This area has been designed to help get participants ready for a lesson. There are a number of resources here to help front load and lowering anxiety while offering valuable opportunities for education.
Social Stories for Skiing and Snowboarding at Grouse
What To Wear
There are several things that are awesome about the below graphics. The first has everything you need for a snow lesson in the Vancouver area. Pants and jacket should be waterproof if possible as our snow is often quite wet. Also, socks are important and need to be longer than the top of the boot they will be wearing white skiing or riding. And having a bag to put boots into also allows you to pack some water and a snack incase a break is needed. The second graphic shows how to manage to temperature. On the Vancouver mountains the temperature is often between +2 to -10 Celsius, so assess you jacket and adjust base layer… remember to wear waterproof outer layers.
Safety Equipment
Below you will find a good detailed video on how to size a helmet properly and will also look at some features and why or why not you may need them. For several of our students that are on the spectrum, wearing a helmet and goggles can be a new and overwhelming experience. We recommend allowing the students to wear the helmet and/or helmet with goggles while doing other play activities, so it becomes more comfortable. Setting small time goals of wearing can be an effective way to introduce this new safety gear. And this will all contribute to making a more positive and safe snow experience.
How Lifts Work
This is an awesome video that is great to share with a student. It goes over in great detail all of the safety aspects of riding lifts and should answer any questions a student has as well as being entertaining. Watching this many times can be very valuable to some learners.
Social Stories for Skiing and Snowboard Lessons at Grouse Mountain
Here are downloadable pdf’s that tell a social story to get a student ready for the lesson at Grouse Mountain. One for skiers and one for snowboarders. Sometimes this can help to reduce anxiety for our students.