John Gilmour is in Aspen- for coaching

[John Gilmour]

Well I'm here. If you want to do extreme freecarving drop me a PM.

Before Pete Jacobs and CMC met me they didn't ride so hot. I know, I was there. CMC was an average level carver at best. I also influenced Vin Quenville's style of soft boot carving.

Pete ended up tearing it up and doing the Budweiser Aerial Assault tour. CMC ended up ruling Stratton (have you ever seen him fall,...ever?). Vin rules in softies.

So I'll dial in your set up and get your tearing it up with some real power in about (6) 90 minute lessons. Just leave your fear at home and believe everything I say will work. It will.

How much will it cost you?

good question...

If you were Jessica Alba.. about $2 an hour.

If you are an incredibly out of shape weekend warrior and on low quality gear... you'll have to buy me a season pass and expect it to take 12 lessons.

I won't coach you if I don't think you will be committed to concentrating on this for 6 sessions (yes even if you are athletic). So come to class well rested with your "A game" . Some may not need 6 sessions. But don't expect your world to change in a single lesson.... the first lesson will have some time devoted to your stance and set up for a turn.

If I tell you to buy something so that you ride better... you buy it. No argueing. It might be a piece of protective gear, a beer, a google lens, or new boots- or even a steak dinner the night before your next lesson so you are charged up.

Requirements.

-Walkie talkie

-hard boots (if they are ski boots they will get hot knifed)

-reasonably good quality board with flex, width and side cut appropriate for your ability level.

-Don't show up with an 190cm board.

So now that we have that out of the way.

You will be more fluid after we are done. You will be able to carve super hard icy conditions without fear. You will turn heads on the lift. You will have trouble walking down stairs the entire time you are learning. Your ruts will be amongst the deepest on the hill and your transitions will be nearly instantaneous. You'll be a smiling bastard when we are done.

Don't be surprised if I think you are too stiff that your homework is to go hit a dance club and have 5 drinks and tear up the dance floor. (I won't be there to coach that). I may make you ride with music- get some soul into your own personal style.

I will only do this this year...because I am starting a business that will consume all my time for the next 7 years. So if you ever want to do this, now is the time. If you have been carving for years and are only marginally better.. get it through your head and contact me.

This could be your Christmas gift to yourself- or if you are "The man that is impossible to buy things for" here is the answer for your spouse- and believe me you'll get more fun out of this than a new Ferrrari. It's time to ride like you intended.

-one good turn deserves another.

________

Mauro Forghieri

[wavechaser]

Even one five-minute tip from JG will improve your riding and/or racing...spoken from experience...but concentrated coaching? Oh yeah!

Have fun out there! :)

[bobdea]

I'm poor and in MA so no coaching for me!

I hope all is well out there!

How're the rebuilt knees working?

For those of you that don't know who John is, he's the man that will help you become the rider you wish you were.

[RDY_2_Carve]

Hey Mr. Gilmour.

This sounds juicy, but there are those of us that will always be weekend warriors at best and won't break 30 days a year ever. I'm quite fortunate to get that many days in per season...at least until the kiddies are graduated and walked down the isle.

So how much exactly is each session going to cost? Are the sessions done one per day? Or multiple per day? Aspen lifts aren't cheap ($75/day). Aspen lodging isn't cheap either. It would almost be cheaper to fly you down here, give you room and board, and buy your lifts. I make a mean steak. ;)

Will you be doing anything during SES? That would be convienent for a bunch of us.

Is this a side job, or part of Aspen?

[John Gilmour]

Hey Mr. Gilmour.

This sounds juicy, but there are those of us that will always be weekend warriors at best and won't break 30 days a year ever. I'm quite fortunate to get that many days in per season...at least until the kiddies are graduated and walked down the isle.

JG-well spend 6 of those 30 with me.

So how much exactly is each session going to cost? Are the sessions done one per day? Or multiple per day? Aspen lifts aren't cheap ($75/day). Aspen lodging isn't cheap either. It would almost be cheaper to fly you down here, give you room and board, and buy your lifts. I make a mean steak. ;)

JG---well as luck would have it.. that might be an option. I can get a good deal on airfare and I have always wanted to ride some of the New Mexico resorts. I have people to visit in Santa Fe too.

Will you be doing anything during SES? That would be convienent for a bunch of us.

I'll be here for SES.

Is this a side job, or part of Aspen?

I haven't decided about ASC yet. Personally as a former designer for Marmot, I typically cringe at wearing resort mandated unbreathable jackets. though this years Helly Hansen gear doesn't look all that bad.

