• Video testimonials

What I Was Missing

Dear John,

I just wanted to drop you a note thanking you again for the awesome instruction I received at Aspen last week.

I’ve had many ski lessons in the past, and felt like a decent skier. After the camp however, I know what I was missing. Because I was a 100% “big toe” skier, my legs were constantly exhausted. I started doing leg exercises in August to prepare for ski season. No matter how much I exercised, I could only ski for 3-4 hrs before my quads began to scream for rest. By using your method I can ski all day and still be ready for more!

The greatest change is in the skiing itself. I feel like I’m gliding now instead of sliding. I also can ski powder now. I understand what people say that it feels like floating on the snow. It’s awesome.

Before your camp I might as well have taken off my skis instead of skiing through moguls. Now I can ski them! I’m not going to break any speed records, but I’m not terrified like I used to be.

My only regret is that I can never take another lesson from anyone but you or your staff! Traditional skiing will never be for me again.

I’ll be back for more in the spring!

Thanks again,

John S.
December 20, 2010

Exercises from the Book Added Up to a Breakthrough

We got back from a week (and what a week of great conditions! it snowed every day!!) at Whistler where I referenced your book and then practiced some of the corresponding exercises every day…by the end of the week the cumulative improvements added up to a breakthrough of skiing profound enough that I now have your book placed on my coffee table at the office so I can tell everyone about it! My motivation was skiing with my son (age 4-1/2) during the main season at our local mountain, Alpental. Now that he can already comfortably ski moguled blues (he just goes over ‘em!), I realized after doing the same old thing year after year..now I have to step up my game if I want to ski with him for a few more years. So after doing some research on different methodologies, bought your book a couple of months back…THANK YOU!

Simple, Yet Highly Effective Tool

I wanted to tell you that skiing with you in your mogul academy was one of my best days ever on the slopes. The Clendenin Ski Method is truly a simple, yet highly effective tool that will catapult anyone’s skiing to the next level. Anyone, at any level or age looking to gain invaluable skills to master bumps, crud, powder and more should look no further than the Clendenin method.

Now the Family Skis Moguls Together…

After skiing privately with you for the last few years I knew this trip was going to be great for my family but it exceeded even my expectations. The kids and Lori loved Mark and they learned a tremendous amount. By the time we left, my 6-year old was blazing down blues with moguls with ease, my wife had been able to put it all together with Mark’s help and really elevate her skiing and my 10-year old was skiing the entire mountain with me including as many double black and 2 black extremes in the cirque and headwall as we could get to. She even made me take a trip over to Aspen to do some of the harder runs including Silver Queen.

With the fundamentals in place there was nothing we couldn’t do. I thank you and your staff for giving me and my family the gift of being able to ski together for the rest of our lives. It is priceless.

There is no doubt in my mind that the methods you teach and strategies you employ are the best, fastest and most scalable way for anyone to learn how to ski the whole mountain. It is a practical, methodical and easily understandable sequence that builds on itself.

From a Ski Instructor in the East…

As far as expanding the scope of instructor training, John’s ideas
(even from the little that I have read and seen in previews) are near and dear to my heart. The fact that I grew up watching and hearing about John probably gives me an extra kick as well. I just took and passed my level II part I skiing exam. Two of the three examiners passed me. Luckily that is enough to pass. The examiner who did not wrote this “Allen, Turn entry displays a 1-2 movement due to the hold of downhill ski.” If that’s not what John’s talking about I don’t know what is. John’s emphasis on tipping the downhill ski utilizing the uphill edge and eliminating the dreaded stem is so poignant for me. For someone coming from an era when skiing and technique was very different grasping these pivotal concepts has been very challenging. John’s concepts and ideas are so clear.He seems determined that if you have a desire to get it he’s going to make sure you do !! I can only imagine how much other instructors would appreciate John’s methods not only to improve their skiing but that of their students as well. Again from even the little I have seen in previews John’s concepts are so right on, so to the point I think instructors who are always looking for better ways to communicate these concepts will just soak this stuff up.

Ironically, I stumbled onto John’s programs and wealth of knowledge while scouring you tube for instructional material. Under “skiing history” I found the video of you guys with Lito Tejada-Flores. The irony of course is the “history” part. Whereas John has a long and distinguished history in the sport of skiing and he was at the leading edge of a wild and developmental period in skiing history, he is any thing but history. His ideas are clear and fresh and cutting edge and well, exciting !!

Thoughts on December Camp

Of everything, I was most impressed by the care you and your staff have put into developing the Clendenin Ski Method. I’ve run enough programs in my own career to know that a successful result requires a huge amount of work upfront that the client never sees. It’s clear to me that you and your staff have put in this effort, and it shows in the Camp experience. You have developed an integrated, teachable, and most importantly, a learnable program that will greatly benefit any skier willing to put in the necessary effort in their own behalf.

As an aside, I was up on my local mountain a few days before Christmas in a storm that had dumped 8-10 inches of powder on the slopes. I’d always had trouble initiating the turn in this much powder, and now I know why: the stem don’t work in powder! But touch and tip worked great! I found myself entering turns effortlessly and blasting down the trail having so much fun that I totally forgot my intention to spend some time working on the Keys and just gave myself up to the joy of the conditions that day. It was one of my best ski days ever, and it wouldn’t have happened without my Camp experience.

From a Portillo Camper…

I learned more in one day of skiing with you and your staff than I have in 25 years of skiing. Your method combined with the expertise and attitude of you staff is unsurpassed. It allowed me to acquire the techniques to ski steep bumps anywhere in a short period of time. I had tried in the past to teach myself how to ski bumps to no avail. It would always end up with utter frustration, bruises, and no desire to continue to try. To put it in another light it was like what Mike Tyson said during an interview before an up coming fight, “everybody’s got a plan until you get hit”. You and your team, with its very hands on approach showed me and others exactly how to handle conditions that you might not always plan for in skiing. By pushing us to the edge of our comfort zone with your new techniques it allowed me to surpass the old comfort zone and move into a new level competence and confidence.