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TR Taos Ski Week Jan. 20-25, 2019 with intermediate Divas

alison wong

Angel Diva
Day 2 - Monday
More mishaps - I left my helmet and goggles at the condo. This is what happened when your mind was pre-occupied about something else, you became absent-minded. I had to rent a helmet, Eunice lent me her goggles. I did not have time for warm up again today because the line at the rental shop was long.

More limbo - I saw the ski school supervisor (same person that ran the ski off) and explained my situation. He seemed to be impatient to listen to what I had to say. At first, I was told I’d be in Karen’s group, then I was told I could have the option to do another ski off to be evaluated. I spotted Karen (name tag on instructor ‘s jacket) and spoke to her. She seemed confused and annoyed at the same time when I told her I’d be in her group and haven’t skied any blacks at Taos…. She said something like: “well, I already got 7 and I expect my group to be able to ski blacks here…” (sigh) She and her group then took off to the bottom of the ski off place waiting to see if new students will be assigned to her group.
Here I am, back at the ski off line up. The supervisor saw me and asked: “I thought you are with Karen?!” Me: “Apparently I am not, so here I am again….” He seemed more annoyed… I don’t know if I confused him or he confused me. Anyway, I did the ski off again and Karen approached me this time: “you are with me.” …. Could this day be more confusing and frustrating?

I wonder if Jean Meyer were running the ski off, things would be smoother and less confusing? This is my 2nd year doing the ski week here and I could only reference from my last year’s experience. From what I recall, the whole process was smooth and no confusion last year, and Jean was running the show!

Karen’s group has 7 students, including 2 other divas (@Gidget415 , @Yamaste ) and me. It was a larger group than my last year and yesterday’s class.

I tend to reference things from the first experience. Dano was my instructor at Taos ski week last year. On the 1st day of class, he listed few housekeeping rules: always stop downhill from the person next to you, if you fall, it won’t cause any domino’s effect and make others fall with you; never ski pass your instructor or your classmate in front of you. I followed these 2 rules whenever in a group lesson.

With Karen’s class, I am not sure if she has any housekeeping rules since I wasn’t in her 1st day’s class. Also, I noticed her students tend to stop uphill from others…. so I decided to ask and mentioned about stopping uphill vs downhill. Her reply was: “Dano was more strict, and I am not like that. With your level, I expect and know you have control on where you stop.”

We worked on the basics on groomed trails, lower/upper body separation, pole plants. I was feeling underwhelmed from this day’s lesson. Prior to Taos, I did off season training at Inside Ski, skiing on carpet to work the fundamentals with my Ski Liberty instructor. In a way, I am anxious to move on, ready to learn new things that I can’t get from practicing on skiing carpets.

I remembered a discussion with my friend, who used to ski, about the value to ski with someone who is better than me. I always think it can be stressful and overwhelming. I have to ski faster to keep up, often times I become flustered because I focus my attention on trying to keep up and pay less attention to my forms & turns. The way my friend explained: if a better skier skis with you, the person will pick an easier line for you to follow, especially on mogul runs. You can learn how to choose lines and read terrains by skiing with someone better than you. You should take up the offer if someone offers it. If anything, it helps you to look ahead and not down….

Following her advice, whenever I was behind my instructor, I tried to ski her line, mimics her lateral movement, and pay attention to her pole planting. I am skiing much better this season and manage to be in sync with her turns the entire run most times (last season, I was only able to follow my instructor for few turns and then I got out of sync.)

I spent the afternoon skied with @Susan L, Eunice, Diymom and MarzNC. I requested Susan to take me to lower Stauffenberg, the trail I’ve wanted to visit since last year. But it was not open when I came last season. Stauffenberg and Firlefanz were pratically empty in the afternoon, both are wide and long blue groomers. During the lift ride, Susan explained a bit more about the mountain and chair lift layout…. calling out which runs are usually groomed, which ones have bumps and how the lifts are connected, between front and back side of the mountain. Thanks again Susan!

For my work project, I worked quite late after we got home. The project was almost done, still need to check errors and perform validation. If all went well, I could turn in tomorrow.

