SnoZone Endless Slope Philosophy

Imagine "A Lesson that develops the fundamentals of skiing and snowboarding for life long development. Lessons that creates motor skills to ski and ride, with physical and mental agility to handle dynamic riding down a mountain slope safely, comfortably and skillfully. Joy comes in many forms and riding down a mountain for many of us is one we cherish highly as an important nutrient for life.

No we are not "Perfect," but we strive for perfection & work hard when it comes to instructing individual's needs.

SnoZone Endless Slope ski and snowboard school was formed in 1999 by Sam Morishima who believed anyone can ski or snowboard naturally and effortlessly under the right guidance and environment. He followed the lead of other revolving deck schools teaching a progressive alternative way that would instill the key fundamentals that made ski and snowboard champions possible. Start the student off correctly develops proper ski and snowboard habits that will last a lifetime allowing the student to build onto a firm foundation of skills that keeps them improving naturally. He believed accelerated developments of fundamentals was better done away from the distractions of the mountain. He rebelled from the norm that fundamentals of skiing and snowboarding could only be established on snow on a mountain. Sam discovered a military application of a revolving ski deck that Phil Gerard later took to develop some of the first world ski freestylers and later became a ski hall of famer for developing ski ballet. Such world freestylers such as Bob Howard, John Clendenin, Bob Salerno trained on the ski deck and further progressed the ski deck movements in their own teachings and ski schools. Discovering Kent Bry's ski deck school in Encinitas, CA., Sam studied under Kent to understand the intricacies of the revolving ski deck. Sam was physically weakened from a chronic illness and left his career in the medical industry to pursue a way to recover back as much of his health as possible. For him skiing was the path and it was imperative to do it properly. The revolving ski deck was the vehicle to develop the correct fundamentals of skiing and to better health. For him it was a rebellion against his poor health condition and a revolution towards doing things properly for long lasting positive physical and mental growth. It was his personal underground movement to make himself better and to help others enjoy a sport he loved.

For those who thought that skiing and snowboarding was beyond their ability or believed it was a sport that required tremendous strength, an athletic body and sports coordination, the Endless Slope is a way to develop the fundamentals to make the sport of skiing and snowboarding possible. What is more important is the fundamental of instilling proper riding technique and skills that pretty much anyone who wants to can easily achieve. What is key is proper riding alignment that creates relaxation and sensitivity for precise timely reactions and dynamic range of motion.

The Training received at the school is literally an endless ride down an endless slope providing endless practice allowing the body to engrain, memorize and understand the nuance of appropriate action.

The training received is diverse and variable allowing the student to learn to adapt to changing dynamic situations forcing the body to intuitively learn providing the student to take on variety of conditions and terrains.

Our 10 core principles that guide us to help you become better:

1. Focus on the student and all else will follow.

From the beginning, SnoZone ES focused on providing the best learning experience possible. By understanding our student's needs and goals, observing and studying their strengths, limitations, capabilities we can individualize the lessons to our student. We would start with the student and guide them to naturally develop and discover the riding skills in a riding atmosphere that challenges their abilities. This student focus establishes a strong foundation for the rider to grow in the manner that is specific and best for them. The method continues to follow and focus on the individual student's developmental progress no matter what stage or how good they become. What we have seen is the more competent the student becomes the more confident they are to realize the possibilities to become better and to strive toward perfection.

We learn from each other. The instructor observes the student to better learn what their needs are. The student in turn has the ability to test there skill against the Endless Slope to discover what is required. The instructor guides the student on what they need and not waste time on things they already know and can do. When the student has difficulty, the attentive instructor is right there in front. The instructor tries to anticipate student's needs not yet articulated by the student and address them properly through the lesson progression. One of our key strengths is the a tentative instructor who has the capability to watch and observe every riding movement and provide real time feedback. The student in turn can repeat the movement until it feels right. Instructors are always looking for ways where they can make a significant improvement difference in the student's advancement by reading their body language, mental anticipation, physical capabilities, anticipated and implemented actions. The instructors are focused on the student throughout the session.

