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08-09 Season (additions will be posted regularly)
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TREK I Blue 2009 Program: This 6-week program started on January 3rd, 2009. The group was put together during the first skills-based split on the slopes. While the group was formally designated "blue", on the first day the kids demonstrated mostly green level skills. Backwards leaning stance, upper body rotation and defensive, bracing wedge were the common components of their skiing but that's why we are here, right?

We started immediately with a series of fun drills to adjust their stance and getting their bodies in a better fore/aft position over the skis. From day one we also started developing a better edge control that resulted in a growing confidence on the slopes. Side slips were part of every ski session. By the second half of the course most of the students could finish some turns with matched, parallel skis.

We kept making progress, the weather improved and the kids were rewarded with lunch breaks at the Lookout instead of the base lodges. They liked to be part of the "exclusive club" and on our 5th Saturday the whole group was ready to ski down the Corona slope!

TREK Videos (use your browser's Back button to return after each video)

First day, defensive wedge legacy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB9txq2GHXE

Every day, side slip drills:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ekHR2uVq6E

Blue terrain, improving stance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pOEh0KnGBE

Blue terrain, developing parallel skills:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neOwtMejr04

Black terrain, growing confidence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtbvP1WcyCs

Update Friday 02/07/09: We had a satisfying and busy graduation day on the mountain with many parents skiing with us. I will post more pictures and videos in the next couple of days (come back or you'll miss Tristan explaining how the kids chose their team name). Also, please send me your feedback about the class to trek@skipauli.com. Thanks, Pavel

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07-08 Season
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TREK I Blue 2008 Program: The class graduated on Saturday, February 9th, 2008. It was one of the windy days in Front Range and some parents did not bring their kids to Eldora or chose to ski with them on easier terrain. Aubrey, Delaney, Meghan, Kyle and Brady who participated all day were rewarded in an unforeseen  way for their perseverance. I loaded our lunches into my backpack and we left the base with a plan to make our way to the back slopes with a lunch break at Lookout. The wind and windchill were bad at the top of Challenger and we immediately left for the bottom of Corona Bowl. By the time we made it against the wind to the bottom of the Corona lift we were really miserable and ready for a warm up break. I wondered what our last day has in store for us. We got to the top and went straight into Lookout. We ate our lunches, drank hot chocolate and got warmer. When we got out and skied down Corona the first time we learned several surprising things: The wind was quite mild in the bowl because of the tree cover but the gusts were so bad at the top of Challenge Mountain that the resort had to close the front lifts for safety. We were “stuck” at the good side of the mountain and nobody else could get there from the base anymore! The snow was great and we had the slopes nearly to ourselves. The kids who started 6 weeks earlier in my Blue level class with rather “green” skills had a great last day when everything finally came together. We skied the rest of the day with 2 of the dads and the kids really showed off what they learned. All 5 of them started consistently making parallel turns on the black-rated slope! From time to time we adults just stood there watching them go down and enjoying the show. I was tired after fighting a bad case of cold but I was sorry when we had to finish our day and return to the front for the conclusion of the program. Meghan led her teammates to our blue flag and I was proud to graduate them at a “true blue” level. Way to go, team!

 

 

Colorado Ski Academy: We have hosted several groups of kids from various Colorado schools participating in the program. The students came to have fun and work on the skills necessary to reach the next level. See the happy faces of the graduates below.

Renaissance School Day: Kids from the Renaissance Magnet School came for their Colorado Ski Academy program on February 20th. My team of level 4 skiers chose to be the Snow Leopards for the day though after lunch some suggested they wouldn't mind being called the Harmless Kitty Cats if it got them out of walking to and from the lift. Despite this minor controversy they loved sneaking through the Fun Gully and got busy practicing side slips and hockey stops. There was a sound of disappointment when I had to call the last run. See the pictures below to decide what kind of cats they were.

Mountain Schools Program: Kids from the Nederland, Jamestown and Gold Hill schools came to their "hausberg" for a day on skis. Thank you to the parents and fellow mountain neighbors for helping out with organization and on the snow.

Horizons Elementary Program: We had several classes from blue kindergartners to black fifth-graders. Thank you to Karen Burgess for perfect organization, to Didier who assisted me with the Black Hotdogs on a cold and windy January 31st, to Mary, Gina, Steve and Jessica who skied with our large Blue group on February 6th and to Rosemary who helped with the Blue/Black group on Corona on February 14th.

Private Lessons: Amid all the children's programs there was time to teach a few adults, mostly female skiers returning after a longer absence, trying for the first time or snowboarders who wanted to learn skiing. Check out the smiles on the faces of Angie, Gail, Dawn, Mary, Mia and Manuel. We all had good times on the slopes.