Boston Mills/7 Springs - D-Team Weekend
I love the Midwest! Here is the best way I can describe it. People there would ask me if I was cold and I would say “no.” The next thing I knew, they were handing me their jacket. Then they would ask me if I was hungry. I would say “no.” Then they would give me a Tupperware container of chili. I don’t even like chili!
The Midwestern folks are so passionate about skiing. It is ridiculous. I spent two days at Boston Mills which has about 240 vertical feet of skiing. Then we traveled by motor coach to Seven Springs in Western Pennsylvania. The folks are hungry for skiing. I mean so hungry. The coolest thing about this trip was it consisted of mainly ski patrollers. I have not had much opportunity to work with ski patrollers. In some ways, they are the best students I have ever worked with. They wanted to know what I thought about things. I loved it. Since they have a small area, they often work on their technical skiing or ski technique while they wait to respond to calls. I thought that was so cool.
Our hosts really took care of us. From housing us, to taking us out to dinner. It was such a great experience. I would love to go back.
On Day 2, the told us the “T” team is taking us out this afternoon. I asked, “What is the ‘T’ Team?” It is the toboggan team. They wanted us to learn how to pull and control the toboggan. It was awesome. They told us that no one has ever done this before. Well, we may have started a new tradition!
I somehow managed to get a case of pink eye while I was there. That was not so awesome. However, our host really took care of us. She went to the pharmacy to get me some eye drops. And I was all better.
On the final day, everyone takes off from work and we take a motor coach to Seven Springs in Western, PA. It was so much fun. Everyone is quiet on the bus. I had a group all day. I remember teaching them how to skate and it blew their mind. Instead of trying to create some “herring bone” movements, we tried to roll from our outside edge to inside edge to propel ourselves forward. Some people had never done it like this.
The bus ride home is pretty epic! We get to crawl from the back to the front of the bus. It was so much fun. I had a great partner and opportunity to work with Stephen Helfenbein. I also came out early so I could ride Ray’s Indoor Bike Park in Cleveland, Ohio. I hope I get a chance to go back.