Lesson learned:
1) Check Lost & Found if you forget to bring goggles / helmet/ gloves., they may let you use / borrow.
2) Different instructors have different rules. It is better to ask (respectfully) and never make any assumptions.

Day 3 - Tuesday
Eunice’s instructor from last year, Derek, offered to do a warm up run with Eunice in the morning. I never skied with Derek but always wanted to, I invited myself to tag along. It was also good to see what run instructors choose for warm up before the class. He took us to Bambi. He commented that I am flexing too much on my boots and asked if my boots were too soft. Me: “It is hard shell, 110 flex.” He then adjusted my boot buckle and said: “You have strong legs and for your next purchase, you may want to consider to get men’s boots.” (sigh) Another instructor brought up an issue with my boots. What’s the deal?!

Today was better than yesterday. We started the lesson with more pole planting exercise, pivot turns, learn the difference between pole planting on groomed terrains vs moguls.
She then took us to ski our first bump run, it was a run off Lift 4 on the right. These are smaller bumps in a not very steep terrain. She gave us few tips to start. Don’t know why, my other ski tended to lag behind when I was skiing bumps, one ski went downhill and another was not coming along. I felt frustrated as I was the only one in my class had this issue.
We lapped around this run 2x and 2nd time around, I cheated by lifting my other ski to “bring” it over. Karen said we should not lift out skis on bumps. I knew I was cheating and it did not escape her.
One thing she said today really ease my mind and released me from getting frustrated at myself. “All you need is the mileage at this point and I understand you guys don’t get to ski bumps very often. Therefore, I want to give you as much chance to practice as possible while you are here this week.”
I came to the realization that, for skiing, after I know the theory, I need to practice countless times to get the right feel for it.

After I put my mind at ease, I ski better on the subsequent bump runs. My other ski came along, no need to lift the other skis, they both went together as one, more smoothly. My turns on bumps are not elegant or smooth, I still had to shop every single turn, stop and reset to figure out where my next turn / line should be.

Two things I learned from Karen found to be very useful. Use pole planting on moguls to initiate turns; divide a big mogul to two sections so it is less “overwhelming”. I know I will retain these 2 tips for a long time…..

There was a tech talk at 4:30 pm at St Bernard and I really wanted to go. But I decided to go home and finished my project. Glad I skipped the talk, because I was able to turn in my project. This was a huge burden on my chest when I started this vacation. I was just happy and relieved that I can finally lift it off my chest. I could focus skiing, for real.

Day 4 - Wednesday

Before our class started, I asked Karen’s feedback about my skiing. Overall, my stance looks good. When I ski bumps, I need to be more deliberate in pole plants and be committed to my turns.

She said we need to learn how to engage our uphill ski as well as downhill ski when skiing bumps, we need to feel our uphill skis more. In order to appreciate the uphill ski, she had us do this drill, lifting downhill ski while traversing across the hill. I have not yet gotten the feel for “engaging” “feeling” the uphill skis on moguls, I need more mileage and still have long ways to go…

We did more bump runs today. Karen took us to this blue mogul run called Lone Star. Once you get on this trail, you are committed and no option for bailing. I was a bit nervous going in.

I had trouble initiating turns on moguls, I was not decisive and committed to start a turn. I learned from our lesson to call out the command: “Plant, turn” to trigger each turn. It worked for me and I would say it out loud “plant”, “turn” before each turn.

I skied with Gidget415 and another classmate in afternoon, we went back to ski the same bump runs that we did in the morning. It was helpful because they felt easier as I repeated them few more times.

I also ventured into my first real tree run: Japanese Glade. Thanks again Gidget415. Snow in the trees are surprisingly good and manageable, not icy as I thought.

I mentioned to Eunice about the tree run and asked if she’d be interested to go with me the next day.
Eunice: Are these trees tall?
Me: Yes, they are, but they are not tight trees, and the trail is short and not steep. You can exit out to the other side easy.
Eunice: At Big sky, they have this area where trees are about our height and they are wide apart. I’d prefer trees like that…. When you go to Big Sky, you can check it out.
I guess that’s a “no” for Eunice to ski the Japanese Glade.
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
Day 5 - Thursday
Today, I skied from the 1st chair to the last.

