Crushed the Level 2 Ski Exam yesterday!

   Wahoooo!! Any doubts I had about passing vanished quickly, and wasn't the least bit nervous the entire time, after the examiner told me my skiing reminded him of a friend of his who was trying out for National Demo Team this year. That, however, was a major surprise! This was before lunch time on the first day; by the end of the day I had figured out I was apparently the best skier in our group of 6. Some of the others started getting pretty negative toward the end of day 2, because they presumably had started with expectations of being able to pass. I felt bad and tried to give some pointers on the chair now and then, but so much seemed to rest on prior preparation and knowing the expectations of the exam that I felt a little awkward being in that position. I was having a lot of fun showing what I was capable of doing on skis and had worked hard on all season, and was enjoying the further coaching we received.
   On my evaluation sheet I had exceeded expectations on all but 3 task/demo aspects, and had lots of positive comments on my bump and steep skiing along with some things to work on for Level 3 (still a ways off). I have to give a lot of credit to the trainers at Alpine who helped us prepare fully throughout the season, and other instructor mentors who took the time to ski with me and give feedback. After all, it was pretty obvious who had not been prepped to the same degree! Alpine went 3 for 4 on passing this exam, which was a pretty darn good percentage for the Level 2, and I am already making plans with my co-workers to study and prepare for the L2 Teach exam next season.
   With 10" of fresh snow at the mountain today I feel like a bum not going skiing, but my legs are in need of a break after 5 days in a row of work/skiing, and I have to go to work tomorrow... rest days are good!