I am planning to try teaching my girlfriend how to ski, and would like to ask if anyone can recommend good resources, be it books, websites, videos etc. on drills and exercises to teach skiing to an absolute beginner.
Yes, I know taking lessons with a professional is always better, but I want to learn about teaching skiing, at least at the very basic level. Even if at the end she gets some lessons I find still super interesting to learn how to help beginners to improve. Plus there are some small ski slopes near my place where there are no lessons available anyways.
Anyone has done that and have some tips?
Even a collection of ski drills for beginners would be amazing (ie drills to learn basic turning, drills to correct posture...)
Also register with BASI (it's free) and you can buy their alpine manual
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
My only advice would be, don’t be afraid of completely abandoning the idea of you teaching her if it’s not going well, and be prepared to for out for private tuition.
... If you want the relationship to survive. Anyone who isn't an instructor, trying to teach a significant other, is a recipe for disaster.
I'm (only) half joking; it might work, but think carefully about what you're trying to achieve. If your main aim is to learn about instructing, then trying/practicing on your gf isn't necessarily going to help her, and you're both likely to get stressed. If you want her to learn properly, then get her lessons with an instructor. If she is keen for you to try, and bought into what you are doing, maybe go for it.
The Darren Turner videos linked by @Oleski are excellent. They follow a very logical progression, and are clear and simple. Your challenge will be when your gf doesn't quite follow the progression, and you need to work out why - is much easier to see that something is wrong, than to work out exactly what and how to correct it.
@tofino, Even fully qualified instructors don't teach their partners, they may teach each other's partner, don't even try it.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
hehe ok thanks!
I mean, I would only teach her myself as long as she is still keen, otherwise might book lessons or see what we do, sure...
Most important thing is the motivation for sure, that's up to her.
So nobody managed to teach their partner?
After all it is free
After all it is free
and thanks @oleski and @mgrolf for the specific advice, appreciated!
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I'm with those who say - DON'T.
If you have the funds, go Private - if not, choose a ski school with a good reputation and a max class size.
At the end of the lesson, speak to her instructor and find out where they went....and go there, letting her practice what she has learned.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
tofino wrote:
Hi all,
I am planning to try getting rid of my girlfriend and thought teaching her how to ski, would be a good way to achieve this....
Thanks in advance!!
Fixed that for you
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Stop being so negative, teaching one's partner skiing is no different to teaching them calculus. Both difficult and intimidating, but with the right approach can be fun, engaging and bonding.
All depends on the teachers approach and students learning style and aptitude.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Oleski wrote:
Stop being so negative, teaching one's partner skiing is no different to teaching them calculus. Both difficult and intimidating, but with the right approach can be fun, engaging and bonding.
All depends on the teachers approach and students learning style and aptitude.
If it doesn't go to plan calculus is only likely to lead to mental anguish, unlike skiing's potential for physical and mental pain to either party!
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Sun 27-11-22 19:37; edited 1 time in total
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Oleski wrote:
All depends on the teachers approach and students learning style and aptitude.
True, and illustrates the problem here very well. The OP isn’t a teacher, let alone a ski teacher.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Not a great idea imo. Especially being your partner.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
If the idea is to get her to enjoy skiing and then accompany you on further holidays - it's too big a risk not to go with a Professional.
Even if she is in lessons, you have to be very careful that you don't undermine any confidence she has built up; or confuse her by giving her tips that conflict with what she has been told by her Instructor.
IME. It's a complete minefield, even if she is in lessons.....which is why you need to complement what the Instructor has taught her and stay on Pistes she knows.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@Oleski,
Which is ok if you happen to be very proficient in calculus and a good teacher, but...
@tofino
In case you are still determined, I did teach my kids to ski, and followed the advice of an ex canada national team coach who told me to just go ski with them rather than try and teach them - one of them is now one of the top competitive freeride skiers for his age in Canada - nothing to do with all of his actual professional coaches!
If you are a decent skier with good technique then maybe just going skiing and having fun together is good enough?
I've been lucky enough to ski (far!) behind many really really good skiers, and it really helps.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Oleski, I think its a great idea.
Once you have taught her how to ski, you could go on to giver her driving lessons.
After that she could teach you how to iron shirts if she is still your girlfriend.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@tofino, if you do, make sure you come back to tell us how it went.
Just out of interest... based on your user name, the availability of small local hills, the use of "anyways" in your original message , and in case the previous suggestions of registering with BASI might not be most appropriate, do you mind me asking where are you located?