After the lesson, I went off on my own in the afternoon, spent most of my time lapping off lift 4 in the back side of the mountain. Lapping around Japanese Glade (tree run) few more times on my own.

First 2 times I got off Lift 4, I saw the clock was at 2:30 pm. Thought to myself, I must be skiing faster now because it was only 2:30 pm. 3rd time around, the clock was still at 2:30 pm, it dawned on me that the clock was not working and it was much later than I thought!

I only knew one way to go from the backside of the mountain to the front side, from lift 4 to Lift 7 and 7A. I had to hustle because it was getting late, close to 4 pm. I missed the cat track to Lift 7, had to ask a ski patrol for direction and got back to lift 4 the 4th time…. By the time I got on Lift 7 and then 7A, I was the last person on both chairs and it was 5 min. before 4. I ended the day feeling exhausted but I had great fun though!

I saw from lift 4 this black run called Ruby’s Gully was groomed. It did not look so steep from the chair lift. But I was too chicken to try on my own……

Day 6 - Friday
Last day of the ski week…

Perhaps Karen thinks we’ve improved to a point that we were able to do more, she took us to the lower part of the Hunziker bowl (no hiking needed), a short black run with huge bumps. She also gave us the option to bail by traversing through the trees.

The bumps looked overwhelming to me and I felt intimidated. (It reminds me of the two double blacks at Liberty, my local hill in PA.) I decided to give it a try because I knew I would not be able to do this on my own..… Took advantage of this opportunity while I can. I was the last one to go down, I side slipped most of the way, only made 2 turns at 2 spots that either I had to or looked manageable enough to make a turn. I went down without falling. It was all good…..

Next run, she then took us to Ruby’s Gully, a groomed steep black, the one that I saw from Lift 4 but was too chicken to try on my own yesterday. Again, she gave us ann option to bail if we wanted to.
This was a legit steep run, a narrower run with rocks on left, moguls on right. I decided to give a try. Again, I was the last one to go down. As I went down that run, I recalled the “prompts” from my Liberty instructor (At Inside ski lessons, she would call out to prompt me to turn, release edges, shin to boots: 10 O’clock, 2 O’clock…driving the front of the skis with each turn).

It was a bit scary the first turn, once I got the rhythm going, with her voice playing in my head to prompt me to do all these elements, I nailed it. In my mind, I knew I had the skills to ski this and skills lead to confidence.

Despite a rocky start, my ski week ended on a high note and I did more than I expected.

I got to ski with Peter D. in the afternoon. He runs the adaptive program at TSV (Thanks MarzNC for the introduction.) I wanted to ski with him because I read an article on TSV website about his adaptive program and I wanted to learn about it.

https://www.skitaos.com/things-to-do/experiences-inspiration/peter-donahue

He did couple moguls runs with me, Porcupine, White Feather Gully, gave me few more pointers. Again, when we were on groomers, I tried to follow his line and mimics his turns. He was more difficult to follow (than Karen), perhaps I was tired in the afternoon.

He was the 3rd instructor commented on my boots: “You look under-edged.” I don’t know what it meant and had to ask for clarification. I guess now 3 instructors mentioned my boot problem, it is time to bring to my boot fitter’s attention…. Since I got the new boots 2 years ago, I have been experiencing left knee pain after skiing. All these times, I thought the problem was me, poor stance, wrong alignment in my posture, not opening up my left leg enough…. I guess the problem was not entirely me….

Travel day….Saturday
We shared a rental car witih MarzNC’s friend Jason to ABQ. Since he missed the 1st day of skiing due to flight delay, he used his extra lift ticket to ski in the morning.
Before we picked up Jason, Eunice and I took the time to visit the village at TSV, checked out the learning area for children, donut shop and few ski shops.

For lunch, we stopped by Guadalajara Grill Taos for fish taco (thanks @Susan L 's recommendation). We visited this place twice, both times we had fish taco, it was very good.

Before returning to ABQ, we visited Ojo Caliente hot springs. It was well worth the time. It has ~14 pools with different temperatures, very relaxing and good way to recuperate after a week of skiing. We only had an hour, I wish we could stay here overnight because the surrounding was so peaceful. Eunice mentioned there are other hot springs in the area that are hike to places. It sounds neat but we did not have time to do it this visit.

