Snowboarding

My first real winter activity was downhill skiing. I began skiing at the age of three and have been doing it steadily since. The countless hours I have spent on ski's has made me a fairly proficient skier. I now have my level one instructor certification and have spent a year teaching lessons.



With the exception of a few times in Grade school I have done very little snowboarding. I began this winter's set of skills with the goal of improving my snowboarding skills and I would say it is safe to say I did so. This could quite easily be attributed to the competent instructors at Mount Pakenham.



I began the first day trying to ride a snowboard the same way I ski. I was hunched over and had my hands out in front of myself. My first instructor quickly recognized what I was doing wrong and outlined a few exercises for me to correct my issues. The exercises he outlined for me were very easy to understand and apply to my riding. When I finished each run he provided me with applicable feedback that was easily understood. By the end of the first day I felt like I had already improved.



This trend of good instruction and self improvement continued throughout the course of the snowboard program. Each instructor I worked with provided me with use full drills and understandable advice. By the end of the program I had gone from making intermediate level turns to carving which is more advanced. I was no longer riding like a stiff board; I incorporated fluid movements throughout each turn.

As a whole I would say that the snowboard instructors at Mount Pakenham are very professional and can easily get into the same head space as their students. They understood the needs of myself and the other students and did not teach us like they would teach a ten year old of a forty year old. They knew what was necessary too keep our attention.

My one complaint about the Pakenham snow school is how much my group got shuffled around between instructors. Over the course of the program I came into contact with three different instructors. This made it difficult for the instructors to see my progression and mark me accordingly. It also forced myself and my classmates to frequently adapt to different learning styles. That being said the instructors did meet up for evaluations and I received an appropriate mark for my skill level.