GrilledSteezeSandwich

I love skiing but I also like spending summertime in air conditioning and surfing the Internet...smoking weed in nature is cool. Me and Atomic Jeff are both leaving work early today and meeting at Blue mountain at 3pm...anybody else gonna be up there????

PSIAis Professional Ski Instructors of America. I think you have to be a member of their organization and wear a pin to be an instructor. You also have to take tests to advance from one level to the next and as you get to higher levels you get paid more. From what I remember reading instructors make about minumum wage at level one and level two instructors make about one dollar an hour more and level three instructors make like $10 an hour but more for private lessons plus tips. Plus they get free season passes and discounts on gear. Like 90% of lessons around here are for beginners so they spend alot of time on flat trails yelling pizza and French fries. They also usually get discounts on pizza and French fries. You can learn all the PSIA stuff without having to be an instructor right??? If you have the cash. Working for a ski area and taking time out to help noobs seems like a drag. So I'm guessing people can take the PSIA clinics the instructors take if they just pay for it. I've never cared about a mountain experience vs being at the mall or whatever. I've never thought blue was like being at the mall. Skiing for me has always been about the thrill and adrenaline of going fast. I've never really cared about the views or nature and that sort of thing. There are enough freaking skiers we don't need anymore!!!!!! Anyway I'm guessing alot of people just learn from their friends. I took a first time on skis lesson at big boulder in 4th grade but knew what I was doing cause I was a rollerskater. Then when I skied again in 6th grade I took another lesson but me and my friend left the lesson midway through cause we wanted to ski more and in the lesson we kept stopping. That's been it for me and I'll never take another lesson but I hate people telling me what to do.

I think Phillycore is the last remaining ski instructor on this forum and he seems psyched to be done with that mess soon.

One reason that Blue regulars are such diehards is we wakeup early to ski. I think TP4 gets up at 5:30am which is earlier than when many non skiers have nocturnal emisssions!!!

The beers have lids. That is high class!!!! Is that from the salad bar where you pay by the pound???

Wow me and TheDude finally agrees on something.

Atomic Jeff how did you get to where you are now as a skier without the PSIA???

What if somebody likes the way they ski??? I just could never imagine skiing anything but Mach looney unless it was on super steep and narrow terrain where control is important. Steep terrain is easier to make lots of little turns than flat terrain.. I always thought most of the ski instructors at blue were pretty crummy skiers. I never really see them rip or grind like Matt edge and Johnny law.

I doubt Johnny law has the patience to take advice on pole plants and slow deliberate turns from some ski instructor in tight pants.

This thread really delivers I'm glad I started it!!!! Are there really far better skiers in PA than JohnnyLaw??? Maybe Atomic Jeff... No mountain in eastern PA has a run as good as switchback or Razors. And hopefully their loved ones buy a tombstone from me so I can afford my ski habit.

Do you think the dismal weather in Tahoe has affected numbers as well?? I only skied Blue and Jackson hole so far this season and both were busy but that represents about 1% of the industry.

I'll keep you updated!!!! Thanks Barb I appreciate it!!!

Nice link Larry. Amazing how many visits are in th Rockies. Makes sense as alot of the mega resorts do a million plus skier visits annually while in the northeast the top resorts see 500,000-750,000 visits annually.

Sweetness. I'll send you a PM sometime soon with email info. I'm gonna be in CO in a month or so. I might even be in boulder to see girl I know from Emmaus.

Barb do you still have Copper mountain buddy passes?

Article about snowboardings decline. http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/11/28/what-behind-snowboarding-drastic-drop-popularity/FAkg6xIGM0PitZem5TT2uL/story.html

I agree Barb!!!!

No

I thought you were 39...

Prove it!!!! Would you rent a place at the base of Camelback??? Why camelback over Blue???

Boom!!!!!!

Wahahahahooey Vermont would be ok if not for the drive and the crowds and often the snow and the cold. I'm definitely alot more excited to be going to Colorado in April vs when I used to go to Stowe then back when I was poor.

It's the best place in Vermont for lower level skiers and riders...unfortunately super crowded cause its close to Connecticut and Massachusettes.

Johnny law doesn't like bumps. I went to elk once in 1995 and those lifts are so slow. I can't deal with low speed lifts in 2015. Jackson hole has alot of fixed grip lifts but they are direct. TheDude4Bides when are u posting a Breckenridge trip report???

I believe 2010-2011 was the last season there was a half pipe at Blue and then the following season it became Central Park. They used to blast snow for the halfpipe for several days then hire an independent crew to built the pipe and they had a Zaugg halfpipe groomer. Unfortunately the halfpipe didn't get much use and it wasnt groomed enough so they got rid of it. Camelback actually used to have two halfpipes. A normal one and a mini one. Sno mountain had a super pipe one year. I also see the decline of halfpipes attributed to the decline of snowboarding and the expense and time to build and maintain. Who or what is GW???