Bumps For Boomers Program
When I recently committed to do the Bumps For Boomers clinic, I first had to find an opening because it is a very popular program and growing more popular as word spreads of its success. Once my schedule and Bumps For Boomers open dates came together, I e-mailed Joe and asked if I should bring my own skis to ski around after each day's lesson. I received a short reply advising me that in a Bumps for Boomers clinic "We are on the snow 9 am - 3:30 pm with a short lunch break." In other words - you are coming here to learn, Mike.
Really, it is not Boot Camp on skis, but it is an intensive course with a lot to give you and a lot of ski time to make it work. However, and Joe Nevin knows it because he is out there, you have fun and you still learn.
Aspen Apres Ski - Just A Little In Passing
Aspen is a great apres ski town, but to really get the most out of the Bumps For Boomers program you need to be ready to work each morning. If you are a flatlander you have to treat your body right coming into the Aspen altitude. This means eating right, limiting alcohol, and finding accommodations where you can get a good night's rest. As I've been to Aspen before, I knew the Hotel Jerome to be an excellent establishment to eat, sleep and still be steeped in some Victorian Aspen charm - all without leaving the premises.
My nightly routine included a good dinner in the Jerome Bar, or J-Bar, as it is locally known, a stroll through original 1880s hallways, a dip in the whirlpool and hot tub, and curling up in a big, soft bed in one of Hotel Jerome's 90 plus elegant rooms. Wake up to breakfast in the room or in Jacob's, the hotel restaurant and then a five minute walk, or hotel shuttle to the Gondola and I was ready for Bumps For Boomers time again.
Staying at the Hotel Jerome, I knew everything was in place to enjoy the evening, but no matter where you stay during your Bumps For Boomer clinic, be sure it has a little quiet like the Hotel Jerome offers, to study your homework.
Unlearning Bad Skiing Habits
Homework, you say. Actually you will get a 3 or 4 page printout that reviews the major points covered and is very useful to review. That handout came at the end of day one, which is the first of two days spent skiing on 95cm skiboards. These short skis are not toys and after arriving at the top of Aspen Mountain all l2 intrepid skiers in the clinic donned these little skis and went off following Joe and his coaches.
If you have never skied on 95cm skiboards before it is a discerning experience. If you thought you were a very good skier you instantly have a rude awakening. All the sins of misalignment and stance that normal size skis mask, or were forgiving to for all the years you have skied, are now exposed for the world - or Joe and the coaches - to see. Believe me, all errors are flaunted, as there is little ski fore or aft to aid anything but correct balance.
It took several practice runs on groomed blue trails before I could get the skis to stop wobbling around - but, with the coaches demonstrations and shadowing them - all of us found the sweet spot of balance. However, everyone agreed it took concentration to keep it and that degree of concentration was quickly ratcheted up when we had to face the fact that we were to led into steeper runs with moguls we weren't going to plow through.
Our class of twelve clinic skiers was broke out into groups of four with each group assigned a coach and Joe Nevins skiing around among the three groups. Let me say that all of us were good skiers able to ski groomed black diamond runs very comfortably - but, black diamond runs and bumps meant, at best ugly skiing, and at worst black and blues. But that's why everyone was here. If skiing on the skiboards was going to bring us to a uniform blank slate where Joe and the coaches could infuse into our aging "muscle memory" the correct formula to get beyond surviving in a mogul field, we were all for it.
Our Own Little Group in Our Own Moguls
Joe Nevins has hand picked his coaches for their obvious ability to teach - they are all many year PSIA instructors - and for their commitment to the Bumps for Boomers technique and because they themselves are boomers and want to ski moguls and powder as effortlessly and painlessly as possible. Skiers Scott, John, Art, and myself went with Coach Al Bush and we stayed with Al for the entire time.
Al skied us first to some fluffed up little moguls on a blue run where we started to get into technique. This introduction was in terrain where as Al demonstrated the correct and then corrected our stance, hand position, body position, and art of commitment if, that is, when we messed up it was a soft landing and easy recovery.
Finding and keeping ourselves in the correct stance and correct hand and body position was the key to balance that would move us into steeper terrain with bigger moguls. Making the commitment to the turn and executing "tall and taller" as "muscle memory" would be, for me, the point of no return, that is, no return to the defensive crouch of my old mogul skiing.
We practiced and refined these points for most of the first day gradually getting into steeper runs and bigger moguls. All this through a non-stop snowfall of big wet flakes which was comforting to fall in, but soaking at the same time. However, as we worked in steeper terrain, Al demonstrated the basics of speed control. For this, the wet snow piles were a blessing to keep short skis from errantly flying down the fall line. As the long, but thoroughly engrossing day ended, I believe we made it down a short stretch of a double black diamond run. Or, maybe it was a illusion of grandeur, but everyone had shown a lot of progress for one day.
