Category Archives: First timers

The Snow Code

Posted on by
Reply

When we go on holidays, we tend to think of a relaxing, fun and safe time with friends or family. On a ski holiday, the ‘relaxing’ part is swapped for something more active, and even though skiing is fun and can be exhilarating, it is more fun when we stay out of hospital.

To help us do this, skiing and snowboarding has a set of rules that are enforced on the mountain. These are designed to help keep people safe on the mountain and provide a foundation on which we conduct ourselves. These can be found on the website of any ski resort you go to. Here in New Zealand it is referred to as The Snow Code and is as follows.

Know your Limits

  • Ride to your Ability, control your speed. (Sometimes it might be tempting to listen to friends and go on something more challenging than what your capable of, if this happens, listen to your instinct and politely decline. Or tell them outright that it’s beyond you at this point in time. Conversely,  you might be tempted to take someone where they shouldn’t be, this could be a holiday wrecker, I have seen it happen!)
  • Be aware of the conditions. (This includes both snow and weather conditions. Snow reports are available on the resorts website, snow phone or ticketing. This allows you to prepare for the day, if it’s cold, to layer up, exceptionally windy to wear a windproof jacket or if it’s sunny, to wear extra sun screen etc.)
  • Take a Lesson. (If you are feeling adventurous and feel that you need to explore some new terrain, go with a professional. We’ll set you up for success and get you where you want to go, without leaving you behind!)

Find your Space

  • Stop where you can be seen. (Try to avoid stopping. However, if you do need to stop, avoid stopping behind rollers or just round the bend. If you can’t see people skiing down, the chances are they can’t see you either. It doesn’t matter if it’s a high traffic area or not, if someone is coming down fast and they don’t see you until it’s too late, this is a first class ticket to patrol!)
  • Give others room. (When you overtake someone, make sure to leave plenty of room. This is to ensure that if they make an unanticipated manoeuvre, a collision can be avoided.)
  • Look Ahead. (As with driving, or riding a bike on the road, you always look ahead, scanning for whatever may be a hazard. This applies with skiing, too.)

Protect Yourself

  • Obey ALL signs and closures. (The signs are there for a reason. If a run is closed this could be for many reasons, too much snow, not enough snow, too icy. If you do get caught in a Closed area, at best you could lose your pass, and at worst, you could die.)
  • Tired, Take a rest. (Fatigue can cause poor decision making and then you could get injured. Stop, take a break, have a coffee, water or hot chocolate and have a snack, go to the toilet. It’s okay to take a break every now and then.)
  • Wear a Helmet. (There have been many instances that extent of injury could have been prevented had the skier/boarder worn a helmet. I wear a helmet when I am free skiing, as well as working. It feels strange when I don’t. Wear a Helmet!)
Advertisement

Goals: Giving a Ski Lesson purpose

Posted on by
Reply

When you come to a ski lesson, there is always a goal that you want to achieve, otherwise why would you come to a lesson? Whether it’s to ride up a chairlift and successfully ski down a piste, meet like-minded & similar ability skiers, or to ski down a black diamond run in control and with form. Or, in the case of children they usually want to ‘have fun’. There is always a ‘goal’.

A goal is ‘the aim, intention, objective or purpose of a person or group of people.’ For a lesson to be great, it needs a goal ‘to make the direction of the lesson clear.’ What we’re doing in the lesson also needs to be related back to the goal or the lesson becomes disjointed and confusing.

What the student wants from the lesson helps to determine the goal. This could be to improve technique, ski a more difficult run, meet new people and make friends, have fun, or maybe build confidence. And sometimes a students motivation for being in a lesson plays a role, too.

As instructors, we see what you need to achieve your goal (your wants) by watching you ski, then negotiate what could be a realistic goal for the time available.

Goals may need to be reassessed from time to time in order to achieve them, breaking them down in to smaller and shorter goals. This lets us know we’re on track and gives a sense of achievement before moving on to the next one. Too much, too big, too soon are less likely to be achieved. Big goals are achieved through incremental small goals.

Every thousand mile journey begins with a single step.