2. Targeting “Riding Sense”

SnoZone Endelss Slope focuses on teaching methods that instill riding skills that in turn allows the student to naturally develop their own "riding sense", a highly developed bodily biomechanical-kinesthetic balance intelligence that is exhibited by top riding athletes. The objective for the student is to become a "Riding Athlete" a term Sam has coined for skiing and snowboarding through development of what Sam refers to as their "Riding Sense." Compared to static standing or walking or running, riding may it be on a skateboard, surfing, wake boarding, skiing, snowboarding or motorcycle riding require differently unique skill sets, motor responses, muscle interaction, reflexes and a dynamic riding balance. All this is initiated from a riding sense that begins and continues the integration to stabilize and perform a smooth effortless and balanced ride.

3. Efficient, concise and effective practice and training time.

SnoZone ES understands that the student's devoted time for development is valuable, so practice time revolves around effective riding skill development applying them in actual riding practice on the Endless Slope. Efficiency is a hallmark of our lessons. In 30 minutes on the Endless Slope the rider performs as many turns as a full day on the snow. Such intensity is wonderful for practicing new techniques and skill development but usually beyond such time can exhaust and fatigue the riding muscles resulting in inappropriate body movements when tired. Therefore, technique development is best when the student practices for short periods but does it frequently. We recommend at least a total of 12 lessons at ½ hour sessions each done at least once a week to reinforce each practice with one another and integrating the skills into motor programing and muscle memory. You can not get that type of frequency unless you live by a ski resort. The reason why people who live by ski resorts ski and snowboard well is because they frequently perform the sport and are not pressured to do so for a long period each time out. We make the frequency of training happen here in the city. By short and frequent practice sessions focusing precisely and sequentially on needed skills we can accelerate the riding development process.

4. Make lesson, practice and training fun and enjoyable.

Learning is more effective and the incorporation of skill development more natural when practice and training are enjoyable. Our students look forward to their lessons being able to feel the joy of riding while they train. Coming back time and time again creates and reinforces strong riding habit that allows for accelerated progression. In turn riding becomes easier, consistent and effortless. Joy comes from both the self realization of improved riding, the feel of different riding sensations from taking on greater and more difficult riding forms. The freedom of confidence and accomplishment of solid dynamic balance, stabilized by momentum, and the controlled free fall with gravity is a breath taking thrill that can be enjoyed when it can be done effortlessly and under control. It is the all encompassing joy that ranges from the ease of a beautiful morning walk in the woods discovering about one's self and combined with the thrill and excitement of an amusement ride.

5. Students must experience success at each practice

Riding is mainly about feeling the ride. The sensation of effortless, graceful and precise movements are the key rewards of riding success. Feedback from riding on the Endless Slope is instantaneous allowing repetition of the movement until it feels right. It reinforces and instills the proper feel for the habit of riding. The instructors accelerate the process by guiding the student through a progression of skills that build upon each other achieving growth steps that lead to perfection in riding. Each practice session strengthens and enhances the feeling of stability and balance making it easier and more natural to ride. Each lesson becomes a step closer to achieving a more acute riding sense and greater feel for perfection in the accuracy of the ride. The student begins to develop into a riding athlete which starts the process of developing precision and consistency in their ride. The Endless Slope provides real time feedback so the student can monitor and adjust themselves allowing for correction and success in their ride until it becomes a habit. Constantly and repetitively feeling success in this manner motivates the student to advance to achieve riding athletic standards.

6. Practice and train like snow riding.

When students practice like they ride then they will ride like they practice. The Endless Slope allows students to ride at all stages of their development. As they improve so does the riding challenges on the Endless Slope much like taking on different terrains on the mountain or more difficult runs. Therefore, the riding practice and training sessions adjust to the proficiency of the student. Such practices allows easy adaption to riding different conditions, terrains and difficulties on the snow covered mountain.

7. Optimizing the great indoors for learning

There are so many advantages to learning indoors. Just making it convenient to frequently train has already been mentioned. Able to make you comfortable so that learning is optimized is another. Students can practice balance and proper position in a safer environment.

Not having to worry about other skiers and boarders reduces the stress level in learning. Students can perform exercises in skill and technique development in a controlled setting without worrying or stressing or having to multi-task as on a crowded mountain slope in incremental weather and elements. Here students can focus on the ride with riding aids like the training bar and belt.

Because, we can control the conditions, the student does not have to adjust for distracting variables. Thereby, reduces the chance of confusion and delay of establishing fundamental skills. Proper and precise repetition that develops appropriate skills is easier to perform in a controlled environment. As the student develops and incorporates the skills into muscle memory then other variables are easily introduced to challenge the rider mimicking the outdoor situations.

