Snoq Pass Ski Lessons ?

[Yonder_River]

Planning on signing my oldest (5 in March) for his first lessons. Leaning toward Alpental since I'm hesitant to be stuck at Central.

Thoughts on the lessons there? I'm hoping he'll be able to hang for the duration since they last all day. Kind of wish they had the 2 hour Mohan lessons there. What's folks experience been?

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[pipedream]

The Summit Learning Center offers some of the best instruction in North America. They consistently produce the highest number of PSIAA-certified Level II and Level III instructors, which means that they're damn good at what they do and love to do it. You won't be disappointed and neither will your son. They'll have him lapping Chair 2 before you know it! As a bonus, you'll have plenty of time to do BC laps w/ the usual suspects.

Source: I've got a dozen friends who work there, most at Central, some at Alp and a few at West. All of them are just as rad as the terrain at Alpental and actually care about seeing the sport move forward through the next generation of skiers and snowboarders.

[phatty]

I'm biased since I teach at Alpental (Friday nights), but I also have 4 kids in lessons on Saturdays there. I think the lessons are very good and the lunch break helps it not feel as long for the kids. A lot of the quality will depend on the teacher. They tend to have younger teachers work with younger kids. My kids have been lucky to have great teachers. The benefit is that all the teachers are stoked on skiing and that is the reinforcement you want for kid, assuming you are also stoked.

The decision is if you want to teach them yourself or have someone else teach. If you want someone else to do it, Alpental is the best bet for consecutive week lessons. If you have questions, feel free to pm me.

[oftpiste]

I wrote this elsewhere, but possibly worth a re-print.

FWIW, I had all three of my boys in Powderpigs at Central at 3 years old. Pulled them out of school at noon on Thursdays during the season from kindergarten through third or fourth grade. They're now 18, 15 and 13 and pretty much shred.


At the time I used to be frustrated at the lack of technical instruction they got in those days, but in retrospect and having now been through many person-years of junior racing and big-mountain programs, I've realized Powderpigs did exactly what was appropriate for them at that age. They're way more likely to listen to an instructor than they are to you!


At 4 it isn't about becoming a good technical skier, but learning how to have fun, fall down, get up, be out in the cold/wet and not get too whiney, ski without your parents to rescue, whine at, etc. and at the same time getting enough good, age-appropriate fundamentals to set them on the right course.


The weeknight option meant a very low student to instructor ratio, and virtually no crowds most of the time. Of course, your own skiing evening won't be too exciting, but I used to use it to do my own technical drills and work on other aspects of my own skiing. Not that it did me a lot of good!


Later you'll want to consider more technical instructional options depending on where you want them to end up and how much they enjoy it, but for starting out I absolutely would do it this way again, and I feel even more strongly about it in hindsight than I did at the time. We ended up doing full time CMAC for several years with the younger two, and that paid off in spades too.


There were days I wondered what the fuck I was doing when all three of them didn't feel like going and had to be dragged out the door kicking and screaming ( and they will at that age), or when I had to load all their gear as well as my own in the car, dress all of them in their boots, clothes, then schlepp all their stuff to the lodge, but again, it was all worth it. It was a lot of work.


If you can manage one weekday afternoon a week for 8 weeks in the winter somehow, as a very experienced ski dad I solidly endorse that approach. My boys ended up developing a passion for the sport (which I partially credit to Powderpigs for getting them off on the right foot) and can ski circles around 99% of most other skiers. Some people say, "don't push them too hard. it has to be fun!" but I think that any little kid needs to be pushed to some degree, even for 'fun' activities. I mean, they don't always want to go to soccer practice or school either, right? Go for it.

[roark]

Minor hijack: anyone have input on adult (esp. female) lessons? Looking to get the wife out of terminal intermediate status but know better than to provide my feedback. Yes, I know where this is sure to be headed... so no I won't post pics.

[ak_powder_monkey]

have you bought her fat skis?

cause that helps.

[phatty]

Minor hijack: anyone have input on adult (esp. female) lessons? Looking to get the wife out of terminal intermediate status but know better than to provide my feedback. Yes, I know where this is sure to be headed... so no I won't post pics.

The best option for an adult is to get her a series of private lessons. Alpental has some great Level 2 and 3 instructors who would be able to get her progressing. You can request instructors and I can give some recommendations if you want.

[Yonder_River]

I wrote this elsewhere, but possibly worth a re-print.

