulating ski out. “I
like powder best, it’s more fun as you can go in steeper areas,” she says. Her
advice for other wannabee boarders – give it seven days and be prepared to get
hurt, dust yourself off and get hurt again. She recommends taking time off in
the week to snowboard with a partner: “I get to spend a whole day off work with
my best friend,” she explains. She also rates the scenery as a motivation: “The
beauty of the mountains, sitting at the top of Continental Divide with those
mountain ranges all around me, is incredible. We live in one of the most
beautiful places on earth and you can really appreciate it when you’re up there
especially in the winter.”
This boarding baby boomer, now turned 50, has been buying
season’s passes at Sunshine for the past four years. Her future goal: to keep
snowboarding as a companiable winter sport when the couple are empty nesters.
“Beats taking up golf,” Urschel quips.
 |
| Goat's Eye Mountain, Sunshine Village |
Sunshine ski and snowboard instructor, Victoria Langley
thinks men and women learn wintersports differently: “Men go for it more,
bombing down the slope and they tend to get it maybe even on day one; women
like to listen and learn and take it slower over a few days.” Ideally, Langley
thinks that men and women should have single-gender classes as the mere
presence of ‘macho males’ in a learning situation can sometimes intimidate
females. “Men can make the women even more scared sometimes,” says Langley.
“The women hang at the back, always trying to catch up, never getting a chance
for a rest or to be up front.”
Fear is the biggest barrier for women taking up either
snowboarding or skiing. Snowboarding is considered more reckless by many women,
says Langley. Her advice for females of all ages is to take lessons and
persevere for at least three days. The benefits – getting to see the mountains
from a totally different perspective with a feeling of freedom while keeping
fit and toned.
A typical ski lodge, particularly at weekends, is seething
with snow bunnies, snazzy snowboarders and fresh-faced freeskiers, enough to
make you feel ancient if, like me, you’ve been skiing since the 70s.
Longshot is perfect for this. A 5.3 mile (8.5km) long run on
the far left of the piste map, it has a bit of climb to get into it if you want
to access it right from the top. For the less altitude-fit, you can ski in further
down. But this hike element seems to deter the multitudes and, reveling in a
foot of pristine powder on top of a groomed base, I had the whole five miles to
myself.
It’s no good, though, being ski in/out if you are then
marooned all night on the slopes with no easy way of getting to and from
restaurants, shops and other activities. Aspen Snowmass has pre-empted this
problem by providing a free shuttle bus service all day long until 2 am. The
drivers are mainly boomers, by the way, and a fount of information and gossip
about the area. The Crestwood has a warm waiting room complete with ski
magazines and brochures for this bus service but also provides its own private
shuttle at no charge for anyone who wants to get around town – you might want
to tip though. There is also a service from the heated transportation centre
linking Snowmass with Aspen, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk. And your ski pass is valid for all these
areas adding further variety to both the ski offering and nightlife,
particularly useful if you have chosen a two-week or multi-centre holiday.
Good service is another prerequisite: we can be more
demanding of respect and manners as we age. Aspen Snowmass has training down to
an art and I never felt too “have-a-nice-dayed” but, instead, impressed by the
genuine helpfulness of local workers. Perhaps in an area full of older, rich
and famous people, everyone is more inspired to be nice to people as you never
quite know who you are talking to. Roman Abramovich (Chelsea’s rich Russian owner) has
four houses in Snowmass as do many stars of business, film, sport and music. If
you choose to have a day off from skiing, you could indulge your voyeurism on
the Rich and Famous Tour,
visiting dozens of decadent second (third or fourth) homes owned by the likes
of Kevin Costner, John Denver, Robert Wagner and Jack Nicholson.
AGE APPROPRIATE SKIING IN ASPEN SNOWMASS
A typical ski lodge, particularly at weekends, is seething
with snow bunnies, snazzy snowboarders and fresh-faced freeskiers, enough to
make you feel ancient if, like me, you’ve been skiing since the 70s.
You could resort to camouflaging yourself among the families
in the cheap and cheerful picnic areas. But what most of us baby boomers really
crave is a ski destination where they can feel at home and part of the in crowd.
Hence my delight at finding Aspen Snowmass so predominantly mature.
Whether because of cost, cachet or culture, the baby boomer reigns in the Power
of Four resorts, particularly Aspen itself and the nearby ski playground of
Snowmass.
 |
| New friends at Venga Venga |
Having gazed on the glitz and glamour of Aspen itself last
year, I opted for onhill convenience at Snowmass Feb 24-Mar 2. Serendipitously
the first big snow week of a slow snow season, it dumped big time before I
arrived. There was a small window of clear weather to guarantee me a smooth
transfer from Denver via the Colorado Mountain Express van complete with Wi-Fi
and a Starbucks stop.
