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Women's Clinic 2014

Picture
The Feb. 22, 17th Annual Heavenly women’s clinic went well considering minimal snow levels. We also had a guest visitor:  Tom Sherry from Northstar who is also an NSP board member.  He brought his NSP Subaru and we took a group picture in front of it. See attached. He also wanted to observe the first part of the clinic and rode in the sled for one run. Btw, my general rule for men attending is:  get in, sit down, hold on and shut up. J Tom did a great job following those rules!

The only sled run available that didn’t have obstacles was a short advanced run with bumps, so I emphasized that each person choose what was comfortable for them regarding where they wanted to do handles and/or tail.  It was a beautiful day, and 23 of us headed out, including 4 TI’s.  We did 4 runs on Waterfall, lap loading sleds each time.  We had a very quick lunch at the top of the tram, outside on the deck with beautiful views of the lake. 

At 1:00 we met Heidi and a second ski instructor, Jaqueline. We split into 2 groups, one staying mostly on established runs, the other heading to Killebrew Canyon. Unfortunately snow conditions were terrible so we ended up practicing our steep crud skiing. The ski trail out of Killebrew back to Mott Canyon chair (it’s a part of the Tahoe Rim Trail and Pacific Crest Trail) was dirt for a part of it and one of the attached pictures shows how we had to handle that problem. It was an adventure!  We re-connected with the other group at the end of the day. 4 of us decided to ski the last run down East Bowl with Heidi. It was great practice on hard pack/ice for sure!

Afterwards, we went to a café for refreshments and snacks while Heidi showed us video of our skiing.  We sure looked different that we felt on those runs! Video is a great additional teaching tool and should be a part of every TES or SES if possible.

Everyone had a great day, and we even discussed adding a second day (not possible with Heavenly unfortunately) or adjusting how much time we spent on sleds versus skiing.  Some comments: 

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for organizing and running the Women's Sled Clinic at Heavenly!  It surpassed my expectations and I look forward to the years ahead participation!

It is so great to ski and be supported by women. 

 I cannot thank you enough for an amazing day!  It was a great group of women and phenomenal training.  I cannot give you any areas to improve because it was that good. I guess after 17 years you have mastered the process. It is so great to work with women IT's. The guys just muscle and I don't have the size or strength. I feel I am now on a more level playing field.

 We had a great day!  Also, I gave Tom Sherry some “homework”:  to write up an article of his experience that day and post it on our region, division and the national websites. Whoo hoo!

Trudy

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