That last hour+ of skiing after a breakthrough..arrggh!

[bigbog]

So have any of you in the moving up stage like myself...experienced some of those breakthrough steps...either on the steeps or in uneven terrain/bumps...within the last [pick your expletive] two hours of last chair...? Is it aggravating or what!!! You're finding the key to unlocking one/several of the doors to terrain freedom...your toes feel warmer....and then you arrive at the mid or bottom chair only to see the sign..."That's All Folks..." ...Don't expect this to go far;-)...

 

[bvibert]

Yup, it often seems like when things are finally starting to 'click' it's time to go home...

 

[deadheadskier]

That sir, is what keeps us all coming back for more.


Also, in a way, we are all on the 'moving up' stage and always will be. It's just the perspective that changes. For me, I just want ski better the next day out than I did the previous day out. Actually, it's even more condensed than that. I'm always trying to make my next run, better than my previous.

I know that I'll never be as good as I was when I was 18. Screaming down a bump course and hucking myself off the airs with reckless abandon are no longer in my skiing vocabulary, and I'm at peace with that. At 32, I'm far from old, but father time certainly has passed me by when it comes to certain aspects of the sport. I'm sure with a major commitment to physical fitness in the off season and spending 80+ days on the hill again, I could get to within 80-90% of my former self. Life circumstances prevent that though.

That all said, I'm still always trying to improve and rip the next run better than my last.

 

[Marc]

Feels a little bit like blue balls, doesn't it? Thanks a lot, ladies.

 

[billski]

Get your breakthrough at Bolton Valley. Much to my suprise, their all day ticket is also good for all night. Wowa zowa!

I tend to plateau for a number of years, then hit a breakthrough, even after 32 years of adult life skiing, I've always got something new to learn. Sometimes it's technique, sometimes it's something psychological.

The biggest breakthough was when I finally stopped "fighting the mountain", stopped muscling down the hill and let form and technique, leverage and momentum do the work.