TR Taos Ski Valley (TSV) Feb. 5-12, 2022

[marzNC]

We starting skiing at TSV today! Getting to ABQ proved very challenging in the last 4-5 days because of the giant storm that brought freezing rain, sleet, and snow to airports from TX to OH to NY and Boston. Ski Week starts tomorrow, Feb. 6.

As Divas who have been following the MOTH thread know, there group of Divas and Diva Dudes at TSV this week is pretty big. The total is over 20. There are several people who live in Albuquerque, along with people from 10 states. Most have done a Ski Week before but there are a few newbies.

Hopefully others will chime in and/or provide pictures during the week.

 

[marzNC]

@DebbieSue drove from ABQ this morning after getting in late Sat evening from Boston. We learned a lot already from Derek in the Private Ski Week I set up for me, Jason, Debbie, and @Bookworm . There are plenty of baby bumps and intermediate bumps for practice. Plus he showed up some drills I've never done before.

Working on schmearing on blue bumps

 

[MissySki]

@DebbieSue drove from ABQ this morning after getting in late Sat evening from Boston. We learned a lot already from Derek in the Private Ski Week I set up for me, Jason, Debbie, and @Bookworm . There are plenty of baby bumps and intermediate bumps for practice. Plus he showed up some drills I've never done before.

Working on schmearing on blue bumps
View attachment 17870View attachment 17871

Ohh what were the drills?

 

[marzNC]

Ohh what were the drills?

While I keep notes, I'm not about to try to describe them. Bottom line is that several were drills I've never done before. Either during a Ski Week or with any other L3/Examiner. I understand enough now to know the point of the drills, but it's very cool to have a new approach for the ultimate goal. The goal is to ski bumps, small or large, smoothly and slowly.

What makes Taos special is that there are almost always a wide variety of bumps for instructors to use fo teaching and for skiers to use for practice. Apparently there are VW Bug size bumps somewhere at TSV right now.

My group mostly worked on small bumps. But we did go into the top section of Spencer's (black) just to practice extension and absorption by traversing on purpose. We'd done that on blue bumps.

 

[marzNC]

There are four Private Ski Weeks set up by MarzNC, @Olesya Chornoguz , @TNtoTaos , and @snow cat . Each one has four students. The limit is six. Not surprisingly instructors like smaller groups. In addition there are four people who did the ski off this morning, including @liquidfeet .

 

[Jenny]

While I keep notes, I'm not about to try to describe them. Bottom line is that several were drills I've never done before. Either during a Ski Week or with any other L3/Examiner. I understand enough now to know the point of the drills, but it's very cool to have a new approach for the ultimate goal. The goal is to ski bumps, small or large, smoothly and slowly.

@MissySki - I had Derek for my ski week a couple of years ago, too, and we worked on bumps. My main memory from that is that he said to ski the troughs, which didn’t at all sound good to someone used to hard icy bumps like we get here in Michigan. It’s a much different prospect when they're soft and fluffy, lol! I mean, I still couldn’t do them very well, but that's another issue.

I do remember practicing J shaped turns, and also standing at the top of the bump (the beginning of it, not the peak) and then slowly sort of slipping down toward the trough as we also started to move down the hill and then swooping around the bottom of the bump. Or at least that's my memory of my interpretation of what he said. I actually reread my ski week thread recently, but I wasn’t real specific on details. And I never got around to posting any pictures, either, which is a shame. I know we have some.

@marzNC - I'm sure if you at least named the drills that there's probably someone out there on YouTube who is demonstrating them, so you wouldn’t have to try and describe what to do.

 

[marzNC]

Went to Hunzinker with Derek on Monday. It was the "adventure run" of the week so far, with more to come. My Private Ski Week includes @DebbieSue , @Bookworm , and my ski buddy Jason (Diva Dude since 2010).

 

[marzNC]

Went to the next step today with my Ski Week group. Derek decided we were all ready for Kachina Peak. We had a very nice run down Main Street, pretty much following his line. Snow is great up there after the 37 inches last week. Bumps are big but not huge. But could use more snow. There were rocks lurking.

