Do as I Say–and as I Do

One unexpected pleasure that snowboarding has given me is teaching. Last season I taught at a small hill near home, and I look forward to doing the same this season.

In its December 7 issue, the Worcester Telegram offers an article that might be dubbed “Hey, winter sports are fun, go try some!” (The real title: “There is no better time to learn than now.”) It discusses the shaped ski revolution, so the topic extends beyond snowboards.

But what caught my eye was a comment about teaching. The article focuses on Don Booth, the ski school manager at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area.

“Booth prefers to hire instructors such as himself — those who are patient, can transmit their own enthusiasm to their students, and really get satisfaction from seeing their charges improve.

“‘I’m not looking for guys who can bang through the moguls or jump off a cliff,’ he says. ‘To be a good instructor, you have to be a good people person.'”

This is entirely consistent with experience with ski school directors. Obviously, to teach you need to be able to ride. For one thing, how are you going to give a demonstration? But there’s so much more to teaching a sport than physical ability, including observing and diagnosing what a student is doing wrong (and right), providing a positive mental environment, and making sure that the student doesn’t go in over his head.