Can you really improve over 40?
Annabel Anderson explores the case for training camps for adults... and why you’d be mad not to.
Snow sports are hard. Try learning to guide two planks downhill with a reasonable amount of control and style in plastic boots resembling something out of RoboCop as an adult and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. The question is, we put our kids in ski schools, often for days at a time and we see their improvement happen before our eyes, but why don’t we do the same for ourselves to keep our own progression and learning continuing like our kids? There’s a multitude of reasons and they often sound something like the following: “But I can already ski, why would I go back and learn all over again?” “I grew up skiing, I’m, good…?” and the all too often response from women;
“I’m not sure if I’m good enough for something like that?” Let’s just say it’s time to put all of these beliefs to bed and re-write the way we look at skiing and riding as we move into our forties and beyond. Just to put you at ease; I’m not talking hucking cliffs and sliding rails. There are somethings that are simply best left to young bodies yet to get to full frontal lobe development and don’t need to think twice about how well they bounce when missing a landing or two. What I am talking about is changing the way we look at the time we spend on snow and treating it as a chance to evolve our technical abilities purely for our own pleasure. In technical sports, the improvement of our fundamental skill base allow us to get more out of our equipment meaning more enjoyment doing that thing we love to do; carve turns regardless of radius, mountain or snow conditions. For the past 28 years the duo of
Dean Hunter and Garett Shore have been training ski and snowboard instructors from around the globe under the banner of The Rookie Academy in Wanaka and the Northern Hemisphere. Harking back to the early days of 1992 when 198cm straight skis and rear entry Salomons were the gear of choice, the Rookie Academy was a one man band running a 10 day training programme at Treble Cone designed to train Wanaka locals to become ski instructors. 28 years on, it has grown to become internationally renown, pre-eminent ski and snowboard instructor training programmes drawing students from around the globe and hosting the ‘who’s who' of celebrity ski and snowboard trainers each year to pass on the latest in snow sport specific learning, teaching and riding techniques to the next crop of instructors and trainers.
Celebrity Trainers
I can recall the allure of one of these well known ‘masters of carving’ first hand. In fact I can personally retell the story of one die hard local who so was hellbent on getting some ’tips’ from his Youtube skiing idol that he chased him around Treble Cone for days on end hoping to swing a chair ride with him in the hunt for elusive tips to perfect his "carve”. The good news is that starting this very winter, you no longer have to stalk your idols around the mountain in the hope of riding the same chair or bumping into them during apres hour down in the village.
Training Camps for Grown Ups
Yes, the bastions of teaching, The Rookie Academy are finally opening up their doors to the more mature ‘mere mortals’ like yourself and I to start realising our “yet” unmet skiing and riding potential with five day programmes delivered weekly from Sunday to Friday. Running from late June until mid September and primarily based at Treble Cone, you’ll get the access to learn first hand from the best trainers to experience first hand what has drawn instructors from around the world to train and enhance their skills…without the stress of sitting an exam at the end. Simply put regardless of where you’re at (the caveat being that you can comfortably negotiate blue trails across the mountain”) as one former “Rookie” put it matter of factly, “You’re going to learn to ski properly. Most adults think they can ski, but you’re never too old to learn new tricks and be stripped back to the basics that set you up to start skiing the best turns of your life”. As Rookie Academy Director Garett Shore puts it,“There was a disconnect between taking lessons at resort ski schools and people wanting to progress their skiing and riding but not wanting to become instructor.” “We have been wanting to do something like this for a long time and the acquisition of Treble Cone by Cardrona Resorts (who have their own instructor training programme) has allowed us to finally make this offer a course like this to people who want to not only improve, but also learn from the ‘best of the best' snow sports trainers. “In many ways it is incredibly family friendly. Your kids can be in ski school or one of the snow sports programmes and you get to work on yourself as well. It’s very much a win/win for snow loving parents and kids alike, or just adults that didn’t have the opportunity to do something like this when they were younger.” “What makes this five day programme unique is that it takes you from where you are at this present moment, shows you what ‘excellence’ looks like, then takes you on a progressive and structured journey to get there which is customised to you. We use video analysis software that makes it easy to understand and we make sure that your equipment is set up to fit you properly. We’ll walk you through the science of learning and technique and help you understand the ‘why’ this is the way that it is and then show you how to do it to allow you to take ownership for your own progression”. “Structured around video analysis before and during the camp to track your progress as well as on-going feedback after the camp to ensure you keeping progressing.”
Girls Only Camps
Understanding how intimidating it can be to line up as the only girl amongst a bunch of guys for the week, dedicated female-only weeks are being run to ensure there are no barriers to access with time Rookie Academy trainer Sarah “Sem” Walls is taking the reins to run these weeks throughout the winter. Known for her hard charging skiing and love for fun, her enthusiasm and love for skiing is infectious to all those that come into her sphere. “Whether you’re looking to increase your skills to the double black diamond level or simply want to have an awesome week of skiing meeting new friends, Sem is the woman to take you there,” says Sem. Structured over six days, the five day course is split into Sunday-MondayTuesday and then Thursday-Friday to make it an easy fit around booking time off work, school holidays and family. As the saying goes, “you’re never too old to learn new tricks”. For more information and to find out more visit www.rookieacademy.com Maybe your best turns really do lie in your future?