I'm going to see what could be done at Aspen. But believe me... you wouldn't want to hire me through Aspen... now that IS EXPENSIVE. 5 full days of private instruction at Aspen is $2625- you'd spend too much time with an instructor who would not change your riding as much as I could. Certified instructors- though awesome (Like Eric Brammer for instance) teach a model that everyone can achieve.... but they don't focus on bringing out a persons particular unusual strengths. So for instance Pete Jacobs was a near boneless rubber band so I had him use his extension for more power. CMC was blockier and has a strong back so his style is adapted for him. A ski school would not teach something that is outside of the model- at least they shouldn't if they are following the regimen.

Taking a solid base of skills and adding a persons style to it helps change a person from good to great. For instance skiers Bodie Miller , Alberto Tomba,

and Hermann Maier all of them deviate from text book skiing, and to expect Tomba to ski like Miller is ridiculous.

For every persons body type and range of flexibility there exists a unique style that optimizes that persons riding. Most basic core elements are the same- but it is the accent of personal style that brings out the best riding in a person.

There are things going on in your boots that I will help you with, setting up turns, managing momentum, when to fly the carve, progressive radius carving, how to net a full circle.... these things need you to add your own personal strengths to really make them work and appear effortless.

________

No2 vaporizer

[Snowman]

CMC ended up ruling Stratton

didn't realize that Flatton was resume worthy.

Think Snow

[DiveBomber]

-Don't show up with an 190cm board.

Damn, I'm out :p

[tex1230]

JG- if you're coming back to the east coast I may be interested. No six days in aspen for me this year though.

[wavechaser]

John - don't know if you caught this post over on NCDSA...one of your proteges with kind of a cool snow / skate comparison....

http://www.ncdsa.com/21/47544/47568/Slalom-Skateboarding.htm

You'll have to scroll down - the post was dated 10-30-07 by CMC and titled "sweet"....P-shopped photo of CMC and Mitch.

[LeeW]

PM sent.

[willywhit]

John - don't know if you caught this post over on NCDSA...one of your proteges with kind of a cool snow / skate comparison....

http://www.ncdsa.com/21/47544/47568/Slalom-Skateboarding.htm

You'll have to scroll down - the post was dated 10-30-07 by CMC and titled "sweet"....P-shopped photo of CMC and Mitch.

I can attest that JG's coaching WILL take your riding to the next level, on the snow and thru the cones. Kinda like white men can't dance. A week in Aspen and you'll cuttin' up that cord rug like nobody's bidnizz.

John approaches instruction much differently than a regular teacher, he gets inside your head. Envision the hyper carve, then crank some tunes and charge the hill. cut "Loose ! Footloose !"

Loose, footloose

Kick off your Sunday shoes

Please, Louise

Pull me offa my knees

Jack, get back

C'mon before we crack

Lose your blues

Everybody cut footloose

You're playing so cool

Obeying every rule

Dig way down in your heart

You're yearning, burning for some

Somebody to tell you

That life ain't passing you by

I'm trying to tell you

It will if you don't even try

You can fly if you'd only cut

(Chorus)

Loose, footloose

Kick off your Sunday shoes

Oowhee, Marie

Shake it, shake it for me

Whoa, Milo

C'mon, c'mon let go

Lose your blues

Everybody cut footloose

FIRST - we got to turn you around

SECOND - You put your feet on the ground

THIRD - Now take a hold of your soul

FOUR - Whooooooooa, I'm turning it

Loose, FOOTLOOSE

(Chorus)

[John Gilmour]

BTW I'm not doing this in hopes of coaching Colorado local professional World cup racers......

in fact quite the contrary.

I'm looking to coach people who get 20 or more days in a year. Ones that will go back to their ski mountain after being coached by me and make carving look so insane that others will want to try it.

I want people to learn from me and not necessarily go into racing- but who will go back to their home mountains and at speed -lay down lines that leave everyone looking down from the lift a few minutes later wondering "Who did that line?" Or "how was that possible?" I want skiers on parabolics to scratch their heads looking for the other carve line.

I want you to go home and find yourself on frozen granular, ride all day, at driving home thinking it was an awesome day of snowboarding.

Or I want you showing up at an Expression session and have people wondering who you are and where you are from.

Someday I hope I'll see someone tearing it up- walk over talk to them and find out YOU taught them.

