Back to Basics at Age 21

One man’s quest to conquer the mountain one step at a time.

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By ANDY BRUNER
SUMMIT DAILY NEWS
March 25, 2008

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Chances are if you’re visiting Summit County when there’s snow on the ground, skiing or snowboarding has something to do with it.

The area attracts a lot of veteran skiers and riders, but the county’s four resorts are also known as great training grounds for beginners.

If you fall into the beginner category, then we have something in common. I had never touched skis before coming to Summit County, and now that I have, I can safely say that you haven’t had the full experience here until you’ve spent some time on a slope with sticks strapped to your feet.

The best news for those skiing for the first time is that it’s the type of activity that you can start to enjoy in very little time, provided you have good instruction. I spent about an hour and a half with instructor Paul Cunningham at Copper Mountain Resort learning the most basic stuff like side stepping, keeping a wedge with the skis for balance (which is something skiers unlearn as they progress), and doing basic turns.

A warning though to the prideful: I was learning these things at the same time as a few kids that couldn’t have been older than five. If you are getting into skiing to look cool right away, I suggest a different activity.

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After taking time on the basics, Paul and I headed out to Copper’s Green Acres beginners’ hill. I spent about three hours there doing runs, and with each one Paul pointed out some new tip or I focused on improving something I’d already learned. The point is that I spent the day having a blast even learning simple techniques. You don’t have to be a master at anything before you really start reaping the benefits of the sport.

Not only does getting to a competent level not take much time, it’s not really that physically difficult – again, provided you have good instruction; I don’t want any beginners to read this and decide they can head out to a hill on their own. The most foreign-feeling part of my first day skiing was getting used to walking in ski boots. Whoever invented them apparently wasn’t familiar with stairs.

But what I found most pleasantly surprising about skiing is that all the little adjustments to turn, change speed, etc. came easiest when I didn’t think much about them. Again, there’s not some technique you have to master. It’s mostly a matter of letting your legs do what they want to do when your brain picks somewhere to go.

That’s not to say everything about skiing is intuitive. By the end of the day I still hadn’t completely gotten over wanting to lean back as I headed downhill. Paul’s advice on this apparently common problem made for the most easily memorable thing I learned that day: “You’re going to want to think ‘whoa,’” he said, “but you’ve got to think ‘go.’” Nicely put.

While my stay in Summit County isn’t permanent, it’s been a great place to be introduced to a sport I hope to spend more time with in the future. If you stay healthy, you can do it pretty much your whole life – like golf, but less frustrating.

— Andy Bruner

Local ski resort lessons
-Keystone Resort
http://keystone.snow.com
(800)255-3715 or (970)496-4170

- Copper Mountain Resort
www.coppercolorado.com
(866)549-9934

- Breckenridge Ski Resort
www.breckenridge.snow.com
(970)453-3272

- Arapahoe Basin Ski Area
www.arapahoebasin.com
(888)272-7246