Are you self taught?

[uphillklimber]

x

 

[Nick]

My dad was always instructing but I took a lot of lessons as well.... presumably so he had time to go ski more advanced terrain particularly while I was younger

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

Maybe add:

3.5) I was taught "the basics" by a friend or S/O, and from then on "self taught".

 

[WinnChill]

My dad was the first to take me skiing (Gunstock years ago) but spent most of the time fixing the ankle straps (old skiis) every time I fell, so not much instruction--rather frustration. I took it from there on my own. My son took one lesson and he has progressed fairly well from there.

I do want to learn to ski bumps though. I saw a sign at Sunapee referring to learning bumps and I am seriously thinking of taking lessons for that.

 

[KD7000]

3.5) I was taught "the basics" by a friend or S/O, and from then on "self taught".

Yup. Although after learning as a young teen, I didn't really ski much at all until recent years.

Snowboarding- I'm 100% self-taught.

 

[Morwax]

My sister was ski patrol when I was six 1972. She took me to the top of Waterville and gave me the basics. I pretty much learned imitating her and still keep my feet together (habit). I was also lucky to be able to ski alot with my freinds dad who was on the US ski team in 62-65. Took an official lesson once when I was 10 or 12 maybe. I've been thinking of taking alesson but im not sure what I will get from it as I see so many instructors that could use a lesson themselves.

 

[Warp Daddy]

A recent thread about a man teaching his G/F to ski has got a lot of people chatting. I am now curious how many amongst us are self taught, taught by a family member, and how many actually used lessons to get themselves going.

In my case, I learned cross country skiing from a friend when I was about 21. He showed me how to put on the skis and basically said walk with the opposite hand moving with the opposite foot. We watched each other and just did it. I fell so many times on the glazed crusty snow my hips were killing me. (Great first day, eh?) But I fell in love with skiing that day. We would ski all over golf courses and up trails into the woods and over the hills. We particularly loved skiing up hills, because it meant we could ski back down them. Pretty much if I can get up a hill, I can get down it and vice versa.

I raised 5 children, all of whom I got into cross country skiing. It's a whole lot cheaper than down hill. After my first two moved out, I got some free tickets to Cranmore on the radio. I grabbed two of my boys and we were off to ski! I started on the Penguin carpet, teaching myself how to turn and stop in both directions. Always a hockey stop, never a snowplow. From there, I went onto the green trails and made some laps, worked up to a blue, and accidentally ventured onto a black. All in the first day. My boys? They had taken a boarding lesson at Sunday River and played around in the back yard with snowboards. I gotta say that it was not fun as a father watching them shoot straight downhill, stopping at the last minute. They picked it up real fast. I skied for 5 hours straight, and was so lame in my legs that if I didn't have cruise control, I'm not sure I could have driven home.

After that, I skied for a couple years, no lessons. But I rented a room at Sugarloaf and it came with a free lesson. My wife and I said, why not, so we signed up. It was that day that I learned how to get out of the back seat and my quads no longer killed me. I instantly appreciated the value of lessons. They point me in the right direction. I have never had a formal lesson since, but every now and then I'll "poach" a lesson from an instructor. If the timing is right, and it's about something I need to improve, I'll listen to him and follow his group down the hill for a run, and work on what he just instructed his charges. I also observe people and emulate those who ski well. I love following my buddy Skiracer around the mountain. Follow his actions and tracks. I get better skiing with someone better than me.

Nowadays, I don't pay for lessons for me, but I do pay for lessons for my S/O, if only to keep peace in the house. I do not want to be in position to order her around and tell her what to do. Peace in the house is so valuable to me. That doesn't mean I won't give a pointer every now and then, but my strategy is to sign her up for a lesson as she progresses. I find it interesting how she is willing to listen to a paid expert, but not me! LOL!

Very similar story here too! We XC skied for yrs on the Olympic trails at Placid frequently but numerous other venues here and in the Gatineau above Ottawa. I was lucky enough to have 15 k of trails including hilly terrain right on our college campus . So many noon hrs i'd ski with other XC whackos on campus . Our family skied every weekend together during the season with several extended trips on school vacations .

I took up downhill after i finished paying college tuitions for both kids and my wife and finished my graduate school education .

I was fortunate enough to have these great buddies all of whom are great skiers and were either former hockey pucks from St Lawrence U or Dartmouth ski racers : The Red Group ( Retired Extremely Dangerous).

These ski whack job were my real mentors. yeah i had skied BUT these guys "pushed me" to up the ante and like a little kid i played Follow the Leader down some stuff i NEVER would have tried on my own especially in my 50's . But frankly my XC skills , especially the downhill side of it which i LOVED made the transition fairly easy . Today we regularly ski together and made several extended trips together .

BTW: yesterday we were skiing and ran into one of their FORMER coaches and His wife skiing . The guy is 90 yrs old and his wife is 92.!!!!!!!!!!!. Talk about INSPIRATIONAL And the conditions yesterday were lets say challenging -- edgeable but very FIRM and fast and a few ambulance runs were made for some HS kids who maanged to collide on one of the runs .

