Ski ‘Slope’ Gives Students a Downhill Thrill

During a normal week, students in the physical education classes at Lynwood Adventist Academy would have been taking jump shots or spiking volleyballs. But this wasn’t a normal week.

In the dimly lighted school gym, Otis Moon, 17, glided down the giant ski ramp as though he was born to ski.

But like most of the students attending the weeklong learn-to-ski class here, Moon has lived his entire life in the inner city. And like many of the 85 youths in the class, Moon has never thrown a snowball or skied.

He was learning the sport on a ramp about 25 feet wide and 75 feet long, rising about 10 feet at its highest peak. The white plastic surface resembled a hairbrush with plastic teeth. The end of the runway was covered with carpet so his descent would be safely slowed.

‘This Is Fun’

His reaction to his first experience on skis: “This is fun,” said Moon, a football player at the academy. “This is simple. I can’t wait to get to the real thing. Bring on the snow!”

And he promptly fell down at the end of the runway.

There were a few skiers in the group, like Stefan Crosby, 15, who said he had been skiing for about two years and took the class to improve his skill.

Some, like Muneca Burton, 15, had taken trips to the snow but had never skied before.

“The family goes to Ogden, Utah, every Christmas,” Burton said. “Maybe this Christmas I will ski.”

There were a lot of falls, tumbles, screams, frustrations and aches and pains at the small, private Christian high school, which has a mostly minority enrollment of 225 students.

“About 80% of the student body is black, about 2% white, and the others are Hispanic, Filipino and Samoan,” said Daryl Jackson, director of physical education.

“We thought it would be nice to give the students a different experience, give them an opportunity to do something they had never done before,” said Jackson, 28, who is a skier.

The ski program was the idea of Jackson and Marcia Burford, assistant director of physical education.

The mini-course, which ended Friday, was conducted by professional ski instructors. It was designed by Chuck Morse, president of World Ski Events in La Habra, which supplied the instructors. The private firm travels throughout Southern California exposing students to the sport, said Morse.

It has introduced more than 30,000 students to skiing in the last five years, he said.

Equipment, such as boots and skis, is provided by ski industry manufacturers. The course cost the academy $2,500, with students who could afford it paying $30 for the week of daily one-hour classes, Jackson said.

“Many of the students could not afford it. So we asked the local businesses and churches for donations to help cover the cost,” he said.

About $600 still was needed to pay the bill, but he was confident it would be paid through donations--or by Burford and himself.

“Marcia and I have asked that it be taken out of our paychecks if necessary because I feel so strongly about exposing these students to other experiences,” Jackson said. “Many students were just downright afraid to try skiing. The ones that did really enjoyed themselves.”

Darryl Smith, 17, a basketball, baseball and football player at the school, said he found skiing “a really educational” experience.

Mental Challenge “The biggest problem is the mental part--trying to do everything the instructors tell you and not panic once you start down the ramp,” Smith said.

“We teach the students speed control, stopping and turning,” said ski instructor Dorothy Thurman. “By the time the lessons are over, they should be low intermediate skiers.

“This is an ideal place to learn because the snow, the mountains, the people, the cold weather can be so intimidating for a first-time skier,” said Thurman, who teaches skiing at Snow Summit in the San Bernardino Mountains.

For Raiford Woods, 14, nothing could be more intimidating than the training ramp. Woods fell every trip down the ramp during Wednesday classes. However, the ninth-grader was determined. He kept trying and on his very last attempt he made it.

His classmates gave him a standing ovation. Bring on the snow!

Jackson said the group intends to do just that. The school is planning a trip to the snow for the new skiers during a semester break Jan. 28.

“I’ll definitely be on the bus to the snow,” said Francisco Flores, 17, who will be skiing for the first time. “It should be fun.”