For those of you have travel time to spare, I strongly recommend this place, it is on the way to ABQ, only a short detour. They offer 20% discount with TSV lift ticket (must be same day), MCP, Ikon pass or season pass holders. With the discount, it is about $27 per visit (weekend rate). The place looks high end, it offers good value for the money (IMO).

Final thoughts about Taos ski week this year:
1) It’d be nice if Karen, our instructor, would give us more individual feedback. I did not bring this up because I figured I’ll have more ski lessons with my Liberty ski instructor after Taos. (I like her teaching and I understand her explanations.) For me, if another instructor did not give enough feedback, it would not be a problem for me. But I wonder what other students in my group think?
2) I got more out of the ski week this year. Thanks to my off season training at Inside ski, time and effort I invested really paid off. I felt I was more “prepared” coming to this ski week, and in the end I got more out of it.
I have trouble understanding some of the technical explanations my instructor explained last year. This year, I was able to follow her explanation and understand where she was coming from and going to…. Because whatever she said, I heard from my Liberty ski instructor before (with slight different way of phrasing / explaining things, but the core ideas are the same).
3) With all these said, skiing on carpet does not quite prepare me to survive the mogul skiing….. So, I still need Taos if I want to learn how to ski moguls properly.
 
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alison wong

Angel Diva
Few photos to share courtesy of @EuniceG :
Me on lift 7A
Screen Shot 2019-02-03 at 6.34.14 PM.png

Difference between 2018 and 2019:
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Screen Shot 2019-02-03 at 6.35.34 PM.png

I took these 3 photos:
Off Lift 4 - avalanche site, debris field, wreaths for the 2 victims.
Screen Shot 2019-02-03 at 6.37.25 PM.png

Sign near Kachina Peak chair. I learned meaning of the phrase: "Self-arrest"
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Kachina Peak chair - an instructor explained to his students (kids) the meaning "self-arrest" and how this chair works.....
Screen Shot 2019-02-03 at 6.43.07 PM.png
 

Susan L

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
In one of the chair lift rides, she asked if my gears are rentals. No, these are not rental gears, I have my boots fitted and canted by a bootfitter…. I don’t know why she was “fixated” on my stance and boots.

This instructor used to own a ski/bootfitting shop in the ski valley. Almost everyone who has taken a lesson with her ended up in her shop to get their boots worked on. I cannot say if it was a necessity for all her students, or a business move for her, my husband and I ended up in her shop at the end of our ski week 2 years ago and spent a fortune getting custom footbeds. So did 2 other classmates.

Despite our mis-match (mis-fit?), one important tip I learned from this instructor, always stand on top of a bump before initiating a next turn. I’ve heard of this before but she really honed in on this and I used this tip the remaining of the week whenever I ski on bumps.

She is actually a great moguls instructor, one of the best at TSV. She is very patient, direct, and she speaks in plain English! It’s too bad it did not work out this time, but if you have a chance to be in her group again, you will learn alot!

We invited MarzNC and her crew (@diymom and Jason) came over to our condo for dinner.

I’d love to join your dinner next year! I heard the dumplings you made were YUMMY!!!!
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
This instructor used to own a ski/bootfitting shop in the ski valley. Almost everyone who has taken a lesson with her ended up in her shop to get their boots worked on.
Aha..... Thanks for the inside scoop, I did not know about this... now I am connecting the dots...
She is very patient, direct, and she speaks in plain English!
Well, heck yes, she is direct for sure.... don't know about patience though except the time her group had to wait for me after my fell at Porcupine.
I heard the dumplings you made were YUMMY!!!!
Yes, that I am not shy to admit, I haven't had any bad reviews on my dumplings. Jason ate a lot of them I think (I saw coz the plate of dumplings was on the other side of the table and he kept reaching over to get them, I should have just placed them in front of him :becky:)....
Sure I will invite you over next time I am at Taos and I promised you I will remember....
 

