I took Xuân and Vương to Liberty today. I hadn’t skied much; therefore, I wanted to ski with Vương. Xuân was still snowboarding. They wanted to try out moguls. To my surprise, they did well. I worried that Vương couldn’t make it, but he did just fine.

Skiing with Xuân and Vương reminded me of Đạo and Đán back in the days. They are grown now and don’t want to hang out with me anymore. In a few more years, Xuân and Vương will do the same; therefore, I want to be with them whenever I can.

Time flies and I don’t even know how long I can keep skiing and snowboarding. I don’t want to waste any opportunities. Life is too damn short.

Today marks my 31^st day on the mountains. I have been skiing, snowboarding, and teaching for 31 days this season. I am fortunate to be able to do what I love for free (including my family members) and a bit of extra money. Teaching is not enough to make a living, but enough to enjoy all the perks. I am content with that.

I taught two adults today. They came in half an hour late for their lesson. Even though they signed up for beginner lesson, they had been snowboarded before. They caught up quick. After I covered all the basics, we went straight into J turns and then S turns. After that I took them on the long green trail to practice their S turns. They told me that my explanation of torsional twist was very helpful for them. They rode with confidence. They did not catch the edge. That was all that I wanted to get across.

I didn’t get a lesson in the afternoon; therefore, I rode with two other instructors. I went to the back side, but the trails were so foggy that I decided to call it the day and headed back home. Another fantastic day in the book.

1. Intro (check boot pain, go over equipments)
2. Athletic stance
3. Getting in and out of skis
4. Sidestepping
5. Straight runs
6. Gliding wedge (turn toes inward)
7. Braking wedge (repeat until they can stop safely)
8. Riding chairlift (loading, safety bar, unloading)
9. First turns (pressure outside ski)
10. J turns, link turns, ski to bottom
11. Use terrain-based features when available
12. Summarize and debrief

I woke up at 5 am with an aching body and head. The lack of sleep started to get to me.I had to take an Aleve. I left the house around 6:15 am and arrived around 7:45 am. The Aleve worked its magic. I felt much better. I changed into my ski boots and headed to the ski clinic. We worked on one leg skiing and railing track for carving. I enjoyed it.

I was assigned to a private lesson with an adult. She’s a creative director who wants to take up snowboarding to ride with her boys. She came to the right spot. I worked her hard. By the end of the lesson, she could do her J turns and began to link them together in S turns. We went over 20 minutes. I wanted to get her money worthwhile. I only had 10 minutes left for lunch. Luckily I packed a peanut-butter-jelly sandwich and my special mango salad.

I didn’t have a lesson in the afternoon, which was a relief. I went riding, but the lines were long and I was exhausted. I went home and went over to a friend house to watch some football. I was too sleepy. I went back home around 8:30 pm and went straight to bed.

I taught six teenagers from age 12 to 18. Except for the 12-year-old the rest did well. I also taught a friend for a bit.

Before my lesson, I snowboarded with Xuân. He was able to go down Bold Decision with no problem. That kid picked up fast once he put his mind to it. I am very proud of him. Another kid moving over the dark side. I encouraged him to keep skiing as well.

Man, I am exhausted. I started to feel the cold after 6 pm on the snow. My body is sore. I kind of don’t want to get up early the next day.

Teaching has taken away my personal development time. I don’t get to train myself too much. I got so tired after a lesson.

After working on Saturday and Sunday, I was exhausted. The driving and the waking up earlier started to get to me. I planned on taking MLK off to relax and recharge, but when your son wanted to go skiing and snowboarding with me, I couldn’t disappoint him.

Xuân and I decided to go to Roundtop so he could meet up with his cousins. I also wanted to revisit Gunbarrel, which is the steepest double-black-diamond slope in Pennsylvania. It hadn’t opened in the last couple of years. I used to ski down this slope many times.

We kicked off snowboarding. Xuân progress from green to blue to black. We did four runs and it was lunch time. We met up with my brother-in-law and his two boys. I switched to skis because I missed skiing. I had been snowboarding quite a bit. We did a few more runs on the blue and black slopes.

My nephew and I wanted to go to the back side to ride Gunbarrel; therefore, Xuân switched to skiing as well. We tested out Ramrod, which is also a double-black-diamond slope, first. Although there were some bare spots, Ramrod had some snow to grip our skis on.

Gunbarrel was steeper and slippier. There were lots of bare spots. Xuân and his cousin made about a quarter of the way and they both went down. I traversed to the icy spot right at the top and slid down all the way down. Most skiers and snowboarders fell as well; therefore, I didn’t feel too embarrassed.

I am going to wait until Gunbarrel get more snow before would try it again. Nevertheless, we had a great time.

In the morning, I had a group lesson with 10 students. They were adults and teenagers. They picked up surprising fast. I ended the lesson with S turns.

