Ski Psychology - have you overcome the ski 'fear factor'?

A snowHead

I'm not worried about the technique side of things - that's learnable. Folks here say that once I've sorted the technique, the confidence will grow because I can do it and things should be self fulfilling. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has managed to overcome the ski 'fear factor', particularly if you started skiing in your 30's+. You know, when you look at where the lift goes and think 'Oh Boy' (if you're being polite). Anyone that has suffered from the 'fear factor' will know what I am talking about.

A snowHead

I know a snowHead that had succumbed to the fear factor.
Funnily enough though he recovered at some point between his first and second runs in the race at the EoSB last season - either that or it was a really well planned hustle Laughing

Perhaps he could advise or you could just come to the EoSB and try the race - I reckon you'd love it Wink

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Megamum,
As I've said before, as your Technique improves, so will your confidence. What looked scary to you years ago you ski now without a second thought. Build slowly and it will be self fulfilling, don't just go for greatness all at once, because it can catastrophically destroy your confidence, should things go wrong. Most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the runs you are skiing, not go out to scare yourself stupid.

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Megamum,

yeah - i looked at where the beginners lift went and refused to let go of the instructor - for days!!!!

however just recently i skied this

so there you go... and the difference - technique... technique builds confidence...being forced does not really

keep at it - you will get there... ignore the petty fools that attempt to harass...
Very Happy

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little tiger,
Is that the Grand Couloir in Courchevel?

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Spyderman, Grand Couloir at Les Deux Alpes...

oh and Megamum - i was well over 30 when i started to ski ... in fact closer to 40... and since then i have also learnt to rollerblade and started learning to surf Cool

There are also some interesting studies on the effects of testosterone on fear... which explain the generally different attitudes between males and females... and the change in attitude of aging males.... but I seem to have got evicted from one website already for DARING to suggest that throwing folks that are paralysed with fear off cliffs may be a poor strategy and that there may be a testosterone induced difference in fear reactions between the genders.... so I'll leave the articles etc off...

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I got a bad attack of "vertigo" skiing off piste last year, and it really knocked my confidence. I am a fairly competent skier. It occurred when I was skiing off piste in a guided group. It was strange really, it wasn't on too steep a pitch, and it wasn't even exposed. I'd skied worse in the past, in worse conditions.

In hindsight, it happened because there was a long traverse onto the pitch that we were going to ski, and I didn't feel comfortable not knowing exactly what we were going to do, and I managed to wind myself up worrying about it, so much, so that when we started skiing I was really stiff, and struggled, and it all became a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy. To make things worse, I gave up for the day after that first run, which made it much worse when it came to the next day...

suffice to say, the next day didn't go well either, and I ended up doing pretty much the same thing again.

Later on in the same week, I did ski a bit more off piste, but my confidence really took a knock, and it's only really this season that I've recovered. It even had percussions for my piste skiing, and for a while I would find myself getting the fear at the top of steep pitches on black runs. Throwing in the towel early on both days definitely made things much worse for me.

The things that helped me get over it were getting some more lessons, both generally, and specifically on off-piste technique, and secondly, by making sure that I didn't avoid the circumstances that led to the fear in the first place. As I've skied more off-piste since then, my confidence has returned.

I think that the last thing I would say is, just get on and do it. Don't sit at the bottom worrying about how steep it is, definitely don't stand at the top worrying about how you're going to get down it, just drop in, make a turn, make another turn, and then before you know it, you're skiing down it.

Very Happy

After all it is free

Megamum, I don't know if this is of use but in the days before I became fearless I used to "use" my fear in other stressful situations - for example as an el Presidente I had frequently to speak in public. As I rose to my feet, I would think back to the last really hairy run I had done and say to myself "well if I could do that this will be a piece of cake".

Maybe you could reverse that process? I imagine childbirth, for example, must be pretty scary Confused

I would think that not many skiers have not had to overcome the fear factor at one time or another - imagine skating out of the start gate on the Hahnenkaam Shocked

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Yoda - hence my comments on the effects of testosterone.... also i believe from someone who trained DH racers the technique thing still works in this situation...

there is "anxiety" type fear - being worried...

and then there is the "paralytic" type fear.... being frozen stiff(yes I've done it been unable to move at all).... when you are frozen stiff with fear then suggesting "facing the fear" is a poor option... the stiffness is real and will affect performance... which may result in injury.... which then compounds the fear....
having suffered from both types of fear (doh! the first is common) I'll suggest that avoiding the paralytic situations is not a bad strategy... eventually continued exposure and technical improvement changes the level at which the paralysis will set in... Note my example - from top of a purpose built beginners slope with 3 and 5 degree slopes... to GC at L2A.... and still not paralysed....

