Last Private lesson  and an old coffee grinder?
Easter ski teaching with New Generation Ski School in Vallandry.
Well, seen here is my last private lesson of the season, Diane, Hanna, James, Megan, me and David. Not forgetting Ali behind the camera!

What a glorious afternoon, this is why I enjoy ski teaching and being with happy people. We had a fantastic time on the Grand Col in Les Arcs. Ali certainly went for it, we discovered a few off piste areas to challenge everyone and put each other through their paces.  A simple strategy of making sure that everyone understood the basics of good ski performance and we were off! The snow was fun to ski in, deep and, almost light and fluffy.  Everyone in the group were very sound skiers with the ability to tackle most gradients and terrain. Ali enjoyed throwing himself down the slope with vigour and a real go for it attitude! James, 19, listened to all the information and adapted his skiing accordingly to start improving his technique. David, who was the instigator in getting the rest to join in on the session, was in the mood to be challenged! Well done David for your commitment and open mindedness to try the lot! Diane just did what it says on the tin! Exceptional performance and looked just great on the mountain, terrific Diane, a ski star in the making! And the girls, well, no slope or conditions were ever going to be a problem,   two very enthusiastic and capable skiers, both have the ability to become great performers!

What an end to the season, good snow, lovely people and ho yes, I almost forgot, a fantastic cup of coffee in Bourg St Maurice.

Carolyn Thomas, my host family with John, Lotti and Matilda, whilst I work in the area, took me to a remarkable coffee shop. I hesitate to call it a ‘coffee shop’ more of a coffee roasting factory! In the rear of the café was a very impressive looking machine, more akin to something you might find in Willy Wonkers chocolate factory!  It was a roasting machine, dating back to 1935! This is one of only 3 working machines in France. Listening intently to the machine operator and owner, (my French is pretty bad, even though I have worked in France skiing since 1978!) I gleaned, with lots of help from Lotti, that the heat needed to roast the coffee beans must be within 140 degf – 180 deg f in order to get the best results. I watched him for a while, he was constantly removing a few beans at a time to smell them, ensuring the coffee was at its best. He certainly knew his stuff. Did you know it takes 5 years from seedling to the first beans? Another interesting non-ski fact!

We ended up having a few cups in there, undoubtedly the best coffee I have ever tasted. Powder skiing, happy people and a great cup of coffee, what else do you need to end a season teaching?

Off to Hintertux tomorrow, it’s a long drive…..wonder if we will find another coffee shop like that one?

Thank you Carolyn, John and the girls for your hospitality this winter!  Alex

CRYSTAL SKI FEST SESTRIERE MARCH 2012

Crystal ski fest, Kev’s tool, and some ski racing with Sir Steve Redgrave!

What a fantastic time in Sestriere last week with Crystal,  Sir Steve Redgrave, Ben Hunt Davies and a great bunch of skiers!

The ski fest week has been going for several years now and it is getting better each year! BASI became involved after Sir Steve Redgrave attended a level one BASI courses with me in Andorra a few years ago.  We thought that the Ski Fest would be an ideal opportunity for a showcase of British ski teachers and so BASI became involved.

Sir Steve is, as you can imagine, a very competitive racer! Committed to getting the best from his skiing, he is definitely not slow!

The week is aimed at all level of skier and encourages skiers to give ski racing a go. From a simple dual slalom course, a speed piste to a timed GS there was plenty for the group to ‘have a go at’. 5 representatives from BASI were present, Gareth Roberts, John Gardiner, Any Jeram, Steve Ricketts, (Recently published his fantastic novel, Exodus, Lords of destiny!) and myself, Alex Leaf!  To ensure the racing episodes were of the highest standard Lynn Sharp, I.S.T.D. and Jo Ryding both superb race coaches were there to set the courses and provide expert advice for getting the best performance through the gates.  The whole set up in Sestriere for providing race pistes and ensuring safety was paramount by the Sestriere piste patrol. They were exceptional. Sir Steve and Ben seen here just about to start their dual slalom, boating attire on a mountain? (wrong sport boys!)

Crystal holiday’s product director, Ian Davis ensured that the whole week went without a glitch along with Sarah Mcghee Gemma Brown and Giuseppe, Thanks guys.  They did, of course, ensure that the socialising during the day carried on each evening…well into the early hours! .should I thank you for that?!

To add an extra ‘buzz’ and a great service, Salomon GB was there with next year’s skis to test. Kev, the representative from Salomon ensured everyone tried them out.  Kevin was very proud of his new tool……;-) an amazing portable ski edge sharpening device! Quite some tool Kev! …………………………………….£2500 worth! Many thanks Kev for your support.

