LESSONS LEARNED FOR STARTING A CHILDREN’S CROSS COUNTRY SKI
PROGRAM Q Be persistent when contacting potential schools to work with.
Q Get as many volunteers as possible! There will be some kids who need help simply standing up on skis.
Q Be ridiculously organized going in. It is easier to drop plans than have to come up with new ones in the heat of hectic moments.
Choppy snow conditions demanded a bit more patience and perseverance than the kids initially bargained for.
breaking in a track for them, they still struggled, often side-snagging their ski tips. I would demonstrate instructional bits here and there, but I was mostly happy to just have them standing up. T ey’d become frustrated with deep- powder herringbones and take off their skis, declaring their hatred for skiing, claiming multiple injuries, and continually say, “I
In the end, this group of schoolchildren showed me the true essence of what cross country skiing is.
can’t, I can’t!” But next session, there they’d be, excited and eager. It was a diff erent set of behaviors than I was used to, as in the past I was teaching vacationers at nordic centers, who would sign up for lessons after three days of alpine skiing. Most of the kids in the school programs had never skied, let alone experienced any of the nordic center perks.
SHIFTING EXPECTATIONS, SEEING THE ESSENCE OF THE SPORT T e kids came with a diff erent set of expectations and I had to adjust. In a curious way, their “instruction” was easier to give. T ey didn’t need frills and thrills, just exposure, constant praise, and acceptance. I was amazed how often they
120 | 32 DEGREES • WINTER 2016
said, “I can’t!” or wailed with agony after falls. After quickly assessing they had no real bodily injury, I would tell them over and over, “You can, you can,” because it was the truth. When I said, “You’re OK, get up, get up,” they might glower, but the next minute, they’d be up, happily skiing with their friends again, apparently fi ne. In the end, my praise usually got the better of them and they would be proud to say, “Coach, I got my ski on by myself! I got up by myself! I made it down the hill!” Making in it down the hill was no small accomplishment. T e kids experienced diff erent conditions every time – deep powder, unconsolidated
sugar snow, wet slop, crusted wet snow, wind drifts, crust cruising. Each session required a new understanding of what was under their skis. T ey had no knowledge of grooming, only wild snow, and that meant constant adaptation. T ough I felt great frustration for them each time they fell and wailed, I knew it was making them stronger.
I envisioned telling them about the
great American cross country skier Andy Newell and his World Cup win, Olympic medalist Bill Koch, and the whole cross country ski culture that was out there waiting for them – but they would only half-listen. It didn’t matter; their experience with cross country skiing was right there, right then. It was unconsolidated sugar
Q When equipment is being given to children, have one volunteer record the sizes of equipment for each child and mark their names on the skis – it will make it much quicker to get them on the snow next time!
Q Give some instruction, but more praise. Let the kids experiment, be with friends, and make the experience their own. —DAW-S
snow, their friends beside them, angel- like volunteers helping them up, fi erce wind, cold hands, and slippery, squirrely planks that whipped away from them and plunged them exasperatingly to the ground again and again. In the end, this group of schoolchildren
showed me the true essence of what cross country skiing is. T eir involvement in this sport and culture is a positive example of relationships between people and the winter environment, and strength and pride in self-propelled movement. T ese 78 kids from Vermont (and I)
thank you, Megan Spurkland for being the spark to get this program going!
Dorothy A. Wallace-Senft grew up in Vermont and started cross country skiing when she was 9 years old. She became hooked on the seasonal
lifestyle after
graduating from college, and 20 years later still spends her summers as a fi eld botanist and her winters as a nordic ski instructor in as many diff erent locations she can. She is a PSIA- certifi ed Level III cross country instructor. She is currently the assistant manager at Crested Butte Nordic Center in CO. Email: dorothyws@
hotmail.com
COURTESY OF DOROTHY A. WALLACE-SENFT
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132