And then it proceeded to snow every other day during my stay.
Warming my hands at the tabletop firepits at Venga Venga the first night, I noticed that the après ski clientele didn’t make me feel like
a perennial parent. And next day on the mountain, I was gratified to be
surrounded by seasoned skiers everywhere I went. Yes, the lifties and waiters
were typically youthful, but lots of ski instructors – as well as their flock -
were seniors (55-plus in the USA) and the Ski Ambassadors were all retirees.
 |
| Mural in Elk Camp Restaurant |
With Snowmass sporting 94 trails and 21 lifts over 3,332
acres, it’s a great idea to take advantage of the Ski Ambassador service the
first morning. Free of charge, tours run everyday from the confluence of Sam’s
Knob and Village Express chairlifts from 10:30 am for a couple of hours. There
is also an info area right by the massive piste map as well as free cider and
granola bars. If you’re a single skier or just like company and local guiding, you
can take as many tours as you want. You specify which level of skier you are
(eg green runs, blue or black) to help form homogenous groups. Although the
hosts can’t legally take you on any black terrain, they will happily point out
all the best diamond and double diamond areas, showing you all the sneaky
accesses. There is even a run called Sneaky’s and the Glades off it turned out
to be my favourite fun run – just the right width between trees for excitement
without terror, a fence line to prevent plunges into the wilderness, and oodles
of untouched powder and champagne bumps.
 |
| Line Dancers from the NBS at Spider Sabich picnic |
Having picked the week after
the President’s Day Weekend public holiday and outside of typical college
breaks, Aspen Snowmass was delightfully un-crowded but by no means deserted. Skiing
and around town, I met hundreds of African American skiers celebrating the 40th
anniversary of their ski association – the National Brotherhood of Skiers. Although they had members of their
youth development team with the 3000-throng, their age-group was definitely 30-plus,
tending toward the baby boomer bracket. Chatting on chairs I also unearthed a 300-strong
Chicago ski group as well as 40 Kiwis there for a two-week stay in the Roaring
Fork Valley. Again no spring chickens!
Anyway, all this age-friendly atmosphere made me start
pondering (over home-made melt-in-your-mouth cookies at Up 4 Pizza): what do
Baby Boomers really want from a ski holiday? And how does Aspen Snowmass
satisfy these needs? Well, first of all, same as any age-group, we want great
skiing with a broad variety of runs from easy groomers to difficult double
diamonds. We tend to have a lot of ski mileage under our belts, so we don’t
want boring blues all the time but we need some of these for knee-friendly
warm-ups and end of day cruising.
Longshot is perfect for this. A 5.3 mile (8.5km) long run on
the far left of the piste map, it has a bit of climb to get into it if you want
to access it right from the top. For the less altitude-fit, you can ski in further
down. But this hike element seems to deter the multitudes and, reveling in a
foot of pristine powder on top of a groomed base, I had the whole five miles to
myself.
The hike also accesses the brand new Burnt Mountain Glades - one of
those out-of-bounds areas all the locals hiked to anyway. Another low-flow area
is Campground, on the far righthand side of the map, where no-one seems to
bother skiing. I found a lovely corduroy cruiser there as well as challenging
soft bumps on Slot. Boisterous barking near the bottom warns you about
carefully crossing the dogsled track.
A good baby boomer venue also needs pipes and parks. Not so
that we can indulge our inner aerials but so that all the youthful snowboarders
and twin-tippers can gravitate towards those athletic attractions, preserving
the powder for us. Voted number 1 Park by Transworld
Snowboarding Magazine in 2012,
Snowmass has 90 features over three separate parks as well as a Superpipe.
There’s also a jump on Fanny Hill to which the gungho gravitate on Fridays for
competitions. Plus there’s a Boot Camp Park and Fun Zones scattered around the
slopes as well as a tandem race track at Spider Sabich picnic hut (named after
a famous local racer).
Great snow is even more vital as we age. That rutted,
over-skied, re-frozen icy stuff or
stodgy wet powder which many lower-altitude resorts feature is no good for
post-surgery knees or dodgy backs. But, with the onslaught of climate change
and a discernible contraction of the ski season in lower destinations, where
can we guarantee this? At over 12,000 feet (nearly 4,000 metres), Aspen
Snowmass is more likely to get light, fluffy powder during a typical season.
Hitting an off-peak week, with regular replenishment of snow, meant I was able
to ski powder into the afternoons most days and even find secret stashes on the
way home at 3 pm.
 |
| Handy ski rentals and valet at Crestwood Condos |
Which leads me to my home-from-home at the Crestwood Condominiums.
