Day two of training and the weather was amazing. For the first time since we had arrived you could actually see the peaks of the mountains with blue sky and freshly groomed powder. Just amazing.
The instruction concentrated on the use of the lower body in your riding and was contrary to how a lot of the group had previously been taught (to initiate turns using your head and shoulders). Lots of practice required!
Pete had a major breakthrough when our instructor, Kyle, suddenly realised the cause of Pete’s lazy back leg in turns and with an adjustment in how he moves his hips in the turn his riding style looked fab.
Then came the really hard part – put all that into practice on your other side (called riding switch). It honestly feels so alien that you instantly feel like a beginner all over again. The panic of when to turn, the fear of catching an edge, the feeling of the board running away with your before you can complete a turn………. and then you crash and land on the same sore bum cheek yet again. I caught one back edge, stacked it and heard my neck crack. Oh joy – I thought I was over the days of whiplash from boarding but apparently not. We don’t need to ride switch proficiently for the Level 1 assessment, thankfully as it is only two weeks away, but we do for Level 2 so we’d better get practicing.
Fortunately our instructors are on a course now so we have the next three days off – we’d best call it a day for now but get out on those green slopes and start practicing.
One of the guys turned 26 yesterday so we went out to celebrate his birthday last night. His parents are called Jan and Pete so he has decided to call us Mum and Dad. Unfortunately we are old enough that we could actually have a son his age – agghhh!.
