There is unbelievable satisfaction for a teacher when one of your students takes to heart what you’ve been working on and puts it all together for themselves. The whole process is further amplified when that student is your son or daughter. Sometimes the tension is heightened to the point where it doesn’t work to teach your own child. In those cases don’t force it. Give it time and maybe the next time it will go better. Success can be equally magnified as personal passions become family passtimes. This winter break Asako’s years of ski instruction with the Ski Association of Japan and my several winters teaching snowboarding at Bromley Mountain in Vermont have really paid off.
Teaching snowboarding is not something I came by naturally. I learned to snowboard the hard way. A friend gave me my first board in 1984. I was thirteen and just started riding. My start was “classic kid” as I hadn’t learned any of the basics but was already charging a little kicker we had made on a closed local ski hill. I did a lot of falling. A few years later parabolic board technology and the opportunity to ride regularly finally came together for me and I suffered through the later stages of learning to carve properly.
At Bromley I learned to teach an effective sequence for learning to ride. From that I saw the way I learned to snowboard was not the best. It also made me regret the pain I put a friend through when she asked me to teach her to snowboard at Sunday River some years before and I brought her to the top so she could figure it out by the time we got to the bottom. Not a quarter of the way down she was so bruised that she opted to slide the rest of the way down on her side. Needless to say, it wasn’t my shining moment of teaching in the outdoors.
As a few awkward dates are good practice for a natural marriage, experience teaching skiing and snowboarding professionally is great practice for parenting.
Everyone on Board
For what they are worth here are my insights for teaching your child to snowboard.
1) Lay the ground work. Kai has been skiing and skateboarding for 3 years. Both involve different balance skills than snowboarding but they form an excellent foundation for it.
2) Have the right equipment. Spend the money to either rent or buy a board and boots that will work for a person the size and weight of your child. It doesn’t have to be great gear but it has to be good enough to work well.
3) Pick optimal conditions. Go to an area where it is frequently warm – right around freezing and preferrably sunny. Your child will stay with it longer and have fewer obstacles to learning if the weather is reasonably comfortable. Groomed packed powder will also expidite the learning process as a light weight rider with less developed muscle mass will not fair well turning with much fresh to contend with. Children don’t have the momentum to keep moving through much snow and will find those early, less-than-confident turns much easier on hard pack.
4) Pick the right trails. You’ll need 2 types. The first is the beginner hill which you will spend most of a day (maybe two) walking up and down with your child as they learn the basics. It should gentle but steep enough to stay on edge. Make sure it doesn’t pitch to one side or the other. The second hill you’ll need should have a chair lift and be similar to your practice hill. Ideally the chair should end on a nice gentle slope away not a steep drop right away.
5) Give your child the immediate chance to practice by setting aside at least 3 or 4 days where they can learn. If your child is on the faster side of picking it up, they will need 3 days to put it all together. Having an extra day built in will give your child a rest day if they need it and allow you to work with the weather conditions as they support your objective.
6) Keep in mind that the big objective is for you to eventually enjoy riding with your child and if that happens in the first week, great. If it takes longer, that is also fine. My objective is to snowshoe up Mt Asama (visible in the distance of the photo below) when Kai is 12 and snowboard down together. As far as I am concerned that gives us 5 years for him to become proficient. That takes all pressure off and we can just focus on having a good time.
7) Focus only on your kid. As obvious as this appears, wholly dedicate these days to teaching your child. For me this is easier if I can get a few days in where I can shred before having to go into teaching mode. Kai is fast on skis so the few days before he learned to snowboard we went out together with him on skis so I could play.
8.) Keep laughing and fuel the stoke. Snowboarding is all about play. Make jokes and praise the wipeouts your child takes like you would a buddy who just landed a big air. Much of the fun of snowboarding is in the vibe which doesn’t need to die just because you’re supposed to be a responsible parent. You can still be a rebel team and this may pay off when you want to duck ski patrol boundary ropes to rip freshies later on.
During the baby years you might wonder if you haven’t given up previously active days as you sit in the lodge with an infant and swap runs with the person you used to kiss on the chairlift. This year we are finally reaping the benefits of those earlier experiences and sacrifices and the whole family is riding.
Ready for next Steps
Posted On: Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Posted In: Blog
Subscribe: RSS 2.0
Comments: No Responses
Recent Comments