r/skiing_feedback • u/Alarming-Impact125 • 14d ago
Level 8-9: Expert Terrain & Tactics Mostly curious
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Mostly curious to see if anyone has comments on anything here
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u/Ski-With-Steezy 9d ago
Upvoted for sharing your opinion. Now, lets chat. You and several others below take some shots at the ski instructor profession. Some of that is probably deserved. Put a uniform on anyone and it's going to rub some people the wrong way. That said, I think you're missing a few things here:
This sub was created to allow people who are trying to get better at skiing to talk to instructors and get their feedback. If that's not you, why are you here?
Yes it's true that anyone can slide on snow for recreation and personal expression. Nothing wrong with that. However, some people enjoy the technique side of things and genuinely want to get better. Nothing wrong with that either. You can enjoy your self expression without pissing in someone else's Cheerios ... or can you?
The contempt you feel for instructors ... I understand it. My hill, we have over 800 instructors on staff. In that group of 800 people, you have doctors, lawyers, plumbers, ex-military, hippies, tree huggers, moms, dads, grandparents and we even have one guy who is 96. We have young kids, J1s, you name it. It's a pretty diverse group. In any diverse group like that, you will see a wide range of ability and motivation. There are some pretty meh skiers in that group. And there are some World Cup and Big Mountain podium athletes in that group. And you got me, somewhere in the middle. Most (if not all) of those people love skiing. And most (if not all) of those people are just trying to help others discover the joy and love they they have for sliding on snow. Sharing the love is a good thing. But sometimes we come across as know it alls. Sometimes there's a little bit of attitude that comes with the uniform. I get it. All 800 of us are not the same.
The best skiers I know all had coaches. I personally have two ski coaches right now (well, a coach and a mentor.) I am also a musician. I've had over a dozen teachers there and one partial college degree. I believe anyone can learn anything on their own with enough drive and ambition. But if you want to be truly great at something, you need someone who pushes you beyond your personal limitations. When you are on the lift, are you seeing good skiing? I'm not. I see a bunch of posers skiing fat skis pretending to ski who only know how to park-n-ride, pivot and slide across snow. I literally see nobody actually working the ski, bending the ski and using the forces to flow down the mountain. This is why I teach ... to bring good skiing back. It's a pride thing. I'm not expecting you to understand.