Susan L

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@alison wong Glad you liked the fish taco and Ojo Caliente! They make my Taos experience so much better! I am still waiting to visit Ojo, maybe I will go this week.
I am thinking if you can find 3-4 other people who are in similar level and interest as yours, maybe taking a Private ski week will be more beneficial. The cost is ~$1300 for the group (so $260 each for a group of 5 v. $275 each for regular ski week). That way, you can avoid the confusion/stress from ski off, you will get individual attention, and you can pick the time of your lessons (to start earlier/later than 9:45, or even move a lesson or 2 to the afternoons). They also assigned the most experienced instructors to private ski weeks so if you want moguls, you will get the best in moguls to teach you!
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
@alison wong Glad you liked the fish taco and Ojo Caliente! They make my Taos experience so much better! I am still waiting to visit Ojo, maybe I will go this week.
I am thinking if you can find 3-4 other people who are in similar level and interest as yours, maybe taking a Private ski week will be more beneficial. The cost is ~$1300 for the group (so $260 each for a group of 5 v. $275 each for regular ski week). That way, you can avoid the confusion/stress from ski off, you will get individual attention, and you can pick the time of your lessons (to start earlier/later than 9:45, or even move a lesson or 2 to the afternoons). They also assigned the most experienced instructors to private ski weeks so if you want moguls, you will get the best in moguls to teach you!

The fish taco place was very good, so good that we visited twice.

For the private ski week, my instructor, Karen mentioned it to us on the last day. Yes, definitely it is something worth to consider. Only tricky part is to coordinate with other travelers' schedule, we must be in Taos the very same week.... Karen said they can even do 7 students for a private week, plus instructor, it'd be 2 quad chairs for 8....
I will think about it...
 

Susan L

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The fish taco place was very good, so good that we visited twice.

For the private ski week, my instructor, Karen mentioned it to us on the last day. Yes, definitely it is something worth to consider. Only tricky part is to coordinate with other travelers' schedule, we must be in Taos the very same week.... Karen said they can even do 7 students for a private week, plus instructor, it'd be 2 quad chairs for 8....
I will think about it...

If you do, make sure you pick your instructor carefully. Some like to solicit because they make more money from private lessons and they move up the “ranks” if they “sell” private lessons. My local friend has taken lessons from most of every instructors here and have found the best mogul instructor recently. One that actually teaches AND watches what his students do so he can give feedbacks on the good and the bad. I will text you the name later.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
If you do, make sure you pick your instructor carefully. Some like to solicit because they make more money from private lessons and they move up the “ranks” if they “sell” private lessons. My local friend has taken lessons from most of every instructors here and have found the best mogul instructor recently. One that actually teaches AND watches what his students do so he can give feedbacks on the good and the bad. I will text you the name later.

I found it interesting that you specified an instructor teaching And watching students to give feedback on the good and bad. Seems to coincide with @alison wong saying that she wished for more feedback as well.

Is there a lack of overall feedback in the program? I would always hope for both pieces being part of the equation for any lesson, and especially when you get to have the same instructor for a number of days in a row.
 

Susan L

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@MissySki My experience with group lessons is that the instructor talks, then ask his/her students to follow. Unless he/she got eyes in the back of their head, there is no way the instructor could give any constructive feedbacks. I have only had 2 instructor that insisted skiing behind me to watch. Also most will point out what you are doing wrong. It is good to know what needs to be fixed, but it is also helpful to know what you are doing right!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
@MissySki My experience with group lessons is that the instructor talks, then ask his/her students to follow. Unless he/she got eyes in the back of their head, there is no way the instructor could give any constructive feedbacks. I have only had 2 instructor that insisted skiing behind me to watch. Also most will point out what you are doing wrong. It is good to know what needs to be fixed, but it is also helpful to know what you are doing right!
Based on my experience with L3 instructors (or equivalent experience), they know far more than you might imagine about what the skiers immediately behind than are doing . . . or not doing. I've also had the opportunity to pay attention to how often an instructor turns their head to glance back. Sound is also another indicator.

Obviously with a larger group, then the instructor cannot know what the later people are doing. That's one reason for actively making sure that everyone rotates who is immediately behind an instructor. For my group in Jan, I was one of the strongest skiers. When I was directly behind, the instructor would up the ante on speed and difficulty. As he would for the other strong skiers.