One way we break down a goal is to turn it in to a SMART goal:

  • Specific: A clearly defined, concise statement of what the objective is will give the lesson a focus.
  • Measurable: There needs to be a bench mark, or control, against which to measure progress and stay motivated.
  • Achievable: Even though great effort may be required, there is still the ability for the goal to be reached successfully.
  • Realistic: There should be appropriate expectations of the objective to maintain motivation.
  • Timely: Achieved within a specified time frame. This could be within a one hour lesson, a couple of days, weeks or several seasons.

Which ever way you break it down, as long as there is a sense of achievement, progress and fun, then the lesson has been a success!

 

Let’s go skiing!

Poles: When and why we use them.

Posted on by
Reply

Quite often I’m asked, ‘When is my child ready for poles?’

As a general rule, they are ready for poles once they can ski Parallel on Blue terrain. In ski school Level 4. The four conditions of getting poles are in a developmental, technical and safety sense, as well as sanity for you!

Developmentally, if we give them poles too soon, we short circuit the messages to their feet (cephalocaudal development, from the head down) and their skiing may regress. Once they have autonomy of movement being parallel on blue terrain, they won’t regress as much in the learning process.

In a technical sense, poles are used when the skis are flat to the snow as they are simultaneously changing corresponding edges (the skis change from one set of edges to the other at the same time). It is easier to stand on the edges of the skis, so when we have a moment of instability (when they are flat to the snow), we touch the pole to the ground to help stabilise us, or balance, as we start the new turn. If your child still has a wedge (or opposing edges) at the start of the turn, there is no moment of instability, thus not necessary to have poles.

As a safety rule, once they can get on and off the chair lift by themselves will help prevent a wayward pole in the crotch, eye or anywhere else it shouldn’t be! It can be a lot easier

Then, think about the gear you will need to be remembering and then carrying if you give them poles. Once they can be responsible for their own equipment, ie carry it all from your accommodation and the car park, poles may be a consideration.

So when you’re asked, ‘Can I have poles yet?’ These are the conditions.

Let’s go Skiing!

The Benefits of Playing Sport for Children

Posted on by
Reply

Sport has long been considered part of a country’s psyche, with its respective national sport, state, province, region or county with respective teams and each town with it’s club. Professional or amateur, there is something about sport that brings people, and the community, together.

Sport has a broad meaning that includes all sorts of physical activities. It can be outdoor or indoor and organised/competitive or casual sports. Soccer, Rugby, Basketball, Netball are examples of competitive sports. Other pursuits such as Dancing, Ballet, Jazz Ballet, Martial Arts, Gymnastics, Swimming, Running, Horse riding can be competitive, social or a mixture of both. Outdoor adventure pursuits such as hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, canyoning, abseiling, surfing, kite surfing, wind surfing also count as sport, as long as there is frequent participation. Although not necessarily sport, as such, Physical Play is not to be under estimated for it’s benefits, either. Skateboarding, roller blading/skating, rip sticking, though not in a team/organised setting have their benefits, as opposed to video games and chess which are sedentary. They mainly exercise the mind or hand eye coordination and reflexes.

We engage in the most play, or sport, during the times of our lives when the educational demands are the highest. Play has been defined as ‘voluntary, has no obvious survival value or is apparently purposeless, is pleasurable or fun, creates a diminished sense of time and self consciousness and is improvisational.’ (Hargrove, T 2011). Being voluntary and fun are important for children to maintain motivation for participation in sport, as a distinction from participating to win. And ‘a diminished sense of time’ basically means that ‘time flies when you’re having fun’, which has been known to distress some children because they don’t want the fun, or game, to stop!

For Humans, being a sociable animal, this is a benefit on a large scale, but what are the benefits of children playing sport? While this is not an exhaustive list I have managed to narrow it down to four major areas where sports benefit children’s development: Physical Coordination, Socialisation, Academic Improvement and Personal Development. (Oh, and may also benefit their skiing & riding, too!)

