# Killington 2012-01-29 -- Taking the girl I love skiing for her first time



## bdfreetuna (Jan 30, 2012)

To cut to the chase, conditions were overall great at Killington.... really soft snow and nice powder.. They had WAY to many ropes up though on trails I would have totally skiied and they looked totally legit to ski.

Anyway, I wasn't out there to slay the mountain that day. I was out there to introduce the love of my life to my favorite past time.

We had gone out for like 4 years, then broke up as our paths took different courses, and just a month or so ago we started to really reconnect. I asked her if she wanted to go skiing and she said she would love to try it.

Since I am an expert skier I assumed I would be an expert ski instructer. That turned out to be mostly not true 

Anyway, we got up there early and rented her some skis. They wanted to give her like 140mm skis since it was her first time but I was like come on I ski 185s and anything less than 160 isn't a real ski... so she ended up with 150's or 160's I don't remember... at least a decent pair of Rossignol Bandit rental skis and she is like 5'10" so she dont need no short ass skies...

Anyway... we took a couple runs down Snowdon or Snowshed or whatever the easier mountain is. Her first time riding up the lift was slightly scary they had to slow it down a little but it was fine.  She got off the lift okay and I taught her how to snowplow and go real slow while I was skiing backwards giving her tips the whole way down.

She fell a few times but did pretty well. So we took like 4 runs like that and she started to get fairly confident and was having fun even though she did wipe out a bunch of times.. at least the snow was soft that day and she mostly laughed it off.

Then I came up with a stupid idea. "Lets go on the K-1 Gondola that will be fun!"

So we rode up that and by that point her legs were already getting tired. We took the green circle all the way down but she fell a bunch of times and I could tell she was getting frustrated and her legs were just not conditioned to skiing and she had a hard time setting her skies straight across the mountain and standing up a few times. She started to get frustrated but she was trying her best.

We got about halfway down when she just needed to take a break, because its a long way down the Gondola to the K-1 base lodge and her legs were really giving out. A ski patrol came by and noticed we were just sitting there and she was frustrated, so we talked to him for a while.

We came to the decision that we might as well get her a sled ride down the rest of the hill. The sled was there in 5 minutes and I grabbed her skies and followed the sled down. She was slightly embarrased but she also had fun on the sled. I said "Thank you SOOOO much" and shook his hand and he was like "Dude, it's totally my pleasure"

Ski Patrol RULES and Killington mountain ambassadors are the real deal. She could have probably gotten down the rest of the way but by the point her legs were so tired and they just really saved us a heck of a lot of frustration and they were so cool about it.

We got back to the lodge, had a few drinks, had some food and a lovely chat. I took her out to a nice restaurant afterwards and overall she had to admit it was an incredible day although a little intense and maybe next time I should get her some actual ski lessons instead of trying to do it myself.

In the end.... it went very well considering.

Here is a picture of us at the top of the K-1 gondola... this was before her legs gave out and she was still having a good time


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## Black Phantom (Jan 30, 2012)

How was the ride in the Gondola?


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## bdfreetuna (Jan 30, 2012)

Good had a couple swigs of Vodka


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## Nick (Jan 30, 2012)

Glad she was cool with it. 

I have a good Killington story. When my wife and I were first dating (literally a month into our relationship), we went to Killington on a weeklong trip during college break. 

Anyway, we went to the top of the K1 gondola same. It was myself, my girlfriend, a good friend of mine and his girlfriend. Anyway, my buddy and i decide we are going to ski down the steeper stuff and we will just meet the girls at the bottom. 

Long story short, they get lost, end up in a mogul field somewhere, and we didn't see them again for almost three hours. (this was when not everyone had a cell phone). Whoops. 

That, and my Wachusett experience where I had to go back down the lift, are both in my book of shame :lol:


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## oakapple (Jan 30, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> Anyway, we got up there early and rented her some skis. They wanted to give her like 140mm skis since it was her first time but I was like come on I ski 185s and anything less than 160 isn't a real ski... so she ended up with 150's or 160's I don't remember... at least a decent pair of Rossignol Bandit rental skis and she is like 5'10" so she dont need no short ass skies...


Well, there you go: the shorter the ski, the easier it is for a beginner to control. Not that she would have been parallel turning on the 140s, but they would have been better for her.


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## mlkrgr (Jan 30, 2012)

Nick said:


> Glad she was cool with it.
> 
> I have a good Killington story. When my wife and I were first dating (literally a month into our relationship), we went to Killington on a weeklong trip during college break.
> 
> ...



Agreed; that's the thing that if you split up to ski steeper stuff, you can easily get lost. It's easy enough to get unintentionally lost as I thought I was skiing slow the day I went with my friend to Stratton down a black diamond. I was paying too much to what I was doing myself and so I then got a good distance down and noticed my friends weren't behind me. Took 3 hours there to get back with them (should have been 2 but they were at a bar open that day that's usually closed). 

As far as introducing a never ever GF, I'd probably do it on a local hill first as I would be one of the types to say taking the K1 up would be fun too.


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## skidbump (Jan 31, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> To cut to the chase, conditions were overall great at Killington.... really soft snow and nice powder.. They had WAY to many ropes up though on trails I would have totally skiied and they looked totally legit to ski.
> 
> Anyway, I wasn't out there to slay the mountain that day. I was out there to introduce the love of my life to my favorite past time.
> 
> ...




And this is why you never teach someone to ski who is your Spouse,significant other ,or your child.Also it quite obvious that you pushed her way beyond he abilities just so you could ski a shitty wrap around.


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## Puck it (Jan 31, 2012)

Did u hit 75mph?


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## powhunter (Jan 31, 2012)

Did you get laid after?


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## ScottySkis (Jan 31, 2012)

Nice


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## marcski (Jan 31, 2012)

I can't believe you call your gf being taken down in a sled on her first day ever, a successful day. I can't wait to read you TR's about a bad day!  

All the power to you.  She certainly sounds like a keeper!!  (And a trooper!).


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## Black Phantom (Jan 31, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> Good had a couple swigs of Vodka



That's it?


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## WWF-VT (Jan 31, 2012)

An "expert skier" would never have gotten themselves into a situation where the first timer that they were skiing with needed to take a sled down due to fatigue and frustration.  I hope you made a big donation to the Killington ski patrol for bailing you out.


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## gmcunni (Jan 31, 2012)

when's the next lesson?


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## Cheese (Jan 31, 2012)

She has a nice smile.  It's too bad you took it away from her on her first skiing experience.  Expert instructors know that the most important thing they can do is make it fun enough that a student will return for another lesson.  Next time, listen to the advice given from the rental shop, care enough about  your girl to pony up for a legitimate lesson, buy her a nice lunch after she completes the lesson and then return to the same trail(s) that her instructor taught her on so not to preempt her learning by removing her from her comfort zone.


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## Puck it (Jan 31, 2012)

You know. I was thinking that it was BD move too!  I would never have put a beginner in that position.


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## Black Phantom (Jan 31, 2012)

What did you have for lunch? Did you go to Noel's?


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## powhunter (Jan 31, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> Good had a couple swigs of Vodka




How much did your GF drink?


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## skidbump (Jan 31, 2012)

As someone who only works with first time skiers i would like to say
It only takes approx 3 hours to get someone from the beginner bump "10 ft long pitch to flat run out" to green trails when they come in for a lesson at Belleayre.In the 1 to 1.5 hrs of the 15 dollar lesson they are taught balance and stance thru wedge turns to stop.After they graduate we send them to the tow handle to practice what we taught and most make it to the green lift after 2 or 3 runs down the 100 yrd bunny trail.
THE ONLY WAY SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED IS BECAUSE YOU HAD HER IN A POWER WEDGE FROM MINUTE 1.
Feel sorry for her and i don't even know her.Hope you didn't scar her for life.
I have had people who couldn't do it but we have a 99% success rate on a 2 turn and turn to stop final station.

Dude you did a major injustice to your girlfriend.


