Kids Running - Adirondack Sports & Fitness

12 Adirondack Sports & Fitness
ATHLETE PROFILE
by Shannon Brescher
Frederica Anderson smiles, closely
watching a line of young skiers
snaking back and forth down the
bunny hill. She turns her own skis down
the slope, and follows the students with
the grace one can only have after 82 years
spent on skis.
Known as “Freddie” to her instructors
and students, Frederica is best known as
the founder of the Schenectady Ski
School. However, her love for the snow
began at the age of three, when her parents
first took her skiing on the Mohawk
Golf Course in Schenectady. Her father
and mother were always involved in winter
sports, and hoped to share that passion
with their daughter. “My parents
were skiers back in the early 1900s,” she
said. “They were my example.”
Her childhood love for the sport blossomed
into a professional desire when she
took a required athletic course at Smith
College in Northampton, Mass. When the
instructor discovered Frederica was the
best skier in the group, she recruited her
as an assistant. After Frederica realized
how much she enjoyed teaching, gaining
the white pin worn by Certified Ski
Instructors became her career goal. In
1948, she reached that goal, becoming an
instructor with the New York State
Professional Ski Instructors Association.
Currently, Frederica’s jacket bears a gold
version of the pin that attests she is a
Lifetime Certified Ski Instructor.
Frederica
Anderson
Age: 85
Occupation: Co-Director
of Schenectady
Ski School
Residence: Niskayuna
Family: Children,
Christina,
Karen, Carla
Primary
Sport: Downhill Skiing
Other
Sports: Tennis
Between attending Smith College and
earning her “white pin,” Frederica met her
co-conspirator in skiing adventures,
Henry Anderson. The two met at a
Schenectady Wintersports Club meeting
in 1942. Because of the gas rationing, the
group walked over a mile on Saturday
mornings to catch a 6 am bus in
Schenectady. Then, they boarded a 7 am
train in Troy that brought them to the
newly opened Bromley Mountain in
Manchester, Vt. “These trips back and
forth that winter blossomed into a
romance with Henry Anderson,” she said.
“My marriage was a skiing romance.”
That winter, Henry made a promotional
film for the North Creek Ski Bowl,
the area where Gore Mountain currently
operates. Called “Adirondack Hickories,”
the film featured Frederica and demonstrated
the couple’s willingness to be quite
silly for the sake of skiing. One among a
variety of humorous sketches involved
instructors sliding down a mountain on a
chamber pot. Later on, Frederica’s skiing
continued to showcase her quirkiness,
like when she became known by the
Mount Mansfield Ski Patrol at Stowe as the
woman who wore a kilt for spring skiing.
That spring, Frederica’s family invited
Henry on their family vacation to Mont
Tremblant in Quebec. The couple married
about a year later.
However, Frederica did not forget her
dream of becoming an instructor. She
founded the Schenectady Ski School in
1950, teaching her friends’ children at the
Schenectady Municipal Golf Course on
Saturday mornings. The next year,
Frederica started training her skiing
friends as instructors, expanding the
school beyond herself.
In 1967, the ski school moved to the
Maple Ski Ridge ski area in Schenectady
and has kept the area as its home base
ever since. “It’s an ideal learning environment,”
she said, explaining why the
arrangement has lasted so long.
Despite her long history of teaching,
Frederica’s excitement over watching students
improve remains undiminished. “The
pleasure that teaching skiing gives me is
paramount in my life. I wouldn’t be happy
to be going out skiing every day for my own
pleasure. It would get boring,” she said.
She especially loves working with
beginners, because of their rapid
improvement. Watching them advance
from gliding on flat ground to controlling
their speed, making turns, and changing
direction never ceases to bring her joy.
“My favorite part in teaching skiing is seeing
the progress of a student who has
never been on skis,” she says. “Whether
it’s a child or adult, the excitement is
always the same for me.”
All of Frederica’s instructors have
embraced her zeal for teaching. Alice
Moon, a junior at Burnt Hills-Ballston
Lake High School and an instructor at the
Schenectady Ski School, said the most
important thing she has learned from
Frederica is to “be enthusiastic.” She said
that she has also learned, “If you’re having
fun, they’ll have fun. Don’t force them to
do anything. Earn their trust.” Likewise,
Anthony Lucier, a supervisor and snowboard
instructor at the school said that
Frederica’s goal is “to see the kids having
fun.” He continued, “Kids or adults … she
wants to make sure the class is having fun
� CHRISTINA AND
FREDERICA ANDERSON
AT MAPLE SKI RIDGE.
PHOTO BY
PAUL KNAPICK
and learning at the
same time.” He said
that she wants to
inspire students to
continue skiing and
learning long after
they finish their
lessons.
Frederica’s fervor
for teaching and skiing
has extended in influence far beyond the
ski school. “Because of her, there are literally
thousands of people who enjoy winter
sports,” said Christina Anderson,
Frederica’s daughter, and co-director of
the school. “She has provided inspiration
for people ranging from a 14-year-old
instructor to people who grew up to be
PSIA examiners … and nationally known
skiers.” Beyond those Frederica has personally
taught, she has also trained
numerous instructors who have gone on
to affect others.
Christina herself has helped keep that
dream alive. From Henry and Frederica’s
marriage until Henry’s passing in 2000,
the couple were partners in the business
as well as in marriage. Christina moved
back to the Capital District from Texas in
the fall of 2000 to help run the school.
“When he passed away, it was obvious the
business was too big for one person to run
by herself,” she said. “If Mom wasn’t able
to teach and ski, she’d fall apart … I wanted
to make sure her passion stays alive.”
Despite the deep love Frederica has for
teaching, she has not forgotten her own
skiing. She continues to take great delight
in the act of moving her skis nimbly across
the snow.
“The pleasure I get out of skiing is …
the physical pleasure I get out of making a
well-executed turn,” she said. “I can no
longer ski the steep and the deep …
because of my lack of muscular power, but
the fact I am out there every day is the goal
of my life.”
Shannon Brescher of Clifton Park is
currently working as a substitute teacher
and freelance writer.In the fall,she will be
attending the University of Oxford for her
master’s degree. She enjoys hiking, rock
climbing, biking and skiing.
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