 

[emmaurice2]

I took lessons for my first full season of skiing with my middle school ski club back in '89 and then one lesson per season through high school. In college and then through the early 2000s I was skiing with much more advanced skiers than myself and would imitate what they were doing and they would give me tips. Took about 7 years off from skiing until 2 seasons ago, and I feel like I would benefit from lessons again.

 

[kingslug]

After watching Wide World of Sports (remember that?) for years I tried skiing at Big Vanilla in NJ...total disaster, spent the day in the lodge with bleeding feet. tried again at 20..not much better. Married a skier at 30..and was forced to learn. Spent a few years at Mountain Creek learning to ski on solid ice, then went to Belleayre to learn on real snow, then Hunter...17 years later..total fanatic..even drove the now former wife crazy with it...and yes I have taken some lessons, the best one at Jackson Hole, an all day group lesson for $80.00...talk about a bargain..and she damn near killed us..

 

[abc]

I learned to ski relatively recently compare to many here.

I found some "leant-to-ski" package which includes lift/rental/lesson for about the same cost as just lift and rental. So it was a no brainer.

 

[Abubob]

Its evident from the time stamps many people are not skiing today. I have a massive head cold. <exactly how it feel - only not smiling so much - maybe I should take something?

Anyways: I also need another category. I was originally taught some basics by my father when I was seven years old. He wanted my brother and I to take lessons and we both staunchly refused but honed our skills in our backyard and at local hills that we visited frequently.

It wasn't until I was in my early 20's when I was trying to figure out how to pay for skiing when I decided to become an instructor. Powder Ridge was giving clinics and needed instructors so I went there. After one year there I taught at Mt Southington for four years.

Taking the clinic was a real eye opener. I learned to ski all over again. And if you know anything about being and instructor its all about being taught to teach - daily clinics and PSIA testing and certification. So you could say I took (and gave) lessons for five years.

 

[goldsbar]

Both. Started out with one lesson when I was a kid. That was it for a long time. Got more serious about the sport around 10 years ago and started to read some books. Helped a lot and taught me how to carve and ski bumps. Learned there's a big difference between getting down and skiing down. Now I take a lesson every couple of years. Some are great, some not.

I took the aforementioned Jackson Hole full day "group" lesson (I was the group!) last year. Best lesson I've ever had. Guy was great. Made some very subtle changes in what I was doing which helped a lot. I was essentially over carving everything off piste. Another benefit was he knew the best trails and parts of trails. Little sections of woods I wouldn't think about turned out to be some of the best parts of the day.

 

[andyzee]

After watching Wide World of Sports (remember that?) for years I tried skiing at Big Vanilla in NJ...total disaster, spent the day in the lodge with bleeding feet. tried again at 20..not much better. Married a skier at 30..and was forced to learn. Spent a few years at Mountain Creek learning to ski on solid ice, then went to Belleayre to learn on real snow, then Hunter...17 years later..total fanatic..even drove the now former wife crazy with it...and yes I have taken some lessons, the best one at Jackson Hole, an all day group lesson for $80.00...talk about a bargain..and she damn near killed us..

Sorry slug, Big Vanilla was in NY.

 

[andyzee]

My wife and I started at Mt. Creek, never got off the bunny slopes, kept on repeating the "I've fallen and can't get up" line. A year of two later, some friends tried to talk us into skiing, we told them of our experience, they said take a lesson, We took one lesson, got us going and that's it.

 

[kingslug]

Sorry slug, Big Vanilla was in NY.

Really..where? I was..13 I think..snowed like crazy that day...skinny skis, crappy boots..lodge was at the top I think, I walked up to it..
ah..woodridge ny.

 

[drjeff]

Started off Day 1 as an 8yr old dropped off at ski school, was in seasonal lessons/race team up through the end of high school, so I basically started off with 10and years of structured ski instruction. I still to this day every so often take a specialty clinic every now and then and am lucky enough to have a bunch of friends who are either high level instructors/high level masters racers or just all around really good free skiers who I try and ski with to push myself. I whole heartedly believe that in many aspects of life, one should never stop learning!

 

[andyzee]

Really..where? I was..13 I think..snowed like crazy that day...skinny skis, crappy boots..lodge was at the top I think, I walked up to it..

Not too far from NJ so it's understandable.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Lessons came with the first year of my ski club in elementary school (they helped enormously).

After that I was completely self-taught, until years later working at Stowe and you're allowed to take free lessons. I took advantage of that (not as much as I should have) and took some advanced lessons. They really helped quite a bit. Just small things, really technical aspects you dont even notice or maybe think of, but they add up. I'd recommend almost anyone take an upper-level lesson once a year or at least every other year, etc... You'd be surprised how much it can help.

 

[steamboat1]

I only took one lesson in my whole life almost 40 years ago at tiny Snow Valley. I learned by watching good skiers from the lift.

 

[Jersey Skier]

Ha...Big Vanilla I "learned" there. Went up from Queens on a bus full of Cub/Boy scouts. There weren't enough instructors, so a friends father took a group of us. Here was the lesson.

"You guys all play ice hockey, right?" We all did. "OK, just go down the hill and do a bunch of Hockey Stops on the way down." "Have fun."

Been hooked ever since. Didn't have any real lessons till I was in college and was able to take skiing as my gym elective. Keep meaning to take more, but it never seem slike the right time.