I鈥檝e been skiing for so long, I don鈥檛 remember ever not skiing鈥攐r what it was like to learn how to ski. I鈥檝e been an expert skier for decades. But a recent outing with my eight-year-old son, Gunnar, brought me to a realization: after all these years, my skiing has become one-dimensional.

Related:

I know what, how, and where I like to ski. But when you do the same thing over time, you limit your ability to expand your horizons. I have over 40 years of experience skiing and nearly 30 years as a professional ski instructor. And what does all this experience mean to my eight-year-old?

Nothing.

Gunnar has his own definitions of successful skiing and doesn鈥檛 really care about my experience. At first I was frustrated by his trail choices, interests, and decisions. I鈥檇 say, 鈥淣o, let鈥檚 not ski the bunny lift鈥攜ou can ski black diamonds!鈥� He鈥檇 answer: 鈥淐ome on, Dad!鈥� He has his reasons, and he rarely leaves dissatisfied or unfulfilled.

Gunnar鈥檚 ski habits have led me to another realization: he鈥檚 becoming a complete skier in ways that I am not. Here鈥檚 how.

He Skis Backwards

This pretty much says it all. It鈥檚 so simple, yet so completely foreign to old schoolers. If you want to go back to square one, turn yourself around and put it in reverse. Skiing switch uses the same skills鈥攂alancing movements, edging movements, and tipping skis from edge to edge鈥攁s going forward. Often, beginner switch skiers (which is me) will use a wedge and advance to parallel. Remember, just like in regular skiing, turn shape equals control.

Peter Novom, eastern-division examiner for the Professional Ski Instructors of America and a member of the PSIA national freestyle task force, explains what feels so backward about skiing backwards.

鈥淚f you close your ankle joint, your center of mass ends up behind your base of support,鈥� Novom says. When you鈥檙e skiing switch, you want to be in the back seat, because the car is driving in reverse. For me, that means trying to unlearn 40-plus-year-old habits.

But Gunnar knows all this. At this point, he doesn鈥檛 ski fast when he鈥檚 going backwards. I鈥檓 sure that will change, and all I can hope is that I can still keep up in a few years鈥攕kiing frontward or backwards.

He Skis Tight Trees

I鈥檝e heard old-school parents sniff at terrain parks and claim, 鈥淲hen we were that age, we skied in the woods!鈥� News flash, parents: your kids ski the trees, too鈥攖rees you may consider unskiable. Remember, your kid is on 100-centimeter skis; you鈥檙e likely on 150-centimeter-plus planks. Follow your little grom on their tree line and you may find yourself on a tight point-鈥檈m-or-die bobsled track. Good luck in there!

If you put your kids in a ski-school lesson, be prepared at lesson鈥檚 end for them to show you all the secret stashes. If trees aren鈥檛 your bag, talk to your child鈥檚 instructor. Twenty-first-century resort operators invest heavily in low-angle glades, glade cutting and trimming, and easily accessible 鈥渇amily zones.鈥� With any luck, your kid will show you one of those zones.

Related:

He Practices Tricks

Kids that ski want to learn how to do tricks. Flips and 360鈥檚 are on TV and in the movies. Freeskiing is arguably on more screens than World Cup races. My son can鈥檛 do a 360鈥攜et. But he will not rest until he lands one. When he鈥檚 on a backyard trampoline in summer, he imagines he鈥檚 getting big air. And now I鈥檓 making sure to get my tramp reps, too, otherwise I鈥檓 sure to get left behind. (But who am I fooling? We all know I鈥檓 just postponing the inevitable.)

He Studies Terrain

My kid knows the mountain. We used to give him coloring books; now we give him trail maps. After a day on the hill, Gunnar comes home and studies that thing! (If he attacks his schoolwork with the same fervor, we鈥檒l have an Einstein on our hands.) With a Sharpie, he traces the runs he made that day. His goal: to ski every trail at our home resort this season. He also circles patrol shacks, cool jumps, and parks. And any unnamed woods zones are now named鈥攃ourtesy of him and his sister. At one time, I thought I knew our home mountain. No longer; my local knowledge has been surpassed.

He Pays Attention to His Environment

Gunnar picks up litter while he skis. (Granted, he then usually hands the garbage to me to put in my pocket.) Somewhere along the line he learned that human accountability is the only way to sustain our skiing way of life. I agree with him, but my actions don鈥檛 necessarily support that. I have, more often than not, skied past a wrapper or a can on the side of the slope rather than pick it up and return it to a base-area garbage can. Litter bugs, take note: if you don鈥檛 already feel guilty about your actions, just know an eight-year-old is picking up after you.

He Eats the Snow

Some parents will say, 鈥淒on鈥檛 eat that, it鈥檚 disgusting!鈥� People learn using all of their senses, so making snowballs, throwing dry powder in the air like confetti, collecting and studying snowflake shapes on mittens, and, yes, eating snow鈥攊t鈥檚 all data collection. The end result: this kid knows snow.

I鈥檝e been skiing at a high level for decades, but skiing with my eight-year-old has been a wake-up call. I can thank Gunnar for helping me understand when I鈥檓 skiing inside my box and for reminding me to ski outside it on occasion. Because, when I follow my son鈥檚 lead, I learn new tricks of the trade.

The post How to Turn Your Kid into a Better Skier than You appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.