Strong advice: Former Olympian’s channel has become THE go-to source for YouTube instruction

1984 Olympic giant slalom champion Deb Armstrong instructs a group of skiers. (Deb Armstrong)

Two-time Olympian and 1984 gold medalist Deb Armstrong describes herself as an athlete, an educator and a ski enthusiast to her core. Add YouTube creator to the list.

Over the past four years, the former racer-turned-professional ski instructor has gained an audience of more than 65,000 subscribers @DebArmstrongSkiStrong, where her series of instructional videos has amassed more than 11 million views growing at a rate between 20 and 25 percent each year.

“This has been my life since I was about 3 years old,” Armstrong said recently from her Steamboat Springs, Colo., home. “And now that I’m 60, you know, I think I may be working backwards to a certain degree. I’m able to access all things skiing in a very authentic and deeply rooted way that is resonating with people.”

In addition to her focus on ski culture and an all-around appreciation for the outdoors, Armstrong’s content covers a wide range of instructional topics like conditioning, mental skills, boot-fitting, stance, ankle flexion, balance, edging, edge release, rotary movement, carving, advanced carving, driving the inside knee, beginning moguls, zipper line moguls, steeps … you name it. Her library is stacking up so high that she’s even produced a video on how to navigate her YouTube channel to effectively access the desired content.

After her racing career, Armstrong served as the ski ambassador at Taos Ski Valley for eight seasons and became the first U.S. Ski Team athlete to qualify for the Professional Ski Instructors of America alpine demo team, made up of the top instructors in the nation. She described that process — combining high-level skiing and communication — as a profound life experience and one of the more challenging she’s ever undertaken.

“I pay attention when I’m with a client or when I’m with a guest, and when I feel like I sort of hit a wall, that I’m not reaching them or they’re not learning, I take it personally; it’s on me,” Armstrong said. “I need to communicate differently. I either need to use different words or no words at all, or use a visual or come up with a different analogy, or relate to their life in a different way. It’s like an Easter egg hunt. I generally always find what people can relate to and when I find it, it’s the same joy that you get when you find that little Easter egg or that little surprise. I still get that joy.”

Armstrong moved to Steamboat Springs in 2007, serving as technical director at Steamboat Springs Resort, then as alpine director at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. She started filming instructional videos when she took over as the U-10 head coach in 2014 as a tool to prepare her coaching staff.

“It all started very organically,” Armstrong said. “These coaches were very part time; they had other jobs. They weren’t sitting awake at night thinking about skiing like I was, but I had lofty goals. And I wanted those coaches to show up prepared and ready to go. I wanted us all to be on the same page. So, I would make videos. And those were the first early videos that are still on my YouTube channel today.”

Armstrong acknowledged knowing nothing about YouTube at the time, but after doing it for a couple of years, came to learn that there was an audience out there interested in the content.

“I absolutely love the power of YouTube, and that somebody who has never skied before can come to my channel and get some really good ideas of their first day out, or a parent, or a brother, or a sister, uncle, whatever that wants to introduce a family member and have some ideas to do it safely and in a way that can be more successful. What I believe I’m doing, hopefully, is bringing more people into the sport.”

Clicking on any of Armstrong’s videos will give viewers an immediate glimpse of the authentic process that makes them so popular.

“I’ll go out on the hill and somebody may ask me a question on the chairlift and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s a great topic,’ ” Armstrong said. “And I always have my GoPro in my pocket. So, I can get my GoPro out right then and there and snap something or I can go home and make a little bit of a plan about it.”

Sometimes a video might require a videographer, but Armstrong says she never works from a script.

“I know the content well enough that I’m able to just go with it, to maximize the moment in asking the right question or a follow-up question or building upon it with this or that,” she said.

Armstrong does all her own editing, knowing instinctively how to put the story together to convey a message based on the footage she’s gotten. Ski instructors and coaches reach out to thank her for the material that they’ve been able to put to use in their own beginner, intermediate or expert lessons.

“I take pride in that,” Armstrong said. “I have so much respect for ski instruction, and it’s kind of become my new quest in wanting to be an expert at it. I know how much I put in to try to get it that I don’t take it lightly. I think about it a lot and I challenge myself a lot.”

Despite everything she’s accomplished in skiing, Armstrong sees her YouTube channel as an opportunity to make a different type of mark on the industry, to leave a legacy, and to help the everyday skier while she’s at it.

“Everything is relative,” she said. “I’m still a student of the sport and I’m still learning every single day. That’s what’s so fun about it. I think I get joy out of making the videos because it keeps me living my passion.”