Gareth Roberts, Chairman, BASI seen here enjoying the sun, and giving results!

DSUK were also present they are supported by Crystal Ski.  DSUK provide all you need for adaptive skiing, from specialist equipment to highly qualified adaptive ski teachers. Rachel Easton and Fiona Young provided the expertise along with all their instructors for many people attending with disabilities. One evening was dedicated to DSUK for fund raising and to kick start the fund raising, each BASI trainer donated £200 to the fund, totalling £1000! Gareth in his ‘auctioneers mode’ set the scene and requested that if the trainers were prepared to dig deep, then can the collected crowd match the amount…they did,  almost 3 times over! The evening was a great success with almost £4000 being donated for DSUK!

Lastly, a big thank you to my two great groups, you are the ones which make these holidays memorable…see you next year!

What a great week, flash tools, high profile Olympians, great skis, great people and some fantastic skiing….can we top it next year? I’m sure we can!

The following article is from Angus Wood I.S.T.D.  Ski Instructor and Osteopath.

Whilst working with Angus in Vallandry Les Arcs I realised that there are many people who could benefit from Angus and his expertise.
During the summer months World Class Skiing will be at several indoor snow centres and Angus can give you some specific recommendations for you at Chilfactore in Manchester odyworx in relation to the article below!

Enjoy!

SKIING FROM YOUR DESK?

By Bodyworx Osteopathy, Angus Wood.

Posture is a major contributor to back problems and this is can be related to what you do for a living.  Sitting at a desk all day can create poor or weakened postural behaviour which becomes repetitive and then can progress to discomfort and pain.  Regular exercise can help especially palates or other posture awareness and strength building activities.

Skiing requires a lot of the musculoskeletal system. The joints are expected to move efficiently with the muscles working like a pulley system however if there is a weakness or restriction within the structure then movement becomes less efficient and discomfort can be felt.

TECHNIQUE AND ENJOYMENT CAN BE ENHANCED WITH INCREASED FLEXIBILITY AND MOBILITY!!!

In other words if you improve your flexibility of the postural  muscles and increase the range of movement available in the joints ( through basic mobilisation exercises) you will be more able to adapt your posture and stance  to terrain changes therefore expending less energy.

What about technique?  A good skier needs to be dynamic and balanced over their skis to perform the required movements effectively.  They need to be able to move, not be static and there needs to be a degree of symmetry to allow a successful outcome.   If you are balanced, perform the movements dynamically but find that one turn can occasionally be more of a problem than the other it can sometimes be that there is a lack of symmetry due to shortened muscles around the joint or that there is a restriction in the range of motion.  Common sites for this are the pelvis with pelvic torsion, the low back and the head of the hip.

A scenario of this is where the experienced skier is aware that one turn lacks the control of the other, it may be whilst on steeper terrain but it is evident to him or her that he has to try harder on that side.  It may be more aggressive, lack finesse or feel clumsy where the body may have to compensate for poor movement patterns.

The outcome is that the ski may break away and be unable to hold the turn shape as set.  The postural muscles become fatigued as they are compensating for poor movement patterns and the skier becomes tired earlier in the day.

The answer?

Start thinking about your body!  If you have had the boots fitted with orthotics and wedges then maybe you should consider further up the chain towards the pelvis and spine.   The problem with aligning the boots is it does not consider the rest of the body!

Preparation is everything:  consider what your job is asking you to do, 9 hours a day, 40 hrs plus per week?  Muscle has memory if you sit in one position for any length of time then the postural muscles adapt to this position and you need to do more than just squats and lunges for a ski holiday.

How effective is your posture?  Do you compensate when on skis due to tight and inefficient musculature?  Start a stretching programme to address these   imbalances.

If you have low back pain, acute or chronic get some professional advice.  Appropriate preseason treatment can help enhance your skiing enjoyment as well as your overall performance on the hill.

Angus Wood

‘Bodyworx Osteopathy’

BSc (Hons) Osteopathy

DIP PT

BASI Level 4/ ISTD

Angus wil be at the Chillfactore  snow centre on the World Class Skiing summer programme. Look out for the updates soon!

Ski Teaching and recharging your senses!
My last episode of working with my colleagues in the  New Generation Ski School in Vallandry on the ski Paradiski area has been very enjoyable. Working with John Thomas, John Arnold, Ali Brown and Angus Wood. The skiing here is outstanding.
Perfect conditions and great people to share the magnificent mountains.
Seen here a group of people who had a smile on their faces from the start of the week to the end! It doesn’t have to be amazing action shots, snow flying, big air or high speed action to make a great ski experience, this is where skiing for all is at, enjoying great runs and simple turns, thank you folks for a fun week. You, are what this profession of ski teaching is all about.