All the instructors I've had always ask people to speak up and ask questions. Can be helpful when there is a member of a group who is willing to ask questions early in the week to get things going.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Is there a lack of overall feedback in the program? I would always hope for both pieces being part of the equation for any lesson, and especially when you get to have the same instructor for a number of days in a row.
Every instructor is different in terms of personality and approach. An individual who tends to hang at the back of the group and doesn't ask any questions probably won't get as much out of a Ski Week as someone who is actively engaged.

I've had people in a Ski Week group who weren't really into the idea of following the line of the instructor, especially on groomers. They miss out on learning opportunities that way. Usually more of an issue the first couple days.

Note that an instructor who is perfect for one student may not be as good for another. Just as there is no such thing as a perfect skis for everyone. Personal chemistry matters. Does that make sense?
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Every instructor is different in terms of personality and approach. An individual who tends to hang at the back of the group and doesn't ask any questions probably won't get as much out of a Ski Week as someone who is actively engaged.

I've had people in a Ski Week group who weren't really into the idea of following the line of the instructor, especially on groomers. They miss out on learning opportunities that way. Usually more of an issue the first couple days.

Note that an instructor who is perfect for one student may not be as good for another. Just as there is no such thing as a perfect skis for everyone. Personal chemistry matters. Does that make sense?

Sure, I’d just like to think the instructors would be sure to also watch skiers come to them and not just ski behind? At least that’s been my experience in most clinics. Sure there is following, but also demonstrations of a point of focus and then the students practicing and getting feedback. I also think it’s their responsibility to engage all students regardless of personality, but some are better at this than others. It can be frustrating for a more introverted skier in a class to be less engaged by the instructor than someone who may have a bigger personality and dominate the instructor’s attention. I think a good instructor balances that out so there is equal interaction in both cases with on snow instruction and lift ride discussions etc.
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
Should students have an open mind and adapt to the instructors' teaching style ?
Or
Should instructors adjust their teaching style to the student group they have that day / week?
Or
There should be some comprise and meeting half way?

I don't know.:noidea: I tried to have an open mind going in, I think it is a good learning experience for myself to learn how to adapt to a different instructor's teaching style.

There were questions I wanted to ask. Based my past experiences, depends on which instructor I asked, I got conflicting answers and then I got confused. e.g. One instructor told me I flexed too much w/ my boots. I asked another instructor, answer I got was: "at this point of your skiing, you can never flex too much." Which one is right?

This time around I did not ask too many questions, I listened mostly and I tried to remember stuff that i don't understand. Hopefully some day I will know / understand eventually.

e.g. Last year at Taos ski week, my instructor told me often: "you need to quiet your hip when you turn." I did not understand what he meant that time. After I've done skiing on the carpet at Inside ski, I saw how I turn from the mirror, I now know what he meant....

I really think the instructor I had at ski week was good, but would be better if she could give us more individual feedback.
 

Susan L

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@alison wong I think good instructors should be able to adapt. It helps to let the instructor know early in the lesson what you need as a student. At my first ski week, my instructor only had us followed him and never gave much individual feedback because he never watched. At my 2nd ski week, the instructor also asked us to watch and follow, but I did speak up and asked if she could watch/follow me, which she did, but only to me. Other students later complained why they did not get the same attention - well, they did not ask for it! At my 3rd ski week, I took a private lesson so I got the individual attention but the instructor only told me what I wasn’t doing correctly. I felt it’d also be helpful to know if I am doing something right too, so I asked for it and I got it. At my 4th ski week, I told my instructor on the first day I’d like individual feedback, both good and bad, and she made sure I got that constantly. So I think it is ok to speak up and let your instructor know what you need, especially if you have questions or need clarification.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
@alison wong : Thanks for adding your comments to the thread. Your observations are very helpful.

I went across the Columbine Inn because they have shuttle service to TSV. Luckily, I caught their shuttle as it was about to leave. The driver was helpful and agreed to give us a ride.
I finally made the connection between the Columbine van driver's name and the owners. Paul is the husband of Susie. Paul and Susie are the owners. Always fun to chat with them when they have the time.

I learned from our lesson to call out the command: “Plant, turn” to trigger each turn. It worked for me and I would say it out loud “plant”, “turn” before each turn.
My version last week was "down, plant, turn" as in look down the hill not across. Did several runs saying it out loud until I could internalize the pattern better.

