"I am a very good skier" - Discuss

I think the rating of ability is probably actually irrellevant for many people on this forum. Most of us are recreational skiiers or snowboarders, we do it 2 or 3 times a year to get away from life, to lose ourselves in something we enjoy.

Does it matter if you are a beginner, intermediate or expert, or indeed any stratification of those levels? Afetr all it does not get you a medal does it?

My mate who I go boarding with has almost the same number of days under his belts as me with 40, so neither of us are very experienced. He has superior technique in terms of pointing the board down the hill and carving at a constant speed. I on the other hand am a lot happier at a higher speed using my turns less often than him and can ride either direction at that speed with equal ability. Who is the best? I dont really know to be honest, we may take a run together and a some parts he is a good distance behind me, and in others he copes much better than I do. We both get down around the same time, and we are both racing for the lift to get back and do it again. Does it really matter??

I would go on to say that your level (unless a proffesioal) is of little or no relevence. What is important is what you do next, how you take the following step. Sometimes we find it hard to porogress past a certain point, but we must. In Touching the Void by the British Climber Joe Simpson, he must get down Siula Grande in the Outer Andes with a hoorendously shattered leg after having the rope cut on him by his partner (an unavoidable act in the circumstances). Coming down from an incredible height (17,000 ft I think) and across 7 miles of glacier morraine and ice this took hime 5 days with no water or food. He only survived this because of his reluctance to give up and his ability to focus on short term targets rather than the utimate goal, without losing sight of that ultimare goal. He picked a spot in front of him and told himself he must get there inside 20 minutes, over and over for days until fnally he got to saftety.

I know that is a little bit off topic, but until you make that journey in anything you do in life, in this case skiing, then we are all still learners.

tino_11, this is a good thought provoking post. I do see the issue with the next step being oone of personal perception. We may think (in our heads) that the next step is say, to go "steep and deep" because we have done it all on the piste, whereas what we really need is to learn to ski effectively on piste first. How we perceive our ability on skis/board can be radically different to our actual capabilities. This applies equally to both over estimation, underestimation, and lack of self belief. Because of this, some skiers never reach their potential, and always struggle. which is a shame.

Thanks Bandit. I agree its a very personal thing, I went to the Hintertux at the start of May for 3 days boarding alone. Had recntly split up with my girlfriend and need some space to clear my head. Having the confidence in my ability to be out there alone for 3 days in vastly varying conditions was personally very satisfying. No-one there to compare myself to, I concentrated on these small steps more than I normally would, I think it did me no end of good. Will see in the winter :-)

I consider(ed) myself as good as what I've been told by instructors and I was extremely happy with my progress.

I totally agree that it's all about personal happiness. I will be happy when I'm comfortable sailing down the slopes with a smile on my face. Unfortunately, having only been able to ski 13 out of a possible 24 days I'm nowhere near that goal. Realistically, I'm now further away.

I've got to tell you, I'm starting to get nervous about skiing again. I will be on the slopes 51 weeks and 2 days post op so I've got plenty of time but I don't think I'll be the same skier. Did you fellow injured people feel the same?

Apparently my style looks pretty good, but it's all correction on my part - my ski's don't do parallel turns, but it looks like they do... Become quite an adept at schlussing [speling?] which I'm hoping'll help with my aim of boarding this season. Doubt it like, I'll prob look like every 'getting on a bit' guy who straps a plank to his feet to try and look good.

(Tony Hawk doesn't count.

:|

I dont consider myself a good skier or boarder. I am not fast or stylish. I love what I do and every year I improve and learn something new. One thing I never do, and thats not just on the slopes its in all walks of life, I never compare my-self to others. I dont set my targets on what other people can do, I always set them on what I do. That way I dont get too disapointed.

ref. sp. vampyre miss the l and you got it.

caron-a wrote:I consider(ed) myself as good as what I've been told by instructors and I was extremely happy with my progress.

I totally agree that it's all about personal happiness. I will be happy when I'm comfortable sailing down the slopes with a smile on my face. Unfortunately, having only been able to ski 13 out of a possible 24 days I'm nowhere near that goal. Realistically, I'm now further away.

I've got to tell you, I'm starting to get nervous about skiing again. I will be on the slopes 51 weeks and 2 days post op so I've got plenty of time but I don't think I'll be the same skier. Did you fellow injured people feel the same?

Your anxiety is very understandable and quite valid. It may be good for your confidence if you can book a private instructor for the 1st day back on skis. Explain your history, and how you are feeling, and what you want to get back to doing. They can take you through drills and exercises at your personal pace, away from peer pressure. This should go some way to restoring your confidence and trust in your body capabilities :)