Skiing not only has the function of making you feel good but it also seems to re engage your senses and recharge your batteries ready for dealing with what life may throw at you. The feeling of movement and the pleasure of creating arcs in the snow along with balancing all of nature’s forces seems to give people a real sense of achievement.

Perhaps it is the ability to slide and have the occasional ‘gravity defying’ sensation which makes us feel so good with this sport.

Amy, seen in the top picture second from left, is going through the BASI ski teaching system and as such she has been shadowing lessons this week to gain important hours ready for the next step. she was a great asset to me this week and helped develop some individuals in the group. The BASI ski teaching system in action…it works! Thanks Amy…

It is truly a pleasure teaching skiing, I think it must be that we enjoy the fact that we ‘give’ ourselves and the knowledge to people who are keen to learn. If you cannot give, then you will not make a ski teacher, that’s my philosophy! True, we are paid to do the job but the art of giving of oneself to assit others is vital to teaching and I’m sure I say that for the rest of the team here.

So my friends, I hope  to see you skiing again sometime soon. Just make sure you get out on the mountains and re charge those senses!

Salomon ENDURO XT800 skis review

After a great day on these skis which I enjoyed tremendously my conclusion is that the Salomon Enduro XT800 skis are a real all mountain ski.
Good fun on the piste with superb grip, this may be less positive the faster you go and the more you demand from the ski. However, these are for use off piste also so as the old saying goes, horses for courses! But if you want a tool which ticks the boxes for all conditions then the Enduro XT800 are the skis for you.

The wood core coupled with the TI laminate give the skis a very lively feel. The new rocker technology coming into skis now gives the user a positive, adaptable performance which does not have any ‘glitches’ you might find from more conventional side cut, cambered skis.

The separate graphics on each ski make the Salomon Enduro  quite ‘quirky’!

I have been enjoying these skis in some superb conditions. Worth a try if you are in the market for an all mountain ski.

The Salomon Enduro XT comes in either the 800 or 850. There are several other models in the Enduro range so take a look and discover for yourself the skis best suited to you.

http://www.salomon.com/us/segment/all-mountain-ski.html

Go on try a pair! You will not be disappointed!

YOU CAN BUY A PAIR HERE..

The Salomon 24hr TI 2 skis.

A superb pair of skis for piste work and they have tremendous grip. Not a race ski but on its way there! They have a well balanced feel and as they are wood core are very lively and responsive.

The TI 2 model here I have found to be great on short radius turns, however, are equally at home if you feel the need for some extra speed on long radius. The 162 cm skis I have give a turn radius of 13 metres which is ideal for general use.

If you are a more advanced skier and are out from dawn to dusk on the piste then these fit the bill exactly due to the powerline active dampening system.  They are forgiving yet when you need the performance they are there ready to respond.

• Wood core construction
• 162 cm length=13m radius
• Powerline active dampening system

They are called ‘24hour’  and I recon you could ski them for 24hrs nonstop and still feel good!

It is about time, I have not ‘blogged’ for some time! is there two g’s in blogged? Time has been eaten up with life in Devon and not in the mountains..for some reason? This has been the longest period of time off skis for me for years. It’s been 6 weeks and my body is wondering what has happened! It’s been a time of reflection and recharge of the batteries.

My keep fit routine has been good however, lots of cycling on the road bike and miles of walking the coastal paths.

The snow has been missed and is calling me back so I’m off again in a few days to Vallandry where my hours of teaching have been filled up! Well done JT! It will be great to see the guys with New Generation ski school Vallandry/Les Arcs again. After this it will be full on for the rest of the season!

Now for the latest.

The Ski Instructors Handbook 

BY PARALLEL DREAMS & ANDREW LOCKERBIE

Written by Andrew Lockerbie, one of World Class Skiing’s main showcase trainers, the ski instructors handbook was first published by World Class Skiing many moons ago! Now completely updated and revised it will give any ski teacher a comprehensive list of teaching ideas. If you are in the teaching game then this will be very useful. Give the ski instructors handbook a go…

Well done guys, it looks fab!

To order your copy just click the link below!

32 ‘LADIES WOT SKI!’ and some great weather!

What a superb 4 days skiing here in Solden, Austria. The company has been just fantastic and the bright sunny weather puts the icing on the cake!

I am here with the group…Ladies Wot Ski’! from Hemel Hempstead snow centre, There are 32 in total.