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## andrec10 (Jan 31, 2012)

skidbump said:


> As someone who only works with first time skiers i would like to say
> It only takes approx 3 hours to get someone from the beginner bump "10 ft long pitch to flat run out" to green trails when they come in for a lesson at Belleayre.In the 1 to 1.5 hrs of the 15 dollar lesson they are taught balance and stance thru wedge turns to stop.After they graduate we send them to the tow handle to practice what we taught and most make it to the green lift after 2 or 3 runs down the 100 yrd bunny trail.
> THE ONLY WAY SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED IS BECAUSE YOU HAD HER IN A POWER WEDGE FROM MINUTE 1.
> Feel sorry for her and i don't even know her.Hope you didn't scar her for life.
> ...



+1


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## SkiDork (Jan 31, 2012)

FirstTimeSkiInstructor said:
			
		

> Anyway, we got up there early and rented her some skis. They wanted to give her like 140mm skis since it was her first time but I was like come on I ski 185s and anything less than 160 isn't a real ski... so she ended up with 150's or 160's I don't remember... at least a decent pair of Rossignol Bandit rental skis and she is like 5'10" so she dont need no short ass skies...



mistake


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## Puck it (Jan 31, 2012)

Is she leaving you?


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## skiadikt (Jan 31, 2012)

agree the longer skis were a mistake. probably why she tired out that quickly. also u should have spent the entire day at snowshed. if u wanted to get adventurous, maybe take her under the tunnel to ramshead but the peak - no way ...


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## bdfreetuna (Jan 31, 2012)

skidbump said:


> And this is why you never teach someone to ski who is your Spouse,significant other ,or your child.Also it quite obvious that you pushed her way beyond he abilities just so you could ski a shitty wrap around.



I only took her on green circles.. and what is a shitty wrap around?



Puck it said:


> Did u hit 75mph?



Topped out at 124mph



powhunter said:


> Did you get laid after?



No it was the wrong time of the month for that but we fooled around in other ways.. but she felt bad I spent all that money on her that day so I said dont worry about it but if you're really concerned you can pay me back with sex.. actually that was mostly her idea come to think of it 8)



Cheese said:


> She has a nice smile.  It's too bad you took it away from her on her first skiing experience.  Expert instructors know that the most important thing they can do is make it fun enough that a student will return for another lesson.  Next time, listen to the advice given from the rental shop, care enough about  your girl to pony up for a legitimate lesson, buy her a nice lunch after she completes the lesson and then return to the same trail(s) that her instructor taught her on so not to preempt her learning by removing her from her comfort zone.



Well I already spent like $300 fucking dollars that day just to buy her and my tickets and rentals and dinner afterwards... shit I'm not made of money! Next time I will buy her a lesson and go to a smaller ski area. And yes she does have a nice smile and she was smiling right after the sled ride and we had a few drinks at the K-1 lodge. She's a trooper, damn right!



skidbump said:


> THE ONLY WAY SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED IS BECAUSE YOU HAD HER IN A POWER WEDGE FROM MINUTE 1.
> Feel sorry for her and i don't even know her.Hope you didn't scar her for life.
> I have had people who couldn't do it but we have a 99% success rate on a 2 turn and turn to stop final station.
> 
> Dude you did a major injustice to your girlfriend.



Yeah I know that's why her legs got tired. Believe me she is not scarred for life we had a great night afterwards. Thanks for judging me with such reckless abandon!


Anyway she says she wants to go skiing again so I don't think it was a FAIL. And Jesus it's not like I took her up to MRG and said "this is Paradise, meet you at the bottom!"

I was right beside her the whole time.


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## hammer (Jan 31, 2012)

Glad for your (and her) sake your girlfriend was a real trooper.  Just watch out for the payback...;-)


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## bdfreetuna (Jan 31, 2012)

skiadikt said:


> agree the longer skis were a mistake. probably why she tired out that quickly. also u should have spent the entire day at snowshed. if u wanted to get adventurous, maybe take her under the tunnel to ramshead but the peak - no way ...



Yeah you are right I overestimated her leg strength but she has been going to the gym lately so she'll be stronger soon.

I should not have taken her up the K-1 Gondola but I wanted to show her what it was like to ride in a Gondola because that's like a cool experience... I didn't really realize how much bigger of a peak that was compared to Showshed.

It was definitely my bad. But the ski patrol were SUPER awesome and cool about the whole thing and when we got to the bottom the guy had a smile on his face and I shook his hand and he said it was genuinely his pleasure.

Big shout out to Killington Mountain Ambassadors / Ski Patrol and Ski Patrol in general.


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## oakapple (Jan 31, 2012)

Well, it goes to show why most good athletes are not good coaches. If you think about pro and collegiate sports, many of the best known coaches had quite undistinguished careers as players. The ability to _perform_ the sport, and the ability to _teach_ the sport, seldom coincide in the same individual. Indeed, being good at it is often a drawback, as you fail to realize the difficulties that a less talented individual will encounter.


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## billdee (Jan 31, 2012)

My wife taught me to ski when in our early 20s -- she a Vermonter and me a city boy.  I couldn't believe she could ski backwards and I was really shocked when we ended up on Ovation and I nearly died and wanted to dump her.  26 years later we were flying down Superstar this weekend with four kids way ahead of us, loving it.  
Meanwhile, Killington was fun this weekend if you realized ice is nice.  Bear Mountain was good, Superstar top was ice/mid was nice/and bottom was slick and hard.  And you can forget about the Snowden quad area as it was a skating rink.  They're doing the best they can but be prepared and have sharp edges if you go.


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## bdfreetuna (Jan 31, 2012)

Really I found the conditions at Killington over the weekend to be really nice, soft snow.

Maybe I'm just used to straight ICE and anything better than that is a luxury to me


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## Nick (Jan 31, 2012)

billdee said:


> My wife taught me to ski when in our early 20s -- she a Vermonter and me a city boy.  I couldn't believe she could ski backwards and I was really shocked when we ended up on Ovation and I nearly died and wanted to dump her.  26 years later we were flying down Superstar this weekend with four kids way ahead of us, loving it.
> Meanwhile, Killington was fun this weekend if you realized ice is nice.  Bear Mountain was good, Superstar top was ice/mid was nice/and bottom was slick and hard.  And you can forget about the Snowden quad area as it was a skating rink.  They're doing the best they can but be prepared and have sharp edges if you go.



Welcome to the boards, great story, I think you are the first I've heard where a girl took you skiing for the first time 

 I have less sympathy for guys. You should be able to ski down anything even if you have to slide on your butt, :lol:


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## deadheadskier (Jan 31, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> Anyway, we got up there early and rented her some skis. They wanted to give her like 140mm skis since it was her first time but I was like come on I ski 185s and anything less than 160 isn't a real ski... so she ended up with 150's or 160's I don't remember... at least a decent pair of Rossignol Bandit rental skis and she is like 5'10" so she dont need no short ass skies...



can't make this stuff up.  :lol:


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## 2knees (Jan 31, 2012)

deadheadskier said:


> can't make this stuff up.  :lol:



no, but you wish he did.


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## gmcunni (Jan 31, 2012)

dude, dump her now and find a girl that skis.  no matter what she says she's too old to get into the sport and love it like you do. she will suck the fun out of your life if you stay with her.


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## deadheadskier (Jan 31, 2012)

bdfreetuna

You wouldn't happen to be related to some dude in Allentown, PA that sells tombstones would you?


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## Black Phantom (Jan 31, 2012)

gmcunni said:


> dude, dump her now and find a girl that skis.  no matter what she says she's too old to get into the sport and love it like you do. she will suck the fun out of your life if you stay with her.



This is the best advice I have ever heard on a ski forum.


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## Puck it (Jan 31, 2012)

deadheadskier said:


> bdfreetuna
> 
> You wouldn't happen to be related to some dude in Allentown, PA that sells tombstones would you?



It is nice comic relief.  Wonder if he hates pow like the steezey one.


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## Abubob (Jan 31, 2012)

What? You are lucky she even talks to you!


