A couple of things

Firstly, we FINALLY have rented our house! A couple of young professionals have rented the whole house (top part and bottom) starting....tomorrow the 15th. This is great news considering for the last two months we've been paying mortgage on a house we aren't even using. We have it rented for $2100/month, utilities included. That will cover our mortgage and half of the insurance but the utilities will be on us. Yeah, I'm not that happy with it either but considering the market it's actually not that bad. It's also better than paying $2000+ a month for absolutely nothing. While we're away from the house Agata's family will be the "landlords" if anything goes wrong. That is very much appreciated and helps us out a lot. I'll owe a few people a couple bottles of nice Polish Vodka when I get back...

I've been taking lessons during my time here. As staff, we get FREE (yep... the kind that costs us nothing) group lessons. So I've been taking Level 6 (expert level) lessons and there has always been a max of 4 people in the group so it's pretty well a semi-private lesson. I've learned a LOT and my technique has already improved.

• My weight has been back, the weight needs to be centered on my feet (not forward). Being in the backseat of your skis is dangerous as your skis can run away from you. Being to far forward can result in you flipping over the front of your skis (done that before...Jen, Aaron, and Mark were there for that).
  
• I need to tighten my core. Basically tighten your stomach muscles and curve your back. It will help control and maintain your posture and keep you from flopping around.
• Finish my turns. Me, I like speed so I don't complete my turn (forget the last 3rd) and end up perpetually gaining speed. That's fun.....but not necessarily a good thing as if I encounter anything unexpected I may not be in control.
• My posture was too tall. I needed to bend more at the knees, which really helped me get my weight centered on my feet so the skis can do their job. If your weight is being transferred to the front of your skis they won't flex properly and your turn will be more difficult.
  
• Keep your weight and body in a neutral position. That means all your energy should be transferred down to the middle of your feet so you have to read the terrain (be it bumps or groomed) and make sure your weight is perpendicular to the ground. This way you can properly absorb bumps and any other unexpected terrain/issues.
  

Now I'm much more stable on my skis, I can absorb bumps and the uneven terrain much better and it just feels so much better. I'll keep taking lessons to refine my technique, of course, and I really want to take a lesson on skiing bumps properly as it's certainly one of my weaknesses.

We had our friend Jason from Ontario visit for the weekend and it was great. We spend Saturday catching up and sampling the local beers and drinks. Sunday was purely skiing and Jason improved a LOT. By the end he was going down difficult blues and he looked much better; I was quite impressed. It was a short visit but we really had fun.

My next visitors are my family! I can't wait for everyone to get here! I'm making a list of runs to show everyone. If anyone else wants to come and visit, you are very welcome. Unfortunately, we can't have people stay at our place. It's annoying really, considering how much room we have. We're thinking of finding our own place somewhere on the mountain where it's REALLY our place instead of staff accommodation. We'll keep you up to date on that.

Well, that's it for now. Talk to everyone soon!!

Mike