Sport and physical play are important for creating and developing body awareness. Most children in lessons will know, generally, what the different parts of their body are called. However, this doesn’t mean that they know how to tell that part what to do. The classic example is when a student is learning how to stop for the first time. They have been taught that making a wedge (aka slice of pizza or slice of anything circular or any thing that resembles a triangle) will make them stop. Then once sliding, they put their hands together and nothing happens with their feet and skis. This demonstrates a good cognitive understanding of what it is they need to do, however, their arms and hands have been used with more dexterous activities and receive the message first. The development of physical and motor systems start from the head and work their way down and is referred to as ‘Cephalocaudal development’. (McInerney & McInerney, 1998) Since it is a new neural pathway being forged to their legs it takes a little more effort to make it happen. From experience, this happens in both adults and, more so in children.

When teaching skiing, there is a noticeable difference between athletic, or physical, and sedentary kids. Children who are active in a lot of sports, or highly active in one, generally pick up snow sports quicker as they have more active neural pathways, resulting in improved coordination. ‘A child whose brain has more neural pathways will be able to learn more easily.’ (Johnston & Ramon, 2011) The best time for these pathways to be developed is between 3-6yrs.

Skiing involves the use of muscles that don’t get used in everyday life. And being a sliding/balancing sport, requires the use of the smaller stabiliser muscles in both the lower and upper body to maintain balance. The muscles used in a variety of activities such as skateboarding, roller blading/skating, rip sticking greatly improve a child’s (and adults) ability to develop balancing skills and then reappropriate these skills to skiing. Working in Canada, it’s interesting to see how quickly kids pick up skiing if they play ice hockey, or at least ice skate. There is a dramatic and noticeable difference between those that do, and those that don’t.

Developing these muscles, along with on mountain skiing experience, allows us to apply and adapt what is known as Perceptual Motor Skills. Perceptual motor skills could be described as the difference between learning to read and learning to write.(Johnston & Ramon, 2011) It’s one thing to know how a letter looks, what a letter or word is. It is another to be able to write the letter, or word, and coordinate what it looks like, or sounds like, to the movement pattern of the muscles in the hand and fore-arm.

Perceptual-motor skills also apply in other sports that involve the timing of catching, hitting, kicking or throwing a ball. These help to create and develop spatial awareness which is important when skiing in a variety of situations. When skiing in a class line, younger children have a tendency of crashing into each other, either while skiing or when stopping. Sometimes it is amusing to watch, although with older kids can be quite scary. The timing and coordinating of a pole plant or the gauging of jumps, ie. where the take off and landing are in relation to each other, which then determines what speed is needed.

Perceptual-motor skills means that we are able to see the terrain or conditions and adapt, and anticipate our movements accordingly. How we ski in the bumps is going to be different to how we ski on the groomed. And like wise, how we ski in powder is going to be different to how we ski on firm, almost impenetrable snow. Perceptual-motor skills are closely related to Proprioception.

While being physically aware of others around them is important, so is knowing how to socially interact with those around them. Playing team sport has the benefit of allowing the interaction and development of positive and valuable relationships with others their age, as well as other adults, coaches, trainers and parents of other team members.

As a child gets older a sense of ‘us’ is developed, being able to share and take turns. Seeing where a child is in its’ social development is demonstrated in many ways. The two more distinct ways are separation from their parents and the importance of where they are in the ski school snake. The former is evident in the younger ages (3-6), while the latter is more evident in the 6-8 yr old age range.

Playing team sports exposes children to the highs and lows of life through winning and losing. Being humble in the win and gracious in defeat, a sense of sportsmanship and egalitarianism can be instilled by being part of a team. Interacting and communicating with other team members can result in a successful team. Once children have seen that positive interaction can lead to positive results, the desire to cooperate with each other is heightened. The sense of belonging to a group and being able to contribute to the team’s success can improve their self-esteem and self-worth. In this process leadership skills can also be developed.

The relationships and teamwork involved with playing sports has other benefits. Solving problems and either defending or attacking on the field develops the mind through strategic thinking. Practising plays to get past or through the opponents defences, and then to be able to create variations to counter what’s in front of them allows them to learn how to think on their feet under perceived pressure. Instances of thinking strategically in skiing include navigating through the trees, race gates, or congested runs. Determining one’s own speed, the speed of others, the spacing between trees, gates and people all contribute to the child’s ability to think on their feet. Trying to think how the opposition, or others, thinks also helps develop empathy.