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## Cheese (Jan 31, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> Well I already spent like $300 fucking dollars that day just to buy her and my tickets and rentals and dinner afterwards... shit I'm not made of money!



In the future, if you decide to bring new skiers to a resort go straight to the ski school desk.  They can tell you how to sign her up for a "Learn to Ski Program".  Had you done this, she would have gotten a lift ticket, rentals and a lesson for $129. 

http://www.killington.com/winter/lessons/adult_group_lessons/learn_to_ski


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## ALLSKIING (Jan 31, 2012)

Cheese said:


> In the future, if you decide to bring new skiers to a resort go straight to the ski school desk.  They can tell you how to sign her up for a "Learn to Ski Program".  Had you done this, she would have gotten a lift ticket, rentals and a lesson for $129.
> 
> http://www.killington.com/winter/lessons/adult_group_lessons/learn_to_ski


I think its even cheaper then that in Jan.


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## gmcunni (Jan 31, 2012)

if you don't dump her then sign her up here on AZ so the two of you can ski Sugarloaf for cheap in the spring.  discounted lodging (room for 2) free booze and food at the parties.  she'll have a nice place to hang out while you rack some high speed vert in the AM and the two of you can go to the top and cruise down the greens together in the afternoon.

who knows, if you get a couple more of your private lessons into her i'm sure you'll have her skiing the glades of bracket basin, they're pretty tame.


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## drjeff (Feb 1, 2012)

gmcunni said:


> if you don't dump her then sign her up here on AZ so the two of you can ski Sugarloaf for cheap in the spring.  discounted lodging (room for 2) free booze and food at the parties.  she'll have a nice place to hang out while you rack some high speed vert in the AM and the two of you can go to the top and cruise down the greens together in the afternoon.
> 
> who knows, if you get a couple more of your private lessons into her i'm sure you'll have her skiing the glades of bracket basin, they're pretty tame.



i'm thinking that we should start the over/under max speed run down White Nitro somewhere around 90  :lol:


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## o3jeff (Feb 1, 2012)

drjeff said:


> i'm thinking that we should start the over/under max speed run down White Nitro somewhere around 90  :lol:



I'm thinking triple digits.

Whens the next ski report of teaching her how to ski?


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## oakapple (Feb 1, 2012)

o3jeff said:


> Whens the next ski report of teaching her how to ski?


Next time, he takes her on Outer Limits, and just for kicks, confiscates the ski poles.


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## vdk03 (Feb 1, 2012)

drjeff said:


> i'm thinking that we should start the over/under max speed run down White Nitro somewhere around 90  :lol:



who's in charge of bringing the radar gun to the summit this year, I see a new land speed record on the horizon.


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## jimmywilson69 (Feb 1, 2012)

This thread delivers.


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## neil (Feb 1, 2012)

Has HighwayStar posted in a bdfreetuna thread yet?


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## drjeff (Feb 1, 2012)

neil said:


> Has HighwayStar posted in a bdfreetuna thread yet?



I'm pretty sure that even an alter ego of HS would never admit to skiing on anything less than 200cm


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## John W (Feb 1, 2012)

GEESUS KRYSTE!!!!  Talk about a tough crowd.. DBfreeTuna, I like that move.  The only thing I would have done different is putting her in a lesson first.  Other then that.  Have her jump in the deep end and help her swim!

Skiing is AWESOME and getting someone new into it is a great thing.  My wife is coming along also and she had NEVER DONE IT when we first got together 6 years ago.  She is skiing blues now.  And she likes coming with me.. And thats what's most important...  Doing things that you love together...


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## Riverskier (Feb 1, 2012)

I can almost understand skipping the lesson and can almost understand taking her up the gondi. That said, when my wife tried skiing for the first time I put her in a learn to ski lesson, and NEVER pushed her past her comfort zone, or took her anywhere she wasn't 100% ready to go. She is a very conservative person though, and if your girlfriend is more aggressive or athletic by nature, I get the mentality. Where you lost me is with the ski length choice..... What the hell does your ski length preference, as a presumabley expert male skier, have to do with what is right for a first time female? You should have listened to the shop, and you just made her day that much more difficult for absolutely no reason.


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 1, 2012)

Yeah I'll buy her lessons at an easier local mountain next time while I just have fun rippin the slopes

Maybe after her lessons she'll be confident enough to take a run with me? Who knows


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## bigbog (Feb 1, 2012)

Agreed, put out and buy her some lessons......but not in "advanced" levels.  Let her enjoy improving her skills....


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 1, 2012)

Yeah I was thinking more along the lines of guided tours down the Whiteface Slides


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## gmcunni (Feb 1, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> Yeah I'll buy her lessons at an easier local mountain next time while I just have fun rippin the slopes
> 
> Maybe after her lessons she'll be confident enough to take a run with me? Who knows



check this year's details but the last 2 years the AZ summit has included a FREE LESSON as part of the package.


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## Nick (Feb 1, 2012)

It does this year also


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## snoseek (Feb 1, 2012)

Send her out my way. I will display the patience and understanding that she clearly needs. Your best bet would be to stay home. She will thank me after-trust me....


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## gmcunni (Feb 1, 2012)

Nick said:


> It does this year also



this event is perfect for tuna and his chick.

cheap lodging, free sunday ticket, romantic setting, free lessons, free booze, free food, AZ swag, early morning high speed lapping on sunday.

what more could you ask for?


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## drjeff (Feb 1, 2012)

uphillklimber said:


> Lessons! It is real easy to say turn left or turn right. But how do you tell her what to do to actually turn left or turn right. The instructors are real good (and have lots of practice and patience) in telling them how to actually turn. Lean this way, weight on this edge of this ski, etc....
> 
> At Sunday River, ticket, lesson and rentals are $85.00. You won't HAVE to hug and kiss her as much afterwards, you'll just get to.
> 
> Really, skiing and teaching skiing are two entirely different things. Go give her a hug, and promise her real lessons with a trained instructor. And give her a kiss, too. Your heart is in the right place, and so is hers.



Plus the added benefit with most instructors is that since they're doing this (teaching) all the time, chances are they have the ability to quickly be able to change how they're explaining what their trying to teach to meet the comprehension/needs of different people (since I think its safe to say that not everyone gets the message that some people are trying to convey  ) so the instructor is focusing on how to improve the skills of that person in the best way for them, not just trying to explain it in a way that makes sense to them(the instructor)


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## VTSKICTLAX (Feb 1, 2012)

uphillklimber said:


> Lessons! It is real easy to say turn left or turn right. But how do you tell her what to do to actually turn left or turn right. The instructors are real good (and have lots of practice and patience) in telling them how to actually turn. Lean this way, weight on this edge of this ski, etc....
> 
> At Sunday River, ticket, lesson and rentals are $85.00. You won't HAVE to hug and kiss her as much afterwards, you'll just get to.
> 
> Really, skiing and teaching skiing are two entirely different things. Go give her a hug, and promise her real lessons with a trained instructor. And give her a kiss, too. Your heart is in the right place, and so is hers.



I haven't been here all that long but this is by far my favorite thread so far...LMAO reading all the different opinions and agree with many...Tuna, love the spirit and wanting to get the love of your life skiing...I really do...and I know that your heart was in the right place...I just think it's hilarious that she takes the sled down to finish the day...my wife would have killed me! To each his own...


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 1, 2012)

gmcunni said:


> this event is perfect for tuna and his chick.
> 
> cheap lodging, free sunday ticket, romantic setting, free lessons, free booze, free food, AZ swag, early morning high speed lapping on sunday.
> 
> what more could you ask for?



I might convince her to come on here and make a few posts ... sounds good to me!

Plus I've never been to Sugarloaf and it sounds epic as f*ck so if theres some way I can slay the trails and the back bowls and all that while she gets some professional lessons.... 

that would be what's up!


