Carving, Race and Expert Ski Coaching at Sugar Bowl
If you already ski well and want to ski properly, this is the one. Frontside performance, race technique, and the certification-level detail most lessons never get to. At Sugar Bowl that is Jon.
Your coach: Jon
Jon holds PSIA Alpine Level III, the top alpine certification, along with Senior Specialist 2 and Children’s Specialist 2. He is also a Resort Trainer and Advanced Trainer, which means he trains instructors, not only guests.
He has more than 20 years coaching behind him: 13 with Vail Resorts, 7 at Diamond Peak, and he is currently at Sugar Bowl. He has coached from Ushuaia to the Arctic Circle and has two first descents to his name, in Argentina and Alaska.
His focus is frontside performance across groomers, crud and race environments, and the technical side of skiing: pressure control, edge angles, rotation and center of mass management. As he puts it: “Skiing is nothing more than a series of simple body movements that we like to complicate.”
What an advanced lesson actually addresses
By the time you are a strong skier, the things holding you back are specific and usually invisible from the inside. They are rarely fixed by more mileage.
Pressure control. When the ski is loaded and unloaded through the turn, and how much. This is where most of the difference between good and very good sits.
Edge angle versus rotation. A lot of skiers who think they are carving are steering a skidded turn with a clean-looking finish. It feels similar and behaves nothing alike.
Center of mass management. Where your body goes relative to the skis through transition, which is what separates a turn you survive from a turn you direct.
Jon works with video and targeted movement analysis, so the point is not just what to change but why the change works. Advanced skiers tend to need the reason before the correction sticks.
Who books this
- Strong skiers who have plateaued, which is nearly always a technical ceiling rather than a fitness or nerve one.
- Racers and former racers, including masters racers wanting their technique looked at properly.
- PSIA certification candidates. Jon trains instructors and knows what an exam is actually looking for, which is not the same as skiing well.
- Skiers who want to genuinely carve rather than approximate it.
Certification training
If you are an instructor preparing for a PSIA exam, say so when you enquire. Exam preparation is a different conversation from a lesson: it is about specific demonstrations to a specific standard, and about understanding the movement well enough to explain it. Jon does this as a trainer, and it is worth booking as what it is rather than as a general advanced lesson.
How booking works, and what it costs
Jon teaches at Sugar Bowl. Booking runs through the resort at their standard rates, the same as any Sugar Bowl private lesson. Rates run from around $799 for an all-day private up to about $1,300 in peak season, covering up to three people. What this page changes is which instructor you get.
Give us your dates below and we pass the details to the Sugar Bowl office, who will call you to confirm and take payment. The resort’s general booking form assigns whoever is available, so going through here is what ties the day to Jon.
Frequently asked questions
How good do I need to be for this to be worth it?
Comfortable on blacks and wanting to know why your skiing does what it does. Below that, a general lesson gets you further for the same money and we will say so.
Do you do PSIA exam preparation?
Yes, and it is worth booking as exam preparation specifically. Jon is a Resort Trainer and Advanced Trainer, so he trains instructors as part of the job.
Is video included?
Yes. Video and movement analysis are part of how Jon coaches, not an upsell.
Can two strong skiers share a day?
Yes, and it often works well at this level, provided you are genuinely similar in ability. One price covers up to three.
What does a Level III certification mean?
It is the highest PSIA alpine certification and comparatively rare. See what PSIA certification levels actually mean for what to ask before booking any instructor.
See all our private lessons at Sugar Bowl, or the Andes performance camps for a full week of this.