Eleanor really really wanted to use poles while skiing. Ski instructors don't give them to kids (or anyone just learning, for that matter) because it distracts them from learning and can be dangerous. Worn out by her repeated entreaties, Michael said that if she did “linked turns” with good speed control all the way down the hill without his reminding her, she could use poles. The first trip down he had to remind her a few times, but after that, she worked very hard and remembered all the way down.
Of course, using the poles was a distraction, and there were new things to learn about how to use poles safely. But it kept being a great motivator for skiing well, and she kept skiing well all the time she used the poles. She's at least as good a skier as I am, and she definitely has more confidence. I'll see if I can get Michael to write a “guest blog post” about Eleanor skiing.
Michael says: It's amazing how quickly Eleanor learned when she was motivated. When we started skiing, it was a little scary going down the blue run outside the house, which we needed to go down to get to the easier green runs that Eleanor had been doing in class. Eleanor was having trouble listening to things like “slow down,” “stop,” “turn right,” and so on. Even on the green runs she was a little bit unpredictable and I felt like I needed to ski behind her to protect her from skiers coming up behind her—and vice versa! It seemed that I was constantly shouting “linked turns! slow down! linked turns!” It was a little frustrating that she kept asking for poles. I figured that offering to let her use poles if she did linked turns with good speed control all the way down the hill was a safely theoretical offer. That motivation was all she needed, though, to really put into practice what she had learned in ski school. Concentrating on linking her turns all the way down the hill made her much more predictable for other skiers, and the more she did it, the easier it was for her.
It wasn't long before she was quite comfortable even on the steep parts of the blue runs. It seems that the turning and speed control were becoming more automatic, because she became better aware of skiers around her, planning further ahead to avoid them, learning to adjust quickly when they skied too close to her.
After that session skiing together, she did one more half day of ski school, where she advanced to the next class and started working on parallel turns, and it was obvious when we skied together that she had started learning them. Before we left the hill, I could comfortably follow her down the steepest runs we skied together, and trust that she would ski in control and at a reasonable speed the whole way down without a single reminder. I could also ski ahead of her, and I saw that when I skied a little too fast for her, she didn't rush to catch up with me; she stayed at a speed that she could control. On the few occasions that she fell down, she was very competent at getting up by herself, quickly. No supine loitering like the mass litter of snowboarders on hills for which they were not competent (“obstacles”).
I'm looking forward to skiing with Eleanor again.
Of course, using the poles was a distraction, and there were new things to learn about how to use poles safely. But it kept being a great motivator for skiing well, and she kept skiing well all the time she used the poles. She's at least as good a skier as I am, and she definitely has more confidence. I'll see if I can get Michael to write a “guest blog post” about Eleanor skiing.
Michael says: It's amazing how quickly Eleanor learned when she was motivated. When we started skiing, it was a little scary going down the blue run outside the house, which we needed to go down to get to the easier green runs that Eleanor had been doing in class. Eleanor was having trouble listening to things like “slow down,” “stop,” “turn right,” and so on. Even on the green runs she was a little bit unpredictable and I felt like I needed to ski behind her to protect her from skiers coming up behind her—and vice versa! It seemed that I was constantly shouting “linked turns! slow down! linked turns!” It was a little frustrating that she kept asking for poles. I figured that offering to let her use poles if she did linked turns with good speed control all the way down the hill was a safely theoretical offer. That motivation was all she needed, though, to really put into practice what she had learned in ski school. Concentrating on linking her turns all the way down the hill made her much more predictable for other skiers, and the more she did it, the easier it was for her.
It wasn't long before she was quite comfortable even on the steep parts of the blue runs. It seems that the turning and speed control were becoming more automatic, because she became better aware of skiers around her, planning further ahead to avoid them, learning to adjust quickly when they skied too close to her.
After that session skiing together, she did one more half day of ski school, where she advanced to the next class and started working on parallel turns, and it was obvious when we skied together that she had started learning them. Before we left the hill, I could comfortably follow her down the steepest runs we skied together, and trust that she would ski in control and at a reasonable speed the whole way down without a single reminder. I could also ski ahead of her, and I saw that when I skied a little too fast for her, she didn't rush to catch up with me; she stayed at a speed that she could control. On the few occasions that she fell down, she was very competent at getting up by herself, quickly. No supine loitering like the mass litter of snowboarders on hills for which they were not competent (“obstacles”).
I'm looking forward to skiing with Eleanor again.
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