1974 – 1984

Not long after I stopped ski racing with the local ski club, I was hired by the Aspen Skiing Company, as it was called back then, to be a ski instructor at Buttermilk Mountain.  I was assigned to the Kids Ski School with an occasional private lesson or temporary duty assignment on one of the other mountains.  For the most part, Buttermilk was my home base and I preferred it.   I have numerous stories to tell from my years as an instructor.  Who wouldn’t when working with such dignitaries as Frog, Toad, Moose, “Mark Mark”, Captain and Sarg?  This is one of my favorite memories from my life on the “bunny” slopes.

In the early years of my instructing career, Buttermilk still had the old T-Bar at the base of the mountain which was used very extensively by the beginner classes.  Although I was not, and remain to this day, fluent in Spanish I often took the classes filled with kids from Latin American countries.  The language barrier all but disappeared when it came to teaching people how to ski.  A few words in Spanish mixed in with demonstrating what needed to be learned and in no time your class would be off to the “Blue” runs.  I also benefited from the few children throughout the years who spoke Spanish as their first language and were also fluent in English.

I was always amazed that the more I messed up my Spanish the more they loved it.  Terms like “caliente el perro y leche” for lunch or “Ariba la Montana y esperar me rojo polo” to get them to go up the T-Bar and wait for me at the half-way point, got the best reactions and they knew exactly what I was trying to say.

The hardest part of teaching beginners was getting them onto the T-Bar.  It was often a ballet of kids and adults alike along its path.  Some never made it to the loading zones while others refused to let go and would be dragged to the top.  Even more would hold on for dear life and not let go when they arrived at the top and would pile up under the “bull wheel.”  The obstacle course of bodies, skis and poles kept the trip to the top very interesting, every step of the way. 

To make matters worse, every class had a student or two that refused to go up without their instructor, making it that much more difficult to get the entire class up the hill at the same time.  Adding Spanish into to the equation things got very interesting.  There was a running challenge in the Kid’s Ski School to see who could take the most children up the T-Bar at the same time.  In the winter of 1975 I had a class of 10 students all from Mexico, Peru and Argentina and none of them spoke a lick of English.  On the second trip up the T-Bar, I was about to set a new record. 

Although the class had already been up to the “red pole” or the half way point before, I was suddenly faced with a possible revolt if I did not take them up all at once.  With the help of the lift operators we got them all into position for the trip to the top.  Two rode on my shoulders, three were between my legs, two were on each side and one held onto the back of my coat and we were off.  I hoped to make it all the way to the top, although getting to the mid-point would be all I needed to set the record and get the kids up the hill.  Although I never set out to make the record I was pleased that I had.  The record stands to this day, but only because the T-Bar was replaced by a chairlift a few years later.

I continued to be a Ski Instructor for 10 more years and enjoyed every minute of it.  Over the years I taught kids, teenagers, adults, private lessons, friends of all ages and even some very famous people but the students I liked the best were the littlest of them all.