# My ski lesson with Phil Mahre at Sundown 1/23/10.....



## MogulQueen (Jan 24, 2010)

Skied Sundown on Saturday since it was such a beautiful day.  I forgot the big fundraiser for the Bill Johnson Foundation was going on and was a little bummed due to the crowds.  It was around 11am.  Anyway, Bart and I put on our boots and noticed there was a silent auction going on for various things.  One item was a lesson with Phil Mahre.  No one had signed up for it!  I was stunned.  Are you kidding me?  He is indisputably one of the greatest American skiers of all time.  I immediately put our names down and won the bid!  Let me start by saying he is one of the most gracious persons I have ever met.  He asked us what we wanted to work on and without hesitation we said turns, carving and gates.  We are big bump skiers and have little skill in the art of carving turns.  He then went to work analyzing our technique, form and then strategies and drills to work on.  He gave us 1.5 hours of his time.  It was incredible!  I had NO idea of how little I actually make my ski work.  If you ever get a chance to attend one of his clinics, it is well worth the money spent.  He ended the session by signing our skis and then a picture to remember the day.......like I would ever forget it?!  Amazing.  It's so nice to know that people like Phil represent the sport we all love.


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## wa-loaf (Jan 24, 2010)

Wow, that's cool.


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## salsgang (Jan 25, 2010)

That is fantastic. Thanks for sharing!


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## billski (Jan 25, 2010)

That is just great.  He makes a business out of these clinics, so not only is he a great racer, but he also knows how to teach and coach it.  You got a lesson of a lifetime, from an Olympian, that is just awesome.  These guys are in a league by themselves.  I feel bad for the fundraiser that they didn't have bids on it - what were people thinking?  Congrats to you!   

I spoke with Phil at Steamboat some years ago, while getting him to autograph my bib - he's really committed to getting more people into skiing & boarding.  And yeah, he's got a great, mellow personality, easy to talk to - hard to believe for someone who competed as fiercely as he did.


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## campgottagopee (Jan 25, 2010)

MogulQueen said:


> Skied Sundown on Saturday since it was such a beautiful day.  I forgot the big fundraiser for the Bill Johnson Foundation was going on and was a little bummed due to the crowds.  It was around 11am.  Anyway, Bart and I put on our boots and noticed there was a silent auction going on for various things.  *One item was a lesson with Phil Mahre.  No one had signed up for it!  I was stunned. * Are you kidding me?  He is indisputably one of the greatest American skiers of all time.  I immediately put our names down and won the bid!  Let me start by saying he is one of the most gracious persons I have ever met.  He asked us what we wanted to work on and without hesitation we said turns, carving and gates.  We are big bump skiers and have little skill in the art of carving turns.  He then went to work analyzing our technique, form and then strategies and drills to work on.  He gave us 1.5 hours of his time.  It was incredible!  I had NO idea of how little I actually make my ski work.  If you ever get a chance to attend one of his clinics, it is well worth the money spent.  He ended the session by signing our skis and then a picture to remember the day.......like I would ever forget it?!  Amazing.  It's so nice to know that people like Phil represent the sport we all love.



Nobody signed up for that???? What a bunch of lamo's, really---what skier wouldn't want the chance to ski and hang out with one of the best to ever lace them up. Incredible!!!! Good for you for seizing the opportunity---chance of a lifetime.


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## SkiDork (Jan 25, 2010)

nice!


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## severine (Jan 25, 2010)

Very cool! And you all matched--it was meant to be!


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## bvibert (Jan 25, 2010)

I thought it was cute that the 3 of you matched when I saw you coming through the lift line. 

Did you guys get filmed by the HBO guy at all?  IIRC he was getting some on hill material with him during your lesson, right??

The other lift supervisor was REALLY nervous when he saw that guy skiing up to the lift with that huge camera in his hands...