In-door instructing with a simulated moving mountain allows the use of special training equipment not easily used or impossible on the mountain. Our goal is to optimally use our facility, our training tools, our instructors, and exercises to help accelerate the establishment of a strong foundation of riding habits. This will provide greater confidence, easier adaptation to different riding conditions, accelerated improvement, greater success and enjoyment on the mountain. The indoor training is an excellent formula for developing growth for higher and higher ability in riding.

8. Innovation and leading edge training system.

It is hard to imagine that one can actually develop skills for skiing and snowboarding not to mention riding sense without snow. The SnoZone Endless Slope program and its principles revolve around the Endless Slope a device that mimics almost exactly the physics of coming down a snow covered mountain slope. It has some additional aspects that add to the riding sensitivity, challenging the student to ride accurately and precisely making the SnoZone Endless Slope method a wonderful learning platform to accelerate the student's development. The experienced rider soon discovers that it is a more difficult ride as it brings out faults and bad habits of theirs. This discovery allows the experienced rider to work on correcting their faults and bad habits such as over or under edging or poor dynamic balance in the turns, or being to late or too early in their weight transfer or stiffening rather than relaxing in the ride or sitting back and needing to be more in their boot and utilizing it's support. As they make the correct changes the Endless Slope begins to be less stressful and more like riding on corduroy or corn snow conditions. They soon discover how wonderfully brilliant the Endless Slope is as a development tool and training device. They appreciate the greater acute observation method of instructions that help accelerate the advancement to correct the faults and bad habits and instill proper, efficient and effective ones.

9. Reaching out to community.

We understands that skiing and snowboarding is not only a difficult sport to accomplish well but one that is unreachable for so many due to distance, dealing with unpredictable weather, cold climate, altitude concerns and not to mention the financial cost and burden of any sport that requires so much preparation, equipment, travel, meal, accommodations, snow wardrobes, etc... Only because of a physician uncle, a supporting family and relatives was Sam at an early age able to leave for a few days in Winter the responsibility of working in the strawberry fields of a coastal central California farm and experience once a year the thrill of this sport which radically influenced and help develop his life. His love to share this joy and the unique capabilities of the Endless Slope has had him seek out opportunity to help others from “make a wish” to showing our recent disable veterans that they can ski and snowboard again with new technologies in prosthetics and special riding equipment. But most important we have discovered that by having people reach their personal goals, they become better empowered to help others.

10. Continuous improvement, searching for better.

SnoZone Endless Slope ski and snowboard school though proud at helping so many people achieve becoming and improving as skiers and snowboarders, knows this is not our endpoint. We understand that everyone is different and because of that we strive to find what works best for each student. Through observing the changes in the sport, researching the latest knowledge base, studying sound teaching practices, understanding new innovation and listening to our students, we aim to take things that work and improve upon them utilizing to the fullest our facility, our equipment and staff while at all times optimally trying to cater to the individual needs. We understand that each student learns at a different rate, requiring different skill emphasis, that each person approaches change differently, both physically and psychologically. So we know that not one approach works for all students.

Always in search of new teaching techniques, adjusting and fine tuning our methods in order to optimize to individual's needs we strive to accelerate the fun and enjoyment of success for each and everyone of our students. As the sport grows we strive to continue to be at the leading edge of instructing. Our goal is to continue to optimize each student's time here so they can enjoy the sport to its fullest.

Ultimately, our constant search to make each of our students better becomes the driving force behind everything we do.

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Our Definition:

Riding Athlete: Someone who uses his body in a refined highly differentiated and skilled riding ways who can expressively and with riding-directed purpose reflexively with fine motor abilities adjust the body's position in regards to motion for maintaining dynamic balance controlling the ride, Such as but not limited to skiing, snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding, wake boarding, even riding a subway in an effortless way.

Riding Sense: a sense of time, direction, force, extent of body movements to make balance alignment adjustments in response to sensitivity to points of repose or shifts of position.

Bodily biomechanical-kinesthetic balance intelligence: How the body is able to solve dynamic balance alignment problems

Dynamic balance: Balance in motion while countering forces that tend to cause unstableness; i.e. Balance required to maintain a smooth sense of upright ride by proper re-alignment of the body while riding.

Effortless Skiing or Snowboarding or Riding: Fine muscular movement and dynamic skeletal alignment balance requiring in little need of our larger muscles and excessive muscle usage to maintain the body in balance therefore resulting in effortless riding.

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