Yesterday, from the prompting of an article shared by @hhansman, I laid out my game plan for leading an enjoyable day of skiing from the perspective of a strong skier riding with a friend with less ability. Today, I offer the same advice but from the perspective of the rider seeking to keep up with their experienced friends.
Speak Up!
On the lift you will be roughly 6-60 inches from your friends. Take this time in close proximity to let them know what you're thinking and ask lots of questions (this will be repeated often as it's the best advice). Do you want to warm up with something easy? Tell them! Ask questions like: Do you know this mountain? Have you been here before? Figure out what your friend's game plan is and see how that aligns with your ideas.
Take the time while the snowboarders are strapping in to figure out a meeting point and know to which lift you are headed. If you rely on being able to visually follow your friends, you can easily be led into terrain more difficult than you desired, or worse, your friends can disappear out of sight and you will be left with no clue of where you're headed (and what trouble you're getting into).
Take advantage of your experienced friends' knowledge. Ask them what kind of terrain they are headed to and see if there are easier alternatives nearby. Odds are that your friends will have been to the mountain before and will be able to give you suggestions for trails that suit your level.
Eat shit!!!!!!!!
Do you remember seeing this yesterday in the advice to the shredders? Well, it's good advice for you too. To borrow a phrase from my grandfather, "A day you don't fall down is a day you didn't learn anything." The strongest riders amongst my friends are still working on plenty of aspects of their form. Make the most of riding with better skiers and let them lead you into something you've never tried before.
Take your time, work your way through around the mountain and take an extra second to dust yourself off when you eat it. Whatever you do, just remember that the only way to do it wrong is to take the board(s) off and walk. There are plenty of ass-slide maneuvers that can get you down your poorest choices while keeping some of your dignity intact.
Don't eat too much
While I feel the best thing you could do for your day is to follow your friends into a slope you wouldn't normally select, there are limitations to this. As was suggested to the pros, when stepping it up to the next level, it is good to have outlets should the terrain become too overwhelming. Taking on a tough challenge earlier in the day before the legs are beaten up is a good way to avoid disasters. This being said, the first run of the day is not the time for the cliff jump.
Don't agree to do a slope just to try to keep up with your friends. If you aren't a strong enough rider, you won't keep up with your friends. They can quickly disappear and leave you alone to fight your way down the crusty bumps (unless they are heeding my advice).
Find other routes that reconnect with your friends after they jump off the cliff. The challenges you take should inspire you to do something even harder on your next day, not leave you with nightmares of the day you spent two hours crawling down one run. Feel like you’ve accomplished something, not that you’ve simply survived.
Ask more questions
Again, friends who are more experienced on the mountain possess knowledge that should be of use to you. Pry that knowledge out of them and try out some new techniques. They are probably already waiting to give you advice, but if they are following my suggestion from yesterday, they are politely withholding comment until it is requested.
For those most interested in learning a better technique for their riding, I encourage you to study the words of the great golf instructor Harvey Penick. Penick's Little Red Book provides very wise lessons not on the mechanics of the golf swing, but on the psychology of instruction and learning. Chief amongst his rules of instruction was to only use positive language in describing proper positions, targets and methods. The emphasis was on the goal and with proper focus upon doing things the right way, it led the golfer to focusing on where they wanted to go, rather than on where they feared they might end up.
Take the same careful approach when discussing skiing and snowboarding with your friends and ask them to be as precise as possible in presenting their tips and advice. Ask them to demonstrate the actions they describe.
Watch your friends and see if they do the things they suggest. Be sure to ask them afterward. If you watched me all day on the mountain, you’d see me make a lot of sloppy turns in a manner that I would recommend to no one. Ask your friends if they executed the maneuvers as they planned or if they cheated the turn and got lazy.
Be ready for more fun
As I told the experts, a swimming suit should be mandatory ski gear. Not for the mountain, but for the aprés ski. You never know who you’ll run into that wants to offer you a beer a soak. Have a suit handy so you don’t have to offend their senses.
Also, don’t be so tired that you’re capable of doing little more than fill space on the couch. Yes, you have the excuse of enduring all of your friend’s dumb ideas. No, they aren’t going to be all that sympathetic. Be prepared for the friend with endless energy to want to go party in Breck and rage all night.
Enjoy!
However you approach the slopes, I would hope you leave them with good memories of an awesome day. You’re skiing, not working after all.
