realskiers

From my days on the slope with Gary, he exemplifies smiling and having fun. He goes out of his way to assure all skiing with him have a similar experience, with, the possible exception of being a little anal about being on the first chair on a powder day. No friends on powder days!

There is much written on how individuals perceive activities, like skiing or golf, as "think" vs. "feel". Do you feel the snow, or, think about technique? I'm a techni-crat by nature, tending to think, read over-think, and, not enjoy the whole experience. I get wrapped up in technique when going down the hill, but, riding chairs is much more a "feel" experience as I can just sit back and soak up the views and personal interaction. Skiing with others is a very positive aspect of our sport. I doubt very much, that I would enjoy just skiing by myself, day in and day out. There is a lot to be said about reaching out to the non-normal side of experiencing a situation, ie think vs feel. I ski with many who never give technique a second thought, it's just fun for them. I need to experience the feel side of skiing more. Just let it go and enjoy. We should all do a little report on the feel/fun side of skiing sometime this season.

I've played golf many times with people who are having a very bad day. I'm not sure the same is true in skiing, it's much closer to the "playing" we all did as kids. We all play together on the slopes, then go back home, to reality, at the end of the day.