Welcome to DCSki Rcoop. That seems like a reasonable plan. The only question might be whether having lessons three days in a row could get tiring (when I first started skiing, I remember getting sore until I developed the right muscles and skills).
The water skiing and wakeboarding skills should be transferable and help with balance, so that should give him a head start. You might consider a group lesson for the first lesson or two, and then pivot to a private lesson for more specialized and attentive instruction.
Liberty and Hidden Valley both have excellent ski schools. Actually, most of the ski areas in this region have great schools with talented instructors. I would think that Hidden Valley might be less crowded than Liberty on a weekend (others might have thoughts on that), so that might be a factor to consider, although if you live in the D.C. region it might be a further trek to get out to Hidden Valley if you're planning on doing day trips for each of the three days.
Rcoop wrote:
My 15 year old has a ski trip at the end of January through school. He has never skied before, but is a great water skier and wakeboarder. We panned on getting him lessons last year, but with Covid fell behind. He is going to want to ski with experienced friends and I want to get it so he can do some slopes with them.I have been checking out places that have ski lessons in PA and WV. I was planning on doing something like this. Group lesson Friday evening, Saturday morning and Sunday morning. Or possibly add a private lesson in their or substitute it for a group. Two options that could follow this plan are Ski Liberty or Hidden Valley.Do you have a better plan or other places you would recommend. I also have a 12 year old who would do some children’s lessons.
Where are you driving from? Where is the school trip going?
While his general athleticism and good balance will help a lot, there are tendencies from water skiing that are the opposite of what works well for alpine skiing. Have you considered he might like snowboarding more? The learning curves are different but he'd probably pick up either sport in about the same 2-3 days.
My comment about water skiing is based on an experience long ago with a late 20's co-worker who was a good water skier. He thought that snow skiing would be the same. After a short beginner lesson at Mt. Rose (we were in Reno for a professional conference), all he could do was bomb straight down totally out of control since he really didn't know how to turn to control his speed. His buddy (from Florida who had skied once or twice before) took him up to the top for a "last run" on the long cat track. It was rated green. But with a snowstorm moving in it took them over 30 minutes to get to the base. They were quite late meeting up with me and another co-worker. We were intermediates skiing blues who had enough experience to pay attention to the weather.
Do his friends like to play in the terrain park? My friend's son dislocated a shoulder as a young teen trying to do a simple rail because his friend made it look so easy. While he was an advanced skier doing blacks at Alta, he's never been on features before. Fell wrong and hit the rail as I understand it.
marzNC wrote:
Rcoop wrote:
The trip is to 7 Springs. I actually twisted my knee on my school ski trip, so know what it is like to try to push a more advanced slope to be with friends which is why I am trying to get a trip in before the trip. My son would actually prefer to snowboard, but I thought since his friends were skiing maybe it would be better to learn to ski for the trip. However, maybe if he snowboards it would keep him from trying to do certain slopes with his friends. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Rcoop wrote:
marzNC wrote:
Rcoop wrote:
The trip is to 7 Springs. I actually twisted my knee on my school ski trip, so know what it is like to try to push a more advanced slope to be with friends which is why I am trying to get a trip in before the trip. My son would actually prefer to snowboard, but I thought since his friends were skiing maybe it would be better to learn to ski for the trip. However, maybe if he snowboards it would keep him from trying to do certain slopes with his friends. I would love to hear your thoughts.
From what I know from reading . . . and watching beginner snowboarders at Massanutten . . . the first three days on a board involves a lot of falling. But after that, getting to the intermediate stage is quicker than on skis. Assuming lessons of course. Since you are dealing with a teen, I would say there is some value in letting him choose whether to start with skis or a board.
Do the friends who ski do park at all? Do they prefer the blacks at 7Springs or are they mostly skiing blues as fast as they can?
My daughter was already a solid intermediate as a tween who was skiing blues at Alta when she made friends with an older girl who was a good boarder. They would cruise the blacks at Massanutten together all day long. I let her do one day of snowboard school, with the agreement that she would continue to work towards becoming an advanced skier. By then I'd already bought ski boots and skis for her. She learned enough to appreciate the learning curve . . . and stuck with skiing.
Rcoop wrote:
My 15 year old has a ski trip at the end of January through school. He has never skied before, but is a great water skier and wakeboarder. We panned on getting him lessons last year, but with Covid fell behind. He is going to want to ski with experienced friends and I want to get it so he can do some slopes with them.I have been checking out places that have ski lessons in PA and WV. I was planning on doing something like this. Group lesson Friday evening, Saturday morning and Sunday morning. Or possibly add a private lesson in their or substitute it for a group. Two options that could follow this plan are Ski Liberty or Hidden Valley.Do you have a better plan or other places you would recommend. I also have a 12 year old who would do some children’s lessons.
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Approximately where do you live? For a day trip from the DC area, I usually recommend Bryce Resort, VA as a good place for never-evers. Hill is small, but well run, affordable, and not crowded even on weekends. Another choice for beginners that is not too expensive and not very crowded is Canaan Valley ski area in WV.
Rcoop wrote:
Annapolis
Ah . . . then Wintergreen, Massanutten, and Bryce are well worth considering for a learning long weekend. My bias is to Massanutten, which has a very strong ski school and much better terrain progression than Wintergreen. Mnut is also beating Wintergreen in the snowmaking department these days. Bryce is smaller and farther away from Annapolis. Has the advantage when getting started that it's so small there is little likelihood of ending up on terrain that's too difficult.
Not sure what's happening with group lessons in VA this season. If you want recommendations for private lessons at Mnut, send me a PM. There are very experienced instructors there who could easily teach both boys at the same time, assuming your sons are up for the idea. I've done a few 2-hour lessons at Mnut that were not only for different abilities levels but also for both tweens/teens and adults.