Studies have shown that those that participate in sport are less likely to suffer from depression. Physical stimulation of the brain increases endorphins released in the brain, maintaining an equilibrium of neural chemistry, which in turn helps to have an increased attention span. (Bilich)

Playing sport, and skiing/snowboarding, assist with a young persons Personal Development. Helping to develop an intrinsic sense of self-awareness. For example, they may be disappointed in their personal performance, even though the team won. This intrinsic sense of self-awareness can then transpose between sport and academia. Setting goals, practice and perseverance are relevant in more than one facet of life. Achieving set goals contributes to a more positive self-image and builds confidence. This is particularly true for young women, as playing sport increases their chances of graduating college by a staggering 41 percent. (Hadfeild, 2007)

In a ski lesson, an instructor was heard to say to his student, ‘Do you know why we fall over?’ ‘It’s so we can learn to pick ourselves up, again.’ A lot of the time a child only needs moral support to get up…..after you’ve walked half-way back up the run to help them. The skill of emotional self-regulation is developed and honed in the theatre of sport. This is one of the reasons that parents put their children in to ski lessons, as they either don’t have the patience or they find themselves always physically helping their child, rather than emotionally encouraging them.

Some of life’s little lessons are learnt through sport and play. And not necessarily high consequence lessons, either, but rather lessons that aid the personal development of the child. Exploring and learning things for themselves, through trial and error. The more experience they have of cause and effect, the more likely it is that they are developing an awareness of themselves and their surroundings.

Skiing is a versatile sport that you can compete in various disciplines, train to improve technique, go on week-ends by yourself or on holidays with family or friends. Skiing is a sport that can represent so much, to so many. There are not many, if there are, sports like it. For those that live near a ski resort, skiing can be structured weekly training/lessons or recreational fun, for those that go skiing on holiday it would more likely be recreational fun and exploration.

The benefits of sport improved Physical Coordination, Socialisation, Academic Improvement and Personal Development are enhanced significantly through the Theatre of Sport and can afford a more holistic development of the child. Skiing also lends itself to the positive development of children and the participation of other sports lend itself to the development of their skiing.

References & Further Reading

Devenish, C. 2016. ‘The Benefits of Playing Sport for Children’ nzsia.org Viewed on 11/07/16 https://www.nzsia.org/2016/07/the-benefits-of-playing-sport-for-children/

Hargrove, T, 2011. ‘The Importance of Play for Motor Learning’ Bettermovement.org Viewed 22/11/14 http://www.bettermovement.org/2011/the-importance-of-play-for-motor-learning/ 

McInerney, D.M & V. 1998. ‘Educational Psychology: Constructing Learning’ Prentice Hall.

Johnstone, J.A. and Ramon, M. 2011, ‘Helping children develop to their full potential through perceptual-motor experiences’, Humankinetics.com. Viewed 22/11/14 http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/helping-children-develop-to-their-full-potential-through-perceptual-motor-experiences

Hadfeild, J. 2007. ‘BYU study: Girls + high school sports = college graduation’ news.byu.edu Viewed 15/03/2015 http://news.byu.edu/archive07-Jul-GirlsSports.aspx

Bilich, K.A. ’10 Benefits of Physical Activity’, Parents.com. Viewed 22/11/14 http://www.parents.com/fun/sports/exercise/10-benefits-of-physical-activity/

 

Have you heard the one about the….

Posted on by
Reply

Over the years, I have earned myself a reputation for telling jokes to the kids at the meeting area. To some the jokes may seem quite droll, however, this is to serve a few functions. To build rapport, earn trust and gain an understanding of our students. One way to Build rapport with anyone is through humour, not too much, not too little and just the right kind. It’s important to create a relaxed and comfortable environment quickly as our students will be more likely to be open to learning. Also, making sure that the delivery of content, being ‘on the same level’ as the kids, is imperative, or they’ll be lost, or worse they’ll never be there to start. Treating them too young, may seem patronising, too old, and the reaction might be ‘I have a Dog!’.

