Hannah, Leslie and Alex. Hey guys. Go Bears, I guess. These gals and guy are from Ohio and Chicago area. Being a Green Bay guy myself, I can say that now the Packers are out of the picture for the NFL playoffs, I’m backing the Bears.

We had a blast snowboarding chair 15 at Vail. Phyllis, thanks for the Pinnacle Yachts connection, Alex … keep sailing. Look forward to snowboarding with you again. See these kids snowboard at Vail here.

It is quarter to five, the lifts have stopped running, and most of Vail is in Moes BBQ in Lionshead. Huddled in wobbly booths, with dance-hall raggae coming through the speakers and mouth watering pulled pork sandwiches at the bar – it is Apres time, and there is no place anyone would rather be. Skiers and snowboarders alike can’t resist the two-dollar-tall-boy cans of Pabst.

As I’m finishing the last of my corn bread, the place starts emptying out. I check my watch, and pass my banana pudding to Belgium Bob to finish. It time for the Bud Keene show.

Bud Keene is the former U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe coach. I say former because he announced his retirement April after leading the U.S. snowboarding team to four medals in the Torino, Italy Olympics. Including the gold won by the 19-year-old wonder-boy, Shaun White.

Every year Bud comes and speaks to Vail snowboard instructors. I’ve attended his chats for the last three or four years. But this year was different. The conference room at the Marriot Hotel was standing room only.

I poured myself a glass of water and pulled up a chair in the front row. He spoke about his snowboarding career, from initial inspiration from Vail’s own Lowell Hart to U.S. Halfpipe Coach to his new projects, including a halfpipe instructional video with instruction from the top pros.

Bud spoke about coaching passionately, wide-eyed, pulling his smile just off the center of his mouth. He related coaching to selling people their own goals, their own talents, their own abilities … a vessel through which a rider can become the best they can be, that’s what a coach is.

Bud shared some clips from his new instructional video that will be out in several weeks, and shared stories that made you feel as if you were there. He told us about the two hours Shaun White had to wait before his second qualifying run in Torino.

The story you never heard was what Bud did to help Shawn deal with the pressure. How he crashed on a jump while doing some laps with Shaun, and how Shaun came running up the hill, board under arm, when Bud didn’t appear after the kicker. Whether Bud crashed on purpose or not, the fact is Shaun grabbed the gold and as a coach, subconsciously or not, Bud did what ever he had to do help is riders reach their true potential.

Their are a lot of lessons to be learned about coaching. The most overlooked I think is this. Their is a difference between a coach and a rider. You don’t have to be able to do a Crippler to coach it. You have to know your student, and be able to provide an environment for them to unlock their potential and eventually ride better than you.

A good coach is a vessel in which through anything can happen, even gold medals. Thanks Bud, keep up the good work, and I’ll see you next year.

I just finished a three-day booking with Emma from Atlanta. Emma is 7 years old and had never snowboarded before we met. She has spent the last several years skiing at Vail, and has reached the Mountain three status.

Basically, Mountain Three at Vail mountain means that she rips. Well, rips as much as any seven-year-old girl can. She can ride any chair lift herself on skis, cruise on greens and easy blues, and understands how to read the terrain.

For a little girl that already has found her independence on the mountain, to want to try snowboarding is very cool. I think that Dad being a snowboarder was motivation enough to make it happen.

Emma started out slowly, not know if she was regular footed or a goofy-footed rider. After twenty-five minutes of hands on training, she was skating and gliding down flat terrain with ease.

Over the next few days, we rode together, hand-in-hand. Progressing from the beginner area, and chairlift fifteen, we cruised the mountains easy green terrain. We spoke about how riding her horse “Little Dude” was a bit like snowboarding, and how if we thought about being in a rocking chair, our heel-side turns got easier.

I spoke with Emma’s Dad today. He called to say how Emma enjoyed her time snowboarding, that they would be back in January, and looked forward to seeing me and snowboarding again.

I can’t wait to hear about how “Little Dude” is, and if she taught him anything about snowboarding.