I left my house at 5:30 am and arrived at Whitetail around 7:15 am. I made it to the morning ski clinic. I always loved these clinics. We worked on putting pressure on outside foot.

I went to the line up at 10:00 am. I didn’t get any class. I went to snowboard clinic to learn buttering. It was not my thing. Luckily the training was about 45 minutes. I went riding afterward. I need to relearn to snowboard with my body closed. I have been carving with opening position, which my lead instructor doesn’t like. He didn’t give me any level two class because of that. I am cool with that.

I went back to the line up at 1:00 pm. I didn’t get any class either, which I was glad. I switched to my ski boots and went to the back side. The trails were getting slushy. I didn’t enjoy it too much. I left the resort around 2:30 pm. I was exhausted. Damn, I am getting old.

Today the whole family left the house at 7:00 am so I could make it to the morning line up. We arrived around 8:45 am. I went to the 10:00 am lone up and took a group a lesson. I taught two ladies.

At first, one of them didn’t think she could learn snowboarding. I encouraged her to give it as try. We took it as easy as possible. They turned out to be snowboarding really well. They followed my instructions and made great progress. I was surprised how they could do J turns.

One of the students also signed up for a private lesson and she wanted me to teach her, but her lesson had already been assigned.

I ended up not taking any lesson for the 1:00 pm line up. I went riding by myself a bit then with my wife and then with the kids.

We left the resort around 4:00 pm. It was perfect timing. I’ll be back tomorrow by myself to teach.

Despite the warm weather, the conditions at Liberty were still decent. I was able to snowboard on the double-black terrains and blue trails. I wanted to open my body more and go low for carving. I also tried to keep my body in the front. I would like to get better at carving on snowboard before the season is over. The clock is running out. There’s only 3 weekends left. I am going to miss it.

I woke up early today and headed to Whitetail to participate in the ski clinic. Sam was such a good trainer. I learned a lot from him. I wished he would teach carving.

After the clinic, I switched to my snowboard boots. I signed up for the City Kids who were from DC. I didn’t realize it was from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm. It was so long. We weren’t teaching. We were more like just keeping an eye on them.

By 3:30 pm, I was exhausted. The sun was shining and the heat made me sleepy. I didn’t get much sleep last night. I wanted to do a few runs, but I decided to just head back home.

Whitetail will be closed on March 16. That means we only have three weeks left for the season. It’s coming to an end too soon.

The whole family went to Whitetail today. I took Vương to the back side for the first time. He did well on the easy black and double-black trails. I didn’t have much time with Xuân and Vương. I had a class at 1:00 pm. I taught an eight-year-old boy and a nine-year-old boy. They were a bit tough to teach. They didn’t really listen.

I was free around 3:30 pm. I wanted to take Xuân and Vương to the back side. Xuân splashed snow on Vương with his board. Vương got mad and hit his forehead with his ski pole. I came down and saw Xuân cried. I yelled at Vương. He went back to the base by himself.

Xuân and I went to the double-black terrain and went back to the base. We headed home. Needless to say, I didn’t get to do much on my work day. I’ll try to get in some runs tomorrow.

The condition at Liberty was excellent once again. I started off snowboarding. I rode the double-black terrains and blue trails. I was working on my carves. I couldn’t tilt my board as high as I wanted. The more I bent, the more uncomfortable my feet got. Nevertheless, I could get my body to an open position and lean into my turns. I could get down low on my toe edge to the point that I could touch the snow. It was easier to touch the snow on the double-black.

After two hours of snowboarding, I switched to skiing. I simply loved carving on skis. I went a bit faster and made my S turns a bit narrower. When people asked me if I like skiing or snowboarding better, I replied, “I liked them both.” I spent more time snowboarding than skiing, but my skiing skills hadn’t declined. In contrast, I improved quite a bit.

I wish I can make a living teaching skiing and snowboarding. I don’t need to make much. I am fine with just enough to get by, but it is impossible. Even my wife got piss off when I brought up my dream job so I won’t bring that up again. Anyway, it was a great day.

The condition at Liberty was superb. The corduroy was fantastic for carving. I started out skiing and I carved on the blue trails. I even carved a bit on the double-black terrains.

After three seasons of learning and trying to carve, I finally reached the level of satisfaction. I could feel the smooth edges of my skis dug into the snow. I could control my speed even though I skied faster than my normal pace. I could see the two railroad tracks I left behind.

Even though I had been snowboarding more, I am happy with the progression I had made with skiing, especially with carving techniques.

I did a few rides on my snowboard on the double-black terrains and blue trails. I still need more carving practice. I still have about 4 weeks left for the season. I can’t believe we’re already near the end of February. Whitetail will be closing around mid March.

I took off work today to go skiing and snowboarding with our family. The conditions at Liberty were awesome. I did some runs on the double blacks and blues. The crowd was not too crazy.

I should just stop snowboarding on the double blacks and just focus on carving on the greens and blues. I want to get better before the season’s over.

Nevertheless, I had fun with my kids. I’ll be back to work tomorrow.

I went to sleep late last night and had to wake up early. Needless to say, I didn’t get enough sleep.

I arrived at Whitetail around 7:30 am and headed over to Kid Mountain Camp around 8:15 am. I was supposed to teach snowboarding, but no students showed up. I was reassigned to help another instructor teach skiing instead. No problem. I just had to change my boots. I was a bit bored. Teach snowboarding was way more fun. Nevertheless, the kids were doing great.

We had a cookout for lunch. I had a veggie burger. I didn’t want to eat beef to risk a gout attack. This is not a good time to get gout attack.

After lunch I knew I was not going to teach. I was planning on working on my carving skills on snowboard, but the snowboard instructors decided to have a clinic. I joined them. It was not that useful. I should have just ride on my own. Then the rain was just pouring. We went back to the school house soaking wet. I decided to get another veggie burger and waited for the rain to die out.

I headed home when the rain stopped and was struggling to stay awake. I didn’t get to do much on my own. That’s fine. I already took the day off tomorrow for President’s Day. I’ll take Xuân and Vương with me.

I can believe today marks my 40 days on the mountains this year.

As our whole family headed to Whitetail, we ran into snow rain, which was fine until it turned into rain. Nevertheless, I had a group lesson with two ladies. They did OK despite the rain.

After the two-hour lesson, I was soaking wet. Fortunately, I had another jacket to replace my uniform jacket. There was no lesson in the evening; therefore, I was done at 3:00 pm.

I went riding with Xuân. We both snowboarded. Xuân wanted to carve. He was carving for a bit. I turned my body forward more into an open position. I also leaned forward with my body low to the ground. I could feel the board gripped into the snow.

I am finally carving. I would like to do some more carving tomorrow after teaching.