By Grace Lichtenstein

Sunday, February 09, 2003

Talking With Deb Armstrong -- Part 1

The 1984 Olympic gold medalist in giant slalom, Deb Armstrong, is now the Taos ski ambassador and a busy instructor. I discovered recently why she was named one of the three "instructors of the year" by a ski magazine. She works with students every day, communicating ideas and enthusiasm. She's a lifelong learner herself.

"I learn something every time I'm out on the hill," she said. "I've taken a couple of private lessons from one of our instructors here this year. Our instructors are so busy, I don't assume I can go out with them for two hours and pick their brains, so I'll pay for a private. I want to hear how they talk about particular movements, to show me drills they like to use."

Speaking with ski-week students, she noted that skiing "is not a position, it’s a movement. You're always moving downhill through these positions. So if you're searching for a position on your skis, you think, 'oh, I got it….' No. Wrong. It's too late. It's dynamic."

Tomorrow: Armstrong, Part 2.

Monday, February 10, 2003

Talking With Deb Armstrong -- Part 2

"The better athlete you can be in terms of your skiing, the better off you are," Deb Armstrong, the former Olympic gold medal winner, now the Taos ski ambassador, said recently.

"Skiing is such a total body sport" that almost any other sport complements it, she said. Armstrong should know, since she's been involved in everything from tennis, to basketball, to windsurfing, to soccer to golf. She said basketball was her favorite sport until she joined the U.S. Ski Team years ago at the age of 18.

"I got more into biking this year," she noted. "I was blown away by the transference - the power I felt in my legs and how that would relate to my skiing. I use the bicycle analogy all the time when I'm teaching - short leg, long leg, that kind of thing."

Tomorrow: Armstrong on different lengths of skis.

Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Talking With Deb Armstrong -- Part 3

As an Olympian in the 1980s, Deb Armstrong raced in the long straight skis. But these days, with shaped skis, the 5-foot-6 inch Taos ski ambassador uses a 152-centimeter slalom ski and a 178 GS ski.

When some people hear this, they think if they are bigger, they can go much longer. Not necessarily true, she said. "I'm a good skier, and I ski like a heavy person. I can get that ski on edge and I know how to load it up. How many people out there can do that?"

How does she decide which skis to use each day? "I have my 'quiver' in my office," she said laughing. I'll think about whom I'm teaching, what I feel I personally want to work on. My GS ski is a lot of ski, and it really makes me work in terms of finding the center, not getting too far back. That's a theme for all of us."

Tomorrow: Santa Fe ski patrolmen on safety.