It's not about shaving .003 off your time at the World Cup level they are all fantastic snowboarders anyway. The out of shape weekend warrior stuff on crappy gear was directed at a certain overweight lawyer I used to coach who always had an excuse why he wouldn't try anything different. he bought ANYTHING ON SALE.

I did get a lot of responses, but scattered all over the USA.

I have RT tickets to Billings, Montana (I was thinking of teaching at Yellowstone Resort) so if there are any people that want coaching at a resort near there- (big sky) we can likely work something out.

I may be in New England middle of January for a few days or I can stay longer so CT VT NH MA are possible too.

________

NO2 VAPORIZER

[John Gilmour]

I haven't picked an insurer yet either.. I have yet to start this season. Let me know who you go with if you find a good deal.

If you are registered with a local Adult education center that offers sports you can use their insurance which is inexpensive and they just take a small booking fee (and they take all major credit cards etc..and give you a 401K.) I did that for Inline Skating for 15 years- they also offered skiing and snowshoeing etc... and had a blanket policy. Typical 2 million rider. But lets make that another thread.

________

Iolite Vaporizer

[two_ravens]

I have RT tickets to Billings, Montana (I was thinking of teaching at Yellowstone Resort) so if there are any people that want coaching at a resort near there- (big sky) we can likely work something out.

If you are coming to Big Sky, I might be very interested. Wondering if you have any idea of dates and rates? I am female, but beyond that bear little resemblence to Jessica Alba, so probably the usual weekend warrior rates for me. :D

[philfell]

Hey John, be carefull with the privite coaching thing, resorts don't really like that too much. If the resort is on private land then you can get hit with theft of services, if it's forest service then you need a permit to do business. You also have to think about insurance to cover you if someone you are coaching causes injury to themselves or another person riding at the resort.

Also if you are going to be so strict with your demands on the athletes, you should just get it out of the way and post "don't show up without a Kessler" :)

Please don't look at this posting as me trying to come down on you, I'm seriously trying to give you a heads up on things to think about. Good luck, may the trenches be deep for you this year.

[John Gilmour]

Phill I always appreciate your insightful input. I know resorts don't like it. It's like selling healthy food near their cafeteria. But you see- a lot of resorts don't sell healthy food.

If some resort wants to sue me..I say go ahead let them give it their best shot..in the end they won't even be able to cover their lawyers fees. They may as well try and sue every girlfriend who ever tried to teach their boyfriend who paid for their lift tickets, rental and hotel room. I'm not setting up little shack on the mountain to woo business away from the mountain...instead I am bringing revenue to that mountain that they would not have otherwise. If Jessica Alba shows up.... they might catch me immediately- after all she is a celebrity- and they could sue me to get their $2 back.

In terms of safety- I've taught over 15,000 people to inline skate...total "desk jockey overweight never done any sports in their lives" people. I taught ALL of them (EVERYONE learned... skated- backwards, forwards, crossovers etc. )- while teaching up to 40 students at once ..many have never skated in their lives and not one even so much as scraped a knee. There isn't an Inline instructor ANYWHERE that has the record I have (BTW I despise teaching Inline and have from day one). I've been teaching snowboarding ever since I was the first Sims and Winterstick Rep on the east coast in 1983 with no injuries of any kind to anyone- and this was on garbage gear. But I LOVE snowboarding.

So given the above, I think I can safely handle a one on one lesson with someone who already knows how to snowboard while being able to communicate with them with walkie talkies while they ride (Its part safety too! Not just telling them what to do- but actually helping to look after them and spotting to help keep everyone safe). I appreciate your concern. Every lesson I ever taught begins with safety and what things in combination will result in an injury. I even teach falling first...few people do that. Why not? I have no idea. You wouldn't certify a pilot who does practiced emergency drills...Why should a snowboarder be any different?

In regards to the gear. Would you feel safe teaching some guy that showed up with Emery bindings on a 1991 Kemper Screamer? Do I want to teach someone on a 1995 Burton Stat? It would be a waste of time for us both. What would be the goal? To teach the person to carve hard enough so that his 13 year old emery bails snapped? Or to agressively turn until he folds the nose on his Burton Stat?

I also see a lot of people on the hill that have bought too much board than they can handle. Same thing happens in skateboarding... it doesn't help. As a former World Champion Slalom Skateboarder, I'm pretty sure on this one.

But when the forest service decides to come knocking on my door with 3 state troopers a SWAT team with helicopter surveillance and attack dogs I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I still feel like teaching some people to ride and passing on what I know

But thanks for the comment. I'm sure you have never taught anyone without being part of the ski school- even your best friends had to register for lessons right?

