Press Release                                   

Here are some Testimonials that have been sent to the ski school

    Keith,

I just wanted to let you and your father know how much I enjoyed your sessions at the think tank last weekend.

I was in your sessions from 8 - noon on Saturday and I was very impressed by the way you and your father conducted the discussions and made everyone feel comfortable.  I honestly didn't know what to expect besides you are the best in the world,  but walked away with a great deal of respect for you and your father as men.  Being a father myself of a 4 yr old, I particularly enjoyed hearing the way your dad tied in the entire family experience of skiing and can definitely relate.  You two make a great team and are great ambassadors of the sport and are  great  role models for  young kids.

 When my son is old enough to learn to barefoot, I hope I  am able to bring him to your school.

Keith, thanks again and keep up the great work!  

I wish you all the success with your career.

Martin Passini

    I attended Keith St.Onge’s Barefoot Ski School in Water Haven, FL not knowing exactly what to expect.  Keith was in the process of moving and my only experience of barefooting was straight off the boom.  I wanted to advance my skills as much as possible without having the frustration and the tough falls, and that is exactly what happened.  By the end of two days I was behind the boat doing tumble turns and doing one foots and starting doing deep water back starts on the 5 foot extension.  I was with two other footers that were on ski teams and even though they were far more advanced than I was, it was almost an advantage because I learned so much more.  Keith will devote all his time and attention to you no matter what the level of barefooting you are at.
    Keith would find the littlest things you would be doing wrong and you would be a fool not to listen to him, because they worked every time.  By listening to him and trying to be as technical as possible, you are able to progress as fast as you want.  Keith has a very laid back approach, but if he knew you could do it, he give you the confidence you needed and would push you that extra step.  You feel like you're skiing with a bunch of buddies rather than getting frustrated and feeling like everyone was waiting on you.  With Keith's new location, he has 3 different lakes that are connected to chose from, so no matter which way the wind is coming from, you'll always have some glassy footin' water.  We were up at 7 a.m. everyday and each skier had more than enough water time.  In fact, Keith would ski for us once in awhile because we almost didn't have enough time between breaks.
    Off the water, not a whole lot changed with Keith's attitude and approach.  Keith was still very willing to answer any questions you still may had that happened on the water and would show you on land if you still didn't understand.  He was more interested in your interests and background to get to know you on a more personable level to make things more comfortable.  You don't feel intimidated by him from all his accomplishments, he came across more as a friend you went to go stay with.
    For anyone who is thinking of going to a camp, I would highly recommend Keith St.Onge’s Barefoot Ski School no matter what level you are at.  The guys I skied with attended other camps throughout the summer and they also said Keith's camp was the most beneficial to them, mostly due to his laid back approach.  I'm not even going to try another camp.  I'm going back in the spring and hopefully will take even more from it.

Jeff Fritchler

Hi Keith,

Thanks for the great lessons.  You are an amazing instructor!   I
can't stop thinking about barefooting right now.  I have the new
handle hooked up to my banister and I have been doing tumble turns,
toe holds and I think that I have the surface turn perfected now ;-)

Seriously, I feel like I made much more progress in a day and ½ with
you than I did all of last summer.  Last summer I was really getting
frustrated that I couldn't get the long line deep down (or tumble
turn) and I was wondering if I ever would.  Now I feel confident that
I will be proficient with these shortly.  I never dreamed I would
progress as far as I have in a day and ½.

Later this week I am going to try to get my friends to commit to a
late April/ early May lesson.  Once I know who is in I will follow up
with you.
 
Thanks again for the great lessons and the great time.

Brian Durgin  

Keith, 
    I have had the mentality that anything I could possibly learn (based on my ability), my ski partners, husband Ted Klein, Brad Pegg, & Clay Bourbonnais could teach me, so I thought I would be skiing in the clinic with Keith St. Onge for fun. Wrong!! I did not expect to lose all my fear when I got in the boat with him. I was determined to try anything he suggested. And there was no way I was going to let go of the rope. Keith is a really good coach. He really has the ability to analyze and help you correct your mistakes. I also benefited from hearing what he had to say to the other students in the boat. Not only did I lose my fear and learn from Keith, I really got stoked about skiing again. Since skiing with Keith I have gone from my sketchy front deep behind the boat to smooth as silk front deeps (I've been trying to correct this for years!). Of course this really helps with long line tumbles. My confidence is soaring (my trick run will be too). 