The ability levels are from plough parallel skiers  to a group with their Instructor qualifications wishing to improve their performance and prepare themselves for the next level.

Working with everyone is a pleasure and they are all out to gain the most from the limited time here in SOLDEN. If you thought that a bunch of rugby players were hard party goers then just try a few days with these girls…they party and ski hard!

The organiser of the whole event is Greg Price. I have known Greg for over 20 years as he was one of World Class Skiers very first guests in Hintertux on our inaugural trip! Greg facilitates the ladies morning at Hemel Hempstead Snowcentre and as such has developed their skiing, along with fellow instructors, Linda Forbes, Richard Fetherston, Calum Wood , Barbara Cox, Lucy Tape, and Louise Rogers…….The group gels together really well and they all have a common goal, to develop their skiing and enjoy themselves! It has grown from small numbers attending to this large group who all love skiing. Asking a few questions around everyone, it is clear, that this is a time for them to get away from normality and the daily organising of family activities etc to creating time for themselves. It also is a reminder of why they all ski at the centre, to ultimately enjoy the mountains in all their splendour.

My gang….seen here enjoying the weather!

So I say to you ‘Ladies Wot Ski’ and Greg, thank you for a fun few days and being great company and a fantastic ski group.  Maybe see you all in Hintertux some day. Keep chasing those skiers girls!

PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-TZ20

Product review.

For your interest…and what do you think?

I have been looking for a good compact digital camera for some while now as my SLR camera is great; however, it is a bit of a task carrying it about, especially when I’m working on the mountain every day.

After talking to a fellow ski teacher and my nephew (incidentally is heavily into photography!) I went for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20 camera.

The images are superb and the 14 mega pixels combined with the quality Leica lens make this little gem a quality product.

In the past I shunned the auto programmes on compact cameras and went for the manual settings on my slr where I thought I would have more control..you do of course. However, the programmable settings on the Panasonic are superb. You have a variety of scene settings which allow you to change from various light modes in an instant. Of course, with my requirements the snow setting needed to be good, it certainly is. There are I know, many other auto settings on other compacts but I have not found any as good as this.

As you can see here, the Panasonic DMC-TZ20 image quality is outstanding for a small compact digital camera. I will update more images on the gallery section when I get more. It has a fantastic 16* optical zoom and coupled with a further 21* intelligent digital zoom you have a good range to work with. The wide angle of 24mm gives you the facility to embrace big mountain vistas!

To add to the range of functions, the rapid auto focus multiple shots is brilliant for action ski shots. If you need more it will take up to 60 shots per second! Not auto focus though. Using this mode eats up your memory however..

If you have a 3d TV, then you can also click to the 3d mode on the camera and hey presto! You have 3d pictures!

A touch screen mode helps you navigate through your images quickly and makes life a doddle.

You do of course have a fully functioning manual mode if you need to make some creative pictures….if you have time when you are busy capturing the next action shot!

The HD video mode is superb and I will be using this at the next opportunity to gather some product reviews or client interviews..

The extarodinary thing, is that it has a GPS module built in!. Fantastic for identifying your location when you get home. I think it’s best if you are an oil explorer or a modern Indiana Jones, looking for the lost arc!

All in all, this is a great little package, the DMC-TZ20 is versatile and small enough to take anywhere. I only wish I had this when I was in Argentina…..Lee Townend, thanks for your advice, this is a great product, £219.00 well spent at Heathrow!

Our 20^th anniversary welcome from the Mayor.

To celebrate our 20^th year we were invited to the new Tux Centre in Lanersbach to have an evening with the mayor.

Out of the group 4 celebrated their 10 years of visits, Darrell Jennings, Dorothy Hayle, Mike Rigby and Alun Hughes seen below with a presentation from the Mayor of a book of the area.

For their 20 years, Ian Devereux, Marianne Devereux, Simon Garner, Mary Mcmichael, Andrew Lockerbie, John Gardiner and myself…seen here with a framed certificate!

It’s so refreshing to see such a positive and young Mayor of the area, no gold chains or expensive jaguars to drive him around here, more than I can say of some towns I can think of in the UK…I wonder if the tourist area of my home town in Torbay can get a lesson from this. Just for interest, the small area of TUX sells over a million bed nights here every year…not bad for a small area in Austria. Torbay..get a grip..

Just to finish off….Met my ski hero today..Mr Glen Plake…who knows, maybe he will make a guest appearance with us…more news on that later..? Thank you Sarah for the picture!

So as we finish the first week in Tux, thank you folks for another memorable time….

I wonder who will be at the next 20 years celebrations?!