My daughter was just 3 or 4 when she first got on a magic carpet. She’s since developed into a black diamond skier who eagerly looks forward to winter.
This year, snow came late to the Rockies. When it finally fell, I assumed my daughter would take off for a day on her favorite Copper Mountain trails – she especially loves the routes through trees -- using the lift passes her grandfather gave her a month before Christmas for her 18th birthday. Instead, she arranged a New Year’s trip to Copper for two friends who had never been on skis.
She took care of everything – two nights in a borrowed condo, tapping friends and family for long underwear, ski pants, skis and boots for the first-time Alpinists.
She described to me later how she started out on flat ground, showing the novices how to balance, how to stop by turning, and, crucially, how to fall and get back up. She was particularly proud of the friend who had listened so carefully to her explanations that he was able to advise a prone stranger he encountered that it is best to ensure your skis aren’t pointed downhill when you rise, to avoid hurtling away before you’re ready.
I remember my first ski lesson a decade or so ago. I was exhausted by lunchtime. My daughter’s students stayed with her on the mountain for five hours during which they advanced to riding the lift and taking two long runs on easy trails.
When her charges took spills, my daughter side-stepped to them to help them get back up. She didn’t get to ski the challenging trails she loves, but she got plenty of exercise.
When we ski as a family, I as the one who did not grow up in Colorado usually take a lesson in the morning to refresh myself while my husband and daughter ski the blacks. I love the feeling of speeding along with so little effort – I could relate when my daughter told me one of her students was mostly interested in going fast. After lunch on family trips, my daughter and husband ski a few blues and greens with me.
“I think I’m a pretty good ski instructor,” my daughter told me after her trip with her friends, offering to give me a lesson one day.
Being able to teach means you deeply understand what you want to convey. Teaching well takes confidence and generosity.
I’ll take my daughter up on her offer of a lesson.