Calling all moms! Wives! Grandmas! Overworked singles! And any woman who’s ever booted up for a ski vacation only to find herself shying away from the harder terrain her spouse prefers to tackle. It’s time to step up your game.

I’m in for the Jan 28-30 Women’s Ski Weekend Clinic. You should be too.

Here’s why:

1. The emphasis is on fun. Heck, the weekend kicks off with a get-to-know-you social. Ostensibly, it’s a chance for us to get to know the other students in the group. But I’m guessing it gives our instructors a chance to get to know us a bit—and we them—so that they know best how to communicate with us on the hill, and we have a sense of familiarity, too.
2. You can’t knock it ‘til you try it.  No matter what your skill level, there’s bound to be terrain you feel leery of trying. I’m not one to suggest people improve by skiing terrain that’s notches above their ability zone, but I will say this: We tend to not push ourselves toward that which we find even slightly intimidating. Now, if you become proficient on any terrain, but decide, Hey, I am not a huge fan of bumps/steeps/powder skiing, I really prefer blue cruisers, no harm no foul. But who’s to say you won’t develop a passion for powpow, or get bitten by the bug of the Bowl? In heavy snow years like this one, I have seen more than one friend declare, “I can’t ski powder” and bench herself for entire days of her ski vacation. As a wise man once said: That ain’t right!
3. You deserve a weekend to focus on you…not your work, not your family, not anything but you and the condition of your quadriceps, the relative merits of your skills on groomed and ungroomed runs, etc.
4. You get the kind of detailed instructional attention usually reserved for the pros—from test-ski gear to video analysis, to body position checks, no stone is left unturned in the quest to improve our skiing. You’ll pick up fancy jargon to take home with your bragging rights to improved skiing.