Jamies Crying by Van Halen cranks it was surreal. The tram operator gets to select the music for the ride up. They shove 100 or more skiers and riders onto the tram, the door closes, and there is a nervous excitement in the air. It was snowing like crazy when we took the tram to the summit of Rendezvous Mountain. The one day I will always remember was my trip to Jackson Hole a few years ago. Out west, they are all amazing, but Jackson Hole in Wyoming is the clear winner. My favourite places to snowboard are on the east coast – Mt Snow, Killington, and Sunday River are among the best. I’ve fallen a few times on a box or rail, and it sucks. I venture onto terrain park features now and then, but it’s not my favourite. I have learned some freestyle tricks, like 180’s and buttering. I’m getting better in bumps, but it’s rough on the body. When it comes to snowboarding itself, I love cruising and carving. ![]() It’s very humbling to be at a training event with so many instructors that are great teachers and great riders. I will be training this season for my level 2. There are 3 AASI instructor levels, and I’m level 1. We are also expected to do a lot of training and take national courses every season. As an instructor with AASI (American Association of Snowboard Instructors), we get opportunities to buy equipment at discounted “pro” deals, so I add at least one new piece of equipment every season. When I free ride, I like my Burton board. When I teach, I have an older K2 board that I don’t mind if it gets run over by a student. Regarding my equipment, I have a couple of snowboards to use. By the end of the lesson, he was a real “shredder”. I’ve never seen anyone advance so quickly. It was not only his first time snowboarding, but his first time seeing snow. ![]() ![]() One of my favourites was a young man from Brazil who was a surfer. We are close to Boston and Providence, and I have taught people from so many countries. I love trying to keep up with them they are always willing to show me new tricks. At the mountain I teach at (Wachusett Mtn, 1000’ vertical), most of the snowboarders I work with are half my age. Since I became an instructor, I’m now on snow at least 3 times a week during the winter. I became a snowboarding instructor with Wachusett Mountain Ski Area after a friend of mine encouraged me 9 years ago. I decided to teach myself how to snowboard – it was a huge mistake not to take lessons! Eventually, I was able to go down the hill without falling every 10 feet. I was still skiing at the time, and, frankly, it was boring because the mountain was so small. About ten years ago, I was chaperoning the ski club for my kids’ school at a local “small” mountain. I quickly realized that living at home and working at McDonald’s was crushing my soul, but skiing was amazing (Snowboarding had not been invented yet). That winter, I went skiing every day and/or night at the local ski resort: Catamount in Hillsdale, New York. I took a year off to figure it out, so I lived at home with my parents and worked at McDonald’s. When I was in high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It was a lot of C++ and Java, a lot of fun, a lot of good friends, and a lot of learning about the storage industry. For the first 15 of those 20 years, I worked on some backup and replication products for customers that used EMC storage. 20 years ago, I joined EMC, a company I had never heard of. ![]() My name is Chip Maurer and I’m a Software Sr Principal Engineer at Dell EMC in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |