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Women's clinics, '20-'21

MissySki

Angel Diva
As an update, my entry back into ski school was great this weekend! It was fun to meet new people and everyone was really nice! There were 4 women in my group including me and 2 men with a female instructor. Groups are supposed to stay between 4-7 students each. The instructor was great and already had me on trail lip edges and down into softer bumps to start relating the long leg short leg drills we were using in there as well after I mentioned my goals were geared towards working on technique in ungroomed snow, bumps, and trees this season on a lift ride. Whenever I was behind her specifically and the trail allowed for it she started guiding me off to the edges and off of the groomed areas since fully natural trails aren't available yet. Really appreciated this focus already starting though!

Funny enough (or maybe not all that surprising really), majority of my group (including the instructor) are from MA. On various lift rides we discussed the sites we were using for testing before heading up north each week so I feel good knowing the people I spoke to about it anyway are complying. Everyone I spoke to also has a place on or off the mountain that they own or rent for the season.

Everyone had a face covering that they left up the whole 3 hours for lift rides as well as skiing. Usually I pull mine down when I ski, but didn't because we stop quite a bit to regroup, so I didn't feel like dealing with that. I did have my goggles up a lot though because it was pretty warm, we weren't skiing super fast to make my eyes tear up, and I was fogging up a little when I had them down. For lifts we are allowed to ride 2 to a chair on triples, 2-3 to a chair for a quad, and I don't remember the rule for a 6 pack as we didn't use that lift. Suffice it to say that we were not filling chairs anyway, and people are allowed to ride however they feel comfortable as long as chairs aren't full.

A huge perk besides the camaraderie and instruction this season is DEFINITELY being able to skip lines during that main part of the day. So happy I chose this season to start back with the seasonal program, and I sure hope we can keep it going all season.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
@Iwannaski - It has changed so much since my first time in 1990. Too crowded, too commercial, too foggy, too expensive. I've been 6X, so I've watched the changes. The last one to VR....they are ruining it for sure.

There are so many other places to ski in BC and Alberta.

But back to topic....the gang, except for SkiBam, that I ski with at Tremblant are into groomer zoomers. So even bumps are not done, unless they appear throught the day and can't be helped. They don't search them out.

2022 I have some big plans on the go, but maybe 2023, I'll take the CSIA Women in Skiing at Sun Peaks week.
 

Iwannaski

Angel Diva
@Iwannaski - It has changed so much since my first time in 1990. Too crowded, too commercial, too foggy, too expensive. I've been 6X, so I've watched the changes. The last one to VR....they are ruining it for sure.

There are so many other places to ski in BC and Alberta.

Thanks... this information is useful as we get back into skiing and I rely on my old information about places to choose where we’ll plan trips.

(Sorry all for the random unrelated question)
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Thanks... this information is useful as we get back into skiing and I rely on my old information about places to choose where we’ll plan trips.
If you are looking for a Women's Clinic just for yourself . . . when you are to the point when leaving DH to handle the kids alone for a week isn't a recipe for diasaster :wink: . . . the Taos Ski Week for Women is worth considering. Unlike regular Taos Ski Weeks, it's only offered one week during the season. In 2019-20, Deb Armstrong was very involved. I think she spent at least a little time with all of the groups. I sat in for a bit (at the back) when she was doing video analysis since it was in a room right next to the cafeteria seating.

Fair to say that all the destination resorts out west have changed in the last decade. There were two factors that made a big difference. First, the recovery from the 2008 recession took a while. Second, the new law that allowed the U.S. Forest Service to approve summer usage for things like zip lines, alpine slides, and more mountain biking meant it was possible to move towards true 4-season resorts. Very little of the ski terrain in the west is on private land, unlike other regions farther east.
 

SkiBam

Angel Diva
Yesterday I did a CSIA Women in Skiing session at Tremblant. The association has formed the WIS committee to study the situation of women in ski instructing. At level 1, the male/female split is about half-half. At level 2, about 60-40 male/female, at level 3 about 93-7 and at level 4, way less than 1 percent female. They want to find out why women don’t get or stay involved in ski instructing. I suppose you could say this reflects society and business in general but even in business the percentage of women at top levels is higher. So what’s the problem in skiing? And how can this be improved? That’s what WIS is trying to address. They're working with counterparts in the PSIA where I expect the situation is more or less similar. Any thoughts?