What luxury to ski straight back to a cozy condo at the end of the day or even
for a leisurely lunch on the balcony. So many resorts involve an arduous trudge
or bus trip back to bed. The Crestwood is smack bang on the hill with access to
the slopes and village either side of the building. In the morning you exit at
the ski rental shop having left your skis with the ski valet, perhaps having an
overnight tune-up. In the evening you can ski directly from the après ski bars
at Snowmass Mall to the condo forecourt. If you are supping or shopping further
down the slope at the village base, you can catch the village gondola and then
pole across the piste.
It’s no good, though, being ski in/out if you are then
marooned all night on the slopes with no easy way of getting to and from
restaurants, shops and other activities. Aspen Snowmass has pre-empted this
problem by providing a free shuttle bus service all day long until 2 am. The
drivers are mainly boomers, by the way, and a fount of information and gossip
about the area. The Crestwood has a warm waiting room complete with ski
magazines and brochures for this bus service but also provides its own private
shuttle at no charge for anyone who wants to get around town – you might want
to tip though. There is also a service from the heated transportation centre
linking Snowmass with Aspen, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk. And your ski pass is valid for all these
areas adding further variety to both the ski offering and nightlife,
particularly useful if you have chosen a two-week or multi-centre holiday.
Throughout Snowmass the accommodation is high quality with
all the American add-ons. You can choose from a diverse range of hotels
including, at the top of the tree, the fancy-pants Viceroy Snowmass whose Eight K restaurant features a sparkling 87-foot glass bar as well as fur-trimmed
décor.
 |
| Glass Bar at the Viceroy Snowmass Eight K Restaurant |
Or you can go self-catering – not like the confined, cheap and cheerful
French equivalent but at condos with cachet like the Crestwood. The richly
renovated 1970s property has underground heating in all the walkways and
forecourt, so no slipping on snow. It also has a full-service front desk,
conference rooms, gym for stretching and an outdoor hot tub area landscaped with
rock and waterfalls. Brandishing beers, wine or rehydrating water, this was
always full of the over-50s swathed in matching Crestwood bathrobes when I was
there.
 |
| Slice Restaurant at Snowmass's Red Barn |
Among the 100 Snowmass bars and restaurants, there are eateries
for everyone. The Artisan at the Stonebridge Inn is
renowned for its locally-sourced fare as well as the comedian and magician, Doc
Eason, who entertains at the bar on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The village abounds
in early evening live entertainment with DJs and bands at venues such as my
favourite, Venga Venga (where free nachos and dip come with happy hour drinks),
the Westin,
and Sneaky’s Tavern. You can ski all day, drink and dance from 4 -6, go home to
shower, eat dinner around 7 and still be in bed by 9 ready for the next day’s
activity.
For custom pizza and great salad, there’s Slice in the quaint
red-roofed barn building which has opened this season. It is run by David Dugan
who also owns the Base Camp next
door, a lively après ski and late night bar that appeals to the younger crowd.
And for upmarket Italian, check out Il Poggio, recommended to me by Snowmass
mayor, Bill Boineau.
 |
| Snowmass Mayor Bill Boineau with tourism professor Simon Hudson |
But those of us who want to sustain our ski longevity can’t
eat rich food every night. In fact, I heard lots of senior skiers in the lodge
talking about going on doctor-diagnosed diets while munching guiltily on greasy
burgers and fries! If you choose a condo, with full kitchen plus massive
fridge-freezer like I did, you can self-cater courtesy of the Village Market a
couple of minutes away on the bus. And the Crestwood chauffeur will come and
pick you and your groceries up rather than have you wait encumbered at the bus
stop.
If you’re manic about massage during your ski trips, the spa
at the Westin was recommended to me by Andrea Smoak, a wannabe skier from
Virginia. Touring the Aspen area with her husband, Richard, she was checking
out the ski scene for a future vacation. Although she didn’t ski this time
around, she was able to enjoy all the social side-lines, visiting Elk Camp
mid-mountain restaurant by gondola for the restaurant and outdoor heated
Prosecco bar which opens for evening activities every Friday until 9pm. For
non-skiers, the Mammoth museum in Snowmass Mall exhibits pre-historic bones
from a peat bog unearthed during routine ski-hill excavations. A visit to Aspen
is also a must for more museums, art galleries, designer duds and vibrant
venues. And you just might end up sitting next to Goldie Hawn, Don Johnson or
Johnny Depp at the newly renovated Hotel Jerome bar.
 |
| Prosecco Bar at the Aspen Snowmass Elk Camp |