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## gmcunni (Feb 1, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> I might convince her to come on here and make a few posts ... sounds good to me!
> 
> Plus I've never been to Sugarloaf and it sounds epic as f*ck so if theres some way I can slay the trails and the back bowls and all that while she gets some professional lessons....
> 
> that would be what's up!



best part will be Sunday AM.  Let her sleep in and you get a ticket to ski the mountain before it opens.  you lap the super quad lift for an hour, cruising real fast on the fresh groomed trails.  i think nick said he hit 64 MPH last year, on old skis without wax.


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## Abubob (Feb 2, 2012)

Aww ... Glad to see this all come to a happy conclusion. Dude - we totally need to get all yer date reports. Even better let us know where you'll be and we'll follow you around and give pointers!


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## marcski (Feb 2, 2012)

VTSKICTLAX said:


> I haven't been here all that long but this is by far my favorite thread so far...LMAO reading all the different opinions and agree with many...Tuna, love the spirit and wanting to get the love of your life skiing...I really do...and I know that your heart was in the right place...I just think it's hilarious that she takes the sled down to finish the day...my wife would have killed me! To each his own...



I agree!  And, it sounds like my wife and yours would get along very well!


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## Nick (Feb 2, 2012)

gmcunni said:


> best part will be Sunday AM.  Let her sleep in and you get a ticket to ski the mountain before it opens.  you lap the super quad lift for an hour, cruising real fast on the fresh groomed trails.  i think nick said he hit 64 MPH last year, on old skis without wax.



Yup 8) I think it was Hayburner, but it may have been skidder


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## Bene288 (Feb 2, 2012)

His girl could have not hinted that her legs were shot until they got off the lift. My girlfriend has done that before. I taught her with out any problem, she's never taken a formal lesson. I've never taken any lessons myself but I think I did a pretty good job. Took her maybe 13 days to get to skiing blacks, and not just making it down. She thoroughly enjoys difficult trails. The only thing she doesn't do is glades and seeded moguls, which is fine. Every person is different, my girlfriend would be completely uncomfortable in a ski school, or with an instructor she doesn't know. She gets very embarrassed if she screws anything up in front of strangers and I think that experience would have ruined skiing for her. However, I attribute her quick grasp on alpine skiing with being a very good hockey player. Skiing and ice skating use very similar form and technique. I don't think Tuna was wrong in not giving his girl lessons. The sled ride down the hill..I don't think he pushed her into the chair. She may have been willing on the ride up but when she stood up off the lift, decided her legs were too shot. Some of the people here are making him out to be the devil because they think he pressured her into skiing one last run. I don't think that's the case. I see parents pressuring their kids to do harder trails all of the time, when clearly the child doesn't want to. I've seen a lot of those same kids get seriously hurt, or seriously hurt other people because they don't belong on that trail. Tuna and his girl did the safest thing by utilizing the ski patrol sled service on the mountain.


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## oakapple (Feb 2, 2012)

Bene288 said:


> Some of the people here are making him out to be the devil because they think he pressured her into skiing one last run.


Oh, he's not the devil; he was obviously well intended, and his girlfriend apparently hasn't dumped him, so he didn't screw up _that_ badly.

But it's kind of funny that a presumably expert skier made the wrong decision, every single time there was a decision to be made, and his stated rationale for putting her in longer skis was laughably bad. As another poster noted, that decision alone made her day automatically worse, for literally no reason.


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## Bene288 (Feb 2, 2012)

oakapple said:


> Oh, he's not the devil; he was obviously well intended, and his girlfriend apparently hasn't dumped him, so he didn't screw up _that_ badly.
> 
> But it's kind of funny that a presumably expert skier made the wrong decision, every single time there was a decision to be made, and his stated rationale for putting her in longer skis was laughably bad. As another poster noted, that decision alone made her day automatically worse, for literally no reason.



Yeah I would have listened to the shop and gone with shorter skis. I pushed my girlfriend into BUYING longer skis, when she rented she always got her way.


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## neil (Feb 3, 2012)

She looks more like a snowboarder to me. She should try that next time.


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## WWF-VT (Feb 3, 2012)

neil said:


> She looks more like a snowboarder to me. She should try that next time.



His buddy is a snowboarder that hit about 75 MPH top speed at Sunapee. I'm sure he would be a great instructor


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## neil (Feb 3, 2012)

WWF-VT said:


> His buddy is a snowboarder that hit about 75 MPH top speed at Sunapee. I'm sure he would be a great instructor



AND lover.


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## BLESS (Feb 3, 2012)

you guys are being way too hard on this kid.  OH BOO HOO he took his girl to the top of the mountain and went down a green circle!!!!!!!  WHAT A DOOOSH!!!!!!  The only thing he really screwed up on was ski length, shoulda listened to them there.  Shes gonna be SCARRED for life?!?!?!?  are you serious?  Hey kid, (or any other guy on here) NEWSFLASH: if your girl is the type of girl who will "dump"  you or be "scarred for life"  because you pushed her a lil bit to try something new and she wussed out and "couldnt get down"...then you didnt want to be with her anyway   get rid of her now and save yourself a lifetime of misery.  

  WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?  I dont mean to be an asshole, but if you have any clue how to ski or any athletic ability at all,  you should be able to teach a person the basics of a snow plow and turning side to side, pointing your tips at the edges of a trail, going from one side to another to get down in once piece.  If you start to feel uncomfortable or are building too much speed, sit on your butt. or snow plow to stop.  This isnt rocket science we're talking about here people.  Does making fun of this kid somehow make you feel better about yourselves?  He made a mistake, he admitted it.....lets move on.  PS, I dont know this kid at all.


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## Bene288 (Feb 3, 2012)

BLESS said:


> you guys are being way too hard on this kid.  OH BOO HOO he took his girl to the top of the mountain and went down a green circle!!!!!!!  WHAT A DOOOSH!!!!!!  The only thing he really screwed up on was ski length, shoulda listened to them there.  Shes gonna be SCARRED for life?!?!?!?  are you serious?  Hey kid, (or any other guy on here) NEWSFLASH: if your girl is the type of girl who will "dump"  you or be "scarred for life"  because you pushed her a lil bit to try something new and she wussed out and "couldnt get down"...then you didnt want to be with her anyway   get rid of her now and save yourself a lifetime of misery.
> 
> WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?  I dont mean to be an asshole, but if you have any clue how to ski or any athletic ability at all,  you should be able to teach a person the basics of a snow plow and turning side to side, pointing your tips at the edges of a trail, going from one side to another to get down in once piece.  If you start to feel uncomfortable or are building too much speed, sit on your butt. or snow plow to stop.  This isnt rocket science we're talking about here people.  Does making fun of this kid somehow make you feel better about yourselves?  He made a mistake, he admitted it.....lets move on.  PS, I dont know this kid at all.



I agree with you. I don't think he did anything that bad. Messed up on getting longer skis, but she managed all day with them until the last run. I see nothing wrong in taking a sled down the hill. Safer to do that then actually push her to get down and end up hurting herself or someone else.


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## David Metsky (Feb 3, 2012)

BLESS said:


> WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?


People who want to learn how to ski properly, and not from their SO.


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## Abubob (Feb 3, 2012)

BLESS said:


> WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?  I dont mean to be an asshole, but if you have any clue how to ski or any athletic ability at all,  you should be able to teach a person the basics of a snow plow and turning side to side, pointing your tips at the edges of a trail, going from one side to another to get down in once piece.  If you start to feel uncomfortable or are building too much speed, sit on your butt. or snow plow to stop.  This isnt rocket science we're talking about here people.



It doesn't sound to me like you've given many lessons on you short life.