If you are UK based and interested in teaching skiing do the BASI L1 course. It is only 4 days. And you will find you improve your technique the more you get into understanding how to teach so a good thing to do anyway. If you are not good enough to pass that you should definitely not be teaching anyone!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Like most others have said, this is unlikely to have a good outcome.
Not necessarily for your relationship, but for her long-term skiing, both in whether she'll be any good at it and whether she will enjoy it.
It's very easy for an adult beginner to be put off skiing completely, or for them to learn bad habits, like always snowploughing to (try to) stop and getting locked into an uncontrolled position. Just one example but as an instructor who prefers to teach adults I've seen it a lot over the years and it can be difficult and expensive to correct.
Better by far to pay for good lessons at the start than to wait until later, if indeed she wants to continue, and pay for private remedial lessons to fix the problems.
I haven't looked at the links posted, but even following a good logical progression is only going to work if you've really mastered the key skills you need to be able to demonstrate. How good is your snowplough turn?
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Chaletbeauroc, French dads seem to be able to teach their children. It generally involves quite a bit of beating with ski poles when they get things wrong.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
davidof wrote:
@Chaletbeauroc, French dads seem to be able to teach their children. It generally involves quite a bit of beating with ski poles when they get things wrong.
In my case, when skiing with my then beginner girlfriend (Now Wife - just), this dynamic seemed to work the other way around.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Teaching partner usually ends up with poles getting thrown somewhere, usually at the person trying to teach, especially when you end up on a patch of ice on a green run that you had no idea was there. After that you have to carry partners skis whilst you get past that patch.
Best thing to do is offer to pay for lessons
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@stuarth I am located in the german part of Switzerland, near Zurich.... 30 minutes to many small resorts and 1h+ to the big ones
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Little Martin wrote:
Teaching partner usually ends up with poles getting thrown somewhere, usually at the person trying to teach, especially when you end up on a patch of ice on a green run that you had no idea was there. After that you have to carry partners skis whilst you get past that patch.
Best thing to do is offer to pay for lessons
To be fair, this can also happen on the last day when they’ve completed a week of lessons and you go down a run they’ve done 15 times that week, but you don’t go down it at the exact same angle that instructor did.
I also love the bit where you attempt to give your other half a small tip that might make it easier, and they tear your head off. When her own father says similar, he is subjected to a similar fate. When the ski instructor also says the exact same thing the very next day, somehow it becomes the perfect idea
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
thanks all for the advice! will let u know what we do at the end
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
And if you go for professional lessons do take the good advice to only ski the same runs the instructor took her on.
However don't stop for a coffee at that nice little place half way down. I did that with Mrs DJL once, actually we had skied the same run end to end together a bit earlier, but suddenly, after stopping for a bit, it was much too steep and my fault because I was a Fitzwilliam.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Teaching girl friend skiing is particularly tricky.
Teaching kids, relatively harmless. Teaching spouse, can go either way. Teaching girl friends, she may just not want to see you again.
I think the main problem most people have is, they are not good teachers and/or have no experience teaching! So however well meaning, they ended up just offering random “instructions” at the wrong moment or wrong place. Using the wrong phrase or even using the wrong tone of their voice! And when it doesn’t work, both party got frustrated.
A good teacher can teach their spouse. Though many experienced teachers knows teaching isn’t a one path magic. It needs to have a lot of back and forth. Sometimes it’s just easier to have another person be that teacher.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Go with the BASI Central Theme and take it slow. However, there's some trueism in not trying to teach your wife to drive or your kids to ski!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Just because you can do something yourself, does not mean you know how to teach it. Years ago I tried to teach a friend how to sail a dinghy - how hard could it be, I've been sailing since I was a kid? The friend never really got it, and now that I'm actaully a dinghy instructor, and know the progression, I can see why and cringe at how I went about trying to teach him.
Same with skiing, you need to know the logical progression. But even knowing that is no guarantee of being able to teach it effectively - I've seen lots of Rookies who've just done the BASI level 1 course, and as my boss likes to say, they couldn't teach their way out of a paper bag!
It doesn't really seem fair for your GF's introduction to learning to ski to be with a ropey, non-instructor, who doesn't really know what they are doing?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
tofino wrote:
@stuarth I am located in the german part of Switzerland, near Zurich.... 30 minutes to many small resorts and 1h+ to the big ones
Me too - one suggestion is to go to more of a plateau or bottom of the hill place to learn - Sattel or Toggenberg or the one beginning with G at Engelberg.
