Skiing can either be an exciting family adventure or a lesson in chaos management. Check out this week's “Ask the Instructor,” our series designed to help you get the most of your days on the slopes. Follow our tips from the pro so you can make the most of family ski day for now and years to come.

http://apps.tahoe.com/images/powderhound/larry-headshot-web.jpg" align="left" vspace="4" hspace="5" width="125">Larry Maurice, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe
Why he’s an expert: Maurice has 27 years as a ski instructor under his boots. He’s a certified Level Three Professional Ski Instructor of America, examiner and clinician. In all of his years teaching, Maurice said one thing has always stayed the same. “I’ve never found a person who couldn’t learn how to ski. It’s a simple sport. In fact, we don’t even call it a sport. It’s an activity. A sport is outcome oriented, but what our outcome is here is that people just have fun – and they do.”



http://apps.tahoe.com/images/powderhound/Luke-web.jpg" align="right" vspace="1" width="125">Ski parenting 101: Gear first. Maurice advises parents of first-time skiers to start the introduction process at home. “Go to your local ski shop, get your child’s ski equipment and bring it home long before you ever come to the ski area,” he said. “Introduce them to their skis, boots, goggles, helmet and all of their clothing so that when they come to the ski area, it’s all familiar to them.” Maurice also recommends teaching your child some basics at home on the carpet before the first lesson. Teaching youngsters how to put on gloves, get up from a fall in their ski boots or how to make a “pizza” wedge helps build confidence early on. “It’s like pre-school,” Maurice said. “They’ll be way ahead of the game and that will make them excited.” The solution: Build excitement and start teaching basics at home.




http://apps.tahoe.com/images/powderhound/kidsbalance-web.jpg" align="left" vspace="1" hspace="5" width="125">Ski parenting 201: The backseat isn’t bad. If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a dozen times: You can’t steer the ski from the backseat! However parents, the same might not be true for your children. “The idea is that with a child, because their center of gravity is so high they’re going to stand on their heels in that nice wedge and they’ll be perfectly in balance,” Maurice said. Parents encouraging their youngsters to “get forward in their ski boots” may actually be throwing their child off balance in the process. “There is a certain time in a child’s life when they’ll be ready to get forward in their skis,” Maurice said. “But, depending on their age, over their heels is where we want them.” The solution: Let your child find their balance for their developmental level.

http://apps.tahoe.com/images/powderhound/shortradius-web.jpg" align="right" vspace="2" width="125">Skiing 301: Understand the fundamentals of skiing uphill. When you’re ready to hit the steeps, it doesn’t matter if you’re 5 or 50 the same lesson applies – control speed through turn shape. “If you’re going to experiment with skiing steep terrain, you have to understand that you can’t ski uphill,” Maurice said. “You want to make short radius turns, turning both feet. The body goes first, the feet come last.” A common problem intermediates make trying to ski steep terrain is making hockey stops to check their speed. Don’t get caught in the slide, create a nice C-shape turn for speed control. The solution: Draw small circles with your skis for the best turn shape.





Last week's tip: http://www.tahoe.com/article/20070131/SKITAHOE/70206004">Ask the Instructor-Shift into gear and perfect your Nordic skills

Photo 1: 4-year-old Luke holds on as dad pulls him along, introduce gear to your child at home first. Photo by: Wendy Lautner

Photo 2: Kazuki Fukada demonstrates a balanced snow plow turn. Photo by: Wendy Lautner

Photo 3: Larry Maurice demonstrates turn shape controlling speed on the steeps. Photo by: Wendy Lautner