CAZENOVIA — Cazenovia resident Bobbi Cleaveland recently eclipsed 50 years of certified teaching through the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA).
Introduced to the sport at the age of eight, Cleaveland’s years of skiing began up north at Snow Ridge in Turin, back when it was the closest resort to her family’s household.
As she practiced, she took a liking to the winter activity because of its “rhythmical” nature and its reliability as an instrument for social interaction.
“When taking lessons, most people would rather ski with someone than all by themselves,” Cleaveland said. “Then they meet other people who are more or less the same ability and they become friends.”
During her high school years, she visited Mont-Tremblant for one week every winter break, and by the time she reached her freshman year at St. Lawrence University, she had built up the know-how to teach physical education classes on the nearby ski hill.
After her sophomore year, she got married and moved to Syracuse, at which point she began heading lessons at Song Mountain in Tully.
Nine years later, she left to instruct at Toggenburg Mountain for 20 years before lending her time to various other skiing destinations, including Labrador in Truxton, the current site of her lessons for four days out of the week.
Remaining a friend to many of her pupils, Cleaveland typically leads in with boot drills for those at the beginning stage, no matter their age range. These drills tend to involve sidestepping motions up the bunny hill as well as balance-improving exercises and stretching.
Once these students show progress in skill and comfort, Cleaveland gives them more room to ascend until they feel equipped to start gliding down and making turns from the top of the mountain.
“Some pick it up fairly quickly and some not so quickly,” Cleaveland said. “But like any other sport, as they start to advance, you give them more to do, and before you know it they’re all set to go on their own.”
First certified in 1971, the 77-year-old alpine skiing instructor has had to renew her credential at biannual educational workshops administered by PSIA.
Apart from teaching, Cleaveland said she enjoys taking her own skiing trips in her free time, especially to Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico.
“As I was getting older and older, I always wondered when I would stop skiing because I really didn’t think I’d still be at it after 50 years, but I’m not ready to stop yet,” she said. “It’s the type of sport where if you keep up with it and keep fit, there’s no reason you can’t be skiing into your senior years.”
In addition to running her own gymnastics school in Manlius at one point, Cleaveland previously taught phys ed at Baldwinsville High School and coached junior varsity soccer at Cazenovia High School.
