Things you’re likely to hear on the course:
Phil: “Stand wider. Wider. Wider. Yes – even wider.”
Skier: “How should I position my body as I’m making the turn?” Phil: “I don’t care – just turn the skis.”
Phil: “We’re supposed to be all-mountain skiers – not holiday-makers.”
Skier: “Can we stop for a cappuccino.” Phil: “No.”
Phil: “At ski school, everyone skis a run with instructors watching and the instructors put the skiers into groups. What should happen is that all the instructors should ski down – and people should go and join up with whichever one they want to ski like.”
It’s hard to catch the humour though – lots of gags, jokes at the expense of ski instructors, anecdotes etc. The teaching is pretty continual too – whenever you’re on a lift, at lunch, in the bar, Phil is usually gabbing away about how to ski better – or dreaming up new types of skiing adventure (Kazakhstan and Iran were frequently mentioned). It's not hyper-macho either - just direct and energetic.
Feedback: Video feedback is used extensively in the evenings – and Phil has mastered the art of cutting together short videos on his Mac. The 15 minutes videos from the two heli-skiing days were rough, energetic, watchable and quick - and as different from your average corporate video (smooth, dull, boring, and shot over a trillion takes) as the tuition is from average ski school fare.
My take: I’m a hideously-inexperienced but fast-learning intermediate. I had never skied bumps before, but now look almost competent when they’re not too steep. I had never been off-piste, but managed two long days heli-skiing (the second with something approaching style). I’d also never been on anything nearly as challenging as some of Panorama’s more extreme terrain, but learned to survive quite well (even if sometimes it was slow and ugly). I reckon I’m probably twice as good a skier as I was at the beginning of the course and even the best of the other skiers (we were split into two or three groups on most days) seemed to think they’d improved too. I’m ready to book up for other courses (bumps, off-piste, race training?) and will probably go back on the same trip next year (a week in Fernie and a week in Panorama – with heli- and cat-skiing).
Go if you... Enjoy being pushed. Want to learn fast. Are reasonably fit. Don’t want to be burdened with too much theory. Care more about how you ski than what your skiing looks like. Think ski school is boring. Haven't had any teaching for a long time, but suspect you can ski better.
Don’t go if you... Want to take it easy. Have a burning need to analyse every last detail of pole planting. Have one style of skiing and prefer to select the terrain that makes you look best. Have fixed ideas about what is/isn’t good technique. Haven't had any teaching for a long time, but are confident your skiing is more or less perfect.
David Stephens / Panarama, All Terrain |
