As I mentioned earlier I truly enjoy skiing and now that I have the opportunity to provide children with an opportunity to develop a pleasure in skiing also I am very excited. I remember how much fun I had as a kid racing down a ski hill aiming for every single bump and I hope that I can influence some children to do the same.
For the school programs Pakenham has a series of steps that progress never-evers from one skill to the next. The first step introduces children to their ski's, how to move around on them and how to slide on them. The second step asks the children to slide down a small slope and make a snow plow stoop. The third step is on a longer slightly steeper slope and it requires the children to make a series of snow plow stops. Step number four is further up the hill and it requires the students to follow an instructor making a series of linked snow plow turns through pylons. Once the kids have completed this step they move on to step five which is essentially the same thing but on a steeper slope that requires stronger snow plows. Step six is on a slope that is steeper and requires the kids to negotiate it by themselves controlling their speed with snow plow turns and stops. The seventh step is the last step, instructors at step seven teach the children how to ride the chair lift.
Once students have completed all of the steps they are required to do the star test. The star test requires the students to negotiate a slalom course with an instructor evaluating them. Once they have gained the instructors approval they can ride the chair lift and ski the runs on their own.
This method of teaching is most efficient way to teach hundreds of students but it is often confusing and impersonal. At every step there is a different instructor, each instructor often has their own way of teaching snow plow turns and stops. When jumping from one instructor to the next and being told different things it is easy for students to get confused. Part of the fun with teaching is for the student and instructor is the relationship they develop with each other. This relationship increases comfort levels and communication. This increase in comfort often makes learning for the student much easier and more enjoyable. When jumping from one instructor to the next it is extremely difficult if not impossible to do this. This is often not a problem, but for more introverted students it can make things really difficult. Their shyness often impedes their learning and they have trouble communicating with their instructors when no relationship has been formed.
These things said it is very difficult to see another way of teaching hundreds of students how to ski in a limited time frame. Pakanham does a decent job of managing this model and for most students it is effective. The instructors are also for the most part friendly and actively work to make their students comfortable in the time that they have. The thing that I think they could improve on is instructional uniformity. This will make skiing much less confusing for the students. It might also be worth while to dedicate one or two instructors to stay behind and work with the more introverted students through all of the steps.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Holiday Valley
After skiing at Pakenham for the past 5 weeks I was really excited to have a chance to ski somewhere else over reading week. A change in location and terrain was quite saught after. Holiday Valley in New York State is only three hours from my home in Guelph and provided me with a wonderful opportunity for some variation. Holiday Valley boasts 56 runs and nearly 900 feet vertical. Although that is nothing compared to the Rockies it towers over Pakenham's 260 foot vertical and 13 runs. Holiday Valley is also only a three hour drive from my home town so it is a much more feasible trip then out east or out west.
When I ariaved home in Guelph last saturday I was very dissapointed to find absolutely no snow. This dissappointment quickly dissipated on the drive to Holiday Valley. When we crossed into New York state I was surprised to find a substantial amount of snow. Holiday Valley seemed to be unaffected by the thaw that plagued Southern and Eastern Ontario. Not only were the conditions good, but so was the weather. The sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was hovering just around zero which made being outside as pleasant as it can be while still maintaining winter conditions.
The only thing that seemed to be holding the day shy of perfection was the number of people present. It was the beginning of Presidents week in the states and it seemed like many people chose to celebrate the holiday on the slopes. Luckily Holiday Valley has a few very good chairlifts that managed to keep the lines down to a comfotable level. I also avoided the most popular lifts and runs to maximize the time I had to spend at the hill.
We began our day at ten thirty having our fist run down the extremely popular Mardi Gras. This is a long gentle sloping run that is great to warm up on. After completing a run down Mardigras we chose to avoid the Mardi Gras crowds and explor the rest of the hill. We worked our way over to the right side skiing some black diamonds, mogul runs and gladed runs. The conditions this morning were excellent, there seemed to be very few ice patches. Riding up the CCC lift we noticed something odd. On the right side of the chair many trees have Mardi Gras style beaded necklaces hanging from them.
After skiing the right side of the hill we decided to make our way over to the eagle lift to ski some of the central runs. The Eagle lift gave us access to some more challenging black diamonds. These runs were a welcomed change because they provided us with moguls, rolers and some steeps. There were also very few people on them which was also nice. Similar to the CCC chair the Eagle lift provided us with an amusing surprise. The trees on the right side of the lift were garnished in Bra's and Panties.
Once we earned our fill of the central runs we worked our way left. The left side of the hill gave me the opportunity to challenge myself in a vary well maintained Terrain Park. The Fox Fire terrain park featured a super pipe, many different kinda of rails and some amazing jumps. I did a few runs through the park and then decided to see what else this side of the hill offered. When riding up the lift at Holiday Valley you hear many people talking about a run called the Wall. The wall is a double black diamond that is so steep it does not hold very much snow. It is over 45 degrees and covered in ice.
I decided that I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about, so I skied my way over to check it out. Once I arriaved I could see that it was certainly steep and icy, but it was dissapointingly short. The pitch was no more then 50-60 feet long which in my mind made it easier. I waited a little bit for all of the fallen snow riders to slide their way to the bottom and then gave it a few tries myself. The ice certainly made it difficult to turn but it was managable. I did the run a few more times to concquer it as cleanly as possible.
As the day neared an end the temperatures began to fall and the conditions worsened. The hundreds of skiers that had adorned the runs for hours on end had chewed up everything and uncovered many ice patches. Runs that had been outstanding in the morning were now a little more sketchy. By five thirty my brother and I decided that were were content with the amount of riding we had gotten in and called it a day.
Overall we could not have asked for a better day of skiing. The weather was imaculent, conditions were good and the crowd was managable. The terrain at Holiday Valley capped the day off by providing us with a welcomed change. My only real complaint about the resort was that it costed me $31.83 for two hamburgers, two fries and two drinks.
When I ariaved home in Guelph last saturday I was very dissapointed to find absolutely no snow. This dissappointment quickly dissipated on the drive to Holiday Valley. When we crossed into New York state I was surprised to find a substantial amount of snow. Holiday Valley seemed to be unaffected by the thaw that plagued Southern and Eastern Ontario. Not only were the conditions good, but so was the weather. The sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was hovering just around zero which made being outside as pleasant as it can be while still maintaining winter conditions.
The only thing that seemed to be holding the day shy of perfection was the number of people present. It was the beginning of Presidents week in the states and it seemed like many people chose to celebrate the holiday on the slopes. Luckily Holiday Valley has a few very good chairlifts that managed to keep the lines down to a comfotable level. I also avoided the most popular lifts and runs to maximize the time I had to spend at the hill.
We began our day at ten thirty having our fist run down the extremely popular Mardi Gras. This is a long gentle sloping run that is great to warm up on. After completing a run down Mardigras we chose to avoid the Mardi Gras crowds and explor the rest of the hill. We worked our way over to the right side skiing some black diamonds, mogul runs and gladed runs. The conditions this morning were excellent, there seemed to be very few ice patches. Riding up the CCC lift we noticed something odd. On the right side of the chair many trees have Mardi Gras style beaded necklaces hanging from them.
After skiing the right side of the hill we decided to make our way over to the eagle lift to ski some of the central runs. The Eagle lift gave us access to some more challenging black diamonds. These runs were a welcomed change because they provided us with moguls, rolers and some steeps. There were also very few people on them which was also nice. Similar to the CCC chair the Eagle lift provided us with an amusing surprise. The trees on the right side of the lift were garnished in Bra's and Panties.
Once we earned our fill of the central runs we worked our way left. The left side of the hill gave me the opportunity to challenge myself in a vary well maintained Terrain Park. The Fox Fire terrain park featured a super pipe, many different kinda of rails and some amazing jumps. I did a few runs through the park and then decided to see what else this side of the hill offered. When riding up the lift at Holiday Valley you hear many people talking about a run called the Wall. The wall is a double black diamond that is so steep it does not hold very much snow. It is over 45 degrees and covered in ice.
I decided that I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about, so I skied my way over to check it out. Once I arriaved I could see that it was certainly steep and icy, but it was dissapointingly short. The pitch was no more then 50-60 feet long which in my mind made it easier. I waited a little bit for all of the fallen snow riders to slide their way to the bottom and then gave it a few tries myself. The ice certainly made it difficult to turn but it was managable. I did the run a few more times to concquer it as cleanly as possible.
As the day neared an end the temperatures began to fall and the conditions worsened. The hundreds of skiers that had adorned the runs for hours on end had chewed up everything and uncovered many ice patches. Runs that had been outstanding in the morning were now a little more sketchy. By five thirty my brother and I decided that were were content with the amount of riding we had gotten in and called it a day.