FWIW, I had all three of my boys in Powderpigs at Central at 3 years old. Pulled them out of school at noon on Thursdays during the season from kindergarten through third or fourth grade. They're now 18, 15 and 13 and pretty much shred.


At the time I used to be frustrated at the lack of technical instruction they got in those days, but in retrospect and having now been through many person-years of junior racing and big-mountain programs, I've realized Powderpigs did exactly what was appropriate for them at that age. They're way more likely to listen to an instructor than they are to you!


At 4 it isn't about becoming a good technical skier, but learning how to have fun, fall down, get up, be out in the cold/wet and not get too whiney, ski without your parents to rescue, whine at, etc. and at the same time getting enough good, age-appropriate fundamentals to set them on the right course.


The weeknight option meant a very low student to instructor ratio, and virtually no crowds most of the time. Of course, your own skiing evening won't be too exciting, but I used to use it to do my own technical drills and work on other aspects of my own skiing. Not that it did me a lot of good!


Later you'll want to consider more technical instructional options depending on where you want them to end up and how much they enjoy it, but for starting out I absolutely would do it this way again, and I feel even more strongly about it in hindsight than I did at the time. We ended up doing full time CMAC for several years with the younger two, and that paid off in spades too.


There were days I wondered what the fuck I was doing when all three of them didn't feel like going and had to be dragged out the door kicking and screaming ( and they will at that age), or when I had to load all their gear as well as my own in the car, dress all of them in their boots, clothes, then schlepp all their stuff to the lodge, but again, it was all worth it. It was a lot of work.


If you can manage one weekday afternoon a week for 8 weeks in the winter somehow, as a very experienced ski dad I solidly endorse that approach. My boys ended up developing a passion for the sport (which I partially credit to Powderpigs for getting them off on the right foot) and can ski circles around 99% of most other skiers. Some people say, "don't push them too hard. it has to be fun!" but I think that any little kid needs to be pushed to some degree, even for 'fun' activities. I mean, they don't always want to go to soccer practice or school either, right? Go for it.

Thanks for everyone's input. Good to hear nice things about the instructors.

I'm trying to picture him hanging from 9:30 to 3:30 without kicking dust in the outfield at some point or wanting to go to the lodge, but I'm sure he'll do fine. That's my main concern, but I'm figuring that most kids fair well since they say it's geared toward the 4-6 crowd. He has a lady friend that will be in the lessons as well so that could be motivating..

I figure it's best for beginners to learn from someone else, at least in my kid's case. Not doing the DIY method yet.

We have three boys now (newest is currently in the NICU for a couple months) so the crew is just starting to form.

[phatty]

Good luck with your youngest in NICU, Yonder. I can't imagine how tough that would be.

Getting kids started is the best. I thought it would be a pain and it is tough. It's all worth it when you see them get stoked. My 6yo has been asking when he gets to go skiing since June and my 8yo told me skiing is his favorite thing to do. Talk about making a dad proud.

[oftpiste]

He will kick dust and want to go to the lodge and sometimes they'll accommodate that and other times not. The slightly shorter hours are another good thing about the weekday afternoon option. Not to mention no lift lines = more time actually skiing = more progress, less boredom, less time to get cold.

Good luck with your youngest man, that's a tough one for sure.

[Yonder_River]

Ya, the NICU sucks big time but the lil guy is holding tuff.

Really wish the weekday thing worked with our schedule, hopefully for next years lesson.

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[oftpiste]

we were there for a while shortly thing #1 was born. can't think of any worse sensation. scary as shit. hang in there. so glad he's doing well.

[XavierD]

My brother and I learned to ski/snowboard at the summit learning center, or whatever it was called. Our parents took us to West, we were 6 and 10 respectively, I wasn't paying attention to my brother's lessons, but my instructors were fantastic. Been a while now, but it sounds like they have maintained their quality.

I was also in the NICU for a few months, turned into a steely eyed, bar-emptying, virgin-converting, hun-slaying, god-inspiring, male specimen.

[userA]

nicu grads become fine skiers!
ski skool fills up fast @the pass.
train em at alpental for raddness, west for the rest.
b

[Flash]

My two rugrats (6 and 8) do lessons at Alpental on Saturdays. It has been a great experience for them, and they look forward to skiing all summer long. They both have improved exponentially in a short period of time. We have not done any of the other Snoq Pass areas for lessons, but based on what I hear from friends who have had their kids at West and Central, Alpy is the place to be.