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## Nick (Feb 3, 2012)

BLESS said:


> you guys are being way too hard on this kid.  OH BOO HOO he took his girl to the top of the mountain and went down a green circle!!!!!!!  WHAT A DOOOSH!!!!!!  The only thing he really screwed up on was ski length, shoulda listened to them there.  Shes gonna be SCARRED for life?!?!?!?  are you serious?  Hey kid, (or any other guy on here) NEWSFLASH: if your girl is the type of girl who will "dump"  you or be "scarred for life"  because you pushed her a lil bit to try something new and she wussed out and "couldnt get down"...then you didnt want to be with her anyway   get rid of her now and save yourself a lifetime of misery.
> 
> WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?  I dont mean to be an asshole, but if you have any clue how to ski or any athletic ability at all,  you should be able to teach a person the basics of a snow plow and turning side to side, pointing your tips at the edges of a trail, going from one side to another to get down in once piece.  If you start to feel uncomfortable or are building too much speed, sit on your butt. or snow plow to stop.  This isnt rocket science we're talking about here people.  Does making fun of this kid somehow make you feel better about yourselves?  He made a mistake, he admitted it.....lets move on.  PS, I dont know this kid at all.



Just curious... do you have a significant other or are you single ... lol this post started some debate in my house haha


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## BenedictGomez (Feb 4, 2012)

BLESS said:


> * WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?*  I dont mean to be an asshole, but* if you have any clue how to ski or any athletic ability at all,  you should be able to teach a person the basics of a snow plow and turning side to side, pointing your tips at the edges of a trail, going from one side to another to get down in once piece.  If you start to feel uncomfortable or are building too much speed, sit on your butt. or snow plow to stop.  This isnt rocket science* we're talking about here people.



First, I would recommend EVERY beginner time skier take a proper lesson.  For the first time, I'd recommend a group lesson, as it instills the thought that "everyone is having the same issues as me", and they get through those first fish-out-of-water moments on the hill together in a fun and safe learning environment.

Secondly, even an expert skier who has never given lessons isnt very adept at teaching skiing.  There's a wee-bit more to it than "snow plow" and "turn side to side" and  "Oh you're going too fast?  Just fall", like you said.     Yeah....no.

Third, you've never taken a 1st-time on skis girlfriend skiing, I know this from your post! lol


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## BLESS (Feb 4, 2012)

David Metsky said:


> People who want to learn how to ski properly, and not from their SO.




I guess I hear ya.....but I dunno, I would rather teach my wife than a stranger.   She would prefer it that way also....not to mention, its free.  Personally I have never taken any.....would consider myself an advanced intermediate......I think I would benefit more now from a lesson than I would when I was first starting out.   Am I way off in thinking that getting down the greens, blues and blacks were really the easy part of skiing?  Its the woods & moguls that really pose a challenge?  Thats why I think I would benefit more from a lesson of that kind now, rather than a "this is a snow plow"  lesson when I was first starting out...


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## BLESS (Feb 4, 2012)

Abubob said:


> It doesn't sound to me like you've given many lessons on you short life.



short life?   Do you know how old I am?   Ive taught several people to both ski & golf.


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## BLESS (Feb 4, 2012)

Nick said:


> Just curious... do you have a significant other or are you single ... lol this post started some debate in my house haha




I have a wife....who I also taught how to ski.


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## BLESS (Feb 4, 2012)

BenedictGomez said:


> First, I would recommend EVERY beginner time skier take a proper lesson.  For the first time, I'd recommend a group lesson, as it instills the thought that "everyone is having the same issues as me", and they get through those first fish-out-of-water moments on the hill together in a fun and safe learning environment.
> 
> Secondly, even an expert skier who has never given lessons isnt very adept at teaching skiing.  There's a wee-bit more to it than "snow plow" and "turn side to side" and  "Oh you're going too fast?  Just fall", like you said.     Yeah....no.
> 
> Third, you've never taken a 1st-time on skis girlfriend skiing, I know this from your post! lol



actually, Like Ive said a couple times already, I taught my GF ( now wife)  how to ski....and she does just fine.  If you saw her, or myself ski you wouldnt say "oh I bet they never took lessons".  Im confused.  I grew up an athlete....I never needed any lessons.   Why is this if its "so important"  to take them as everyone is implying?  Seruious question......not asking it do be a dick.  As far as the terms I used....sorry if they arent in the ski instructor text book.   They may not be correct, but you know what I meant.....And isnt it really that simple?  turn from one side to the other, learn the snow plow....practice accordingly. Im talking about doing all this on the bunny slopes & greens people.....not corbetts.   Once you gain confidence, try different angles & slopes....and where I sit....falling on your butt certainly beats running right off the trail into a tree if you panic or arent confident on stopping.


SIDENOTE:   when it came to skiing, me, my friends ^& my wife always kinda just "got it"   I guess....  Upon further review.....I guess this isnt the case with everyone.  Sorry for the ignorant frame of mind.  I am not saying these things to come off as an arrogant assh*le.    If you feel lessons will benefit you or your family, by all means go get them.  Happy skiing.


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## Nick (Feb 4, 2012)

BLESS said:


> I have a wife....who I also taught how to ski.



Good deal


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## Bene288 (Feb 4, 2012)

I think any advanced skier can easily give lessons to their spouse or kids. It's the question of whether they want to or not. I'm sure most parents use the ski schools more like a day care. I've never taken a lesson for anything. I was raised on the "just get out and do it" methods. You do not need formal education for everything. I think that if a beginner goes with an advanced skier, or even upper intermediate, there should be no need for lessons. Basics are basics, and learning to ski is just observation. My uncle first got me into skiing. He gave me a good run down of the basics. I did a little reading on the technical aspects of skiing and did a lot of watching and that was it.


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## Abubob (Feb 4, 2012)

BLESS said:


> short life?   Do you know how old I am?   Ive taught several people to both ski & golf.



So you believe in taking lessons? But only from untrained amateurs as yourself? How did you learn to ski? Who taught you? You mention being an athlete. What did you do? Again no training?

I mentioned short life because you seemed to answer from no experience. You seem to have plenty of experience and aren't afraid to spread it around. You're either over confident or very good (no doubt you choose the latter).


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## BLESS (Feb 4, 2012)

Abubob said:


> So you believe in taking lessons? But only from untrained amateurs as yourself? How did you learn to ski? Who taught you? You mention being an athlete. What did you do? Again no training?
> 
> I mentioned short life because you seemed to answer from no experience. You seem to have plenty of experience and aren't afraid to spread it around. You're either over confident or very good (no doubt you choose the latter).


Like i said.....i dont think everyone needs to take lessons to learn how to ski.  Some people may.....but i didnt.  Nor did my wife or friends.   I didnt need lessons to learn how to play golf either....and im a pretty fine golfer.  These sports came naturally to me....as they also do to other people.   I already said this but ill say it again.....if you feel that you or your family will benefit from lessons, then by all means go for it.   But i think its unnecessary to crucify somene who doesnt see the need.  As far as being taught by other people, i certainly was.....for the team sports i played.   The individual ones i picked up easily on my own.  Of course, the " untrained amateurs"  gave me some pointers.....they were good enough.  If me learning to ski on my own is being " over confident"  then so be it.   Not sure what im " spreading around"   besides my opinion, which of course are based on my personal experiences.  Im sorry if it offends you that my wife and i didnt need lessons to learn how to ski.


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## Abubob (Feb 4, 2012)

BLESS said:


> Like i said.....i dont think everyone needs to take lessons to learn how to ski.  Some people may.....but i didnt.  Nor did my wife or friends.   I didnt need lessons to learn how to play golf either....and im a pretty fine golfer.  These sports came naturally to me....as they also do to other people.   I already said this but ill say it again.....if you feel that you or your family will benefit from lessons, then by all means go for it.   But i think its unnecessary to crucify somene who doesnt see the need.  As far as being taught by other people, i certainly was.....for the team sports i played.   The individual ones i picked up easily on my own.  Of course, the " untrained amateurs"  gave me some pointers.....they were good enough.  If me learning to ski on my own is being " over confident"  then so be it.   Not sure what im " spreading around"   besides my opinion, which of course are based on my personal experiences.  Im sorry if it offends you that my wife and i didnt need lessons to learn how to ski.



You said, "WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?" then you say, "As far as being taught by other people, i certainly was.....for the team sports i played."

Would you have been as good at what ever you were coached in if you were self taught? I doubt it.

Taking lessons is the same as being coached and it makes people better skiers faster and they enjoy the sport that much more. While all ski instructors vary in their own abilities to teach and coach they are all trained to do just that. You shouldn't dismiss taking ski lessons so easily.


