Skiing Like a Pro

Ah, to have someone whisper sweet words in your ear. . . .

photo: a ski instructor providing tips through two-way radio

Real-time tips can help you avoid a face plant.

What's that? Someone is whispering in your ear?

And she's telling you to bend your knees? Then you must be on a slope somewhere with Lauralee Bowie, a ski instructor whose specialty is coaching students using hands-free two-way radios with headsets as they descend a course. Bowie, a world champion freestyle skier, has offered these extra-personalized clinics for 12 years, everywhere from Vail to Argentina. "The learning curve is much faster with two-way radios and they're great for guiding," Bowie explains. And it's sure easier than yelling at the top of your lungs to someone who is 30 feet away from you and wearing a helmet to boot.

For many skiers, real-time tips can literally make the difference between gliding from mogul to mogul and falling on your face. It only takes a quick adjustment whispered in your ear as you're atop a bump.

High-tech one-on-one attention is the idea behind the Ski Elite package at the Four Seasons in Vail and British Columbia, which includes training using headsets and videos - the pros play back the footage for you while you are on the lift going back up.

Worried that you'll need a reminder of what to do on your next ski trip? Just record your slope-guru's wise words, then plug your recorder into a headphone-ready hat or helmet and listen to them whenever you want.

Personalized instruction comes in less high-tech ways, too. At X-Team clinics around the world, extreme skiing legends John Egan and Rob DesLauriers personally instruct pupils. (The words "just follow me" take on new meaning when spoken to you atop a Grand Targhee, WY, course simply called "Bad.") Each course is carefully designed to meet skiers' individual needs - and to satiate every skier's appetite for excitement. "Our goal is to define your freak-out threshold," explains DesLauriers, "and then push you beyond it."

Posted on February 13, 2006