My ski lesson with Phil Mahre at Sundown 1/23/10.....

[MogulQueen]

Skied Sundown on Saturday since it was such a beautiful day. I forgot the big fundraiser for the Bill Johnson Foundation was going on and was a little bummed due to the crowds. It was around 11am. Anyway, Bart and I put on our boots and noticed there was a silent auction going on for various things. One item was a lesson with Phil Mahre. No one had signed up for it! I was stunned. Are you kidding me? He is indisputably one of the greatest American skiers of all time. I immediately put our names down and won the bid! Let me start by saying he is one of the most gracious persons I have ever met. He asked us what we wanted to work on and without hesitation we said turns, carving and gates. We are big bump skiers and have little skill in the art of carving turns. He then went to work analyzing our technique, form and then strategies and drills to work on. He gave us 1.5 hours of his time. It was incredible! I had NO idea of how little I actually make my ski work. If you ever get a chance to attend one of his clinics, it is well worth the money spent. He ended the session by signing our skis and then a picture to remember the day.......like I would ever forget it?! Amazing. It's so nice to know that people like Phil represent the sport we all love.

 

[wa-loaf]

Wow, that's cool.

 

[salsgang]

That is fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

 

[billski]

That is just great. He makes a business out of these clinics, so not only is he a great racer, but he also knows how to teach and coach it. You got a lesson of a lifetime, from an Olympian, that is just awesome. These guys are in a league by themselves. I feel bad for the fundraiser that they didn't have bids on it - what were people thinking? Congrats to you!

I spoke with Phil at Steamboat some years ago, while getting him to autograph my bib - he's really committed to getting more people into skiing & boarding. And yeah, he's got a great, mellow personality, easy to talk to - hard to believe for someone who competed as fiercely as he did.

 

[campgottagopee]

Skied Sundown on Saturday since it was such a beautiful day. I forgot the big fundraiser for the Bill Johnson Foundation was going on and was a little bummed due to the crowds. It was around 11am. Anyway, Bart and I put on our boots and noticed there was a silent auction going on for various things. One item was a lesson with Phil Mahre. No one had signed up for it! I was stunned. Are you kidding me? He is indisputably one of the greatest American skiers of all time. I immediately put our names down and won the bid! Let me start by saying he is one of the most gracious persons I have ever met. He asked us what we wanted to work on and without hesitation we said turns, carving and gates. We are big bump skiers and have little skill in the art of carving turns. He then went to work analyzing our technique, form and then strategies and drills to work on. He gave us 1.5 hours of his time. It was incredible! I had NO idea of how little I actually make my ski work. If you ever get a chance to attend one of his clinics, it is well worth the money spent. He ended the session by signing our skis and then a picture to remember the day.......like I would ever forget it?! Amazing. It's so nice to know that people like Phil represent the sport we all love.

Nobody signed up for that???? What a bunch of lamo's, really---what skier wouldn't want the chance to ski and hang out with one of the best to ever lace them up. Incredible!!!! Good for you for seizing the opportunity---chance of a lifetime.

 

[SkiDork]

nice!

 

[severine]

Very cool! And you all matched--it was meant to be!

 

[bvibert]

I thought it was cute that the 3 of you matched when I saw you coming through the lift line.

Did you guys get filmed by the HBO guy at all? IIRC he was getting some on hill material with him during your lesson, right??

The other lift supervisor was REALLY nervous when he saw that guy skiing up to the lift with that huge camera in his hands...

 

[MogulQueen]

I thought it was cute that the 3 of you matched when I saw you coming through the lift line.

Did you guys get filmed by the HBO guy at all? IIRC he was getting some on hill material with him during your lesson, right??

The other lift supervisor was REALLY nervous when he saw that guy skiing up to the lift with that huge camera in his hands...

Yeah, we did get filmed. That poor camera guy. He dropped his camera while he was trying to ski and fim us! He was NOT a very good skier. We did all our work on Gunbarrel and he just couldn't make it down with the camera. Phil was cool about it when he dropped it. He didn't flinch. He just looked at the camera guy and said, "take good care of that camera" and then went on with our lesson. The filming definately came second to our lesson.

 

[MogulQueen]

Very cool! And you all matched--it was meant to be!

Phil definately had the cooler jacket out of the three of us.

 

[Warp Daddy]

WAY COOL MQ --------------------this is a great experience for you guys . Phil is a major ICON . Great that you were SMART enough to TAKE action -- good on ya !!!

 

[Greg]

Awesome! So should I look for much faster times out of you guys tomorrow night?

 

[2knees]

that is awesome!

seriously though, i can't believe nobody else put a bid on that one.

 

[campgottagopee]

that is awesome!

seriously though, i can't believe nobody else put a bid on that one.

Do you think people were intimidated??? I still can’t get over the fact that people weren’t fighting for a chance like this….maybe it’s just me.

 

[jrmagic]

Do you think people were intimidated??? I still can’t get over the fact that people weren’t fighting for a chance like this….maybe it’s just me.

I guess they must have been. It cant possibly be that they never heard of him. I would have jumped at the chance if I saw it.

That is awesome that you 2 got a 1.5 hour lesson from him. I used to love watching him race back in the day.

 

[2knees]

Do you think people were intimidated??? I still can’t get over the fact that people weren’t fighting for a chance like this….maybe it’s just me.

possibly, but still, i just boggles my mind.

unless the other items were things like a night with Jenna Jameson or something....:lol:

 

[gmcunni]

One item was a lesson with Phil Mahre. No one had signed up for it! I was stunned. Are you kidding me? He is indisputably one of the greatest American skiers of all time. I immediately put our names down and won the bid!

That's awesome. i browsed the items up for auction but don't remember seeing the lesson.

I used to love watching him race back in the day.

i skied K2's for many years with the dream of skiing like the Mahre brothers.

 

[bigbog]

UNREAL MQ!!! Ditto the congrats for you...a day to be treasured

 

[o3jeff]

Congrats on the once in a lifetime experience.

From what I saw, not too many people went up to the tables to check out what was there.

 

[MogulQueen]

That's awesome. i browsed the items up for auction but don't remember seeing the lesson.

It was posted on the wall, so maybe a lot of people overlooked it. Lucky for me!