Why Beginners Should Take a Ski or Snowboard Lesson
Learn to Ski
You’re about to hit the slopes with your friends. It looks like the weather is going to be great and you look forward to doing something fun with everyone. The problem is, a few of them are really good skiers, others can ski pretty good and then maybe you and someone else are beginners or have never ever skied before. You don’t want to leave your friends for an hour or more and waste time in a boring lesson. You can do it yourself… right?
Stick with me and let me try to give you some good reasons to take a ski lesson. I think you’ll actually have more fun with your friends if you do.
Why is Skiing and Snowboarding Different from Other Sports?
Even if you’re in great shape, you’re not used to putting long boards on your feet or strapping both feet into one board that’s slippery. To ski or snowboard well, you need to learn how to balance well on the equipment. Rather than try to find out how to do it yourself, if you take a lesson, you’ll learn the tricks to balance better and faster than if you just tried on your own.
Why Do People Get So Tired When They Ski or Snowboard?
You are also going to be different muscles than you normally do and what matters is using those muscles well so that you can balance. A lot of people end up a little sore after doing a day of snowboarding or skiing. So you shouldn’t go too fast but learn in a progression that gets you skiing with ease. People get really tired because they’re fighting for control the whole time and are in more of a “defensive” mode all day. When you take a lesson, you learn how to get control faster, so you start to learn to ski or ride in a more “offensive” mode, which is so much easier on your muscles. You won’t be as sore and you’ll love the feeling of control.
Above All, Safety!
I’ve seen it and it’s horrifying. People ride up the hill or mountain with their friends, they’re at the top and their friends sort of push them down or just tell them to “go” without any instruction. They’re fine for a little while, but then they come to a head wall and wow does the speed pick up. They go faster and faster and can’t stop. Not only is that not safe for them but they also endanger everyone else because they’ve now become a bullet. People have died running into trees. Other people get seriously hurt when someone flies down the hill, out of control. It’s scary and not good for anyone. Don’t be that person.
In a ski or snowboard lesson, you’ll learn how to get control. You’ll learn how to stop, turn, watch for others, use the lift safely, learn about your equipment and learn the rules of the hill or mountain (yes, there are some important rules).
Here are those rules – it’s called the Skier’s and Snowboarder’s Responsibility Code:
- Always stay in control, and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects.
- People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.
- Stop in a safe place for you and others.
- Whenever starting downhill or merging into a trail, look uphill and yield to others.
- Always use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.
- Observe signs and warnings, and keep off closed trails.
- Prior to using any lift, you must have the knowledge and ability to load, ride and unload safely.
Be sure to look those over now so that they make more sense when you take a lesson.
There are Two Ways to Get off the Hill or Mountain
You can either get done at the end of the day, take of your equipment and walk to your car or you can get a ride to the hospital part way through the day. Which is more fun?
Lesson Can Be Fun
Ok, enough scary stuff. Lessons can be a lot of fun. You can take a private lesson for about 90 minutes or take a private lesson for about 60 minutes. That’s a good lesson because after it, you might want to take a break and sort of let it all soak in.
During the lesson, you get to meet other people taking the lesson and you get personal instruction from the instructor or instructors. They will watch you ski and make sure you are doing everything right. Not all ski and snowboard instructors are created equal but most of them want to be out there and teach you. They know that in order to do that effectively, it helps to make lessons fun. Making lessons fun takes away any stress and puts you, the student, at ease and it’s a fact that it’s much easier to learn that way. So the lesson should be fun.
During the Lesson
While you are in the lesson, make sure to ask questions if you have them. People learn in different ways. Some people need to know why you should do the things you’re told to do while others just do it. Some people need to feel it and others need to get the gist and they’re off on their own. And there are lots of different combinations of how people learn. You’re paying for the lesson, so make sure you get your money’s worth.
When the lesson is over, it’s ok to tip the instructor. If they did a nice job, tell them or give them a tip. Most instructors don’t get paid too well and are out there more for the fun of teaching people something new. Show them some love!
And if you had a terrible lesson, then go back to the ski school desk and talk to a manager. Don’t be mad but just explain that you feel you didn’t get what you needed to out of the lesson and they can most likely help by getting you into the next lesson. Any good ski school manager will want to keep you as a customer.
Hit the Mountain
After the lesson, it might not be smart to hit the black diamond runs. Take a break, eat if you want and then come back out to the beginner runs and stay there a little while. Practice what you learned and make sure you can easily stop if you have to. Then head over to different runs like a longer green run. By the end of the day, maybe you can take an easy blue run or some of the more difficult blue runs. Many people ski there. You’ll have fun.
Conclusion
A ski or snowboard lesson will be beneficial because you’ll learn the tricks on how to balance faster than trying just on your own. I believe that by investing in a hour or hour and a half lesson, you’ll come out of it and be keeping up with your friends sooner than if you just tried on your own. They won’t think less of you if you take a lesson and you’ll soon show them how good you are. You’ll also be less sore, more safe and will most likely not leave on a stretcher.
Have fun out there!
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