A day in a life of a ski instructor:

Third time up the lift with a never ever student, boy, age thirteen, about my size, autistic.

(never ever is code for students who have never been on skis before)

Past experience of snowboarding and rollerblading, so a good athlete! He was quick to mimic my movements on flatland and very eager to get going.

The first two times up the lift I gave him verbal cues on how to unload and I assisted with a small push on his back to get him completely off the lift.

Third time up, to promote more independence I told him how to unload by himself and punch forward to propel himself off the chair. I told him that I was not going to assist him. As we came closer to the unload I showed him where to place his hands, then counted down 3-2-1 and Stand!

I stood up looked to my side and he was still on the lift.....still on the lift....still on the lift.

At this point there was a 3 foot drop between him and the ground. Ooops! In my instructor mind the only logical thing to do was to get him off before there was an even bigger drop. Soooo, I reached my arms back and hauled him off the chair, using myself to break his fall. We landed in a pile on the side of the lift, on top of the barrier rope. The lifty rushed out to see if everything was okay, and my student was moaning and groaning saying he broke something. We manage to untangle and the moment he stood he said: "anyways" and continues to talk about the video games he loves.

On that note we skied and skied. Don't worry, no bones were broken, but a real skier was made, in myself and my student.