On Tuesday, I took the jacket test to be able to teach skiing for Vail Resorts. I went through the entire level-one lesson according to the course progression I had learned. I passed the test.

I am now among a few instructors who can teach both skiing and snowboarding. Teaching skiing is easier than teaching snowboarding. Learning skiing is also more pleasurable than learning snowboarding.

If you are going to spend three days or less on the slopes, learn skiing. If you can spend over seven days, learn snowboarding. If you return to the slopes season after season, learn both. I am definitely glad that I did both. The Epic Pass had allowed me the time and the affordability to learn.

On Monday, I taught three teenagers snowboarding. While we were on the chair lift together, they informed me that they wished they had learned snowboarding when they were younger. I assured them it was never too late to learn. I only learned to snowboard three years ago at the age of 44. I learned to ski, figure skate, and rollerblade when I turned 40. In recent months, I dabbled in skateboarding too.

Even though these sports have some similarities—they required balance—each one needs tremendous amount of time to advance. As a result, I only carved out what I wanted to learn. Yes, my goal is to carve and to enjoy my time during the winter season.

I was planning on taking all the required clinics and taking the test so I can teach skiing, but no trainer came to work today. I was assigned to teach a four-year-old boy snowboarding. He gave me a great workout for three hours. I was surprised that he could last that long. Apparently, his parents had been watching us from afar. His father gave me a generous tip afterward. Last season, I did not get any tip at all; therefore, today was a great start.

I thought I was off the hook in the afternoon, but I was assigned to teach three teenagers who had never snowboard before. One girl skied when she was young. A boy and a girl can do RipStik. As a result, they picked up snowboard really fast. I also had two new instructors shadowing me. We had three students and three instructors. We were able to take the guests to Sidewinder. It was a fun lesson.

Today I had one-on-one training with Mr. Tim Schlaile, an experienced ski instructor who had been teaching for 25 years. He walked me through the entire progression of teaching a level-one skiing lesson. Even after a quarter of century, Mr. Schlaile was still filled with passion in his teaching. I learned so much from him. I am now confident that I can teach first-time-ever guests with proper techniques. I am going to take the test to teach skiing as soon as I can.

At the end of our training, I thanked him for showing me the rope. His reply made my day: “It’s rare to have someone who can teach both [snowboard and ski]. You’re a good asset to our school.”

As a note taker, I asked Mr. Schlaile if I could pull out my phone to write down all the steps and he was cool with it. Here are the steps:

1. Introduce yourself (learn guests’ names)
2. Check boots, helmet, and mittens
3. Explain parts of the ski
4. Talk about the poles
5. Demo athlete stand (goalie position)
6. Skate with one foot or both feet
7. Side step uphill
8. Glide straight down bunny hill
9. Glide wedge (brake emergencies)
10. Make a left turn (put right hand on right knee)
11. Make a right turn
12. Explain the lift (2 people per chair)
13. Explain how to get off the lift (lean forward and go straight down)
14. Traverse across the hill with braking wedge
15. Make J turn
16. Make C turn
17. Make S turn

Today kicked off my second season as an instructor for the ski and ride school at Whitetail. We welcomed many new snowboarding instructors. As a result, the trainers needed to train the new instructors first. I asked our lead instructor if I could take skiing clinics instead and he approved.

I switched out my boots and my snowboard fellows sarcastically shook their heads in disapproval. Ski vs. snowboard battle never ended. I loved them both and I wanted to coach in both. As I joined the ski crew, I talked to another skier instructor who had taught skiing at Whitetail for a decade. He told me he lives in Vienna, which made me remember the conversation we had five years ago. I recognized his face and his voice. Five years ago, I took my first ski ever with David Mendelowitz right at Whitetail. That first lesson, which my wife signed me up without my consent, changed my wife.

I told Mr. Mendelowitz that he took me on the First Class Magic Carpet at the end of our lesson. I zoomed straight down without stopping or crashing into anyone else while he was yelling, “Pizza, pizza, pizza.” He laughed and joked, “I guess I didn’t do a bad job.” Since I was standing next to him this afternoon as a fellow instructor, he had done a phenomenal job. I finally had a chance to thank him.

In hindsight, Whitetail and I are meant for each other. On January 20, 2020, I took my first ever skiing lesson at Whitetail with Mr. Mendelowitz. On February 21, 2024, I took a skiing lesson with Ms. Mary Poscover and she encouraged me to become an instructor. When I applied for the ski and ride instructor position, I chose Liberty because it was 10 minutes closer to our house. Liberty rejected my application. I applied for Whitetail and was hired.

In retrospect, I had only been skiing for four seasons and snowboarding for three. We skipped 2020-2021 because of Covid. It seems as if I had been skiing and snowboarding for a while. I hope to continue for many years to come.

Last season, I documented each day I spent on the terrains. I spent 57 days teaching, skiing, and riding with my family. It was a great way to track my progress. This season, I want to try something different. I only write when I make notable progress.

The first two days back went horrible. I was so excited to be back that I forgot to take it easy. I even forgot to stretch. On the first day back, I hopped on my skis and went straight to the blue and double-black terrains. By 1:00 pm, I was wiped out. The second day, I switched to snowboarding and I did the same thing. Once again, my legs and feet got burned out so badly that I had to wrap up before 2:00 pm.

My body couldn’t handle these winter sports anymore. I either am getting old or was drinking too much during off season that it put a toll on my body. Or that I needed some liquor to keep me going. After I had two sample bourbon shots on Tuesday, I hadn’t had a drink since I started to ski and snowboard.

On the third day, I took it easy. I stretched and started off skiing on the green terrains in the morning. In the afternoon, I went on more challenging trails. Still, I wrapped up around 2:00 pm again. My legs gave out.

This morning I woke up with a migraine. I just wanted to stay in bed and read, but I knew in my heart I had to go. The mountains were calling. I took my time to stretch out in my dorm room. I popped a pill of Aleve, ate breakfast, and managed to catch the shuttle to Stowe around 8:20 am. I needed the Aleve to clear my head.

I told myself that it was going to be an easy snowboarding day. I just needed to ride down the slopes making nice “S” turns. I was not going to work on carving with my body low to the ground. I was not going to touch the snow with my hands. I laid low on the green and blue terrains on the learning side (Spruce Peak). Yet, the blue trail was icy.

After lunch, I headed over to Mansfield to take the Gondola, which opened for the first time today, to the top. I missed riding the Gondola. The blue trails were so nice. They weren’t icy and they weren’t too steep that I couldn’t carve. Unintentionally, my left hand touched the snow on my toe side as I dip low. I didn’t have to try too hard and I didn’t fall down. I tried with my right hand on my heel side and I had a bit of trouble. I fell on my butt a couple of times. I was determined to keep working on it. I hopped on the Gondola once again. I fell a few more times on my heel side before I got a hang of it.

I hopped back on the Gondola two more times before the lift was closed at 3:30 pm. I wanted to do more. For the next two days, I will focus on snowboarding. I had wanted to work on this technique in the last two seasons. I was about to give up this time because I thought my weak, aged body couldn’t handle it. All of the sudden, it clicked and unlocked my riding. I couldn’t believe that I could begin to reach my goal this early on. I still have lots to learn, but I am happy with my progress.

I had been fighting a lot on this trip. I fought against the cold. I fought against my body. I fought against my mind. I fought against my emotions. I fought against my loneliness. I fought against my conscience. Even with my wife’s blessings, I felt guilty for taking this solo trip. I miss her and my kids dearly. Then again, I also needed a bit of time to myself to clear my mind. When I skied or snowboarded downhill, I didn’t zoom down fast like the kids. I just took my time strolling down the hills looking for quiet spots near the trees where I can sit safely to reflect on my life and all the recent events that had happened to me and my loved ones.

In those freezing moments, I looked up at the sky and I could feel deep in my soul that my mother had been watching me from above. I could still hear it in her voice that she told me I had gone crazy. Just a year before she passed away, I started skiing. When I called her on the phone to tell her about my new adventure, she would say, “Mày bị khùng rồi.” I wish she was still here to see my ski and ride. I still love her and miss her every single day.

My first day back on the slopes and I couldn’t ask for better conditions at Stowe. It started to snow right before I hopped on the 8:00 am-opening chair. In the past, I would kick off the season with snowboarding, but I chose skiing instead. I should have taken it easy, but I dived right in. I skied all over the mountains. By 10:30 am, I was exhausted. My legs gave out after trying to carve.