Telling jokes, and having the kids tell jokes back helps gauge where their humour is and usually gives a pretty good indication of where they’re at Cognitively and Emotionally. Some of the jokes I tell at the meeting area are funny (well, that’s what I tell myself), others not so funny, but then this would generally depend on the age of the child. I noticed that I could tell the same joke to a different age group and get a completely different response, may be better, or worse! Whether they get the joke to start with, or genuinely laugh at the jokes, roll their eyes, or vaguely giggle with a ‘knowing glance’, often indicates what ‘level’ they’re on and helps determine how the lesson is approached. And when done accurately, this helps to earn and build trust.

The younger kids (3-4yrs) usually have the most ridiculous, nonsensical jokes. This age tends to react more to visual and physical/slapstick humour. (Price 2007)  Although, sometimes they understand basic word-play and riddles.The most common joke for this age group seems to be the classic ‘Knock knock’ joke. This may be an indictment of their understanding of the world in a very defined way, having not developed language skills, understanding double meanings, amongst other things. Black is black, white is white with very few, if any, shades of grey in between (and certainly not 50!).

On a chair-lift ride with older kids, the 4-year-old might make up a joke that combines the previous 2 jokes they’ve heard, and only tell it so they feel like they are part of the group, which they are, just on a different level. This kind of mixing and matching of components, without knowing the rules, or structure, is an element of ‘Egocentrism’, where the child doesn’t know the rules or how to apply them but thinks they do.

From my experience, By the time kids get a little older, they usually have a pretty good understanding of basic (or in some cases, complex) word play, which requires understanding context, multiple word meanings, contradictions, metaphors and ambiguity. (Stern, 2010) And the older they get the more sophisticated the joke. Or, they’ll rip the joke to pieces. I once got in to an Existential discussion with a 10-year-old after I told the ‘Why did the dinosaur cross the road?’ joke. ‘Chickens are not invented,’ she said, ‘they evolve and roads are invented, but they didn’t exist because there weren’t people then.’ And so it went. Needless to say, once I had this discussion I re-thought my approach!

References

Price, M. 2007 ‘The Joke’s in you’, American Psychologist Assosciation                          Stern, V. 2010  ‘Jokes crack open brain connectivity in Autism’, SFARI (Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative), viewed 10 August 2014

Here is a selection of jokes I have heard through the years, by no means is this ALL of them.

If you have any to add, please, feel free to post in the comments, send me an e-mail.

What do you get when you cross an elephant with a fish?
Swimming trunks!
Why did the cow cross the road?
He wanted to go to the moo-vies!
Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get to the other side!
Why did the turkey cross the road?
It was the chickens day off!
Why did the dinosaur cross the road?
Chickens weren’t invented then!
Why did the whale cross the ocean?
To get to the other tide!
Why did the chicken cross the park?
To get to the other slide!
Why did the possum cross the road?
He wanted to visit his flat-mate!
What do you call cheese that’s not yours?
Nacho Cheese (Not your cheese)
Have you heard the joke about the pizza?
Nah, I better not. It’s too cheesy
Have you heard the joke about the Nachos?
Nah, I better not. It’s too corny.
Have you heard the joke about the wall?
Nah, better not. You won’t get over it.
Have you heard the joke about the butter?
Nah, better not. You’ll just spread it.
What kind of cheese do you use to disguise a horse?
Mascapone. (Mask-a-pony)
What kind of cheese do you use to coax a bear out of its’ cave?
Camembert. (Come-on-bear)
What did the cheese say when it looked in the mirror?
Haloumi. (Hello-me)
Why did the toilet roll down the hill?
To get to the bottom!
What’s red and sits in the corner?
A very naughty strawberry!

What’s the laziest mountain in the world?                                                                      Mt Everest!

Top 7 Tips for First Time Families going on a Ski Holiday

Posted on by
Reply

Going on a Ski Holiday can be a fun adventure and with the right planning can be a fabulous Life Changing Experience. Planning a ski holiday starts well before you get to the snow or even where you’ve decided to go. Here’s my Top 7 Tips to do before going on that holiday and bringing your child to Lessons for the first time. (It might even be sage advice for the seasoned veteran.)

1. Involve your child in sport. Organised or not, this has more than one benefit and may include muscle use, socialisation and independence, amongst a multitude of other things. Skiing is a sport after all and active kids get more out of it.

