I have been traveling a lot the last few weeks and will attempt to get this up to date. I have skied at Elk Mt PA, back to Labrador, to Greek Peak, then down to Whitetail and on to Ski Liberty. I am writing this from out near Bristol where I am coaching at a western NY JIII SuperG camp and race. I finished it while drinking coffee this evening at Origins in Homer NY while my daughter practices with the Homer High School Jazz band at the nearby school.
Elk Mountain was for a couple of PSIA events. The first was a Level 1 exam group. Level 1 certification is the introductory exam in PSIA. It involves skiing and teaching tasks in the beginning skier domain. This exam, unlike level 2 and level 3 have education elements and involve coaching candidates to help, not only with success of the candidates but to provide some general education concerning ski teaching. While I have never seen a movie with a ski instructor character that is not some sort of idiot, in real life ski instructing is a really difficult, demanding and incredibly underpaid occupation. Good ski instructors spend many years getting good. That said, it is really fun and rewarding. One of the best rewards of working as a ski instructor is that you get to study skiing. Your training never stops and the things you learn are endless as the sport keeps evolving. This is a help at the end of the season when you realize everyone you know (with the hopeful exception of other ski pros) think you are a "ski bum" and you realize how little money you made over the winter.
After Elk, it was home to Labrador and back to skiing with the ski team athletes. We hosted a slalom race for the 13 and 14 year old ski racers from western NY. The race went well but our athletes had a pretty rough day. I felt awful, I had set the first course for the females and the Labrador females all had trouble. Even when I am down, I do love race coaching. I get to ski with the same group of athletes all winter. They are very motivated ski students and trying to compete in a sport that is as difficult as any. There are so many variables; technique, tactics, terrain, weather, emotions and on and on. Despite the lows, there is nothing like it. Ski racing is the best.
The team went to Greek Peak for a GS (giant slalom) race on Sunday and we had a much better time. The race trail at Greek is challenging and long by western NY standards. It is always a good test. The weather was perfect for ski racing; clear sunny and cold (mid twenties). Both of the sets were good and the race went well.
I left after the race on Sunday for Whitetail in souther PA. It was so southern that the hotel was in Maryland. The trip was 320 miles and took me over 5 hours with a couple of short stops. The good parts of the trip were that all but 9 miles were interstate and the roads were clear and dry. Whitetail is relatively new (opened in 1991) and has a lot of nice terrain for a 1000 ft vertical ski resort. I was leading a PSIA level 2 practice exam which is based on the skiing requirements for level 2 certification. This is a pretty cool event because the examiner (me) gives feedback on if the performance is at the level 2 standard and then coaches the group to make the elements even better. What could be better preparation than spending a couple of days with an examiner getting understanding and coaching for all the things that will show up on a certification exam... the ultimate review session.
I wound up going to a Japanese hibachi restaurant that night for dinner with a group of PSIA Educational Staff folks. This is the only the third hibachi restaurant I have eaten in so I hate to generalize but I will anyway. I find the food quite edible but too salty and nothing special but I always have had fun. The chef flipped a piece of shrimp right into my mount on only the third try. I had about half my meal boxed and ate it the next afternoon for a late lunch.
That night there was a big general ice storm in southern PA followed by some brutal fog at the ski area the next day. It was really bizarre skiing in less than 50 feet of visibility. The only place you could see clearly was right in from of your skis. We got through the day and all in all it was pretty fun. Whitetail is a nice small mountain.
Tuesday afternoon I traveled to Ski Liberty over near Gettysburg. I was put up right at the motel at the mountain. This was cool. In the morning I walked down the hall to go to the PSIA event I was skiing in. I never drove my car until I left the ski area Thursday afternoon. Liberty also has some pretty nice black terrain for a small mountain. There were a couple of bump clinics going on so the area had let things go on a couple of trails. The sun was out by late morning Wednesday, the weather warmed and the bumps were big and soft...really good. I think the forecast must have been a bit of a miss because this was supposed to be a storm. After a couple of nice skiing days at Ski Liberty I was on my way home (another 5 hour drive) It was a good trip with some really good skiing memories. One night at home and I was off to Bristol for a superG camp and race but I will talk about that in my next post...I am getting tired of my rambling so you must be too.
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