Description

Episode 116: VPP host Phil Brown is a bit out of his element when he tries skiing for the first time. Although he resides in Vermont, he grew up in the UK, with more hills than mountains, and never had the opportunity to learn to ski.

At the urging of his daughter Ella, Phil takes to the slopes. He quickly discovers that learning to ski as an adult can be daunting and fraught with challenges. Phil relates the steep learning curve on the ski slopes with teaching skills on the challenge course. He draws many parallels to what it may be like for first-time or novice adventure practitioners after reflecting on his own experience as a first-time skier. With the tables turned from his role as a teacher to being a student, Phil provides some tips for learning new things starting with these four reflections: 

Tips Presented in This Episode

• Be patient with yourself and the pace of your learning
• The more details shared the better 
• Take into consideration the effect of the environment on your learning
• Erase the word “just” from your vocabulary when teaching others