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Women's clinics, '19-'20
- Thread starter ski diva
- Start date
blueskysunnyday
Angel Diva
Hello! Longtime lurker, first post...
Is anyone doing the Snowshoe Women's Ski Camp at the end of January? I just signed up.
Is anyone doing the Snowshoe Women's Ski Camp at the end of January? I just signed up.
SnowSeeker
Angel Diva
Has anyone participated in the Stratton women’s camp? I’ve seen one review elsewhere online, but not much else. I’m considering the March camp.
Mistletoes
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Oh man another warm, spring conditions day. As a recovering heel-pusher, I find these conditions to be some of the hardest since I revert to my old, familiar habit in slush. Today was a really important lesson because it confirmed what I'd found on my own...spring slush/mashed potatoes really requires you to drive the ski, use edging and commitment.
We started our lesson facing uphill in a V (in a flat spot) and really leaning into the front of our boots. Once we got that feeling, we skied while remembering to breathe and look up at the views.
We focused on not rushing the turn and using turn shape to control speed. For fun we did some whirlybirds on the flats and skied backwards to really feel our edges. One piece of advice that stuck today was to pull my downhill hip up when starting a new turn (like getting on a bar stool). As I'm writing this, I'm not sure I'm explaining it clearly but it helped so much on the mountain. I felt like it really helped me increase my angles and get up on my edges.
We started our lesson facing uphill in a V (in a flat spot) and really leaning into the front of our boots. Once we got that feeling, we skied while remembering to breathe and look up at the views.
We focused on not rushing the turn and using turn shape to control speed. For fun we did some whirlybirds on the flats and skied backwards to really feel our edges. One piece of advice that stuck today was to pull my downhill hip up when starting a new turn (like getting on a bar stool). As I'm writing this, I'm not sure I'm explaining it clearly but it helped so much on the mountain. I felt like it really helped me increase my angles and get up on my edges.
marymack
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I had an instructor tell me this early on in my skiing and its still a visual i keep in my head! Very helpful. One thing that has been refined for me over the years though is to be careful of an "up move" . This transition shouldnt be a "pop" or a moment where your body moves up and back. Instead it should be a roll of the ankles and be a move down the hill. So just be careful of that.
BlizzardBabe
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yup, the barstool visual is one I always use. Instructors love it when you tell them that is what you're doing. 
MissySki
Angel Diva
So I tried this stuff last weekend, and it felt good! Also played with making sure to tilt my uphill pole a little more into a direction where the grip in my hand is pointing more down the hill, and therefore the tip lifts higher behind me after a pole plant versus being in a position to drag. It’s not a big movement, pretty subtle, but seems to achieve a lot.. Does this make sense, and is that movement of adjusting the wrist a bit to keep that angle the right approach? It felt really good and put me more forward versus that tendency to lean a tiny bit of weight back when the pole drags, kind of like a crutch. Just want to make sure how my body started to want to “fix” this wasn’t going to be bad in another way. As I said before, for some reason it’s only really the right arm where I’ll notice pole drag on occassion, the left never seems to get there.. not sure what’s happening on the right that makes it more likely to happen, perhaps I drop my shoulder or something? One day I might ski with my adjustable poles that I use for other snow stuff, to see if shortening would be beneficial as well.
liquidfeet
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Sounds like you did something good with that uphill pole. The point of all this is to get weight directed to the outside ski and to keep you centered instead of aft. Keeping the inside shoulder high and forward, and the outside shoulder low and back, works pretty well. The cues that help each skier accomplish the right amount of this "formula" are varied.
Almost everyone has a weak side that doesn't listen to orders and gets lazy. That weak side refuses to do what it's told, and it doesn't send signals to the brain to let it know what it's doing either. It chooses to be MIA most of the time. The skier's job is to bring it back online, get the brain to watch it to know what it's doing, and get it to behave when it's told to do something.
My weak side is my left. It sounds like your weak side is your right. I used to drop my left shoulder, allow my left arm to move back after pole plants, sometimes I missed planting altogether on that side, and I leaned in to the left. It's been a long hard journey bringing the left side into synch with the rest of my body.
So how do you check to see if what you are doing is working? On each turn, try lifting the tail of the inside ski a little bit. If you can't lift that ski at all, you have too much weight on it. Lift that inside shoulder/elbow/hand and try again. If you can lift the tip but not the tail, you are aft. Move that inside shoulder forward and try again. The pole dray may help with both of these, and there are other "cues" you can try too. Lots of them. This is the bread and butter of instructing. Instructors figure out all kinds of things that might work with this or that client. Bag of tricks, so to speak.
