National Team Member Brian Smith Shares His Most Memorable Teaching Experience

The Fall 2024 Issue of 32 Degrees magazine is hot off the press and starting to mail to PSIA-AASI members across the country.

Packed with timely information to help you get your winter off to a fast, successful start, the issue also includes an introduction to the new 2024-28 PSIA-AASI National Team, including Alpine Team member Brian Smith.

Here, Brian shares his most memorable teaching experience, when he was just getting his start as a professional instructor.

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Going deep into the archives of my career, I remember one occasion that taught me patience, humility, empathy, and gratitude all in one lesson.

Around 1998, I was asked to ski with a gentleman’s fiancée as they were preparing for a potential trip out West the following season.

Mind you, around this time not many pros connected with guests prior to a booking. They usually met cold turkey. However, the gentleman made it a point to find me the day before and inform me of some fear issues his fiancée, Lisa, was facing.

Having learned she was diagnosed with agoraphobia and anxiety disorder the day before, I was nervous about how things may go. I knew how to teach skiing. I didn’t know much about Lisa’s challenges. So, I decided to educate myself and look up the meaning of agoraphobia and anxiety. Upon reflection, this was very helpful.

The next day I met Lisa who was a few years older than me and had never tried any physical sport in her life.

After reading into things earlier, I surmised there were a few common denominators when interacting with students like Lisa, such as slowing down my decision-making, telling myself to be waaaaaay more patient from start to finish during the lesson, and allowing students to be part of and contribute to the process.

It was one of the first private lessons where I allowed myself to let the student set the pace and define their goals no matter how miniscule they might seem.

The Lesson Play-by-Play

For the first hour, we walked around the resort base area as I escorted Lisa by the arm. She was in her street shoes the entire time. She struggled to even look up to the mountain as skiers were coming down without being filled with anxiety.

By hour two, we managed to walk in boots up and down a set of stairs and walk around the sun deck three times, stopping to chat about our favorite bands.

By noon, two hours later, we managed to walk in boots in the snow around the base lodge, then stopped to do movement analysis of the skiers on the bunny slope.

After lunch, we managed to step into our skis. We shuffled around the base lodge, while we held a rope with a wooden handle. I also towed her through the parking lot in powder as we checked out who had the nicest car. It was flat, it faced away from the slope and the crowds, and it took Lisa’s mind off the fear of falling and being trapped in her boots and skis.

By 4 p.m., Lisa walked independently, with no rope, in skis on the flats, and then she slid in continuous motion for 25 feet while I held her arm. Next, she slid 25 feet on her own screaming, “I did it, I did it” the entire time. I had to set it up so she slid across the base area perpendicular to the bunny slope. This reduced her anxiety.

As you can imagine, her achievement may have looked insignificant to any nearby observers, but to her and me it was the perfect amount of achievement that met all her expectations.

You see, Lisa had said from the beginning she just wanted to be able to walk in the snow in ski boots and sit on the sun deck and at least look the part. “I’m so afraid of falling to the ground and breaking my legs. I’m so nervous people are going to see me fall,” she said over and over as I worked to distract her the whole time.

A Day to Remember

Why was this experience impactful? Well, I learned more about myself than what I taught Lisa about skiing. I learned that personal connection is the best way to create distraction from fear and anxiety in the moment. As I mentioned, we stopped and shared conversations about our favorite bands, sweet cars in the parking lot, and even ski outfits.

As each personal conversation grew, I would sneak in a challenge to move our bodies. This was my best chance to get Lisa moving with lots of encouragement.

I also learned that the technical skills can be minor elements of a lesson and that people skills can be the glue that holds it all together.

Finally, I learned that getting ahead of situations, such as researching agoraphobia, is as important as reflection after the lesson.

Today, I have the pleasure of reaching out and conversing with my clients before our lesson, which I love because it helps me prepare for the adventure when we meet and ski.