Sometimes beginners can be overwhelmed by the vastness and not seeing a cliff edge can help with confidence.
I also 100% do not recommend teaching. The only reason my husband and I are married and not exes is because we shelled out for lessons in Morzine 2011
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Tue 29-11-22 7:58; edited 1 time in total
Me too - one suggestion is to go to more of a plateau or bottom of the hill place to learn - Sattel or Toggenberg or the one beginning with G at Engelberg.
Gerschnialp.
Not that good for total beginners actually. The smallest lift, we used to call it the pony, is one of those with a tag every few metres that you're supposed to get behind your bum, quite tricky for a beginner, and there are a couple of steep sections, going to and coming down
Used to hate having to use it for the very first steps on snow int early or late season when the Klostermatt area was (Edit:Not) open. Great area for progression from second or third lesson, though.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Tue 29-11-22 17:06; edited 3 times in total
@Chaletbeauroc, good to know - I’ve planned to take Midget I there - sounds like he’d be ok but those grab n go lifts are a bug for adults.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
karin wrote:
Same with skiing, you need to know the logical progression. But even knowing that is no guarantee of being able to teach it effectively - I've seen lots of Rookies who've just done the BASI level 1 course, and as my boss likes to say, they couldn't teach their way out of a paper bag!
I don't think 4 days of BASI L1 will teach you much about teaching - generally the L1 and L2 courses spend a great deal of time getting the participants' skiing up to an acceptable level.
Teaching beginners can be very difficult, even for seasoned instructors. Some people just get it and have good visualization skills and could probably progress on their own, others, not so much.
I have a friend who was learning ski de fond - he went to the local ESF for 3 days of group lessons. They had to fire him after the first day, unteachable they said.
I said, we'll go out together, I have a lot of patience but I really appreciated the ESF's viewpoint after spending 45 minutes with him. He piste skis, but when he does he leans on the back of his boots and turns on his heels like a windscreen wiper turn, as a consequence he obviously doesn't like skiing despite having an appartment in a ski resort and spends most of his time reading on the balcony while his wife skis with the kids. His wife suggested he try cross country instead, he'd already invested in all the gear too.
So on cross country you have very little support if you lean back on a boot so he set off and immediately fell over backwards because he expected to be able to lean back on the boot like he does in alpine skiing ! It is a real issue with xcountry skiers but rarely so extreme - the bum has to be in front of the boot heel. We tried some exercises to try and get his ankles to flex but just as I thought he'd got it he'd regress and fall backwards. He could manage maybe 3 skates before heading back into his "alpine" stance. This was very tiring as he couldn't get up easily and after half an hour he really couldn't do any more so at that point the lesson was over, no more progress.
I suggested he go and see another instructor who works a lot with beginners but I never found out if he progressed further, I'd be interested to find out. His wife was rolling her eyes when we debriefed - That's my Bill, unteachable, she said.
I'm not sure it is a good idea for you to teach your g/f but don't be afraid to seek professional help early on.
After all it is free
After all it is free
I generally agree with the advice in this thread BUT I know of one success story. A young lad I first met when he was ten, when his parents bought an apartment in our complex and became great friends, was a good skier - fluent, fast, relaxed, like kids who've grown up skiing tend to be. Don't think he ever had "proper lessons". He met and fell in love with Heidi (propitious name, I guess) when they were 16 and he set out to teach her how to ski. We all rolled our eyes. But he did, was brilliantly patient and an intuitive teacher. They married very young, now have two gorgeous children and will probably live happily ever after.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@tofino, I watched the film Der weiße Rausch, so it can be done. The two carpenters even manage to ski very well by teaching themsleves from a text book.
Actually the skiing scenes in it are excellent. It is well worth watching.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@davidof, You're right, to a certain extent, about BASI teaching but in fact there's a fair bit of teaching taught on the Level 2 (or there was when I did it ten years ago). Most important though is the focus on accuracy of demonstration, to get the L2 you really need to be able to show the whole Central Theme to a high standard.
I sympathise with your friend's X country experience. I also tried or a couple of times but was unable, or unwilling really, to progress much. It wasn't the back of the boots that was an issue for me but the lack of lateral support. Basically I kept tipping over sideways; retrospectively I might have been better on classis rather than skating kit, but it really wasn't for me and my knackered back and ribcage anyway. So I did Telemark for my L3 second discipline instead.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
, and in case the previous suggestions of registering with BASI might not be most appropriate, do you mind me asking where are you located? 