Keep in mind that your goal in all this is outside ski carries your weight, and its shovel is pressed onto the snow, never riding high. It sounds like it's working for you.
Finally made it to a Wachusett Women's Clinic! Great program. I went ahead and got the 5-pack ($177 vs. single session for $57) and am looking forward to the rest of them. I really like that you don't have to lock into set dates or do it in consecutive weeks, just fit in the 5 lessons between Jan 2 and March 12 when the program ends. I need to talk to them about their marketing next week though. It turns out that you get a $10 voucher for the cafeteria each week, but there's no mention of it on the website (I wouldn't have packed a lunch had I known.) It's one of those little things that might help sway someone who is on the fence about signing up. $35 for a 2 hour lesson and lunch is a great deal if you ask me.
MissySki
Angel Diva
That’s an awesome deal!
Tatsutahime
Diva in Training
Me! I’m also a longtime lurker posting for the first time...
I've done the mid-week clinic, and it's very good. You're going to love it!
misfitgirl
Angel Diva
Thank you so much for putting this list together. Hope I can hit at least one this season!
newboots
Angel Diva
Suicide Six, WOW (what's it stand for again? Women Only Weekend? But it's only one day, not a weekend. Anyway), next Sunday, 2/9, 9 am - 3 pm. Lunch included, and a free drink at the end of the day. Woodstock, Vermont.
I went once last year and wished I had gone to all of them. (Their publicity is lacking!) I hope to go Sunday. Last year's was great, despite minor disasters such as many of the instructors getting sick. My small group had a male instructor who was wonderful. But they use women instructors! Who were also wonderful, by all reports. It's a sweet little mountain with a lot of history, long history, deep in the roots of skiing.
Oh, Women Only Workshop.
I went once last year and wished I had gone to all of them. (Their publicity is lacking!) I hope to go Sunday. Last year's was great, despite minor disasters such as many of the instructors getting sick. My small group had a male instructor who was wonderful. But they use women instructors! Who were also wonderful, by all reports. It's a sweet little mountain with a lot of history, long history, deep in the roots of skiing.
Oh, Women Only Workshop.
jthree
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So I've now gone to 2 Women's Weekly clinics at Smuggler's Notch. It has been fantastic! Small group, female instructor, very supportive atmosphere. I learned so much!
The program starts at 10am, we break for lunch (lunch is included- we preorder and then it is ready for us) and then ski until 2--- then we break for the day and meet for a drink in the lodge (also included). My daughter is in the kids program so I had time to drop her off first; at the end of her day she hung out in the kids program area until I was done.
One thing I found out is that the program is both offered as a 6-week session but you can also drop in if there is space in the class. One of our classmates on day 1 was vacationing with her family for the week and joined the women's group on Sunday and Wednesday.
The program starts at 10am, we break for lunch (lunch is included- we preorder and then it is ready for us) and then ski until 2--- then we break for the day and meet for a drink in the lodge (also included). My daughter is in the kids program so I had time to drop her off first; at the end of her day she hung out in the kids program area until I was done.
One thing I found out is that the program is both offered as a 6-week session but you can also drop in if there is space in the class. One of our classmates on day 1 was vacationing with her family for the week and joined the women's group on Sunday and Wednesday.
newboots
Angel Diva
Brief report:
Met up with @Like2Ski at Suicide Six in Woodstock, Vermont, for today's WOW (Women Only Weekend). A good time was had by all! We had a lot of attention and personalized instruction with ratios of 1:2 instructor:student in the morning, and 1:3 in the afternoon.
I worked on upper body separation and flexion/extension, and managed to carve down a non-steep hill at the end of the day. Discovered some new muscles in the latter activity. @Like2Ski worked on her turns and looked amazing, considering how long she has been skiing seriously.
The weather was, um, cold. It was -6 when we arrived, but did warm up as the day progressed. It was a day for bulky layers, though, and that helped quite a bit.
Must run. Getting into the bath with Epsom salts. A requirement for these worn muscles and joints!
Met up with @Like2Ski at Suicide Six in Woodstock, Vermont, for today's WOW (Women Only Weekend). A good time was had by all! We had a lot of attention and personalized instruction with ratios of 1:2 instructor:student in the morning, and 1:3 in the afternoon.
I worked on upper body separation and flexion/extension, and managed to carve down a non-steep hill at the end of the day. Discovered some new muscles in the latter activity. @Like2Ski worked on her turns and looked amazing, considering how long she has been skiing seriously.
The weather was, um, cold. It was -6 when we arrived, but did warm up as the day progressed. It was a day for bulky layers, though, and that helped quite a bit.
Must run. Getting into the bath with Epsom salts. A requirement for these worn muscles and joints!
