Thank you, James 🙂
Today marks the fourth year of my ski journey, from a noob who can’t put on ski boots, spending more time sitting on the slope than standing up, to be able to ski down almost all mountains. My friends who are new to ski always ask me, how you build up so much confidence and love for this? I always told them, find a good instructor, and you will be able to enjoy this much sooner. Keep trying, and don’t give up.
I live in New York City, and it’s very difficult to find good ski resorts with decent snow quality. They are either very icy, or barely have any snow. The east coast in the US during the winter doesn’t usually have much snow, and it is getting much worse these years. I was thinking, why not go try skiing in Canada? Luckily, I was watching YouTube, and find a video introducing ski techniques. The publisher is David Shen, and this is how I know about the club. After reaching out for consultation, I got to know my star instructor, James. So, we schedule for a ski trip in Toronto and visiting Canada for the very first time.
On our first visit, we met at Mount St.Louis Moonstone. To be honest, coming from US, it was the best snow quality I had ever seen. I first met James in the base. He is very friendly, warmly welcomed me, and we went straight to the slope. He quickly identifies my issues and where to improve, and after the first two-hour session, I am able to ski down the blue run on my own, without falling. I cannot believe this is something I can accomplish, and do so this fast. I was so excited. Before I can only do pizza and have difficulty maintaining a proper speed. Now, I can ski somehow parallel with better control. It is amazing. I still remember the excitement the first time I see the view from the mountain top.
I had two sessions with James in two days, and I don’t want to say Goodbye at the end. This was the fastest improvement I can’t imagine. James really knows how to teach and identify the issue on the technique, and focusing on one thing at a time is the key. I was very impressed, not only how much difference an amazing instructor can be, and also impressed on myself as well. James also helped us take videos and offers us to send him more on our own practice, and he is willing to give out suggestions. This kind of personal experience is very intimate and distinguish from other instructors from the ski resort. Since then, the more mileage I got, the better skier I am.
Today, I have skied across two continents, four time zones, from Europe to Rocky Mountains. The more mountains I visited, the more techniques I learn, I still remember the basics from instructor James. They built a solid foundation, making each step further much easier and concrete.
All I want to say, thank you, James. It’s quite a fortune learning from you.