Overall we could not have asked for a better day of skiing. The weather was imaculent, conditions were good and the crowd was managable. The terrain at Holiday Valley capped the day off by providing us with a welcomed change. My only real complaint about the resort was that it costed me $31.83 for two hamburgers, two fries and two drinks.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Skiing
Since I was very young skiing has been something that I have enjoyed very much. I was one of those kids that would blast down the hill aiming for every single bump that I could find. The pleasure that I found in skiing as a kid has still never worn off. Today one of my favourite things to do is carving doan a run as fast as I can getting air wherever possible. Since I have been doing this for many years I am now a fiarly competent skier.
Skiing at Packenhem for me has been a love hate skill. The runs are short but I make the best of them by trying new skills like butters and unatural rotations. The conditions this week were also relatively mild but there was enough snow on the hill to make it not a problem. The terain park at pakenham has some decent features although many of them are poorly built and maintained. For example the bottom table launches riders forty feet on to a very flat tranny. To make a jump this size safer and more enjoyable the landing should be much steeper. Likewise a few of the boxes look as if the park maintinance staff built them out of plywood. All complaints aside the terrain park could be much worse and it does have enough features that one could spend many hours in it honing their skills.
My biggest issue with Pakenham is probobly it's runs and how few of them there are. Packenham has two "black diamonds" which gives an expet class very little terrain to work with. These runs are well taken care of but the lack of variety makes skiing quite repetitive. They also have many flat spots that snag all of your speed which is very undesireable on such short runs. I could complain for hours about this however nothing can actually be done about it. Packenham has made the best of their terrain but the geography of where it is situated certainly limits it. It just makes me upset that the politics involved with ODA limits its students to terrain like this when there are other much better hills near by.
Personaly I am not entirely sold on the ski school at Packenham. From my experience in the first two days it featured alot of mindless drills that had not been associated with any purpose. It seemed as if our instructor was simply using the shot gun theory and hoping one drill would help us out. Our instructor himself was a very competent skier and truly did associate the good of himself with the good of his group which is very admirable. But that being said I realy think that the way our lessons were planned should be re-thought. I feel that the ski instructors could learn alot from the snowboard instructors. My exerience with the snowboard school was nothing shy of fantastic. They easily identified our faults and quickly assigned soltutions for them. They gave us a drill to practice and alot of time to do so.
For me the way the ski lessons were ran over the last two weeks somewhat sucked the fun out of skiing. This is a shamefull thing considering how enjoyable skiing really is. I find this even more upsetting when considering that this is many students' first exposure to skiing and it could be associated as a unpleasant hobbby. Stopping skiers after every turn on every run is ridiculous. I do see the value in dong it once in a while to work on certain techniques, but when every run is the same ting over and over it is a little ridiculous. Ski instructors should try assigning a drill for a run and then giving a run or two to put those principles into practice. During this practice time they can give students feedback on how well they are doing.
The majority of ODA students are active learners and learn best by simply putting something into practice. This makes stopping four times per run to talk about drills questionable in its significance.. The instructors at Packenham are all very well trained and capeable of gearing their lessons more towards ODA students. During the lunch period I heard many of my friends say that they really were not enjoying skiing. Every one of them did not have a probloem with the task of skiing;; they simply hated they way it was being taught. This is very easy to fix, the instructors should talk to their pupils and alter their styles of teaching. I find that modern teen skiers are very similar to snowboarders. Ski instructors could learn much from the Pakenham snowboard school. My snowboarding skills by the end of the six day course had improved beyond my expectations. I am certain that if this teaching style is so effective for snowboarding that it would also work for skiers. Not only would it work but it would make skiing much more enjoyable and make it a life lasting passion for many students.
Skiing at Packenhem for me has been a love hate skill. The runs are short but I make the best of them by trying new skills like butters and unatural rotations. The conditions this week were also relatively mild but there was enough snow on the hill to make it not a problem. The terain park at pakenham has some decent features although many of them are poorly built and maintained. For example the bottom table launches riders forty feet on to a very flat tranny. To make a jump this size safer and more enjoyable the landing should be much steeper. Likewise a few of the boxes look as if the park maintinance staff built them out of plywood. All complaints aside the terrain park could be much worse and it does have enough features that one could spend many hours in it honing their skills.
My biggest issue with Pakenham is probobly it's runs and how few of them there are. Packenham has two "black diamonds" which gives an expet class very little terrain to work with. These runs are well taken care of but the lack of variety makes skiing quite repetitive. They also have many flat spots that snag all of your speed which is very undesireable on such short runs. I could complain for hours about this however nothing can actually be done about it. Packenham has made the best of their terrain but the geography of where it is situated certainly limits it. It just makes me upset that the politics involved with ODA limits its students to terrain like this when there are other much better hills near by.