Despite a rocky start, my ski week ended on a high note and I did more than I expected.
It's fair to say that most people end up doing more than they expect based on how things go the first day or two. True for all levels, not just the intermediate groups. I was certainly skiing the blue bumps faster, which was the advice I got from my instructor. Trey likes to say that he makes the easy trails (green, blue) harder and the harder trails (black) easier. One of the short shots my group did more than once was "Baby Bear extreme" that provides 5-6 very tight turns right at the end of the trail that's actually quite steep. Whoever was following right behind him was moving pretty fast, usually slightly faster than a comfortable speed for that pitch with narrow turns.

If you are going to host a dinner gathering, better to do it in the early part of your trip. You will have time to finish the left overs from the gathering.
My take away is to always accept a dinner invitation from @alison wong and @EuniceG. Very glad that @diymom and I were able to match your travel schedule. Hope to do it again in the future. :becky:
 

Yamaste

Certified Ski Diva
Wow, @alison wong that's awful you felt unwelcome in your first group! I'm glad the week worked out well though, and I enjoyed reading your reflection on it.

@MissySki My experience with group lessons is that the instructor talks, then ask his/her students to follow. Unless he/she got eyes in the back of their head, there is no way the instructor could give any constructive feedbacks. I have only had 2 instructor that insisted skiing behind me to watch. Also most will point out what you are doing wrong. It is good to know what needs to be fixed, but it is also helpful to know what you are doing right!

I found it interesting that you specified an instructor teaching And watching students to give feedback on the good and bad. Seems to coincide with @alison wong saying that she wished for more feedback as well.

Is there a lack of overall feedback in the program? I would always hope for both pieces being part of the equation for any lesson, and especially when you get to have the same instructor for a number of days in a row.

I took an afternoon bumps lesson the third day of ski week because I missed the class in the morning. I was in a 2 person class, and I felt I learned more and skied better on bumps in that afternoon than the rest of the week. We started with some drills on a groomed run to make sure we're paying attention to both edges, then moved to soft, easy bumps on the side of blue runs, then moved onto short black runs like Zagava, Pyschopath, and some other ones near Chair 8. Our instructor would always ski first then turn and watch each of us come down individually. We'd wait for one person to finish skiing to the instructor before starting ourselves. I think because I just followed her and didn't think too hard, I didn't worry about whether I could do these bumps or this run, I just try to follow her path or if I forgot, I just improvised. When we did bumps during our regular class for ski week, I was never able to recapture that feeling of control and smoothness. I would miss turns more or unthinkingly pick up a ski.

I think that taking a one off or a couple days of lessons with different instructors can be very valuable in addition to ski week or in place of if you can't stay a week. With ski week, the instructors sometimes seem in no hurry to do certain things or don't turn back to look at students as often because they figure they have lots of time to get to that later. With a one off lesson, they very quickly hone in on what do you want to work on and focus on that and continually turn back to check on you. I've taken i think 4 one off group lessons at Taos spread out over several years, and I always felt I got much more feedback from those classes and that the instructors spend more time watching you ski. I've been lucky, all of my group lessons were either 1, 2, or 3 students so we got a lot of attention. I still find the ski weeks to be quite valuable, but mixing it up with a one off and with another instructor gives you more chances to find instructors you have good chemistry with and get different types of feedback.
 

Yamaste

Certified Ski Diva
@alison wong Glad you liked the fish taco and Ojo Caliente! They make my Taos experience so much better! I am still waiting to visit Ojo, maybe I will go this week.
I am thinking if you can find 3-4 other people who are in similar level and interest as yours, maybe taking a Private ski week will be more beneficial. The cost is ~$1300 for the group (so $260 each for a group of 5 v. $275 each for regular ski week). That way, you can avoid the confusion/stress from ski off, you will get individual attention, and you can pick the time of your lessons (to start earlier/later than 9:45, or even move a lesson or 2 to the afternoons). They also assigned the most experienced instructors to private ski weeks so if you want moguls, you will get the best in moguls to teach you!

I'm sure about my next Jan/Feb plans (that's a year away!), but if you or a group of divas are planning a private ski week, I'd love to be looped in on possible dates!
 

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