Special Experience Skiing and Riding
Over the course of the season there will be several days when you can ski with extreme skiing pioneer Dan Egan and on other occasions with Olympic gold medalist Donna Weinbrecht. You will also have the opportunity to ride with snowboarding pros Ian Compton and Yale Cousino.
These sessions provide the opportunity to ski along with the pros and talk informally about how they see some of things you don't usually cover in formal ski school lessons. Actually, it's like skiing with your friends. Here you head out, stop and talk, ski some more, then talk about how you felt skiing the last run and how the pros saw the same run.
Skiing with Dan Egan
During the day long Specialty Experiences introduction event I got to ski in a small group with Dan Egan.
When extreme skiing was emerging as a daredevil 'sport,' Dan established his reputation as one of the premier adventure skiers in the world. Warren Miller recognized Egan's abilities while skiing in the Northeast and used him in 12 of his films.
In the ensuing years, Egan has become an award-winning producer in his own right, and has been nominated for three Emmy Awards. His Wild World of Winter television series continues to air today. Dan also leads and participates in adventure travel trips ranging from the Alps to the Arctic.
If you want to ski around with a guy who, as one of the women in the group told me, jumps out of the helicopter to make a first descent because the peak was to small to land on, Dan will be available.
As for the skiing, Egan puts you at ease right from the get go. Again you'll find it's like skiing with a friend - who just happens to have skied a few places where few others have ever skied - but who is there to ski next to you and give you insights into what you can experience skiing anywhere.
Dan shared some pointers in how we can all relate to skiing on a plane over and above ski school learning. For example, we skied a solid black run in flat light and fogged cloud cover and then came back to the top where Dan asked us to think about where we were during, as well as after that run.
A little thought and then everyone shared - I was a little apprehensive in the fog even though I knew the trail. Several others had various issues with the light when Egan shared just about the same thing - that he catches himself looking down in those conditions.
Sure enough upon further thought most all of us voiced the same to which Dan declared he has a mantra he recites in situations like this - "Look Up, Look Up."
I'm a big fan of situational mantras like my "Crush The Bug" mantra to stay forward. However, I never expected to hear from the guy who Powder Magazine named as one of the "Top Skiers of All Time" that he still reminds himself the correct way with a mantra.The mantra discussion was just one of the neat insights, on a different plane than ski school, that you can expect to pick up in a Specialty Experience.
Riding with Yale Cousino
I've never been on a snowboard but I thought skiing around with pro snowboarder Yale Cousino would be an interesting Specialty Experience and indeed it was.
While there is much more to get out of riding with Yale, if you are a snowboarder it was fun going into the park and watch how this Vermont native effortlessly handles the features.
Yale is one of the premier riders to come from the East Coast. In fact he had just, that morning, returned from competing in the Dew Tour at "Breckenridge, CO - driving with friends 36 hours straight to not miss the Specialty Experiences launch event - now that's a trooper.
Yale Cousino's strong technical skills have landed him top results in slope-style competitions and rail jams and he has, several times, won the River Jump in Livigno, Italy.
Not that I was tempted to grab a snowboard, but if you ride don't miss the opportunity to play around in the 'Stash' with Yale or with fellow pro rider Ian Compton.
Women’s Weekend with Donna Weinbrecht
While I didn't get the chance to ski with 1992 freestyle Olympic gold medalist Donna Weinbrecht it is on my Killington 'to do' list. However, Donna has made herself available for special Women’s Weekend events at Killington.
This is a great opportunity to ski with and pick up pointers from Donna during a weekend of fun, food and skiing. The program is not just for expert skiers or mogulers bit is open to intermediate and above who would like an all-female learning environment.
Donna Weinbrecht is a true Killington girl where she has skied since the mid-1970s. As a decorated mogul specialist she has won seven national titles, has forty-six World Cup wins and is a member of both the National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and the Hall of Fame at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum.
Learning Outside the Box
Killington Specialty Experiences are just that - an experience of skiing with pros who are there to ski with you and not just point out mistakes. It's learning on a different level then even advanced ski lessons.
In fact, it's more like skiing and riding with friends who just happen to be better than you but who are eager to make you better while getting insights as to what makes them the best at what they do.