What do you think? What other advice would you offer for either the beginner or the expert in playing nicely with others?
Speak Up!
On the lift you will be roughly 6-60 inches from your friends. Take this time in close proximity to let them know what you're thinking and ask lots of questions (this will be repeated often as it's the best advice). Do you want to warm up with something easy? Tell them! Ask questions like: Do you know this mountain? Have you been here before? Figure out what your friend's game plan is and see how that aligns with your ideas.
Take the time while the snowboarders are strapping in to figure out a meeting point and know to which lift you are headed. If you rely on being able to visually follow your friends, you can easily be led into terrain more difficult than you desired, or worse, your friends can disappear out of sight and you will be left with no clue of where you're headed (and what trouble you're getting into).
Take advantage of your experienced friends' knowledge. Ask them what kind of terrain they are headed to and see if there are easier alternatives nearby. Odds are that your friends will have been to the mountain before and will be able to give you suggestions for trails that suit your level.
Eat shit!!!!!!!!
Do you remember seeing this yesterday in the advice to the shredders? Well, it's good advice for you too. To borrow a phrase from my grandfather, "A day you don't fall down is a day you didn't learn anything." The strongest riders amongst my friends are still working on plenty of aspects of their form. Make the most of riding with better skiers and let them lead you into something you've never tried before.
Take your time, work your way through around the mountain and take an extra second to dust yourself off when you eat it. Whatever you do, just remember that the only way to do it wrong is to take the board(s) off and walk. There are plenty of ass-slide maneuvers that can get you down your poorest choices while keeping some of your dignity intact.
Don't eat too much
While I feel the best thing you could do for your day is to follow your friends into a slope you wouldn't normally select, there are limitations to this. As was suggested to the pros, when stepping it up to the next level, it is good to have outlets should the terrain become too overwhelming. Taking on a tough challenge earlier in the day before the legs are beaten up is a good way to avoid disasters. This being said, the first run of the day is not the time for the cliff jump.
Don't agree to do a slope just to try to keep up with your friends. If you aren't a strong enough rider, you won't keep up with your friends. They can quickly disappear and leave you alone to fight your way down the crusty bumps (unless they are heeding my advice).
Find other routes that reconnect with your friends after they jump off the cliff. The challenges you take should inspire you to do something even harder on your next day, not leave you with nightmares of the day you spent two hours crawling down one run. Feel like you’ve accomplished something, not that you’ve simply survived.
Ask more questions
Again, friends who are more experienced on the mountain possess knowledge that should be of use to you. Pry that knowledge out of them and try out some new techniques. They are probably already waiting to give you advice, but if they are following my suggestion from yesterday, they are politely withholding comment until it is requested.
For those most interested in learning a better technique for their riding, I encourage you to study the words of the great golf instructor Harvey Penick. Penick's Little Red Book provides very wise lessons not on the mechanics of the golf swing, but on the psychology of instruction and learning. Chief amongst his rules of instruction was to only use positive language in describing proper positions, targets and methods. The emphasis was on the goal and with proper focus upon doing things the right way, it led the golfer to focusing on where they wanted to go, rather than on where they feared they might end up.
Take the same careful approach when discussing skiing and snowboarding with your friends and ask them to be as precise as possible in presenting their tips and advice. Ask them to demonstrate the actions they describe.
Watch your friends and see if they do the things they suggest. Be sure to ask them afterward. If you watched me all day on the mountain, you’d see me make a lot of sloppy turns in a manner that I would recommend to no one. Ask your friends if they executed the maneuvers as they planned or if they cheated the turn and got lazy.
Be ready for more fun
As I told the experts, a swimming suit should be mandatory ski gear. Not for the mountain, but for the aprés ski. You never know who you’ll run into that wants to offer you a beer a soak. Have a suit handy so you don’t have to offend their senses.
Also, don’t be so tired that you’re capable of doing little more than fill space on the couch. Yes, you have the excuse of enduring all of your friend’s dumb ideas. No, they aren’t going to be all that sympathetic. Be prepared for the friend with endless energy to want to go party in Breck and rage all night.
Enjoy!
However you approach the slopes, I would hope you leave them with good memories of an awesome day. You’re skiing, not working after all.
What do you think? What other advice would you offer for either the beginner or the expert in playing nicely with others?
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