I took a lunch break and relaxed a bit. I went back out and couldn’t ski anymore at 1:00 pm. I was done for the day. Either I am getting old or I was drinking too much alcohol during the off season, but I felt the pain. Or it could just be how the first day went. If I remember correctly, I got frustrated and disappointed on the first day back. It will get better once my body gets back into the groove.

It wasn’t bad, but I should have known better. I thought that practicing off season should have prepared me for the season, but that was not the case. I hope tomorrow will be better.

On a different note. When I arrived at Stowe yesterday, I went straight to guest services to check on my pass. It was already activated. I also wanted to activate everyone in my family, including Vương, even though he might not be able to ski at all these seasons. The process took a while as the experienced staff trained the three new staff members on how to do dependent passes for employees.

As she handed over our activated passes, the experienced staff told the new staff members: “See! Working here saves you thousands of dollars.” I smiled and replied, “That’s why we’re here.”

I love the network of employees. Any Vail-owned resort I went to, the employees were just so wonderful. We believe in the skiing culture. We work here because we are passionate about the winter sports. I can’t wait to kick off the season at Whitetail soon.

Tuning your gears are crucial for your skiing and snowboarding experience on the terrains. Without proper tuning, your equipment won’t perform well; therefore, you won’t enjoy your time on the trails.

Nevertheless, you don’t need to break your bank to get your gears ready for your trip to the slopes. My rate is 50% less than the ski shops’ rate.

I will try to finish the job within a day or two. I have been tuning skis and snowboards for over 5 years.

Ski and snowboard tuning include:

• Base fixes with P-Text
• Edge sharpen and bevel
• Custom hand wax

I am located near George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. If you need tuning services, contact me.

Here are the gears I have tuned.

I bought myself a Quanta R4.16 so I can play pickleball with other parents. I am not good at it, but it gives me a good workout. Many Vietnamese folks are now into this game. They play almost everyday at the park near my house.

I worked from home yesterday and decided to go to the park to skateboard at the court. When I arrived, there were a handful of Vietnamese adults playing pickleball. They asked me to join so I ditched my skateboard and played pickleball.

Yes, I started skateboard on Monday for the first time. On Sunday, one of the parents at Vovinam gave away his kids’ old skateboards and scooters. I picked up a Kryptonis cruiser skateboard. I started to use the skateboard to practice my snowboard carving. I could do heel and toe turns, but I couldn’t connect them together yet. I found this video from Home Daddy to be useful. I will try to follow his instructions.

Wednesday will be the LDVH dad volleyball night. I have been doing quite a bit of sports to keep myself active. I still rollerblade for a bit. I can’t wait to get back to skiing and snowboarding though.

Yesterday, I sold a pair of used skis for $100. I took my family to a Korean restaurant yesterday and spent $200. The food was good though.

I still rollerbladed as much as I could. I hadn’t picked up any new skills. I skated for about half an hour at the skatepark and spent another 30 minutes on the basketball court simulate ski carving on my big-wheel rollerblade.

I played volleyball with other scout dads every Wednesday night. Three weeks ago, I hurt my right thumb and it hasn’t fully covered. I need to learn how to avoid finger injuries.

I also picked out a bit of pickleball. It seems like my wife enjoys pickleball as well so we can play together. I want to get the kids to give it a try as well. We’ll see.

Then again, I still can’t wait for the winter to come so I can ski and snowboard. These are still my favorite sports. They are even better when I get to do them for free. I hope the weather will stay cold and pray the snow god as well.

I didn’t blog much last week because I was busy renovating 9 pair of skis and refreshing 5 pair of ski boots. For the skis, I cleaned them up, glued all the dings, sharpened the edges, p-texed all the scratches on the bases, checked the bindings, greased the groves, tightened up the screws, and finally waxed the bases. I even install two sets of bindings with my wife’s help.

I enlisted Đạo to help me filming the products and taking the photos so I can list them on Facebook Marketplace. I am not sure how many pairs I will sell from now until the ski season begins, but I am already out of steam. It was a lot of work. This is not a viable side gig if I want to make extra money.

I’ll just stick with skiing and snowboarding. I can’t wait for the winter to come. Snow god, please give us snow this year.

By the way, here’s my Marketplace profile.