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## BenedictGomez (Feb 4, 2012)

BLESS said:


> i dont think everyone needs to take lessons to learn how to ski.  Some people may.....but i didnt.  Nor did my wife or friends.   I didnt need lessons to learn how to play golf either....and im a pretty fine golfer.  These sports came naturally to me..



I hope he's not a pilot.


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## oakapple (Feb 5, 2012)

uphillklimber said:


> Come on folks, lighten up on Bless. Okay, he's good at a few things, and it seems to come naturally enough for him and he enjoys what he does. There is nothing wrong with that.


If he'd said, "Athletics come naturally to me, and luckily I also have a knack for teaching others," no one would've cared. But of course, such a statement would have been so unremarkable that he likely wouldn't've said it.

Instead, he said, ""WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?" And this is the same guy who said, "Am I way off in thinking that getting down the greens, blues and blacks were really the easy part of skiing?" This suggests, not merely that he is good at it himself, but that he basically has no f&cking clue what is going on with anyone else.

But this phenomenon is not unknown among skiers. Our original poster sounds like he is pretty good at skiing, but thought he could teach his GF, and wound up doing everything wrong. No one is vilifying him, but it's just kinda funny.


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## BLESS (Feb 5, 2012)

uphillklimber said:


> Come on folks, lighten up on Bless. Okay, he's good at a few things, and it seems to come naturally enough for him and he enjoys what he does. There is nothing wrong with that.  I wish many things come to me like that (Actually, some do, for which I am thankful). There are many things that I am fairly good at and enjoy doing just fine.
> 
> There's hiking and backpacking, no lessons.
> 
> ...



ahhhh someone else who gets it, thank you.  Now if you told me that you were going to give me a million dollars to solve some basic algebra or geometry problems....I couldnt do it.   Agreed, we all have things we're good at, and things we're not.


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## Nick (Feb 5, 2012)

BLESS said:


> ahhhh someone else who gets it, thank you.  Now if you told me that you were going to give me a million dollars to solve some basic algebra or geometry problems....I couldnt do it.   Agreed, we all have things we're good at, and things we're not.



basically it all depends on the person


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## Abubob (Feb 5, 2012)

BLESS said:


> Agreed, we all have things we're good at, and things we're not.



So if you're not good at something or a complete noob but wanna get better?

... go ahead ... say it! :roll:


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## BLESS (Feb 5, 2012)

Abubob said:


> So if you're not good at something or a complete noob but wanna get better?
> 
> ... go ahead ... say it! :roll:



Love the rolleyes....reminds me of when I was 12.



IMO if your not good or wanna get better at something, I would ask a friend whos good at it, before I go pay a complete stranger to do it...to each is own I guess.


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## BLESS (Feb 5, 2012)

oakapple said:


> If he'd said, "Athletics come naturally to me, and luckily I also have a knack for teaching others," no one would've cared. But of course, such a statement would have been so unremarkable that he likely wouldn't've said it.
> 
> Instead, he said, ""WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?" And this is the same guy who said, "Am I way off in thinking that getting down the greens, blues and blacks were really the easy part of skiing?" This suggests, not merely that he is good at it himself, but that he basically has no f&cking clue what is going on with anyone else.
> 
> But this phenomenon is not unknown among skiers. Our original poster sounds like he is pretty good at skiing, but thought he could teach his GF, and wound up doing everything wrong. No one is vilifying him, but it's just kinda funny.




Im confused by this.  What do you mean I have no clue with whats going on with others?  The people on the mountain?   the people I taught?   huh?  

I was joking at the people who take lessons.....I dunno, the 20-30 people I know who ski very well and ski all the time.....none of them have ever taken lessons.  I just kinda assumed that not a lot of people did I guess.....I have already apologized for the ignorant frame of mind there, and repeatedly said that if you think you'll benefit from them, then go ahead.  Ill save my $ and concentrate more on making myself better.  Just a personal choice.


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## oakapple (Feb 6, 2012)

oakapple said:


> Instead, he said, ""WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?" And this is the same guy who said, "Am I way off in thinking that getting down the greens, blues and blacks were really the easy part of skiing?" This suggests, not merely that he is good at it himself, but that he basically has no f&cking clue what is going on with anyone else.
> 
> 
> BLESS said:
> ...


I admire the fact that you're a natural athlete. But you seem to have no clue that many people, probably most, are NOT naturals; that such people actually get better, more quickly, by taking lessons. You also seem to have no clue that the ability to teach is _itself_ a skill, and _in general_ being a good skier does not automatically make you a good teacher. (The first post in this thread gives plenty of evidence of this last statement.) Ski instructors actually go to school themselves, to learn _how to teach others_ to ski.

It could very well be that, among your many skills, you are actually as good at teaching as those who've specifically been trained to do so. It may also be that you have no clue about what you _don't_ know, and that the people you've taught would have learned even quicker, or that their technique would be even better, if they'd worked with an instructor. Given the general tenor of your comments, I suspect the latter is true.

Are lessons worth the money? I dunno. No one offered to teach me for free, so either I would have had lessons, or I wouldn't have learned at all.


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## BLESS (Feb 6, 2012)

oakapple said:


> I admire the fact that you're a natural athlete. But you seem to have no clue that many people, probably most, are NOT naturals; that such people actually get better, more quickly, by taking lessons. You also seem to have no clue that the ability to teach is _itself_ a skill, and _in general_ being a good skier does not automatically make you a good teacher. (The first post in this thread gives plenty of evidence of this last statement.) Ski instructors actually go to school themselves, to learn _how to teach others_ to ski.
> 
> It could very well be that, among your many skills, you are actually as good at teaching as those who've specifically been trained to do so. It may also be that you have no clue about what you _don't_ know, and that the people you've taught would have learned even quicker, or that their technique would be even better, if they'd worked with an instructor. Given the general tenor of your comments, I suspect the latter is true.
> 
> Are lessons worth the money? I dunno. No one offered to teach me for free, so either I would have had lessons, or I wouldn't have learned at all.




I hear what your saying.  I just didnt find it that hard to learn.  I assumed most people could do it with some patience & practice, without taking lessons.  Maybe people do learn quicker with lessons.   I dont know.  It still doesnt change my mind....part of the fun of skiing for me was learning on my own...a personal pride kinda thing.  I was always of the "just go out there and do it"  mindset.  to each is own.


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## SkiDork (Feb 6, 2012)

Even Linsey Vonn takes skiing lessons - its called coaching.

Tiger Woods takes golf lessons too.  Coaching again.


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## C-Rex (Feb 6, 2012)

This thread is filled to the rafters with awesome.


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## BLESS (Feb 6, 2012)

SkiDork said:


> Even Linsey Vonn takes skiing lessons - its called coaching.
> 
> Tiger Woods takes golf lessons too.  Coaching again.



bleh.  Of course they get coached and take lessons.  Theyre elite, the best of the best.  99%  of people skiing and golfing arent trying to be tiger woods or lindsey vonn...theyre out there for fun.


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## Cheese (Feb 6, 2012)

BLESS said:


> bleh.  Of course they get coached and take lessons.  Theyre elite, the best of the best.  99%  of people skiing and golfing arent trying to be tiger woods or lindsey vonn...theyre out there for fun.



Nah, more likely they're too proud or too cheap to take a lesson.


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## Cheese (Feb 6, 2012)

uphillklimber said:


> Cheap???? Naw, that's being frugal. You spend oodles on the gear and clothing, gas to get there, maybe lost a day's work to ski mid week, bought a $70 or $80 ticket, and now, someone says you aren't really having enough fun skiing unless you pay another $80 for a lesson that will eat most of half your day on the slopes.



Indeed, frugal is a better word than cheap.  I only meant to suggest that investing in ones own improvement isn't a bad move.  I think someone already mentioned elsewhere on this forum $800 worth of lessons might yield better skiing than the same investment in a pair of skis.


