Do you worry about skiing "burn-out"?

[atkinson]

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, "Burn out is as burn out does."

I've been at this for almost thirty years and logged an average of close to hundred days a year for the last thirteen years. Due to a new job and lack of big snow, this was the first season since moving to VT that I wasn't even close to a hundred. But I still got in about seventy days and haven't hung them up yet. Ski season regularly lasts six+ months and there is no other activity that gets me going like skiing does. Hard to believe, huh?

Sure, this time of the year, I will probably go for a bike ride over a long hike for a short ski, but given the choice between a powder run and just about anything else (besides the obvious), I'll take the snow every time. Even when I'm riding the trails, I am pretending to be on snow; carving the corners, catching air, tapping the flow.

I wake up each morning and the first place I look is the summit of Mount Ellen to see how the cover is doing. When that's gone, I start counting the days until the first fall storm. Summer is great, but it is too full of bugs and pollen to really enthrall me.

In skiing and snowboarding, the challenges are endless and the thrills are unrivaled. I'll finish with another quote, from a student at the Kroka School. (A group of these kids skis the length of the Catamount Trail each winter and then build a canoe to paddle back down the Connecticut River. Way cooler than Latin class.) "There is one main difference between skiing and flying: in skiing your wings are attached to your feet."

John
www.catamounttrail.org
www.earnyourturns.com

 

[ALLSKIING]

I don't think think I will ever burn out. Each season I wish I had more time to ski. Skiing is my time away from the things I really don't want to be doing...its my escape. Working at a mountain is another story. If you mixed skiing with working I could see the burn out being a possibility for some.

 

[loafer89]

I started skiing in February 1982, so the 2006-2007 season will be my 25th year of skiing. I started to slow down with my skiing alot during the 2001 and 2002 seasons because it was hard to get out skiing with a new house and a newborn child demanding my attention.. Since 2003 my skiing picked up again with my son learning how to ski. Skiing with my son is alot of fun and he is just as facinated with mountains, snow and skiing as his father is. We just started skiing glades and powder this year, and we are now taking our first western trip next month.

My family is now facing a move away from the coast and closer to the mountains, so it will be interesting to see how much extra skiing occurs next season. I doubt that I will ever tire of skiing, and the summertime serves to make me yearn for a new season with different weather, snow and ski conditions from one year to the next.

 

[hiroto]

I suspect that teaching my kids to ski will keep the fire burning,

I guarantee you it does. Enjoy it next season!

 

[riverc0il]

Do you ever worry though that you will someday lose the passion for skiing?

No.

 

[awf170]

No.

as with the other thread, i always go for quality of quantity.

Nice! Steve probably has the highest quality to quantity in terms of posts.

:lol:

 

[BeanoNYC]

I started skiing way too late in my life to burn out. I am itching to try telemarking even though I have A LOT to learn on alpine.

 

[riverc0il]

that was about as high quality as i get considering some of my wordier posts! in all seriousness... nothing more need be said

 

[kingslug]

I can't imagine getting tired of skiing. I have let other hobbies go though. The thing that does burn me out is the 3 hour drive. I wish I lived closer. I have started to get a little tired of Hunter, except when the west side is in good shape. But it's what I got so I'll deal with it. Better than not going.

 

[teachski]

No, NEVER!

 

[NYDrew]

Burn Out, doubtful.

But I dont fear it, if I stop enjoying skiing, then so be it. I am sure that means I found another activity to be overly passionate about. The switching happens all the time in the summer, paintball, rock climing, hiking, cars, bar hopping etc. There isn't much to do in the winter, and adult hockey leagues are tought to commit to, and pick up games are unseen. Therefore, while I change my hobbies every summer, winter is likely to stay static.

 

[teachski]

No, NEVER!

My fear is that my body will say...no more skiing...well before my mind does.

 

[hammer]

My fear is that my body will say...no more skiing...well before my mind does.

That's not my fear, that's my hope...

 

[ozzy]

funny is that after skiing for 31 years, i enjoy it just as much as day one. i feel as if i do get spoiled though sometimes. like when weekenders come up and think it's the best when you think it's not worth being out here today. also spring can be funky. one day awsome corn and soft snow, it gets cold out and the next groomed out "sugar" snow that isn't all that exciting. those are the days when the groomed is sloppy sugar snow and the ungroomed is frozen. i've seen many of those days and they burn me out skiing them sometimes.

 

[JimG.]

No.

Writing alot of stuff is easy, being short and to the point is hard.

One of your best posts ever Steve, and I agree 100%.

 

[JimG.]

Hard to believe, huh?

Nope.

I started at the age of 4 and next season will be my 45th on skis. EVERY day I head up to the mountains to ski I have butterflys in my gut from the excitement. That will never change.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I can't see it happing to me. I enjoy it more then ever.

 

[Grassi21]

Nope.

I started at the age of 4 and next season will be my 45th on skis. EVERY day I head up to the mountains to ski I have butterflys in my gut from the excitement. That will never change.

I get the butterflies too. Especially when headed to a new mountain. My wife gets so pissed at me the day before or morning of a trip. I rush her out of bed, in the bathroom, packing the car etc. just so we can get the first chair. That bend in the road where the mountain comes into sight is what sets the butterflies loose....

 

[andyzee]

I get the butterflies too. Especially when headed to a new mountain. My wife gets so pissed at me the day before or morning of a trip. I rush her out of bed, in the bathroom, packing the car etc. just so we can get the first chair. That bend in the road where the mountain comes into sight is what sets the butterflies loose....

Damn, you're a better man than me. You're actually able to get your wife out in time for the first chair! Funny thing is, my wife loves skiing, just seems to love sleeping more. :lol:

 

[Greg]

That bend in the road where the mountain comes into sight is what sets the butterflies loose....

Ever been to Sugarloaf? The first time you reach "Oh My God" Turn on Route 27 is a pretty amazing feeling. I was bouncing around the car first time I saw that. You do not see the mountain at all as you drive there, and then.............................










"BAM!" there it is:

:-o