Adaptive Skiing Continued
Jan. 13th, 2019 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anarfeaSo, I had my first lessons today where I was an instructor instead of a student. The morning lesson was with a young (maybe 4-5?) girl with Down Syndrome. This required very little of me, as we actually didn't get her on skis, lol. This was her first time ever skiing, and she refused to put on her ski boots (I don't blame her, ski boots are at best hella awkward and at worst torture devices). So we did a lot of playing in the snow. We did convince her to ride the Magic Carpet (something like those moving walkways they have at airports but on snow), she liked to roll down the hill after (we kept her to the side and out of the way of the skiers. So anyway I had fun playing in the snow for a couple of hours (though I would have preferred not to do it in ski boots. As I said before, ski boots suck).
Afternoon lesson was with an 8 year old boy with autism. This kiddo was a handful! He has been in the program for a few years and knows how to ski, so we were skiing with him on the easiest lift. He skis holding on to a bamboo pole with an instructor on either side. So mostly he just holds on and we guide him down. But he kept trying to swing on the pole and hang under it and eventually he did manage to break it (fortunately not until near the end of the lesson). It is surprisingly difficult to ski while there is a kid pulling and pushing you and skiing on top of your skis, but fortunately he was not heavy enough to unbalance me. However, at the end of the lesson, when he took his skis off, I was bending down to pick them up and fell over and then couldn't get up because I was skiing without poles so as to hold on to the bamboo pole. That was kind of embarrassing. Another instructor gave me a hand up.
Anyway, I guess overall it was a good first day and I think I did alright. In both cases I was paired with a more experienced instructor so I mostly just did what I was told. Carry the gear, follow the leader, etc. Since due to a scheduling mix-up I was put on the Sunday list instead of the Saturday list, an error which they are correcting next week, I probably won't see either of these kids again since I will be working Saturdays and their lessons are on Sundays. That's kind of sad, as I'd like to see them progress, especially the little one because I suspect she's going to be an absolute speed demon once they actually get her on skis. She kept wanting the Magic Carpet to go faster, and when she was rolling down the hill she'd want us to push her so she'd go faster. I think she will probably need to be put on tethers, lol.
Afternoon lesson was with an 8 year old boy with autism. This kiddo was a handful! He has been in the program for a few years and knows how to ski, so we were skiing with him on the easiest lift. He skis holding on to a bamboo pole with an instructor on either side. So mostly he just holds on and we guide him down. But he kept trying to swing on the pole and hang under it and eventually he did manage to break it (fortunately not until near the end of the lesson). It is surprisingly difficult to ski while there is a kid pulling and pushing you and skiing on top of your skis, but fortunately he was not heavy enough to unbalance me. However, at the end of the lesson, when he took his skis off, I was bending down to pick them up and fell over and then couldn't get up because I was skiing without poles so as to hold on to the bamboo pole. That was kind of embarrassing. Another instructor gave me a hand up.
Anyway, I guess overall it was a good first day and I think I did alright. In both cases I was paired with a more experienced instructor so I mostly just did what I was told. Carry the gear, follow the leader, etc. Since due to a scheduling mix-up I was put on the Sunday list instead of the Saturday list, an error which they are correcting next week, I probably won't see either of these kids again since I will be working Saturdays and their lessons are on Sundays. That's kind of sad, as I'd like to see them progress, especially the little one because I suspect she's going to be an absolute speed demon once they actually get her on skis. She kept wanting the Magic Carpet to go faster, and when she was rolling down the hill she'd want us to push her so she'd go faster. I think she will probably need to be put on tethers, lol.