Vicki Klein

Barefootin' in Florida !!

    As a Dutch Barefooting club we wanted to barefoot in the "Barefoot Capital" Florida . An once in a lifetime experience!
    There are several schools to go to and it's tough to decide which one. I can tell you, Keith St. Onge is the one!    
    On the World Championships in Austria I've met Keith St. Onge and after looking at his website we've got very tempted to go there. We've booked in the fall of 2007 and in April 2008 we could finally fly to Winterhaven! 
    The accommodation in Winterhaven was excellent and the distance to the skischool was only about 3 Miles.
    The Skischool is beautifully situated at Lake Conine and the boats are right in front of the skischool. Lake Conine is connected to two other Lake s, so there are always possibilities of flat water.
    There is also a little shop with barefoot equipment at the barefoot skischool. After a week we had bought the complete shop! Wetsuits, drysuits, handles, lines, t-shirts, hoodies….
    The skiing was amazing! We have had the most beautiful water and weather conditions and the only boat on the lake was ours!
    Keith teaches with special radiographic helmets. So you ski with a helmet on and therefore you’ll hear from Keith what you do right and wrong. This way you’ll learn it really fast. It’s the most amazing system! We’ve ordered them for our skischool as well.
    Another positive thing from this skischool is that Keith takes his time with you. Other skischools are skiing with minutes. Happily he's decided for this system. He even does some demonstrations. You won’t believe what you see! It’s incredible!!! Together with his coach Swampy and his secretary Judy they build a pleasant team. Absolutely something to recommend to European Barefooters!We booked already for 2009.

Piet Nipius 

    The day I spent at your Minneapolis ski clinic was terrific!  Your observations and corrective instructions were right on the mark.  Not only did you work on improving my foundational skills but more importantly, you identified a few subtle but very critical flaws in my skiing.  My recent work on correcting these subtle flaws has made huge improvements, improvements I would not be experiencing without your observations and insights.  Keith, not only are you a leader in barefoot skiing but instructing as well.  Can't wait to ski with you again!

Sincerely,

 Dave LaPorte – Prior Lake, MN

Keith,
 
Thank you for making the trip up to MN to do a clinic. The knowledge and experience that you bring to the boat is second to none! Only getting to ski with you for one day was not enough time to do everything that I wanted to, but it was enough time to make a huge impact on my skiing. This past weekend I skied a new PB in wake slalom by a full crossing and hope to improve on that even more by the end of summer. The pointers that you gave me, and the changes that I have made in doing B-Fs have made all the difference in the world. You had me change one tiny thing, and since then, I have not missed one. My confidence is higher than it has ever been when I'm on the water. I can't wait until the next time I ski with you! 
 
Thanks again!!!
 
Tim T.

Tim then followed up with another e-mail, which you can read below.

Keith,
 
I can't believe what one little minor adjustment can do for a guy. My back to fronts have never been more consistent and cleaner. This past weekend I skied the WI/ILL open at the Blue Moo. I had told some of the guys about skiing with you and how you pointed one thing out. I made the minor adjustment to my turn. Sense then I haven't missed one yet. Those guys told me that I had just jinxed myself by saying that and would probably start missing them. During my trick run I got to thinking, I jinxed myself, I jinxed myself. In spite of my head not being where it should have been and the water conditions being horrible for tricks (very rough!!!) I still made my back to front probably cleaner than ever before!
My back slalom has a long way to go, but with your instruction, I spend a lot more time on my feet improving my scores than I do pulling the ejector handle and counting stars! That makes skiing way more fun!!!
Talk to you later.
 
Tim T.