Category: Skiing

Posted in Skiing

Back Skiing on Snow

Posted on by Louis Annino

After an incredibly tumultuous off season, I am officially back into ski season! This past week, I had the privilege of skiing at Loveland Ski Area. There wasn’t much open, but the weather was beautiful and it felt so good to be sliding on snow again.

The first couple runs were eye-opening. After spending last season really focusing on improving my own skiing technique, I could tell there was a ton of rust that I needed to work out. Unfortunately, I needed to work it out quickly since the reason I was at the mountain was to take a PSIA-AASI Children’s Specialist exam!

Luckily it was the first runs of the season for most of us so we all got to rejoice in the beginning of anew season together before the learning and assessment began. I would be lying if I said that I DIDN’T get a little teary on snow thinking about how last season ended and how uncertain the beginning of this season is. I was happy to be skiing and I was happy to be learning to be a better ski instructor. I couldn’t believe that I was finally getting the chance to do the things I loved again.

On the snow again!

As Day 1 progressed, we learned a lot about child development between runs, and got to apply them in practicing Movement Analysis in the afternoon. I was glad to have spent 8 years working in schools, and much of this work felt like review.

Day 2 was a little bit more nerve wracking as it was going to be my turn to teach soon. Teaching is the most fun part of my job, but is still scary when it comes time to step “on stage” and be evaluated on my teaching. I was assigned a mock scenario and the other instructors pretended to be my group of level 5 skiing 8 year olds. We learned about using our poles and had a fun and silly time doing it!

Before I knew it, the exam was over and it was time to take a couple free runs while our examiner tallied up our scores. Im proud to say that I passed the exam and can’t wait to bring my learning to lessons at Eldora this winter!

Fancy new unfocused pin for my instructor jacket!
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Posted in Skiing

One Month a Ski Instructor!

Posted on by Louis Annino

So, before I go any further, I have a HUGE thank you to send out. I participated in this year’s Reddit Secret Santa exchange, and my secret Santa was generous enough to pay for a year of this website’s hosting. I cant thank that person enough and will definitely be remembering your generosity as I go through the next 12 months of adventuring and writing. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

If you are another reader who would like to support the blog, I have included a donations widget on the homepage of the site.

This isnt the worst “office view”

Last I wrote, I was excited to be moving into a new job as a Ski Instructor with Eldora Mountain Resort. It has been about a month, and I have to say that I love my new job. Every day, I come to work as the sun is rising to help set up the ski school’s learning terrain for the day. Once things are set up for the day, my job is to be the host of a snow sliding party, and that couldn’t be more rewarding and fun! I get to host some of the coolest people in my classes. I have worked with people returning to skiing after years away from the sport, excited to share stories of skiing in the days of straight skis and florescent, one-piece ski suits. I’ve worked with children who have never seen snow before, making sure to spend SOME of our time making snowmen and snow angels. I’ve worked with families all wanting to try something new with their winter vacations. Through all of this, I have been so energized with the joy of people experiencing the new sensations sliding on snow and being in the mountains. I cant wait for the rest of the season and am enjoying every minute of this.

If any of you are ever in the area and want to take a lesson at Eldora, ask for Louis! I’d love to be there to help! 😛

Posted in Skiing

The Next Big Adventure

Posted on by Louis Annino

I have some very exciting news to share with Adventure Logbook followers! I am going to be a Ski Instructor this winter!

This is work!

I’ve recently finished up my new-hire training at Eldora Mountain Resort and am excited to get going teaching people to ski. If you have followed the YouTube Channel, you know that one of my favorite winter pastimes is skiing, so this is an incredibly exciting opportunity for me. Adventure Logbook followers can expect more pictures and videos coming from that area as I will be at the mountain 5 days a week starting this Sunday!

If any of you are in the area and looking for a lesson, ask for Louis at the Ski School desk! 🙂

Posted in Skiing

Opening Day at Eldora Mountain

Posted on by Louis Annino

Finally! Winter has arrived and the ski mountains are starting to open up. This year, I got an Ikon pass and will be checking out as many Colorado mountains as I can on that pass. Yesterday however, Eldora mountain opened up to a beautiful bluebird day. I grabbed my GoPro and took my first few runs of the season. Luckily, my legs were feeling pretty great after the shortest off-season of my life. My last day of the season at Killington was in June, so I’ve only missed skiing in July-October this year!

Anyway, check out the video, and please consider subscribing to both this blog as well as my Youtube Channel. That way you don’t miss any of the content coming out soon of winter adventures in Colorado!

Posted in Skiing

Saturday Skiing at Stowe

Posted on by Louis Annino

While I am still working on putting together the video for the last ski day in Colorado, my roommate Rob and I got in some beautiful skiing at Stowe this past weekend! I think this is the first season in recent memory where we have had so many sunny and beautiful winter ski days. Usually, 9 out of 10 ski days in Vermont seem to be overcast and dark, but this season it seems like every other trip has been beautiful blue skies. Just check out this earlier blog entry! I’m not complaining, and it certainly makes for some much nicer looking GoPro footage. Enjoy!