Personaly I am not entirely sold on the ski school at Packenham. From my experience in the first two days it featured alot of mindless drills that had not been associated with any purpose. It seemed as if our instructor was simply using the shot gun theory and hoping one drill would help us out. Our instructor himself was a very competent skier and truly did associate the good of himself with the good of his group which is very admirable. But that being said I realy think that the way our lessons were planned should be re-thought. I feel that the ski instructors could learn alot from the snowboard instructors. My exerience with the snowboard school was nothing shy of fantastic. They easily identified our faults and quickly assigned soltutions for them. They gave us a drill to practice and alot of time to do so.
For me the way the ski lessons were ran over the last two weeks somewhat sucked the fun out of skiing. This is a shamefull thing considering how enjoyable skiing really is. I find this even more upsetting when considering that this is many students' first exposure to skiing and it could be associated as a unpleasant hobbby. Stopping skiers after every turn on every run is ridiculous. I do see the value in dong it once in a while to work on certain techniques, but when every run is the same ting over and over it is a little ridiculous. Ski instructors should try assigning a drill for a run and then giving a run or two to put those principles into practice. During this practice time they can give students feedback on how well they are doing.
The majority of ODA students are active learners and learn best by simply putting something into practice. This makes stopping four times per run to talk about drills questionable in its significance.. The instructors at Packenham are all very well trained and capeable of gearing their lessons more towards ODA students. During the lunch period I heard many of my friends say that they really were not enjoying skiing. Every one of them did not have a probloem with the task of skiing;; they simply hated they way it was being taught. This is very easy to fix, the instructors should talk to their pupils and alter their styles of teaching. I find that modern teen skiers are very similar to snowboarders. Ski instructors could learn much from the Pakenham snowboard school. My snowboarding skills by the end of the six day course had improved beyond my expectations. I am certain that if this teaching style is so effective for snowboarding that it would also work for skiers. Not only would it work but it would make skiing much more enjoyable and make it a life lasting passion for many students.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Crushed Dreams
Cycling is my favourite past time activity; it has shaped my lifestyle into what it is today. For a large chunk of my teenage years I aspired to make a career out of my beloved hobby. My life in grade 10 and 11 consisted of training and racing. On weekends when my friends went out to see movies and party I would be in bed early or out of town preparing for competitions. I had a coach who I consulted frequently and I was required to write down every food that I ate.
I worked hard and as a result I achieved some good results. As a cadet I came in 2nd at the Ontario Provincial TT championships. I won an expert level O’Cup X-C MTB race and I stepped onto the podium at a variety of road races. In 2006 I raced at road Nationals and earned myself a spot to race for Team Ontario at Tour de l’Abitibi Junior World cup race in Val’dor Quebec.
Like any competitive athlete I experienced many ups and downs in competition. I had some hard crashes and experienced many technicals (flat tires, broken parts, etc). The year 2006 was especially hard on me. I broke a very expensive wheel and had some untimely technical incidents. As these incidents added up one after the next the pressures that I placed on myself to succeed grew significantly. I would become sick at the beginning of races from nerves. I wanted to do well, and I trained very hard. But every race it was the same thing over and over again. I would get caught up in the thought of how much better every one else was doing and would mentally defeat myself.
Now that I have taken some time away from racing I can see that this was completely ridiculous. Riding is the most fun thing I have ever done and I was turning it into a completely miserable experience. The worst part about it was it was completely self inflicted and avoidable.
Professional athletes are very admirable people and at some point in life I am sure every person has wanted to be one. Unfortunately this is something not every one can be, hard work really only goes so far in the competitive world. Professional athletes are freakishly gifted individuals. They are people who simply enjoyed doing something so much that they did it as much as possible and their god given talents put them into a position that made an athletic career possible.
I can speak about this from experience. I was extremely competitive at the provincial level. In Ontario I worked hard and did well. My results took me to Nationals where there was a much larger pool of talent. My standings in Ontario on average were in the top 5 but at Nationals I placed much lower (27th out of 200 starters). The top riders at nationals went on to compete for Team Canada at Road Worlds in Europe. At worlds every member of the Canadian team was dropped and lapped. The level of competition and talent pool in Europe is much deeper then it is in Canada. The guys who seemed fast to me were in the scheme of things quite slow.
