Feeling as if we had just arrived a couple days prior, our third week was upon us. Now that we were only a week and a half away from our Level 1 exams, we knew our training would become more focused and more challenging. Thus, we set out Monday morning (and slowly I might add) to see who would be training us for the week. I took a run before heading to the VCM to warm up. Cruising swiftly along Highway 33 (a mellow green run) I was beginning to feel a refined structure to my riding. My fellow snowboarders and I had all worked hard until this point and would find these next five days to be a true test of our riding and teaching capabilities. Before taking lessons, I would just ride. If I didn’t fall over then I was riding correctly. Now that I had done video analysis and knew the level 1 riding standards, I was beginning to critique my own riding every single day on the slope. I could feel my knees bending differently and my hips rotating in a strange yet efficient way. I could not wait to improve even more during lessons this coming week in hopes that I gain my Level 1 certification.
I whipped into the flatland in front of the VCM and met up with my fellow shredders. After figuring out groups for the week, I was pleased to find out I was with Ant, Dom, Dane, and Ben. I have been riding with some of these dudes the entire trip and others I had barely seen on a snowboard. Fraser Johnston, a talented and positive instructor would instruct us for the week. Motivated to get out on the slopes, we set off to start our training for the week. We came to find that the majority of our time this week was be spent in Happy Valley, the beginner section of the mountain where the majority of level 1 instructing occurs. Nevertheless, our week was a fun mix between scenario-based teaching and a bit of rider improvement on all sides of the mountain.
While working on our rider improvement, we focused on skills such as turning with the lower body and riding with a centered and mobile stance to allow for symmetric and efficient turns. While working down in Happy Valley we focused on the Quickride teaching system to ensure a progressive building block approach for our future students. Around and around we went on the magic carpet, slowly but surely beginning to understand what it would take to pass our Level 1 exams. The sun was shinning the entire week which made the slow paced teaching days much more enjoyable and the all-mountain shredding a blast for everyone. We worked on fun skills such as spins and butters when the snow was soft.
Once Friday came around we were all exhausted from a long week of intensive training. Luckily “Funday Friday” had some exiting runs in store for us. Throughout the morning we worked on various types of butters and spins, Fraser leading by example. We all refined some of the more simple spins throughout the day, preparing us for an exiting weekend. Dane, who had been relatively new to snowboarding at the beginning of the trip, was buttering around the mountain and throwing himself off jibs spinning backside 360s off the heels. Ben was also ripping around on his new flexible Rome snowboard. It was great getting to ride with new faces and look at my own riding with new perspective.
Our group meal venue on Friday was the Blarney Stone a restaurant I was exited to try. But sadly, it was a night of mixed emotions. I was, on one hand, exited to spend time with everyone on the program, but sad on the other hand because I had just come to learn one of my dogs had passed away earlier that day. Luckily a good meal and great company helped me stop thinking about the bad news and dinner went on with laughs and good times. After dinner, the vast majority of the group went out to Sam’s while Ben, Kyal, and I decided to turn in for the night. We ended up heading back to the house where we preceded to watch snowboarding films to get pumped for the warm and sunny weekend.
I was one of the first ones up Saturday morning in part due to my desire to rest rather than head to Sam’s. Luckily I was feeling fresh and energetic and decided to go snowboard in the terrain park during the morning. I got a few new tricks landed that day which greatly boosted my confidence for the week to come. I spent the afternoon working on the road gap by the house and enjoying the barbeque that we hosted that evening. The barbeque was a blast – as all group gatherings tend to be – filled with plenty of laughs. Feeling a bit hung-over the following day, much like everyone else, I decided to spend the day shoveling snow and working on the road gap some more. I eventually gained the courage to hit the jump for the first time that evening and I am so glad I did! The five hours of digging that day paid off immensely with the completion of the road gap and a few sweet photos. As the night dwindled away everyone slowly made his or her way to bed in hopes of a restful night. A short two days of lessons would precede our level 1 examinations the following week.
TJ