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## MogulQueen (Jan 25, 2010)

bvibert said:


> I thought it was cute that the 3 of you matched when I saw you coming through the lift line.
> 
> Did you guys get filmed by the HBO guy at all?  IIRC he was getting some on hill material with him during your lesson, right??
> 
> The other lift supervisor was REALLY nervous when he saw that guy skiing up to the lift with that huge camera in his hands...



Yeah, we did get filmed.  That poor camera guy.  He dropped his camera while he was trying to ski and fim us!  He was NOT a very good skier.  We did all our work on Gunbarrel and he just couldn't make it down with the camera.  Phil was cool about it when he dropped it.  He didn't flinch.  He just looked at the camera guy and said, "take good care of that camera" and then went on with our lesson.  The filming definately came second to our lesson.


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## MogulQueen (Jan 25, 2010)

severine said:


> Very cool! And you all matched--it was meant to be!



Phil definately had the cooler jacket out of the three of us.


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## Warp Daddy (Jan 25, 2010)

WAY COOL MQ --------------------this is a great experience for you guys .  Phil is a major ICON . Great that you were SMART enough to TAKE action -- good on ya !!!


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## Greg (Jan 25, 2010)

Awesome! So should I look for much faster times out of you guys tomorrow night?


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## 2knees (Jan 25, 2010)

that is awesome!  

seriously though, i can't believe nobody else put a bid on that one.


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## campgottagopee (Jan 25, 2010)

2knees said:


> that is awesome!
> 
> seriously though, i can't believe nobody else put a bid on that one.



Do you think people were intimidated??? I still can’t get over the fact that people weren’t fighting for a chance like this….maybe it’s just me.


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## jrmagic (Jan 25, 2010)

campgottagopee said:


> Do you think people were intimidated??? I still can’t get over the fact that people weren’t fighting for a chance like this….maybe it’s just me.




I guess they must have been. It cant possibly be that they never heard of him. I would have jumped at the chance if I saw it.

That is awesome that you 2 got a 1.5 hour lesson from him. I used to love watching him race back in the day.


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## 2knees (Jan 25, 2010)

campgottagopee said:


> Do you think people were intimidated??? I still can’t get over the fact that people weren’t fighting for a chance like this….maybe it’s just me.



possibly, but still, i just boggles my mind.

unless the other items were things like a night with Jenna Jameson or something....:lol:


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## gmcunni (Jan 25, 2010)

MogulQueen said:


> One item was a lesson with Phil Mahre.  No one had signed up for it!  I was stunned.  Are you kidding me?  He is indisputably one of the greatest American skiers of all time.  I immediately put our names down and won the bid!


That's awesome. i browsed the items up for auction but don't remember seeing the lesson.  



jrmagic said:


> I used to love watching him race back in the day.


i skied K2's for many years with the dream of skiing like the Mahre brothers.


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## bigbog (Jan 25, 2010)

UNREAL MQ!!!  Ditto the congrats for you...a day to be treasured


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## o3jeff (Jan 25, 2010)

Congrats on the once in a lifetime experience.

From what I saw, not too many people went up to the tables to check out what was there.


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## MogulQueen (Jan 25, 2010)

gmcunni said:


> That's awesome. i browsed the items up for auction but don't remember seeing the lesson.



It was posted on the wall, so maybe a lot of people overlooked it.  Lucky for me!


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## PomfretPlunge (Jan 25, 2010)

MogulQueen said:


> ...We are big bump skiers and have little skill in the art of carving turns.  He then went to work analyzing our technique, form and then strategies and drills to work on.  He gave us 1.5 hours of his time.  It was incredible!  I had NO idea of how little I actually make my ski work.  If you ever get a chance to attend one of his clinics, it is well worth the money spent.  He ended the session by signing our skis and then a picture to remember the day.......like I would ever forget it?!  Amazing.  It's so nice to know that people like Phil represent the sport we all love.



Lucky u, MQ, congrats!

Would love to hear about the strategies & drills he gave you?

Cheers
Plunge


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## MogulQueen (Jan 25, 2010)

> Would love to hear about the strategies & drills he gave you?



