Advancing your skiing

A week ago we posted that even advanced skiers could have a lot to gain by taking a ski lesson. Well our friend Mike from Reno came up and gave it a shot.

If you haven’t noticed, Tahoe has been getting a bit of snow lately. And by “bit” I mean 52 inches in the last 7 days!!! With all that snow there are a few important things to remember. You need to get out and ski it, you need to take pictures of it to show your buddies who were stuck at work and you need to make sure you’re on top of your game so you look good in those pictures.

And there’s no better way to get that killer style than to grab a lesson with a pro skier to help you hone your technique, which is exactly what I did. I met Heavenly Ski Instructor Bryan Schilling and told him I needed to tune up my skills for skiing the cool off-piste terrain at Heavenly. To really rock those runs you need to be ready to dodge trees, hop rocks and keep up your speed on traverses, and I’d been feeling a bit timid lately.

First he took me for a warm-up on the way over to Killebrew Canyon. Along the way, Bryan had me do some Whitepass Turns, an awkward and unintuitive drill to get me to begin turning on both skis and initiating turns early. It worked!

It’s a good thing I went to Heavenly for an advanced lesson. Bryan took me on the steepest, tightest and most challenging terrain I’ve ever skied in-bounds! The chute we hit in Killebrew Canyon was awesome! As a side note, grabbing a lesson like that is good way to get a guided tour of the mountain…

That first drop down the chute doesn’t look as crappy as it felt (see video). I was way in the back-seat and not rocking the greatest form. Bryan pointed out that my pole plant was a problem. He told me to reach DOWN the hill, perpendicular to the ski. That gets you moving down hill and keeps you on top of your skis.

All in all it was a great experience, and a humbling one, to get back in the classroom and learn a thing or two about my favorite sport. Next time I hit the chutes of Mott Canyon and Killebrew Canyon I’ll be charging, buzzing trees and maybe even dropping some cliffs. I’ve been out a few times since the lesson and feel a lot more confidence ripping in the steeps and through the trees in all the powder we’ve been getting.

Thanks Bryan!!!

-Mike