Has skiing/boarding changed you?

billski · Dec 31, 2010

Interesting piece by Warren Miller. Have you been changed?

“You know when you went skiing it changed your life forever. Did it change you for the worse? No. If you had been destined to become a criminal, you would have become one whether you skied or not. At the bottom of every ski run you ever make, you are a different person than when you got off at the top. I don’t care who you are or what the snow conditions are like. I use a term that is not very polite, but it is a real psychological enema every time you ski down the hill. All the garbage in your brain kind of drips away and you’ve got to, whether subconsciously or not, focus on how wonderful that freedom is and you can feel it in your body, your knees, your brain…”

For me it changed me on many levels - the need to eliminate every thought from my brain in order to survive, the unencumbered freedom, skiing better and easier, appreciating the mountains more, enjoying the challenge and achieving a level of tranquility afterward. It sure beats laying on the beach.

Have you been changed from what you might have been?

kingslug · Dec 31, 2010

I'm single again...

billski · Dec 31, 2010

kingslug said:
I'm single again...

Because of skiing?

Warp Daddy · Dec 31, 2010

Certainly - if not for an active lifestyle of which skiing is a centerpiece i would be like a normal "inside the bellcurve "almost 68 yr old instead of a farking madman who hurdles himself downhill at ridicuousl speed

..

We all did GPS runs on a backside slope ( not any density of skiers) to clock max speed the other day and scared the shit out of ourselves

Yep tranquility , brain dumps and intellectual cleansing and de-peopling are all GOOD side benefits too

Yeah skiing, biking, hiking, tennis, golf and thrice weekly gym sessions make me who i am not what i could have been an old wrinkly , lard-assed , negative porch sitter -- "Get OFF the Grass Dammit" crotch

Grassi21 · Dec 31, 2010

Absolutely. It wasn't a drastic change, but it brought out some of the more chill sides of my personality and outlook on life. It is a change I am grateful for.

2knees · Dec 31, 2010

yeah. I'm broke and crippled.

Riverskier · Dec 31, 2010

I have skied since I was 5, so I don't really know what life is like without it. Therefore, I can't really say it changed me. I can say for sure that it has enriched my life. While I would still be happy without skiing, and for the most part the same person, I don't think there is any other activity that could provide the same fulfillment (on many levels) as skiing.

Sparky · Dec 31, 2010

2knees said:
yeah. I'm broke and crippled.

but are you happy?

〽❄❅ · Dec 31, 2010

Absolutely! Hey it got my crew and i off the couches and robbing banks in former president of the united states mask to support our habit ...or was that skydiving and surfing bells beach? lol!

riverc0il · Dec 31, 2010

Riverskier said:
I have skied since I was 5, so I don't really know what life is like without it. Therefore, I can't really say it changed me. I can say for sure that it has enriched my life.

This.

I would like to think that I changed my life for skiing, not that skiing changed my life. And if it wasn't skiing, I'd be fanatically obsessed with some other form of outdoor athletic recreation that I would have changed my life for in different ways.

2knees · Dec 31, 2010

Sparky said:
but are you happy?

as a pig in shit!

Hawkshot99 · Dec 31, 2010

Got me a sweet job.

billski · Dec 31, 2010

riverc0il said:
This.

I would like to think that I changed my life for skiing, not that skiing changed my life. And if it wasn't skiing, I'd be fanatically obsessed with some other form of outdoor athletic recreation that I would have changed my life for in different ways.

So I guess the question is better directed at those that learned in adulthood, after bad habits had already formed!

drjeff · Dec 31, 2010

Riverskier said:
I have skied since I was 5, so I don't really know what life is like without it. Therefore, I can't really say it changed me. I can say for sure that it has enriched my life. While I would still be happy without skiing, and for the most part the same person, I don't think there is any other activity that could provide the same fulfillment (on many levels) as skiing.

riverc0il said:
This.

I would like to think that I changed my life for skiing, not that skiing changed my life. And if it wasn't skiing, I'd be fanatically obsessed with some other form of outdoor athletic recreation that I would have changed my life for in different ways.

Agreed! I'm now into my 4th decade of skiing, so it's been so long since I haven't skied that I can't really remember my life without the enjoyment I get from it. Even 5 years ago when my youngest kid was born and I only skied for 2 weekends that entire season, it made me realize again the pure enjoyment I get from being outside sliding on snow! Heck, even this morning I couldn't fall back asleep after I 1st woke up at 4AM, out of the sheer anticipation of getting "that" day on the hill where mothernature provides you a nice warm, great day to be outside and the snow does it's 1st transition from dry powdery snow, to slightly wet "hero" snow!

kingslug · Jan 1, 2011

billski said:
Because of skiing?

It was a big contributing factor...loooong story.....not for here...
On the positive side..I learned when I was 31. Before that I rode Motorcycles and didn't like winter all that much..tried skiing twice with bad results. then I was forced to do it and got hooked on it....now I couldn't live without it. Just not sure what it is about it that gets me going. The danger factor is one thing..nothing like looking back up a 50 degree chute and knowing that not many people can or would do something like that...plus its fun to go that fast on you're feet...

hammer · Jan 1, 2011

Yes. On the plus side, I get out more in the winter than I used to and I am more active. Downside is the obsession factor which can drive the rest of the family nuts.

TropicTundR · Jan 1, 2011

Ski Changes

Like many other individual human experiences, skiing activates our primal senses to physically control where we would like to go and dodge the metaphorical obstacles or life lessons placed before us (humans lying on the trail, exposed rock, unforseen patches/bumps)

I think each of us should evaluate how our personal relationships relate to the events we experience on a day of skiing and learn from them.

On a slightly skewed and corny but true observation...the other day I noticed fractal designs on the bare trees (the repeating pattern of the primary branching to secondary,tertiary etc). And an unknown tree type that has red tipped branches (if anyone knows the name please let me know).

bigbog · Jan 1, 2011

Yes, life is richer with the knowledge and enjoyment of ways to get up and slide down snow-covered mountains...in addition to just enjoying nature/wildlife in winter. A profound addition to my enjoyment of nature plus paddling and hiking in wilderness, but it may have taken a toll financially...but nothing in scale to the boredom with life in my pre-skiing years.

abc · Jan 1, 2011

I'd like to say no. I've got other hobbies and obsessions even before taking up skiing. I have the tendency to get into things with a lot of enthusiasm and went all out. So I knew what I was getting into, just one more addiction on top of the rest.

But yes, it kind of changed me. It's the one addiction that broke me financially, since all my other addictions had been very much cheap. The time and money it took to ski made me greedy and stingy on other things. Kind of like graduating from Marijunna to heroin...

Unlike drugs, it's legal. Though more like smoking, it's not a hard addiction, you can quit when you want...

But just not yet...

Nick · Apr 2, 2012

Well hard to say. i've been a skier all my life so I don't know what it would be like without skiing. but I would imagine it would suck.

Has skiing/boarding changed you?

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