Message #20632

[Liam]

1. To the original point, I think it's cool you guys are working hard to make PMTS more influential.  More power to you.

2. I really like Josh's beginner lesson...can you really get all that done in 1.5 hours with a group???   What can they ski when they are done?

Here's my bigger question, and it's for all the adult learners out there (you guys who skied as kids and came up through race programs are an entity onto yourselves):  Do you really think you learned nothing of value from your earliest levels of instruction??  Clearly, you all stuck with skiing and probably got to explore quite a bit of the mountain?  I find it funny that people resent moving like advanced beginners and low intermediates when they were advanced beginners and low intermediates.  I don't ski they way I did 10 years ago, but I can't say those proto-years had no value as I gained comfort, control and the ability to explore the fun side of the mountain.   If I hadn't been given some tools to take into the off-piste very early on in my skiing, I would have quit.

My own thoughts on the progression:

a. The PSIA Beginning: Hey, you got to get on and off the lift, you got to realize that your feet aren't glued in position and you have to discover there are a lot more fun places to explore on the mountain than the learning groomer.  Foot work is great, but if you can't stop that upper-body over-rotation, squatting and all those upper-body gross balance inhibiting compensations that novices constantly fall back on, you'll never never connect with your feet and ankles.   You need speed control, and you need it to work places other than the flattest of learning groomers.  PSIA, I think, does a fairly admirable job of getting people what they need to get out and ski (all things considered, that people are not always ready to make commitments in gear, time and money).

b. PMTS/CLedenin/Deslaurier/Lito Other name brand camps:  Since no one signs up for these camps until they've become low intermediates it is not surprising that these methods do a great job of moving low intermediates to High intermediates.  After a few years of getting my gross motor movement comfort under control on big hills, I found great benefit in these models (collectively the 'ski with your feet/ankle' models-using modern ski design-sans rocker-to it's fullest...sort of).  And, these guys get a lot of folks to the High Intermediate level-and I've been watching MA videos on the PMTS website for years, those guys who are long time campers have done a good job of becoming advanced intermediates (and that's not a knock, advanced intermediate is pretty good).


c. Expert Skiing......Takes more.   You need all the moves.  Some will argue over the definition of expert skiing, but I think the old PSIA line is fairly tried and true:  All terrain-All Conditions (and that includes modest air ability: 6ft vert in tricky conditions/ 10 ft in good conditions and good landing zones).  And not just surviving all conditions and terrain, but handling it with smoothness and speed control and enjoyment (we all know it when we see it).  A smooth and sure footed run down Paradise and MRG, even in icy conditions or Kinsman's Glade at Cannon when the coverage is questionable is no problem for an expert skier.  I'm not there yet, but I ski regularly with true experts and I'm getting ever closer.  Truth to tell, a private lesson from Josh Matta would probably do a lot for guys in my position.

There is nothing that you should 'throw away' from your learning.  I think the pmts-style instruction is a great addition, it's good folks will be able to incorporate it as they move from low to high intermediates, and it will pay dividends if they ever get beyond that (which few will, of course), as will other things they hopefully learned and continue to learn as they progress.