Editor’s Note: This piece was originally written in 2015, but it still all applies so we added new content, updated the links and put in some fresh images.
There’s an old saying: give someone a fish and they’ll eat for a day, teach them how to fish and they’ll eat forever. Sadly, that saying has almost nothing to do with skiing or snowboarding in Whistler: you can replace “fish” with “ski or snowboard” and “eat” with “rip” I guess, but even then no one really rips on their first day. Unless they take a lesson.
Along with ensuring your gear is in good shape and your body is up to the task, a quick ski or snowboard lesson is one of the best ways to start your season off on the right foot and set yourself up for ultimate rippage all winter long.
Of course, a lot of us feel confident in our abilities but the truth is unless you live here and are riding five to six days a week early season, a few hours of professional instruction is the best way to get back into last season’s form, and then up the ante. Here are five good reasons to take a ski or snowboard lesson as soon as you can this year.
1. You Establish Good Habits
The truth is everyone’s body is a bit different and we all ski or ride a bit different. That’s okay, but sometimes your default form can be counterproductive to your desired level of ripping. An instructor can spot and correct that.
2. You Build Confidence
Like it or not, mountain sports are as much about the head game as they are about physical prowess. Half the battle, more than half, of accomplishing anything great in the mountains is believing that you can do it and committing to getting it done. A ski or snowboard lesson, with pointers and corrections from a third-party professional, is a great way to build that important confidence and have more fun.
3. You Learn New Zones
Instructors spend a lot of time on the ski hills; A LOT of time. As such, they know a couple of good runs and secret little spots that you probably don’t. Half the fun of a good lesson is taking your new skills to a new spot on the hill.
4. Lift Line Priority
You know when it’s a pow day and the lineup at the chairlifts is more than a little frustrating? Well, if you’re with an instructor you get to skip all that. Yep, that empty corral is all yours when you’re in a ski or snowboard lesson, enjoy!
5. You Never Know…
Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada used to be a snowboard instructor in Whistler. Other instructors are lawyers, world travellers and ex-pro riders – you never know who you’ll be riding with when you take a lesson and the chance is always there that you will learn a lot more than simply how to fix your form and get the most from your riding.
You can do a half or a full day, join a group lesson, opt for a private (if there’s a group of you then look into this), check out the camps on offer and even ski / board with an Olympian. Lessons for adults and kids start as soon as Whistler Blackcomb opens. For more inspiration, take a look at these lesson-based posts;
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