Sports doesn’t necessarily mean organised team sports like Soccer, Rugby, Basketball, Netball etc, although these are all good. It also includes all sorts of other physical activities like Dancing, Ballet, Jazz Ballet, Martial Arts, Gymnastics, Swimming, Running, Horse riding etc. Even the mere encouragement of your child playing on a skateboard, roller blades/skates, rip stick etc. is so much better than doing nothing, as the muscles used in these activities greatly improves your child’s ability to reappropriate these balancing skills. Skiing involves the use of muscles that don’t get used in everyday life and if your child’s muscles aren’t used at all, then the pace of the lesson is considerably slower and the perceived value of the lesson is less. (Working in Canada, it’s interesting to see how quickly kids pick up skiing if they ice skate or play ice hockey. There is a dramatic and noticeable difference between those that do and those that don’t.)

It also aids in the socialisation and independence of your child, allowing them the opportunity to meet other kids and how to behave and interact in group situations. (Private Lessons are great for children in the process of socialisation, 3-6 years old.) This allows your child to get used to the fact that you, their parents, aren’t always going to be around, but will return to pick them up afterwards. This is absolutely critical for the nurture of a positive sense of independence, especially for younger children. Your child can then focus on what’s happening in the lesson, not your absence and be comfortable in the fact you’ll return. Separation anxiety can, in my experience, be evident in children as old as 8, but not that often. And is increasingly more evident in their parents. And no, Nintendo, Wii and PS3 are not sports.

2. Allow a rest day between travelling and skiing. This is especially true if your children are young and skiing for the first time. There are a lot of new things to get accustomed to in their new environment and need time to make these adjustments. These exciting new situations, especially the first life changing experience, may include Snow (whether on the ground, falling from the sky or being blasted out of snow guns), the Mountains, the Elements, the Views. These all conspire to distract the first time Skiing child from the fact they’re in a lesson. (And if you’ve have paid for lessons, and they haven’t done this then familiarisation of the environment becomes part of the lesson. I’ve had frustrated parents assert that my job is to ‘teach them how to ski, not play in the snow.’) If you’re on the yearly ski holiday, still allow for a good nights sleep on arrival and every night of the holiday. Here is a great article on the value of sleep for children.

3. Beat the queues. Use the Rest/acclimatisation day to organise rental equipment, lift tickets and anything else which may take time and might need to queue for in the morning. Doing this the day before you start allows you time to do it and not feel rushed.

4. Feed them a Substantial Breakfast. It may sound pretty basic, but the amount of kids that turn up for lessons without having a substantial breakfast is astounding. Skiing is a high energy sport and learning in an alpine environment can be challenging. Getting things organised and/or done the day before helps the first morning of skiing to be not as hectic as it needs to be and allows time to eat. Coco Pops doesn’t count on their own as the sugar wears off very quickly and is really frustrating for all involved when kids are asking if it’s lunch time 30 minutes in to a 2.5 hour lesson.

5. Leave early as getting to the mountain and lessons could take longer than you think. Even the best laid plans can be thwarted by something minor.

6. Put snacks in your child’s pockets. Keeping warm and energised is one of the keys for learning and having fun. Putting snacks in your child’s pockets for them to eat on the lift ride up helps to maintain energy levels and aids in concentration. Maybe muesli or granola bars for the morning and then something sweet for the afternoon if they are in all day. Be aware, though, that some Children’s Facilities are Nut Free Zones.

7. Pack sunscreen, spare gloves and other equipment like goggles. If possible, have a back-up pair of gloves. Sometimes there is precipitation that resembles rain more than it resembles snow. Putting on cold, wet gloves after lunch is no fun to put back on your hands, nor your child’s.

8. I know I said Top 7 but get lessons to at least learn how to stop. The skills of skiing are counter intuitive and without knowing exactly how to stop – or teaching your children how to stop – you may be a liability on the slopes. Also, a Lesson when exploring new terrain is advisable, as the excitement of going up a new lift to steeper or more challenging terrain sometimes means that what has been learned is quickly forgotten. The last place you want to spend the rest of your new-found holiday is hospital via the Patrol Hut. (Or the psychiatric ward!)

Have fun, stay safe and see you out on the slopes!!