Classified info.....no seriously, some of it would be very difficult to convey to you without a diagram.  One of the most interesting things we discussed was that taking gates was A LOT more about tactics than technique.  He sketched some different courses in the snow and explained the physics of taking each turn and where we should aim(other side gate if it was a dual race) and where to initiate momentum into the next turn.  Another interesting tip was that when going down the course, your shoulders should point in the direction your skis are pointing.  He instructed us NOT to keep our shoulders facing down hill at all times.... as I was taught my whole life.  In bump skiing yes, in carving up a course, NO.  A lot of what he taught seemed counterintuative to what seems like you should be doing.  Another example was shoulders being sloped just like the slope of the hill.  Shoulders being parallel to the hill.  We did a drill of taking our poles and held them out in a tripod fashion with the tips touching the snow at all times.  This kept the downhill shoulder down especially when making the turn.  Never did the poles come up.  Lots of discussion of the mechanics of the ski and the different radius turns they offer.  I'm sure some of you know this stuff, but he was very attentive to our skiing and the habits we have.  He could have just blown off the whole thing, but he took it very seriously.  Very cool experience and not enough room to explain it all.  I just hope that I can remember it all!


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## RootDKJ (Jan 25, 2010)

Wow.  Very cool.  I'm envious


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## jack97 (Jan 25, 2010)

2knees said:


> unless the other items were things like a night with Jenna Jameson or something....:lol:



:blink: .... never mind


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## 2knees (Jan 25, 2010)

jack97 said:


> :blink: .... never mind



:lol:   hey, sometimes you swing and miss.....


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## PomfretPlunge (Jan 25, 2010)

MogulQueen said:


> Classified info.....no seriously, some of it would be very difficult to convey to you without a diagram.  One of the most interesting things we discussed was that taking gates was A LOT more about tactics than technique.  He sketched some different courses in the snow and explained the physics of taking each turn and where we should aim(other side gate if it was a dual race) and where to initiate momentum into the next turn.  Another interesting tip was that when going down the course, your shoulders should point in the direction your skis are pointing.  He instructed us NOT to keep our shoulders facing down hill at all times.... as I was taught my whole life.  In bump skiing yes, in carving up a course, NO.  A lot of what he taught seemed counterintuative to what seems like you should be doing.  Another example was shoulders being sloped just like the slope of the hill.  Shoulders being parallel to the hill.  We did a drill of taking our poles and held them out in a tripod fashion with the tips touching the snow at all times.  This kept the downhill shoulder down especially when making the turn.  Never did the poles come up.  Lots of discussion of the mechanics of the ski and the different radius turns they offer.  I'm sure some of you know this stuff, but he was very attentive to our skiing and the habits we have.  He could have just blown off the whole thing, but he took it very seriously.  Very cool experience and not enough room to explain it all.  I just hope that I can remember it all!



Diagrams, I looove diagrams 

This sounds like some of the stuff I was taught...which is part of why it's been such a struggle to learn mogul technique in the last 2 years after decades of all those tripod poles and sloping shoulders etc.  Interesting contrast

Thanxx
Plunge


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## MogulQueen (Jan 26, 2010)

Just a shout out to my buddy Phil.....thanks for all the help on my skiing, I increased my race time by 2 seconds and I got silver!


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## campgottagopee (Jan 27, 2010)

MogulQueen said:


> Just a shout out to my buddy Phil.....thanks for all the help on my skiing, I increased my race time by 2 seconds and I got silver!



WOW---2 seconds is HUGE!!!! Nice job!!!


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## billski (Jan 27, 2010)

campgottagopee said:


> WOW---2 seconds is HUGE!!!! Nice job!!!


+1 for sure.  Just goes to show, racing or not, we all can benefit from shaking bad skiing habits we've acquired over the years!


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## Warp Daddy (Jan 27, 2010)

MogulQueen said:


> Just a shout out to my buddy Phil.....thanks for all the help on my skiing, I increased my race time by 2 seconds and I got silver!



thats awesome !


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