I know you are trying to help. But realistically I'm a lot better/safer choice than some 18 year old zit faced kid who took his level 1 cert. And I don't see anyone bomberonline people rushing to take lessons from a kid like that. In fact I have yet to officially have anyone commit to Aspen (too bad, Aspen is having the best snow in 20 years) so I might teach as I travel. Which means some one might have to buy my lift ticket and hotel room for me in exchange for a lesson. (see above)

________

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[Pow]

will you coach again in 7 years? no way i can make it this year. first year of college, loads of school work/work work, no money, all that stuff. but once i graduate i'll be able to do what it takes.

[tex1230]

some one might have to buy my lift ticket and hotel room for me in exchange for a lesson. (see above)

Seriously, If you make it to the east coast I can cover that...

Not sure if I can commit to your 6 days given my schedule but if you make it to VT this year your lift tix are covered.

[philfell]

I'm just giving you something to possibly look out for, not to try to talk you out of doing it.

I don't know about Aspen personally, but at Park City they have their eye out for that stuff. It isn't a case of getting sued, it's a matter of the resort hassling you and worst case calling the cops and fined. Probably will never happen, but just be wise when you are selling yourself and maybe let the people you are teaching know that they are not paying you for snowboard instruction, they are paying you to ride with a former world slalom skateboard champion.....or something like that. It's all in the wording.

Again good luck. Those who take you up on this will gain a lot from it I'm sure.

[John Gilmour]

will you coach again in 7 years? no way i can make it this year. first year of college, loads of school work/work work, no money, all that stuff. but once i graduate i'll be able to do what it takes.

If my project works.. No I don't think I would ever coach again. Would I host a free clinic after every expression session with a free banquet and apres party? Sure I would! But someone who I taught this year would take over the coaching. I'm working on a renewable Energy project. It will consume ALL of my time. I'm just up here in Aspen snowboarding 3-4 hours a day to keep from going batty from all the time going into this.

BTW I'll trade all 6 lessons for anyone that has experience writing DOE grants. lol.

Any Aero Astro Majors out there (MIT or Similar) with aviation design experience? I have one MIT woman from Boeing that did stall performance on the 777 and worked on the space shuttle, but I could always use another..and no...I will not/can not discuss this concept.

________

Grape ape marijuana strain

[philfell]

William for insurance your best bet is to set up a snowboard club through USSA and then you can buy into their club insurance polcy. You will need a USSA membership, as well as all of your athletes. You pay a rate per athlete. We need more race programs here in the US, it would be great for you to get something going.

[John Gilmour]

Park City.. I'd just send people to Martin Drayton who is a great instructor and also a very capable slalom skateboarder (broke a Guinness Book of World Record for slalom skateboarding) and all around great guy. Or to Paul Price former amateur skateboard slalom world champion who also teaches there both are avid alpiners and are enthusiastic instructors.

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LINCOLN K-SERIES SPECIFICATIONS

[nekdut]

John, come to Mammoth or June instead and I'll take you up on the offer. I'll take time off of work and devote the week to carving with you.

[skategoat]

Park City.. I'd just send people to Martin Drayton who is a great instructor and also a very capable slalom skateboarder (broke a Guinness Book of World Record for slalom skateboarding) and all around great guy. Or to Paul Price former amateur skateboard slalom world champion who also teaches there both are avid alpiners and are enthusiastic instructors.

Martin sent out an email this fall saying he won't be in the U.S. this year due to immigration hassles. Too bad. Homeland Security keeping the good apples out as well as the bad.

[John Gilmour]

This has been interesting because even though i am in Aspen several people are finding it very hard to either get here or find lodging.. or the fear that Aspen's real name is A$$Pen or AHHHSPEND.

Three people think they can make it here. Lots more want me to come to their home mountains..which... I actually can do... just don't make me come to Mt. Tremblant in Mid February..brrr. Or The Carolinas late March...granular city.

First week of March- you would have to drag me kicking and screaming from Aspen.

So some guy from Aspen saw me ride and suggested that I teach there- I retorted with... "I have no interest in having to rush down mountain to show up for empty line ups and wear unbreathable uniforms... but thanks"... He then said he would try and arrange that I only teach when requested- and can teach just Carving...the way I want to. (I have no idea how they would pull that off...)

But...That........... sounded pretty good.........

Mostly because likely I could teach more people this way.

I was already mistaken for a Ski Co instructor because my Jacket looks similar and people had asked.

So we will see what happens. I'm still happy to travel.

________

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