Lessons Well-Learned

A piste marker at Cardrona, essential
when air and snow are the same color

One of the indications of a great lesson, about skiing and riding or otherwise, is that it resonates with the student not only on the day and at the time, but also for weeks and even years afterwards. I am fortunate to have been the recipient of many great lessons as a skier and a ski pro, taught to me by some truly remarkable people. Some of those lessons are about technical skiing and teaching, some are about the business of snow sports, and many of them continue to inform me on a broader level, at a higher altitude.

After finishing my undergraduate degree more than twenty years ago, I moved to Colorado with some close friends and began my journey. In the years since, as a skier, coach, teacher, and trainer, I have been very fortunate to work and become friends with many pros and guests from around the world and from among several generations. Each contributes in some way to my understanding of skiing and ski teaching and to the joys I find in them. At times, whether I’m making wedge turns on the beginner hill, simplifying the world for nervous intermediates, giggling with great kids as we rip around, training instructors, and coordinating programs, certain lessons percolate to the surface. I work hard to take them to heart and to continue to learn from them.

Marty Harrison, Dan Bergeron and the many staff, guests and friends in Ludlow and at Okemo with whom I have shared so much over the past eleven seasons have helped me hone my own concepts of skiing, ski teaching, ski philosophy, line-up joke telling, edge bevels, the restorative effects of good Italian cooking, the psychological benefits of smoked salmon, why kids rule and why teaching them is a privilege, and how to find great satisfaction in eking out a living in such a beautiful place. I am grateful to and for all of them. Period.

Why the contemplative and rearward-looking histrionics while a big winter storm hammers the Southern Alps here in Wanaka? I’ve just accepted a big challenge, a major shift in my role in the industry, and I’ll need to take all of those well-learned lessons and put them into practice daily. I have accepted the position of Director of the Sugarbush Ski & Ride School in Warren, Vermont. I am excited and I have a lot to learn, but I am confident that I am ready, that Sugarbush represents a terrific opportunity for me, and that I can help lead the school there into an increasingly successful future. So, as I look ahead, please forgive me as I also take a few moments to look back and consider where I’ve been. Soon enough, I’ll be in Vermont charging forward.

In the meantime, it’s dumping at Cardrona right now and I’ll be in civies on my day off tomorrow enjoying all of it. If I’ve learned anything in my life as a ski pro, it’s that we have to take the time to enjoy our life as simple skiers when the opportunities present themselves. This coming winter in Vermont, I’ll look forward to doing that and more at Sugarbush!

After writing the foregoing, I did in fact have a great day of skiing except for the fact that we couldn't see past our noses. Can't have it all, I guess, but tomorrow ...


Yours truly dropping in