Some 800 students will graduate from the Deseret News Ski and Snowboard School on Saturday.
They will take with them one very valuable bit of knowledge — how to turn.
Right turns and left turns; short turns and long turns; quick turns and wide turns. They will know how to make turns to change direction and turns to make stops. Otherwise, considering their level of ability, they'll be able to go where they want, when they want.
They will, on skis or snowboard, be able to negotiate the gentlest of slopes, maybe not with the grace of an Olympic skier but with some confidence in knowing that they can make it to the bottom and up the lift again.
The school, entering its 53rd year, opened Nov. 11 on what were expected to be the grassy slopes of Sugarhouse Park. Instead the hills were covered in snow.
As it turns out, says Lane Clegg of Snowbird and director of the snowboard program, the snow helped.
"It got them (snowboard students) into a position where they could maneuver," he said, "and got them ready to ride the lift for the first time. By the second lesson they were, in fact, ready to ride the lift, and many did."
Skiers are different. There's more to learn about the sport on dry land. Still, said Alan Engen, from Alta and director of the ski program, the Sugarhouse experience was good.
"We did notice that when we did get the students to Alta there seemed to be a few more go up the lift for the first time. Most of the students — I'd say about two-thirds of the class — used the lift for the first time last weekend.
"This weekend most all of the students will be going up the lift. In order to qualify to make it to the lift a skier must be able to make linked turns under control and be able to stop. I'd say most are ready now."
In the first class at the park, skiers — cross country, alpine and telemark — learned to do simple things like walk, make stationary turns and climb a gentle slope. The snow also made it possible for them to make some straight runs on the gentledecline.
At the second class, students learned to stand, put the skis into a wedge and make simple right and left turns. Last week, they also learned to link turns and stop.
The snowboarders at Snowbird followed a similar path. During the second class, they learned one of the most important lessons in snowboarding — speed control. That is, making hillside and toe-side maneuvers.
"Last week, because of the good snow conditions, we were able to move the class to another lift — Baby Thunder," said Clegg. "What we found was that going onto a new lift really got the students jazzed. For them it was like going to a new level."
Both the skiers at Alta and the snowboarders at Snowbird will get more experience on the lifts this weekend in the final class.
Skiers and snowboarders will begin their class at 9 a.m. Following the last turns with their instructor at around 11 a.m., they will each be given a Deseret News Ski School pin for 2000.
"A graduation present," pointed out Engen.
The Deseret News program was started 53 years ago in partnership with Alf Engen, founder of the Alf Engen Ski School at Alta. It is the longest continuously running ski-school program in the country.
Over the years, thousands of skiers have learned the basics of the sport. Last year, the program embraced snowboarding.
Where the students take it from here is up to them. There are programs available to help them polish up the turns and make them feel more comfortable on the steeper slopes.
E-mail: grass@desnews.com