Last night, I had a Long Island Iced Tea with Thai food. Lacking of sleep the night before with a long day skiing and a bit of alcohol, I got knocked out. It was a good sleep.

I woke up early this morning, wrote up a blog post, and waited for the rest, including my wife’s sister’s family. It was almost 10 am and not too many of them were up yet. I decided to go for a few runs since Attitash is about 5 minutes from our rental house.

The lines were already long when I arrived. I took the green slope trying to carve on my snowboard. I wanted to see if I could go low where I could touch the snow. I did one turn at a time. I was getting a hang of it. I wanted to practice more runs, but the lines were too long.

I hopped on a different lift, which had no line. It turned out that the blue trail was quite icy. I fell several times. By the time I got down, it was time to go back to pick up the family.

The line got longer. I went with Xuân and his cousins for two runs. They got tired of waiting in line so we went in for a late lunch. We took an hour and 40 minutes lunch. By the time we were done, the lifts were closed.

It was time to go home. I’ll head out before 8 am by myself early tomorrow for a few runs.

I read 62 books this year, which is 30 less than last year.

In 2023, I read mostly poetry books. This year, I went back to fiction, nonfiction, and a few design and technical. I should be reading more web design and development books. I also read Vietnamese fiction. I have over 30 Vietnamese books on my iPhone; therefore, I can alternate between English and Vietnamese.

I read some books on buddhism, which I liked. I want to read more on life, death, compassion, kindness, and all the buddha teachings. I also want to read music books again, especially on jazz and hip-hop. I am in the middle of reading a book on Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans.

With the skiing and snowboarding activities, reading has not been my top priority. I definitely pick up reading again after the holidays and ski season.

Check out my reading record.

At 11:00 pm on Wednesday, we hit the road from Virginia to New Hampshire. The kids were sleeping. My wife and I took turns driving. We arrived at Attitash around 9:30 am. I was expecting to take 12 to 14 hours, but we made it in 10.5 hours.

We had brunch then hit the trails. I skied with Vương and my wife on the green trails at Attitash Peak while Đạo, Đán, and Xuân went to Bear Peak. We had a late lunch. I joined the older boys on Bear Peak. Unfortunately, the lift stopped working. We waited 20 minutes and had to take the shuttle back to Attitash base.

Needless to say, I am exhausted and sleepy. I am going to need a nice sleep to recharge. We’ll be skiing and riding at Attitash and Wildcat for a week.

Snowboard Technical Fundamentals

1. Control the relationship of the Center of Mass (COM) to the Base of Support (BOS) to direct pressure along the length of the board
2. Control the relationship of the COM to the BOS to direct pressure across the width of the board
3. Regulate the magnitude of pressure created through board/surface interaction
4. Control the board’s tilt through a combination of inclination and angulation
5. Control the board’s pivot through flexion/extension and rotation of the upper body
6. Control the twist (torsional flex) of the board through flexion/extension and rotation

Teaching Skills Fundamentals

1. Collaborate on long term goals and short-term objectives
2. Manage information, activities, terrain selection, and pacing
3. Promote play, experimentation, and exploration
4. Facilitate the learner’s ability to reflect upon experiences and sensations
5. Adapt to the changing needs of the learner
6. Manage emotional and physical risk

People Skills Fundamentals

1. Develop relationships based on trust
2. Engage in meaningful, two-way communication
3. Identify, understand and manage your emotions and actions
4. Recognize and influence the behaviors, motivations and emotions of others

Vũ Nguyễn writes:

Please remove what you wrote about nhạc sến being cheesy. Obviously you don’t truly enjoy it. If you want cheesy then take a look in the mirror.

To be honest, I can’t remember what I had written about Nhạc Sến. This is the only post that I could find about Nhạc Sến and “cheesy.” Reading it again, I did not knock on Nhạc Sến. Anyway, I am not going to remove what I had written.

First Time Snowboarders

Level 1: “I’ve never snowboarded.” –Green Zone Snowboarder

Level 2: “I have experienced sliding, traversing both directions, and stopping.” –Easiest green terrain

Level 3: “I can control my speed while moving across the hill, and can stop with confidence. I am starting to turn in both directions.” -Green terrain

Level 4: “I can link skidded turns on green terrain.” –All green terrain

Blue Zone Snowboarders

Level 5: “I am confident and can connect different turn sizes and shapes on all green terrain. I make more or less the same size and shape turn on easy blue terrain.” –All green terrain and easiest blue terrain

Level 6: “I am doing most blue terrain by connecting various turn sizes and shapes. I am also exploring switch riding, easy bumps, and/or freestyle.” –All blue terrain

Level 7: “I am able to ride all blue terrain in varied conditions and working on easy black terrain, including bumps, trees, and terrain parks.” –All blue terrain and groomed black terrain

Black/Expert Zone Snowboarders

Level 8: “I am confident performing dynamic turns on varied terrain and snow conditions, including trees, steeps and powder.” -All black and easy double blacks terrain

Level 9: “I am confident riding the entire mountain. I am working on a variety of tactics and techniques that will take me to the next level.” –Entire mountain, all conditions

For my third shadow, I observed an instructor teaching 7 to 9 year-old kids to snowboard. He went off the curriculum. It was tough teaching kids. They caught an edge and fell over and over again. By the end of the lesson, they couldn’t do a J turn.

In the afternoon, I decided to take the test to get it done and over with before I take a week off for vacation. I bombed the test because I changed the order of the curriculum and added a few things. I have to do another shadow with my supervisor before I could take a retest.

Today I shadowed two different instructors who taught absolute beginners. They both taught differently. They did not followed the official curriculum.

After a couple of days of thinking about the official curriculum, I find the progression to be well-thought out. I will follow it.

After the two shadows, I was tired. I wanted to stay back to ski, but I decided to head home to relax and spend time with my kids.

I will do one more shadowing tomorrow. I will ask to take the test as well. Once the test is done, I can start teaching classes. Can’t wait.

We wrapped up our instructor training course today from 9:00 am to noon. The supervisor dropped by to see us. I caught the edge on the flat terrain. It was embarrassing.

As new instructors, we had to teach a section of a class. It was nerve-wrecking teachers a class full of instructors. I didn’t do too well in the introduction. I am sure, I’ll do fine with first-time students.

After lunch, I snowboarded with my wife and kids. Tomorrow I will shadow a full class to see how another experienced instructor in action.

I am exhausted. The driving and lack of sleep are taking a toll on me.

I spent the whole day taking the ITC (Instructor Training Course). The expectations weren’t as high as I thought. I just need to remember all the steps. I learned that I will only get paid when I teach. If I don’t have a class, I can ski or snowboard without getting paid, which is what I would prefer anyway. I am not there to make money. I am there for thee perks.

After the training ended at 3:00 pm, I took off my uniform and hit the trails. The trails on the backside were icy. I did three runs and then headed home. I left the house at 6:00 am and didn’t get back until 6:30 pm. It had been a long day. I’ll do it again in the next three days before we head to Attitash and Wild Cat in New Hampshire.

I am not looking forward to the 14 hours drive, but I am definitely looking forward to skiing and snowboarding with the family for a week.