By the way, the session yesterday was truly excellent. Five women with a level 4 instructor (a woman of course and one of the best). It was really a model of how to run a day-long lesson. Participants were all good skiers but I think the approach would be similar for all levels. Very simple concepts, very simple instructions, simple and clear drills (started with sideslipping - always my fave) and very clear tips and feedback for each participant. And questions at the end as to whether we had met our goals, had our questions answered, etc.

@Jilly, do go to Sun Peaks for WIS if you can. It was fabulous. And I tend to agree with @Jilly about WB. I've been several times and after the last visit (6 days of skiing in I forget the year - a few ago) I thought if I never go back there again I won't be sorry. The BC Interior resorts are more to my liking, with generally nicer snow and fewer people.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Yesterday I did a CSIA Women in Skiing session at Tremblant. The association has formed the WIS committee to study the situation of women in ski instructing. At level 1, the male/female split is about half-half. At level 2, about 60-40 male/female, at level 3 about 93-7 and at level 4, way less than 1 percent female. They want to find out why women don’t get or stay involved in ski instructing. I suppose you could say this reflects society and business in general but even in business the percentage of women at top levels is higher. So what’s the problem in skiing? And how can this be improved? That’s what WIS is trying to address. They're working with counterparts in the PSIA where I expect the situation is more or less similar. Any thoughts?

By the way, the session yesterday was truly excellent. Five women with a level 4 instructor (a woman of course and one of the best). It was really a model of how to run a day-long lesson. Participants were all good skiers but I think the approach would be similar for all levels. Very simple concepts, very simple instructions, simple and clear drills (started with sideslipping - always my fave) and very clear tips and feedback for each participant. And questions at the end as to whether we had met our goals, had our questions answered, etc.

@Jilly, do go to Sun Peaks for WIS if you can. It was fabulous. And I tend to agree with @Jilly about WB. I've been several times and after the last visit (6 days of skiing in I forget the year - a few ago) I thought if I never go back there again I won't be sorry. The BC Interior resorts are more to my liking, with generally nicer snow and fewer people.

Very interesting! It also made me think about the seasonal program I’m in. All of the instructors are level 3 PSIA and there are actually more female than male instructors in it. I hadn’t ever found that strange, but perhaps I should be even more in awe of our wonderful high level female instructors than I already was!
 

Cantabrigienne

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Attended day 1 of the north face ladies camp at WB today. It was really nice to have a woman instructor and all girl class. Very well organized. Look forward to day 2 tomorrow.
How did camp go? Who was your instructor? I had been planning to be extra-good & compliant w/ provincial health guidance and not go up this season....but then my sister's FIL had a fall and she and my BIL don't feel comfortable leaving his dad alone.....so I am headed up tomorrow to be the 2nd adult (and chauffeur, since sis doesn't drive!)
 

BackCountryGirl

Angel Diva
Very interesting! It also made me think about the seasonal program I’m in. All of the instructors are level 3 PSIA and there are actually more female than male instructors in it. I hadn’t ever found that strange, but perhaps I should be even more in awe of our wonderful high level female instructors than I already was!
At one point, the snowsport school at SR had the most level 3 women of any resort in the east, Killington and Stowe included. A few have retired in the last few years and another is with me in the Race program. Not sure if the numbers are as high as they were, but there are some great women from whom I've learned a ton.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
At one point, the snowsport school at SR had the most level 3 women of any resort in the east, Killington and Stowe included. A few have retired in the last few years and another is with me in the Race program. Not sure if the numbers are as high as they were, but there are some great women from whom I've learned a ton.

Love to hear this! I hope having so many high level ladies will encourage lower level instructors there to continue on in their progression as well.
 

newboots

Angel Diva
The association has formed the WIS committee to study the situation of women in ski instructing. At level 1, the male/female split is about half-half. At level 2, about 60-40 male/female, at level 3 about 93-7 and at level 4, way less than 1 percent female. They want to find out why women don’t get or stay involved in ski instructing

I suppose it's obvious, but I imagine that women's "second shift" (housework, cooking, food shopping, childrearing, staying home with the sick child) interferes quite a bit. If an instructor starts young and childless, it would be inevitable that many drop out when there's so much to do.
 

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