This experience has allowed me to grow significantly as a person. I may not be cut out to be a professional athlete, but that certainly doesn’t mean that I have no place in the cycling world. Riding a bike is fun and it is a great way to stay healthy. This is an outlook that should have stuck with me throughout my racing ambitions. If I had of been riding for sheer pleasure and not for success then I wouldn’t have gotten so down on myself and in the long run I would have been more successful. I would have had more fun racing and would not have burnt myself out the way I did.
This is an important point because I feel that many people are forgetting why they compete in their respective activities. Competition is a great thing when those involved are entering it with the right mentalities. But for those who are taking it too seriously it could prove to be very detrimental. It is to easy to become obsessed with winning, but really the best way to win is enjoying what you do so much that you just do it better then everyone else. This is a lesson that I learned the hard way.
Many other great things can come from racing other then competition. Racing taught me many great habits that well stick with me for life. These are things that should be emphasized over results. Activity is something cycling promoted for me and is something that I will always do. Racing also taught me the importance of proper nutrition. I know a lot about nutrition and balancing meals that many of my peers do not. I have also gained great insight as to what things are important to me in life and what sort of career I would like. Through my ambitions I have found that a professional career is not in the cards, however, I have recognized that I want a career that is active and that allows me to enjoy the hobbies that I love.
I worked hard and as a result I achieved some good results. As a cadet I came in 2nd at the Ontario Provincial TT championships. I won an expert level O’Cup X-C MTB race and I stepped onto the podium at a variety of road races. In 2006 I raced at road Nationals and earned myself a spot to race for Team Ontario at Tour de l’Abitibi Junior World cup race in Val’dor Quebec.
Like any competitive athlete I experienced many ups and downs in competition. I had some hard crashes and experienced many technicals (flat tires, broken parts, etc). The year 2006 was especially hard on me. I broke a very expensive wheel and had some untimely technical incidents. As these incidents added up one after the next the pressures that I placed on myself to succeed grew significantly. I would become sick at the beginning of races from nerves. I wanted to do well, and I trained very hard. But every race it was the same thing over and over again. I would get caught up in the thought of how much better every one else was doing and would mentally defeat myself.
Now that I have taken some time away from racing I can see that this was completely ridiculous. Riding is the most fun thing I have ever done and I was turning it into a completely miserable experience. The worst part about it was it was completely self inflicted and avoidable.
Professional athletes are very admirable people and at some point in life I am sure every person has wanted to be one. Unfortunately this is something not every one can be, hard work really only goes so far in the competitive world. Professional athletes are freakishly gifted individuals. They are people who simply enjoyed doing something so much that they did it as much as possible and their god given talents put them into a position that made an athletic career possible.
I can speak about this from experience. I was extremely competitive at the provincial level. In Ontario I worked hard and did well. My results took me to Nationals where there was a much larger pool of talent. My standings in Ontario on average were in the top 5 but at Nationals I placed much lower (27th out of 200 starters). The top riders at nationals went on to compete for Team Canada at Road Worlds in Europe. At worlds every member of the Canadian team was dropped and lapped. The level of competition and talent pool in Europe is much deeper then it is in Canada. The guys who seemed fast to me were in the scheme of things quite slow.
This experience has allowed me to grow significantly as a person. I may not be cut out to be a professional athlete, but that certainly doesn’t mean that I have no place in the cycling world. Riding a bike is fun and it is a great way to stay healthy. This is an outlook that should have stuck with me throughout my racing ambitions. If I had of been riding for sheer pleasure and not for success then I wouldn’t have gotten so down on myself and in the long run I would have been more successful. I would have had more fun racing and would not have burnt myself out the way I did.
This is an important point because I feel that many people are forgetting why they compete in their respective activities. Competition is a great thing when those involved are entering it with the right mentalities. But for those who are taking it too seriously it could prove to be very detrimental. It is to easy to become obsessed with winning, but really the best way to win is enjoying what you do so much that you just do it better then everyone else. This is a lesson that I learned the hard way.
Many other great things can come from racing other then competition. Racing taught me many great habits that well stick with me for life. These are things that should be emphasized over results. Activity is something cycling promoted for me and is something that I will always do. Racing also taught me the importance of proper nutrition. I know a lot about nutrition and balancing meals that many of my peers do not. I have also gained great insight as to what things are important to me in life and what sort of career I would like. Through my ambitions I have found that a professional career is not in the cards, however, I have recognized that I want a career that is active and that allows me to enjoy the hobbies that I love.
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