Derek, @Bookworm , @DebbieSue near top of Kachina lift


Can't see where we went from the top. Traverse a bit before making turns.


View of Kachina from near top of Lift 2, it's a lot bigger than it looks from this point

 

[Lmk92]

I love these updates and photos!

 

[MissySki]

The more I see these, the more I really want to do a ski week..

 

[Iwannaski]

The more I see these, the more I really want to do a ski week..

SAME. I’m hoping husband is capable by next year.

 

[Knitjenious]

The more I see these, the more I really want to do a ski week..

Yes! And my mother-in-law conveniently just moved to Albuquerque, so two-birds, one cross-country flight ...

 

[Iwannaski]

@Knitjenious, I feel like you and I would have fun in one of these. Who else is an adult-learning mom? @newbieM … you in?

 

[marzNC]

Didn't take many pictures on Monday, which was Day 2 of the Ski Week. While obviously skiing deep powder is great fun, I have to say that I don't come to Taos for powder. I come for bumps. Preferably with blue sky, not too much wind, and relatively warm temps. This week is turning to be perfect from my viewpoint.

Lonestar (blue)


Lift 7A is single pole, no bar, short transportation lift to get back to the main base from Kachina side


All the construction is done at the main base

 

[marzNC]

SAME. I’m hoping husband is capable by next year.

Capable in what way?

A Ski Week is good for any ability level. The friend we made who is a 70-something man from Albuquerque is an intermediate. Didn't ski much until after he retired. The change in his skiing on groomers from Monday to Wednesday is quite impressive. His instructor is in his 80s.

I have first hand experience since 2017 with people who have improved after a Ski Week or two who were intermediates, advanced, and expert.

 

[Iwannaski]

Since he has had two fairly substantial orthopedic injuries, by capable I mean mentally and physically comfortable with a week of sometimes challenging skiing. Or, I can always go solo… but I think he is making strides, and being more fundamentally athletic than I am, I expect that we will intersect next year, if not the year after. I would also love to be able to get us all to the point where we could do one as a family.

 

[DebbieSue]

View of Kachina Peak later in the afternoon on Tuesday, the day our group skied it. (I’m slower to post than marzNC). It was only the 4th day it was open, and it was already all bumped up (zoom in). The top of the lift is directly above that orange red ribbon on the wire. As we gazed up at Main Street, from below, just before we got on the lift, our instructor saw at least some of us were worried, so he offered the opening notes of The Funeral March to get us in the mood. I chimed in with the lyrics, cracking us all up! The bumps were less intimidating from above than from below and they were soft. After a few turns at the top we were each yelling Yee-haw!!! with each turn from a combination of euphoria and relief. Fun!!!

 

[marzNC]

Overall, there were four Private Ski Weeks set up a while back. I opted to work with Derek, @Olesya Chornoguz is working with Stephanie again, @TNtoTaos chose Trey, and @snow cat 's group is with Dano. Other than Derek, we picked instructors we had worked with before. In addition there were people who did the ski off. They are all in different Ski Weeks.

The 70-something man from Albuquerque, C-ABQ, I made friends with a few years ago while staying at Austing Haus is also at TSV this week. He's with the instructor in his 80s who Deb Armstrong interviewed recently. C-ABQ has done a few Ski Weeks before. But Stuart is making more of an impact on his skiing I think. I spent the afternoon with C-ABQ skiing groomers and doing drills on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. The difference was quite noticeable in terms of how often he is finishing his turns. C-ABQ didn't start skiing regularly under after he retired.

 

[TNtoTaos]

We finally managed to get a few Divas to slow down long enough to get a photo:
DebbieSue, liquidfeet, @diymom, TNtoTaos, TNMeterMaid Rita

 

[skinnyfootskis]

I’m hoping to go next year. Your pictures are amazing and it appears you all had fun and learned. ⛷