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## BLESS (Feb 6, 2012)

Cheese said:


> Indeed, frugal is a better word than cheap.  I only meant to suggest that investing in ones own improvement isn't a bad move.  I think someone already mentioned elsewhere on this forum $800 worth of lessons might yield better skiing than the same investment in a pair of skis.



Im quite happy with how I ski without having spent a dime on lessons.  Im sure plenty of others are also.   Im not trying to be Bode Miller out there.


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## andrec10 (Feb 6, 2012)

BLESS said:


> Im quite happy with how I ski without having spent a dime on lessons.  Im sure plenty of others are also.   Im not trying to be Bode Miller out there.



And you probably look like crap skiing too!:argue:


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## BLESS (Feb 6, 2012)

andrec10 said:


> And you probably look like crap skiing too!:argue:



why you would assume that, other than to be a doosh...I have no idea.  Since you're calling me out, I must defend myself in saying I ski quite well.  I dont think youd watch me ski & say "he looks bad"  thats for sure.


But why would you even care?  If I looked awful and was still having a blast, would that not be ok?  Or is it all about "looking good"  to you?


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## SkiDork (Feb 6, 2012)

BLESS said:


> bleh.  Of course they get coached and take lessons.  Theyre elite, the best of the best.  99%  of people skiing and golfing arent trying to be tiger woods or lindsey vonn...theyre out there for fun.



I'm confused.  First you say most peeps don't need a lesson if they're relatively athletic/have good balance etc. (such as yourself).  Then I say the best in the world take lessons and you say that they're the best so they need lessons?  

OK, so if you're athletic you don't need a lesson, unless you're REALLY athletic, then you need a lesson.

And if you're not athletic you need a lesson.  

OK, so only the top and bottom end of the spectrum needs the lessons/coaching.  Middle of the road no?

Did I get it right?


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## MadMadWorld (Feb 7, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> To cut to the chase, conditions were overall great at Killington.... really soft snow and nice powder.. They had WAY to many ropes up though on trails I would have totally skiied and they looked totally legit to ski.
> 
> Anyway, I wasn't out there to slay the mountain that day. I was out there to introduce the love of my life to my favorite past time.
> 
> ...



I knew what the ending to this story was before I even read it. Teaching and doing are two very different things and I can't even count how many times I was in the middle of a lesson and listening to a couple fight on the hill. Even the best instructors should never teach a wife/girlfriend how to ski. Even as an instructor I lost patience and got into an argument with 3 seperate girlfriends while trying to teach them how to ski. Seperate all the feelings and expectations and let someone that has no agenda teach the lesson. I finally gave in and allowed my wife to be taught by someone else and now she is a fantastic skier and I only give my feedback when she asks. The decision was definitely eye opening and rewarding at the same time.


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## BLESS (Feb 7, 2012)

SkiDork said:


> I'm confused.  First you say most peeps don't need a lesson if they're relatively athletic/have good balance etc. (such as yourself).  Then I say the best in the world take lessons and you say that they're the best so they need lessons?
> 
> OK, so if you're athletic you don't need a lesson, unless you're REALLY athletic, then you need a lesson.
> 
> ...




sort of.   Obviously the best in the world need to keep "honing their craft"  so to speak, In order to stay on top, right?   Also, the people who have not very much athletic ability would probably also benefit from lessons. IMO there are plenty of others who are perfectly happy with their progress, and ability who dont nor wont, need lessons, no?


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## hammer (Feb 7, 2012)

When is it ever a good approach to take a person skiing for the first time up to the summit of a big ski area without lessons or training?

We can debate whether people really need lessons to be able to ski well (I'm sure that athletically inclined people can hack their way down the mountain and look OK doing it) but I can't see how taking a newbie right to the top of most major ski areas will work well regardless of their athletic skill or attitude.

The OP tried to be a bit adventurous with his GF and it didn't work out well...fortunately it seems like she was a good sport about it and no harm was done.


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## Abubob (Feb 7, 2012)

So what's this about? :smash:

Is it about taking lessons to make you a better skier or to be able to enjoy skiing? or are they synonymous


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## MadMadWorld (Feb 7, 2012)

BLESS said:


> sort of.   Obviously the best in the world need to keep "honing their craft"  so to speak, In order to stay on top, right?   Also, the people who have not very much athletic ability would probably also benefit from lessons. IMO there are plenty of others who are perfectly happy with their progress, and ability who dont nor wont, need lessons, no?


Any person at any level can benefit from a lesson. Period. But at the same time, not everyone has an interest in getting better. If someone is happy skiing low intermediate trails all day than more power to them.


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## oakapple (Feb 7, 2012)

MadMadWorld said:


> Any person at any level can benefit from a lesson. Period. But at the same time, not everyone has an interest in getting better. If someone is happy skiing low intermediate trails all day than more power to them.



Statements containing "Period." are always exaggerations. It never fails.

Lessons have definitely jump-started my improvement, and if money were no object I would take them more often.

But I have certainly made significant improvements on my own, without the benefit of lessons.


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## powhunter (Feb 7, 2012)

Bottom line=Dont take your GF/Wife skiing. They belong at home cleaning and cooking for their master

Steveo


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## MadMadWorld (Feb 7, 2012)

oakapple said:


> Statements containing "Period." are always exaggerations. It never fails.
> 
> Lessons have definitely jump-started my improvement, and if money were no object I would take them more often.
> 
> But I have certainly made significant improvements on my own, without the benefit of lessons.



What is the exaggeration? You said it yourself lessons have helped you. I'm not arguing afford ability or any of that other crap. And yea its possible to learn stuff on your own but after awhile you lose the ability to critique yourself or find areas of improvement. 

Power hunter - lol. Amen to that!


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## oakapple (Feb 7, 2012)

MadMadWorld said:


> What is the exaggeration?



The statement that if you're not in a lesson, you have no interest in getting better and are likely stuck as a perpetual low-intermediate. I don't think that is true. Lessons do accelerate your learning, but there are other ways to learn. I don't disbelieve the guy who says he is an advanced skier and never took a lesson in his life.


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## MadMadWorld (Feb 7, 2012)

MadMadWorld said:


> What is the exaggeration? You said it yourself lessons have helped you. I'm not arguing afford ability or any of that other crap. And yea its possible to learn stuff on your own but after awhile you lose the ability to critique yourself or find areas of improvement.
> 
> Power hunter - lol. Amen to that!



Wow....where the heck did I write anything like that? I simply stated that everyone can benefit from a lesson regardless of their ability. Some people have no desire to improve and enjoy the sport of skiing within their own ability. My only point was that some people choose not to improve because of fear, rather ski with their kids, etc.


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 8, 2012)

BLESS said:


> you guys are being way too hard on this kid.  OH BOO HOO he took his girl to the top of the mountain and went down a green circle!!!!!!!  WHAT A DOOOSH!!!!!!  The only thing he really screwed up on was ski length, shoulda listened to them there.  Shes gonna be SCARRED for life?!?!?!?  are you serious?  Hey kid, (or any other guy on here) NEWSFLASH: if your girl is the type of girl who will "dump"  you or be "scarred for life"  because you pushed her a lil bit to try something new and she wussed out and "couldnt get down"...then you didnt want to be with her anyway   get rid of her now and save yourself a lifetime of misery.
> 
> WHO THE F&CK takes lessons?  I dont mean to be an asshole, but if you have any clue how to ski or any athletic ability at all,  you should be able to teach a person the basics of a snow plow and turning side to side, pointing your tips at the edges of a trail, going from one side to another to get down in once piece.  If you start to feel uncomfortable or are building too much speed, sit on your butt. or snow plow to stop.  This isnt rocket science we're talking about here people.  Does making fun of this kid somehow make you feel better about yourselves?  He made a mistake, he admitted it.....lets move on.  PS, I dont know this kid at all.



Holy shit somebody who feels me here!

I never took lessons but I guess when you are older (like in your teens, 20s+) they could help.

Anyway someone mentioned she looks more like a snowboarder. So anyway she said her and her girl friend are gonna go get snowboard lessons at some smaller mountain soon, and she'll probably like that better.

