Backing off...

[dmc]

So I was thinking about being in JH a couple years ago.. Was riding with locals that trip... Guys were insane..
Anyrate...

First day they wanted to hike over to Pucker Face... I wasn't psyched since i just got there... didn't want to appear to be a bitch so i asked.. "After you moved here - how long before you rode that?" Guy said "a couple weeks"... I said "dude - I just got here... How about we wait a couple days?"... He laughed... We did pow 8's instead... A few continued up to puckerface

It's an easy tactic to back down when with locals...

 

[skiadikt]

no shame there. i'm assuming you're talking about hiking at altitude ... here in the east i'm game for earning turns (done tux about a dozen times) but out west is another story. no way even within a week am i in any shape to do any hiking. at 12k i'm sucking wind standing still. about the only hiking i've done out west is from supreme over to catherines at alta and that's pretty flat.

 

[riverc0il]

I've backed off away from stuff before. No shame. Harder to do when in a group. I have never thought backing off was a bad decision after the fact but have thought not backing off was a bad decision after the fact.

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

thought I was going to have to bail on a hike up Cody peak this year...the knife edge at the start of the hike was totally bare...all rock, no snow and it was windy and mostly cloudy...no where near ideal. I've done the hike before but it always had more snow on it...fortunately the two guys leading the way decided it wasn't the day for it so we headed over to four pines for a very sweet and completely untracked run. Its important to push yourself, but its even more important to know when to listen to the little voice in your head and when to tune it out.

 

[deadheadskier]

Been on both sides of this here. Actually being the local feels worse. I took a couple of AIG suits out to ski Tusk in Smuggler's Notch in way less than ideal conditions and thought two of them were going to have a coronary from over exertion.

They weren't too pleased when I finally coached them down to the bottom when I said, "Want to do it again? I think it'll be broken up better this time around now that we've been down it." :lol:

Pretty young and stupid of me at the time.

 

[Beetlenut]

Several times I wish I would have in retrospect! And yes I had to each time I went out West on the first day of skiing. Altitude sickness is a humbling experience!

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

So I was thinking about being in JH a couple years ago.. Was riding with locals that trip... Guys were insane..
Anyrate...

First day they wanted to hike over to Pucker Face... I wasn't psyched since i just got there... didn't want to appear to be a bitch so i asked.. "After you moved here - how long before you rode that?" Guy said "a couple weeks"... I said "dude - I just got here... How about we wait a couple days?"... He laughed... We did pow 8's instead... A few continued up to puckerface

It's an easy tactic to back down when with locals...

Nice..I always make myself pass on the big mofo booters..I know what speed to hit them and am confident that I'll land on the sweet spot but I've come up short enough times to know that a hard flat icy landing is not good for my almost middle aged body..

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Been on both sides of this here. Actually being the local feels worse. I took a couple of AIG suits out to ski Tusk in Smuggler's Notch in way less than ideal conditions and thought two of them were going to have a coronary from over exertion.

They weren't too pleased when I finally coached them down to the bottom when I said, "Want to do it again? I think it'll be broken up better this time around now that we've been down it." :lol:

Pretty young and stupid of me at the time.

been there done that...so many times at Stowe or when I skied Bridger Bowl alot..some random person on the lift would want to see the good and ended up getting in over their heads following me...simple woods shots at Stowe between National and Starr are way challenging to some...I remember making about 10 turns..stopping and the guy was frozen sideways..we bailed out to National which was way over his head..

At Bridger Bowl this one guy from Minnesota I think wanted to know where the powder was 2 days after a storm..we traversed a big to a cool overlooked gully which still had fresh pockets of powder..not untracked but enough that you could at least make your turns in fresh..so even though it was only like a 30 degree pitch..the guy doesn't even know how to ski powder..there's no bailout until a cat-track several hundred vert below and he's stabbing his poles and huffing and puffing. Now I try to see things in other peoples eyes..what's edgeable to me is icy to others and I have a high threshold for crappy ski conditions living in the east..what sucks for some is at least tolerable for me..Now I miss skiing more.

 

[Johnskiismore]

There no shame backing off, when you know you're not up to it, well, you know! Better to go in confident and feeling strong rather than not so sure..... as I have done quite a few times!

 

[RootDKJ]

I've backed off while skiing with the Blue Crue when I wasn't feeling like being aggressive or just didn't want to ski a particular trail.

No issues. Everyone is pretty good about waiting up at the bottom. Except that Gorgonzola guy...







Just kidding :beer:

 

[shpride]

It is hard for me to back off. It doesn't have to do with pressure, but I get so excited to do something that I just get after it.

I took my first trip out west this year. I was at Breck my first day, and swore to myself I would take it easy the first day because I didn't know what the altitude would do to me. By the third run of the day I was standing at the top of the mountain about to hop into the Lake Chutes.

 

[mattchuck2]

I generally don't back off on anything unless there's some outward dangers that are present (avalanches, poor visibility, very bad snow conditions). I figure if the guys that I'm skiing with can do it, there's no reason that I can't.

 

[dmc]

I generally don't back off on anything unless there's some outward dangers that are present (avalanches, poor visibility, very bad snow conditions). I figure if the guys that I'm skiing with can do it, there's no reason that I can't.

Even if it's a knife edge hike to an open steep face with cliffs on the first day of a vacation?

 

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

not backing off is of utmost importance. you just can't do that and consider yourself hardcore.

that's why, if i sense someone might be concocting some insane plan, i'll preemptively one-up them (taking care to make sure the plan isn't so crazy as to be unbelieveable), that way, when that person inevitably backs off, i can be the hero and, subsequently, when the backer-off eventually suggests their insane plan, i can poo-poo it and suggest we take a cruiser and head in for a pitcher of beer.

in the end, everybody wins.

 

[2knees]

I tend to back off when someone utters the phrase "Hey, watch this"

 

[jaywbigred]

This is a good technique. Noted.

 

[RootDKJ]

I tend to back off when someone utters the phrase "Hey, watch this"

Lol

 

[SKidds]

It is hard for me to back off. It doesn't have to do with pressure, but I get so excited to do something that I just get after it.

I took my first trip out west this year. I was at Breck my first day, and swore to myself I would take it easy the first day because I didn't know what the altitude would do to me. By the third run of the day I was standing at the top of the mountain about to hop into the Lake Chutes.

Altitude can present an issue when you have to earn your turns at 13,000 feet. Of course, it isn't as much of an issue when alls you gots to do is take a couple of lifts to get there . The Imperial Express chair has made accessing the Lake Chutes just a wee bit easier than it used to be! Props for bagging the terrain, though. That is some steep s@#$! When my brother and I did them it was a 45 minute hike from the top of the T-bar to get there.

While I hear what people are saying about the altitude and taking time to acclimatize before you start hiking, that is a luxury most people don't have. Fortunately, the one time I was out west I was in Denver for a couple of days on business prior to hitting the Summit County resorts. So adjusting in the mile high city helped a bit, but once at the resorts it was go hard or go home for three days, bagging hike-to 13,000 ft summit terrain on the East Wall at A Basin and the Lake Chutes at Breck, fortunately without altitude sickness of any sort.

 

[mattchuck2]

Even if it's a knife edge hike to an open steep face with cliffs on the first day of a vacation?

In those situations, I always find the knife edge hike to be more terrifying than the open steep face with cliffs. Once I have my skis on, I'll ski with pretty much anyone. If the other guys aren't pros, I'd imagine that they rarely take you on anything super super hairy that I would avoid (mandatory 30+ footers, doubles, lines that end in cliffs that can only be aired with parachutes).