NY Ski Magazine: Loveland and Winter Park, CO

Posted on by James Michaud

As a skier based in the New York City region with, for better or worse, a “real” job, a mortgage, and a family, my yearly ski totals over the past decade have remained pretty consistent. I always manage to ski 25-30 days per season, with two thirds of those days in the northeast and the other third out west or, on a few lucky occasions, in the Alps.

When I head west two or three times each winter, Salt Lake City receives a fair amount of my visits because it’s just too convenient to sidestep. Nonstop flights allow you to ski at least a half day on the arrival and departure days without breaking a sweat, and there are seven very good to great lift-served mountains within a 35-minute drive of its user-friendly airport.

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Tagged: Magazine, Western US

Whiteface Mtn, NY: 12/3/11

Posted on by miker92

Nothing relieves a student’s procrastination-induced stress like skiing. Sure, I have piles of papers and presentations due this week, but what skier can survive in the library when the sun is rising at Whiteface and the mountain is open?

Early morning at Whiteface Mountain

In the winter at St. Lawrence University, we pile into the Outing Club’s signature white van every Saturday morning and bid our studies and troubles farewell. Today was our first excursion of the academic year, and we certainly made the most of it.

I’ll admit to being nervous during the drive to the mountain. There was barely a trace of snow anywhere along the way. But when I rounded the turn by High Falls Gorge on Route 86, I knew I hadn’t sacrificed my studies in vain. There it was in all its glory: the peak, the lifts, the slides. All coated with just enough snow to tease the imagination.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Whiteface5 Comments

Start Your Ski Season in Balance

Posted on by CoachZ

You made your first turns of the season and maybe those turns felt a little shaky. The #1 issue I see in the early season is balance. If you aren’t centered, then all the other skills are impacted. I use several balance drills to help my students find their center at the beginning of the season.

The first drill is a called the shuffle. Start this drill on an gentle groomed slope and as you get more comfortable, gradually move to progressively steeper slopes. Move one foot then the other forward and back alternatively while traversing across the hill and making big wide turns. You may find this simple task surprisingly difficult at first.

If you feel like you are getting “stuck” and can’t initiate a turn while shuffling your feet, it means your hips and backside are too far back. Use your hamstrings and glutes to pull your feet back under your torso while keeping your core strong. Once you “get” this drill (which may take a while), gradually diminish the shuffling until it’s gone. Ideally, you’ll still feel balanced.

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Tagged: Instruction5 Comments