I could care less if she skis or snowboards... just would be nice to take her up to the mountains with me from time to time ya know?

I have fun skiing with snowboarders most of the time, as long as they aren't afraid of the woods and only want to spend the whole day in the "features park". 

It's sort of funny so many people came on here saying your relationship is DOOMED and buy did you screw up. Well, I gave it a shot. This girl and me are pretty much unseperatable and have been through a lot of shit... so this was an adventure for her and a little embrassing at the times she kept falling I guess, but she is way over it.

You guys should be asking *me* for relationship advice especially when it comes with how is a Sagittarius supposed to deal with a Pisces woman


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## 2knees (Feb 8, 2012)

oakapple said:


> but it's just kinda funny.



you got that right.

this thread keeps on keepin on.


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## Black Phantom (Feb 8, 2012)

She will probably like snowboarding. It is easier to learn. Especially with lessons. Where will she go?


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## BLESS (Feb 8, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> Holy shit somebody who feels me here!
> 
> I never took lessons but I guess when you are older (like in your teens, 20s+) they could help.
> 
> ...




um.  Im not sure whether to laugh or cry that you compared the two of us....:shutters:   


And FWIW my wife & I arent supposed to get along either Me- Aries, Her- Scorpio


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## bobbutts (Feb 11, 2012)

Probably shouldn't revive this thread but I'm doing it anyway, I have no idea what's been going on here for the last hundred+ posts .. but I saw some girl skiing yesterday, caught an edge and slammed into the hard snow right on her boobs.  Her skiing partner (probably bf) came up and she said "That wasn't fun".  I thought for a second that maybe it was the couple from this thread.


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 22, 2012)

I am Sagittarius and she is Pisces. It's not an easy one.

Nothing to do with the fun ski vacaction but we might be taking a little break. There's a lot of history and it gets intense. Plus she wants to trip all the time which is cool but not I think the answer to psycotheray between something of a couple.

It's bean about 6 years with this woman, mostly on, sometimes off. But it might be time to do my own thing. As a Pisces she slows me down and depresesses me .... but also we have the most inteinse conenection.

I don't know what to do.


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## Puck it (Feb 22, 2012)

Take her skiing!!!


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## Beast_Ed (Feb 22, 2012)

My girl and I had a first weekend date at Killington.  This was a long time ago.  She took 5 runs on Flume with mad bumps.

I married her.

B-Stead


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## Madroch (Feb 23, 2012)

How did I not find this thread until now... read every page anxiously awaiting trip number 2- only to be crushed to hear they may be taking a break.....so let down....


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## Wavewheeler (Feb 25, 2012)

Wow..what a story! At least your girlfriend was cool about it all. 

I did the same thing years ago to my husband. He'd never been on skis and a bunch of our friends (we were all skiers but him) went up to Okemo for a week. My husband took a lesson and was doing quite well on the bunny slopes when a bunch of us decided to head up to the top of the mountain and talked him into coming with us. The result wasn't good. After falling down a bunch of times about halfway down he said "I've had enough" and proceeded to take off his skis and walk down. Our friends all laughed and said "He's all yours" and left me there to accompany him down. I tried to talk him into putting the skis back on but he wouldn't so I stayed behind him and tried to act like I didn't know him. :-o

He never put skis on again. But fortunately I did better with my daughter. At age 7 I took her with me and put her in all day ski school at Mountain Creek, Camelback and then Windham and she loved it. Eventually she started skiing with me and I tried very hard to not to "pressure" her to go down trails that were beyond her ability. 

. Well there was that time I went down Skyeburst at Killington. After we got off the gondola I said "Oh you can do this" and proceeded to start down. She said "I'm not doing THAT" and she wouldn't follow me down. I was too far down to come back up so so she has to wait at the top of the lift until I went down to Bear and took the quad back up. I still get grief from her over that. . 

Now she's running a few blacks at Killington and all the blues so she's coming along nicely but she still won't go down all the trails I do. She's old enough so that we can split up and meet up with each other later. Now she's talking about going snowboarding. I told her she has to get lessons first.  She says her boyfriend said he'd teach her. God bless him. :smile:


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## Black Phantom (Feb 25, 2012)

Let it happen Tuna. Drop another dose and see where things take you.


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## Nick (Feb 25, 2012)

Wavewheeler said:


> I did the same thing years ago to my husband.



Hahaha ... guys are _supposed _to be tougher though emotionally ... good story, thanks for sharing!


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## Wavewheeler (Feb 25, 2012)

Nick said:


> Hahaha ... guys are _supposed _to be tougher though emotionally ... good story, thanks for sharing!



My pleasure! It's not an uncommon situation to have a "mismatch." The men in my house are not snow lovers. 

My husband's idea of a good time in the snow is to ride around in my Jeep during a storm and take pictures. :smile: My son doesn't even like going OUT in the snow, never mind skiing in it. He's never shown ANY interest at all. 

Now my daughter..she's tough. When we went up to Killington a few weeks ago she was sick with a cold. She insisted on skiing both days we were there and even ran some blacks with me. She had to rest often though. I could tell she was "off" because I had to stop and wait for her and usually she's right behind or with me.  

On the way home she says she's really not feeling well, coughing, etc. The next day I took her to the doctor and she had a full blown case of bronchitis.  But she didn't complain and had insisted on skiing all day even when I gave her the option of going back to the room. 

When they put her on antibiotics she said "Damn, I wish we were going THIS week instead of next because I'd feel better!" She's been walking around all winter grousing about the lack of cold/snow. Sounds a lot like me.


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## Paul_M (Feb 26, 2012)

Always way easier to get the SO a few lessons to start.  My wife had 10 days or so lifetime when we went out west where I had lived, bought my out of work ex-ski patrol buddy lift tickets and he spent 3 hours w her on the lower part of the mtn.  We met for lunch and he took off to ski the rest of the day.  We did that for 3 days at which point she could handle the mtn on selected runs from top to bottom.  Less stress, and faster learning is a huge plus.

Lessons can help virtually anyone at any ability level.  It's unfortunate that there seems to be a stigma about taking them and that they cost so much.


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## Edd (Feb 26, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> I am Sagittarius and she is Pisces. It's not an easy one.
> 
> Nothing to do with the fun ski vacaction but we might be taking a little break. There's a lot of history and it gets intense. Plus she wants to trip all the time which is cool but not I think the answer to psycotheray between something of a couple.
> 
> ...



Wow. I love this post for more reasons than I have time to list.


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## Paul_M (Feb 26, 2012)

Book the first slot of the day, meet teacher early, and get some runs in before the lift is open to the public.  Maybe you'll get lucky and catch a powder day.  It also helps to get familiar w the instructors so you get someone you have confidence in.


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## Ski the Moguls (Feb 27, 2012)

Paul_M said:


> Book the first slot of the day, meet teacher early, and get some runs in before the lift is open to the public.  Maybe you'll get lucky and catch a powder day.  It also helps to get familiar w the instructors so you get someone you have confidence in.



Killington discounts the 8am private lesson, too. But those things are expensive.
http://www.killington.com/winter/lessons/private

Best deal I found were the specialty programs.
http://www.killington.com/winter/lessons/specialty_programs
They include the price of a lift ticket and are a tremendous value. I did the race weekend with them and thought it was great.


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## Abubob (Feb 27, 2012)

bdfreetuna said:


> Plus she wants to trip all the time which is cool but not I think the answer to psycotheray between something of a couple..


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## jrmagic (Feb 27, 2012)

I can;t beleive this thread is still going! Ahh she don't need no lesson. let her drop a tab and then take her straight to the top of Outer Limits and have her point them straight down the hill:idea:  That should clear out all the fuziness abuot the future of the two of you


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## SkiDork (Feb 27, 2012)

was she tripping during the skiing?


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## Nick (Apr 2, 2012)

So... how's the relationship going??


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## Cheese (Apr 2, 2012)

Nick said:


> So... how's the relationship going??


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