Down hill skiing not cross country skiing

Question
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Followup To
Question -
I am a 50 year old female who has never skied downhill.  My husband skied in college in Maine and has been to serveral resorts.  The last time he skied was about 12 years ago.  Since I did not ski, he stopped going.  We have a 11-year old son who has shown no interest in down hill but does have an interest in cross country.  We are considering learning to ski to try this as a family.  I am willing to go to a resort and spend a week on lessons.  Do you have a recommendation for some resorts that have good reputations for teaching a scared adult (me) as well as being good with children.

Or do you think that weekend lessons at a local hill would be the better way to try this.  We live in Rochester, NY and there are some ski sites locally.

Thanks for any thoughts you have.

Deb
Answer -
Dear Deb --

You are in luck.  If you can walk, you can learn to cross country ski.  The diagonal stride style will be easiest for you to learn.  Try to find a ski area that uses the high camber, shorter length cross country skis.  They are easier to control as a novice, and you will learn more quickly.

Unfortunately, I do not know the Rochester area well, so recommending a local area to learn on weekends will be difficult.  I recommend learning gradually at your local areas rather than trying a week's immersion.  Cross country skiing will use a lot of muscles you do not normally use.  Having rest days after a ski day will help you develop your skills while giving your muscles time to recover.  If you do go for a ski week, give yourself a rest day at least every third day.  On your rest day I recommend some swimming, walking or jogging, or riding an exercise bike at at easy pace.  This will keep your muscles loose and warmed up without stressing them by too much skiing.

The Lake Placid area on Whiteface has a very good cross country skiing program.  The following websites have cross country ski programs with good reputations, all in upstate New York.  They are all quite a bit east of you, unfortunately.

http://www.orda.org/crosscountryskiing.php

http://www.cascadeski.com/about.html

http://www.mtntrails.com/home.html

http://www.laplandlake.com/ski/cross_country_ski_.htm

http://www.garnet-hill.com/winter.asp

If you want to venture out of the upstate new York Region, please let me know, and I will recommend other areas.

As for lessons, I recommend that you all have separate lessons.  You each will learn better, if you are not in the same class with your spouse, child or parent.  If you are a very timid learner, I recommend a private lesson, so you can learn at your own pace and be as brave or as slow as pleases you.  Please use similar considerations for your son, when you pick whether to get him a group lesson, a semi-private class, or hire him a private coach for the day.  If he is a very social athlete then he may like to be in a group lesson.  If he is very serious and directed, a private coach could give you more return on your time and money.  If your son does not seem to be having fun, change styles of class and/or coach.  Not every coach works well with every athlete.

Have fun!  Skiing is a very accessible adventure...

Cynthia,

Thanks for the input on cross country skiing.  That is an area that I am much more willing to try and your advice and list of resources will be helpful.

But.... my husband would like us to try downhill skiing and yes, I would be willing to go someplace outside of Rochester.  Do you have advice and comments on downhill skiing?

Deb

Answer
Dear Deb --

Downhill skiing is actually even more organized and easier to find a range of classes and coaches.  It can be easier to learn because the essence of the sport is harnessing gravity to carve and glide over snow.  

Within a reasonable drive for a weekend trip, Okemo in Vermont and Waterville Valley in New Hampshire have some of the best family programs around.  Okemo is known for helping novice women learn to ski in a friendly non-competive group.  But they still have standard lessons and an excellent kids' programs so your husband and son won't be bored.  

http://www.okemo.com/learning/beginnersguide.html

Waterville Valley also has very good lessons, either group or private.  It is a very family friendly resort with skiing, ice skating, swimming, fitness, cross country, and more all in a small village type setting.

http://www.waterville.com/info/winter/index.asp

I have not recommended areas in the Syracuse/Albany area because I have not found a consistent ski school there.  Also Whiteface (Lake Placid) is one of the coldest ski areas I have ever downhill skied.  A cold ski area is not a fun place to learn skiing.

Finally, good, well-fitted equipment is essential to learning to downhill ski, especially if you are not very athletic or are timid.  Poorly fitted boots are the single most common equipment reason that keeps adults from progressing in skiing.  If are serious about making your best effort to learn, and you can afford it, I recommend buying a pair of at least intermediate boots.  You can rent everything else with reasonable success, but boots are key to comfort and learning.  

The websites I have included have much more information about learning to ski, how to dress, etc.  Please look through that information, and then write me again as other questions arise.  

I look forward to hearing how your plans are going.