Comments for blog.limedaley.com/post/skiing

Comment #1058

2007-02-10T18:31:48Z

I'll bet I can guess who the proprietors of that B&B are!

Comment #1057

2007-02-10T17:16:41Z

Jay (AKA Just Jay, as opposed to Uncle Jay), Mom's friend who gave us the ski wedgie, emailed this, and I thought saving it here would be handy when I want to look it up again.

If you have a hill that allows him to stop in a parallel stance, that's a good thing. He'll learn stance and balance and get comfortable moving on skis. You will eventually have to get him on a pitch that makes it necessary for him to develop his wedges and wedge turns. When you do, a good way to get him to understand the concept of skiing is to demonstrate a wedge stop in front of him then step carefully out of the wedge and show him how the skis pile up the snow underneath when they are on a high edge angle, causing the skis to stop. My guess is that Jonathan is a cognitive learner. Understanding the physical consequences of his movement on skis will make sense to him.

Once he gets the concept of a wedge stop, do the same demo, but heavily weight the left (or right) ski with a high edge angle and turn to a stop. Step out and show him how the movement creates a pile of show you can push against to turn to the right. Now do the same with the other ski.

A couple of additional tips:

Take the ski off his strong foot (probably the one corresponding to his strong hand) and have him do a half wedge and push with the other one as he walks down the hill. Repeat the process numerous times and let him see the pile of snow he creates under that ski and how it moves the ski across the fall line.
Put him back on two skis and tell him to glide in a wedge as he puts the tip of one ski in front of the other. That will require a natural movement onto the downhill ski and a lightening (and flattening) of the uphill ski resulting in a turn.
Give him effective demos and try not to overload him with too much information at once. Give him lots of mileage and when he falls, immediately see it as a positive learning experience. "OK Jonathan, you fell, it's apart of the process, what did you learn?"
Bring your boys to Pats Peak. Noah will be old enough next year for us to play "catch and throw" with him on the bunny hill. Jonathan will enjoy the two new conveyor lifts we put in the beginner area and where the "J" bar used to be. He can go up and down by himself.

I know of a quaint bed and breakfast only 15 minutes away with a hot tub and innkeepers who love kids. The ultimate ski vacation an it's all free. I'll set you up with lift tickets and rentals.

Comment #1056

2007-01-25T15:59:08Z

It was really weird to watch the girl and Jonathan come down the slope. It was dark and foggy and hard to see, plus I thought that Jonathan was going in with Sanda. I recognized Jonathan's snowsuited shape, but thought it must be another kid. It had to be another kid - "Jon" was carrying a snowboard! So it couldn't be them. Unless...did Jon borrow a snowboard to try? Then why was Jonathan coming, too? Can't be them. Now they're closer, I can see it really is Jonathan. The person with him has long curly hair... What is going on? "Is this your mommy? He said his mommy was down here." Jon came down while we were still having the conversation. It was surreal.

Comment #1055

2007-01-24T02:55:05Z

Don't forget to tell about the magic floor. [On the small slope, they have this nifty "magic carpet" that you ride on standing up, sort of like the moving sidewalks at an airport, though soft material, which is nicer on your skis. Jonathan can do one of the magic carpets entirely by himself - last year, he needed help getting on and off, but this time did perfectly well getting on, and just a little help/encouragement to keep moving when getting off. The other carpet has a uphill leading to the entry point, so it was hard to climb up to it]

I like going on the chairlift. It brings us up high, it just scoops us right up.