Certified Ski & Snowboarding Instructor
This article is based on an expert interview with Kent Bry, conducted by wikiHow Staff Editors. Kent Bry is a certified ski and snowboarding instructor and the director of Adventure Ski & Snowboard, a school based in the San Diego, California metro area. With over 50 years of skiing and snowboarding performance and instruction experience, Kent is certified by the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA). Adventure Ski & Snowboard is a member of the PSIA and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI). Kent holds a BS in Recreational Therapy from San Diego State University and is also a California-registered recreational therapist.
You’ve never been skiing before and you have an upcoming trip to the slopes. How can you quickly learn how to ski, even if you’re a total beginner? Don’t worry—in this video, ski and snowboarding instructor Kent Bry shares his best tips for getting ready for your first ski trip so you can feel confident once you're on the mountain.
Key Takeaways
- Take a lesson in your hometown before your trip if there’s a local ski simulator.
- You should also take a lesson once you get to the mountain. An instructor can teach you how to ski, get on and off the chairlift, and choose the best runs for your skill level.
Video Transcript
Start with a lesson in your hometown if you're lucky enough to have a simulator, like here in San Diego, California. It's warm, it's dry, it's a more controlled environment, and you will develop skills that will help you when you get to the mountains before you even go on your vacation. Then second thing would be, when you get to the snow, take a lesson from a professional instructor and let them help you learn the alpine environment, to get on and off the chairlift, to learn about the difference between the beginner's area and a green circle trail for a novice, a blue square run for an intermediate, black diamonds for advanced skiers—you should stay off of those for the first few times at least if not the first season you’re skiing—and things like that.