In the afternoon, I had my first private lesson with a ten-year-old boy. I tried to teach him as much as I could to make his dad’s payment worthwhile. It was hard for him to understand the techniques I explained to him. Nevertheless the lesson went fine.

I was done after 3:00 pm, but the snow was falling fast. I didn’t want to drive home in the snowstorm. I stayed and snowboarded in the back side. The conditions were great. I hit the double-black-diamond slope twice. I even went on the mogul trail, which I had not done on snowboard before.

It was a fantastic day.

We left around 8:30 am in the morning. We arrived at Whitetail around 10:00 am. I took three runs on the blue trails with Xuân (on snowboard) and Vương (on ski). Of course, I was snowboarding.

I checked into the ski school and asked my supervisor about KMC (Kids Mountain Camp) and he sent me over to the camp. I taught an eight-year-old Chinese girl and a ten-year-old Vietnamese girl. They did alright.

After that a friend came and asked me to show him some pointers. I gave him a quick lesson. He wanted to stop after I showed him how to stop on heel and toe edges.

I went up back to the lift to see if I could find my wife and kids. I couldn’t find them. I took the long green trail and carved. My carving is getting much better. I can pick up more speed. I felt great.

We left around 7:0 pm and decided to stop by Ugly Dumpling Express for dinner. The food was not bad.

I am now exhausted. I need to go to sleep so I can get up early tomorrow to drive back to Whitetail to teach.

Despite getting up early and driving to Whitetail on time, I missed the morning ski clinic. I was a minute late, but I forgot my pass. The lifties didn’t let me on even though I was wearing my uniform.

For the morning lineup, I was assigned to teach a beginner lesson. A nine-year-old girl was waiting with her mom. I asked her if she needed to use the bathroom before we got started. I needed to use the bathroom myself. When I came back, she was with about 7 or 8 more students. I also saw another instructor take over my spot. I was cool about it. I could just go riding.

The group headed out to the learning center. As I was about to punch out my time, 2 girls came out from the rental. I was asked once again to take on. Then the dads told me that 2 more will be joining the group. Then 4 more came out. Then 5 more came out. Suddenly I had 16 students altogether with ages ranging from 9 to adult.

I asked another instructor to help me out, but he had to check in with the supervisor. He took away the 5 adults from me. I still had 2 moms who wanted to stay with their kids. I had 11 students left and we were about 15 minutes behind schedule. Fortunately, I had another shadowing instructor helping me out.

The lesson went better than I had expected. We made it through the entire curriculum. Students were able to do some J turns and began to do S turns.

In the afternoon, I didn’t have any lessons so I went riding solo. The crowd was not as bad as yesterday, but it was still busy. I went home around 2:30 pm.
Despite getting up early and driving to Whitetail on time, I missed the morning ski clinic. I was a minute late, but I forgot my pass. The lifties didn’t let me on even though I was wearing my uniform.

For the morning lineup, I was assigned to teach a beginner lesson. A nine-year-old girl was waiting with her mom. I asked her if she needed to use the bathroom before we got started. I needed to use the bathroom myself. When I came back, she was with about 7 or 8 more students. I also saw another instructor take over my spot. I was cool about it. I could just go riding.

The group headed out to the learning center. As I was about to punch out my time, 2 girls came out from the rental. I was asked once again to take on. Then the dads told me that 2 more will be joining the group. Then 4 more came out. Then 5 more came out. Suddenly I had 16 students altogether with ages ranging from 9 to adult.

I asked another instructor to help me out, but he had to check in with the supervisor. He took away the 5 adults from me. I still had 2 moms who wanted to stay with their kids. I had 11 students left and we were about 15 minutes behind schedule. Fortunately, I had another shadowing instructor helping me out.

The lesson went better than I had expected. We made it through the entire curriculum. Students were able to do some J turns and began to do S turns.

In the afternoon, I didn’t have any lessons so I went riding solo. The crowd was not as bad as yesterday, but it was still busy. I went home around 2:30 pm.

The entire family went to Whitetail today. The crowd was chaos. I bought Đạo a new pair of Atomic Maverick 86 C Skis ​+ M 10 GW Ski Bindings 2025. With the employee discount, I paid $415, which was 40% off original price. He loved the skis.

I checked in at 12:45 pm and one of the lead instructor assigned me to Kid Mountain Camp (KMC). I taught a class for the first time. Luckily, I only had two students: a 9 and a 10 years old brother and sister. They did well for their first time learning. Of course they fell, but they were able to do J-turns at the end.

Today, Xuân began the Whitetrailers program for snowboarding. He was placed in level 2. I made the request to bump him up to 4. They ended up placing him in level 5. He is snowboarding really well.

After my class and his program, we made two runs together. It was still crowded and starting to get cold. We decided to go home. The kids requested Sushi Bomb. We ate until 9 pm and got home around 10:45 pm.

I made $60 today before tax and spent $700 on equipment and food. My wife was right when she said, “You spent more than you worked.”