Posted in Skiing

Sunny Skies at Beaver Creek

Posted on by Louis Annino

After spending the day at Arapahoe Basin earlier in the week, Marley and I decided to spend a couple days together a little further away from Longmont. After she got out of work Wednesday, we packed up the car and drove the 2 hours through the mountains on I-70 to Beaver Creek. Luckily, the driving was far less stressful than my trip to Arapahoe Basin! We checked into our AirBnB and spent the rest of the night planning our ski adventure for the following day.

We woke up early Thursday morning, just in time to get to the front of the ski rental line, picking up Marley’s skis. We hopped onto the Riverside gondola, picked up lift tickets and began our day. The sun was shining and trails were perfectly groomed. Even the temperature cooperated and warmed up nicely as the day progressed.

Amazing views and not a cloud in the sky!

With Marley along, we stuck to mostly easier terrain, and enjoyed a relaxing day on the slopes. The fresh groomed snow was very fast, and easily carved. I really enjoyed skiing as fast as I wanted with no worry about losing an edge to icy conditions. I think Marley enjoyed the amazing views that the ski trails offered. Check out some of the skiing action in the YouTube Video posted below!

Posted in Skiing

Solo Skiing at Arapahoe Basin

Posted on by Louis Annino

Its been a couple weeks since I’ve gotten back from Colorado and I’ve been meaning to get some posts together about the experience. This will be the first in a short series for my Colorado adventures!

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to go skiing at Arapahoe Basin. As we have since found out, A-Basin will not be on the Epic Pass next year, so I was glad to be able to check out this amazing mountain while my season pass still worked for it! I woke up Tuesday morning before the sun rose, and drove the two hours from Longmont, CO to A-Basin. The drive was a breeze until my GPS took me off the highway and began pointing me along the roads for “Loveland Pass”. The day before, there had been about 6 inches of snow, and these back roads seemed as though they still hadn’t been plowed. It would be one thing if the roads were JUST icy, but adding in hairpin turns as the road switch-backed all the way up into the mountains made for a very anxious approach to the ski area! When I reached the parking lot, I peeled my white knuckles off the steering wheel and quickly strapped on my ski gear. GoPro in hand, I crossed the street and headed straight for the lift.

The skiing was amazing. The previous day’s snow had softened up the trails beautifully and there were no signs of the east coast ice that I’m more accustomed to skiing. I spent a few runs speeding down the Montezuma Bowl before a run through the new Beavers area. It was really only as my day was winding down that I actually spent any time taking runs on the front side of the mountain!

Getting to ski above treeline was a treat that I had been hoping to do for a long time and it exceeded my expectations. The views from the top were amazing and I would say that they took my breath away… but I’m pretty sure it was the low oxygen at high elevation doing that!

Posted in Skiing

In Colorado This Week!

Posted on by Louis Annino

I’m sorry that its been so long since my last post! This week I am in Colorado doing a bunch of sight seeing and skiing. I will have a larger recap post and video after I return to Vermont, but in the meantime I grabbed a clip to share of a fun run through Arapahoe Basin’s Montezuma Bowl trails. Enjoy!

Posted in Skiing

Bluebird Saturday at Stowe

Posted on by Louis Annino

My friend and I got out for some skiing today at Stowe! The conditions were fantastic. The sun was shining, and the snow was soft and easy to turn on. Unfortunately I crashed pretty hard, but conveniently I left that out of the video I made! I hope you all enjoy.

Posted in Skiing

Opening Day 2018 at Stowe

Posted on by Louis Annino

I woke up Friday morning to perhaps the best text message I could ask for. “School cancelled for Friday November 16, Please complete work from home!”

I sprung out of bed and immediately began getting my “work from home” tasks completed as fast as I could. I was going to get on the road to ski as fast as I could. It took me a couple hours, but by 11 I was free and ready to head to the mountain.

As soon as I got off the highway, I was reminded that perhaps school was cancelled for good reason, as the roads were all still covered in snow and I had to drive about 25mph down roads that are normally posted for 50 mph. Either way, I eventually got to the mountain, got my new Epic Pass from the counter and made the quick walk to the FourRunner Quad. Despite the foot of snow that fell overnight, I didn’t need to wait in any lift line. I hopped on the Quad chair and had the ride all to myself. 

The chair sped me to the top of the mountain and before I knew it I was at the top. I took a quick selfie (Insert obligatory selfie below), and my 2018/2019 ski season had begun!

I was amazed on the first few runs at how great conditions were. Usually, before Thanksgiving, skiing consists of skidding down a single icy glacier of snow making snow with little, if any natural snow. This year however, has been an especially stormy November and the mountain certainly benefited from that. There was a variety of trails to ski and many of them opened up with just natural snow!

In total, I did 12 runs over the 4 hours I was there and enjoyed every single one of them. I’m very excited that my preseason workouts seemed to have paid off as well. Usually my legs only last for 3 or 4 runs this early in the season. It seems like this fall is setting up to be a great winter. Get outside and enjoy it!

Also, I wanted to mess around with video editing, so I made a quick Youtube video. Check it out. I might make more of these videos since I think they might fit my subject matter.