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I used to be scared at times, but strangely, since getting married and having 4 kids, I seem to be doing more and more stuff now that would have scared me 15 years ago! Like hooning around on my motorbike, riding my mountain bike down steep hills, being happy walking around on high beams and rooftops when working on houses, - lots of silly little things.

And with skiing - well some things did scare me until I realised that even on a really steep or bumpy slope it's dead easy to do a turn and stop, do a turn and stop, do a turn and stop etc. And when you realise how easy it is to stop and not fall off the hill there's really not so much to worry about. I think the times I found it scarey I was standing at the top of a slope and looking at the bottom - and worying that the height of several hundred feet is a long way to fall. But in reality, you only fall a few feet (for me my head goes down 5ft 10 and a half to the ground) and then you might slide a bit - but never as far as you first imagine you might (normally!).

Technique will definitely build confidence. Learn to turn across the slope to slow down or stop (whether you be in snowplough, or carving or whatever) and how to hold a strong edge and you'll realise you ain't going to fly uncontrollably all the way to the bottom. And also realise that when you're across the slope and holding a strong edge, if you find yourself in a pickle you can easily get down the steepest bits by side slipping if necessary - just ease off the edge hold a bit and let the skis gently slip sideways and then get back on the uphill edges to stop! And when skiing down you can constantly control speed by turning across the slope to a greater or lesser extent between each turn. The main things are being able to "read the terrain" - i.e. know which way the slope is going - and knowing how your direction on that terrain is going to affect your speed. My wife had trouble the first time trying to see which way "across the slope" was unless it was on a perfect nursery slope and would whizz off in an undesired direction thinking her skis were across the slope - while the skis were at 90 degrees to the direction of the piste they were still pointed very much down the slope in the direction of the side of the piste! Once she'd figured that then things improved a lot..

snow reports

Fear is your Brain telling you to be cautious. It can save your life. I have skied runs in the past where a fall could and probably would have resulted in serious injury or worse. I won't ski that sort of terrian now, even though my technique is far better now than it was then. I was at the age when you think you are indestructible and it won't happen to me. Fortunately I survived and got smart.

You know it makes sense.

Doug Coombs, Patrick Vallencent, Sylvain Suddain. RIP

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Megamum, I started skiing when I was ~30, I'm now nearly 37. I've experienced a few scarey moments, until very recently I've generally assumed that any new lift terminates in a table top sized space with precipices all around it! And I've had a couple of run in's with icy slopes. For the first problem, I sort of realised that ski resorts don't do that to you, and some of the places I remembered as hairy where I learned to ski I find benign now I have more experience. For the second problem, I discovered that the skis you are on can make a big difference. I've sort of reached the point now where I realise the run grading (blue, red, black) isn't that important - but the conditions (how crowded it is, how icy) are.

A snowHead

Spyderman is right. People without fear usually end up in trouble. If you are scared of something, there's probably a good reason. Stay on slopes you are comfortable with for the most part to build confidence and then try things that are just on the edge of your comfort zone when you're feeling at your best. Slowly, but surely, you will extend your limits. I started skiing young and rarely suffer fear in normal situations, but I started mountain biking seriously in my 30s and that was a whole different ballpark! I learned the following rules to stay alive and enjoy it:-

1. Always start the day with something you can do easily.
2. Only try difficult stuff when you're feeling at your best and believe you can do it. If you're not happy with something just walk away.
3. When you first achieve something on the edge of your ability, go back to doing something easier again immediately after.

I reckon rule 3 is the most important. I've had my biggest mountain bike crashes after achieving a new goal, getting cocky and then trying something even harder straight afterwards!
.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Spyderman, I was joking! I don't take excessive risks either - too much to lose. It's the irrational fears that hold most people back though - thinking they're going to fall several hundred feet down a piste, when in reality the ground is still right under their feet.

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uktrailmonster,

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Megamum, I learnt to ski at age 40 - I was petrified, the worst in my ski group, I had to go down one run with my instructor in reverse snowplough and me holding her hands, I used to walk halfway down blue pistes because I was too frightened to ski them.

Now 7 years on, I am skiing blacks, some off-piste (not all), I ski quite fast because I like going fast, I feel confident, but not on everything and this has come about because I now have the ability to cope by using the skills and knowledge, I have acquired through the years. Ski lessons are important, and a good instructor. You WILL get there, believe me, you have the fire, you want it just as I did, despite the fear! snowHead

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petemillis,
I was hoping you were joking, I was just proving the point that even skiers at the highest skill levels, that without fear to protect them, they ski terrain where if they fall it will probably be their last. You'd have to put them in the same class as Base Jumpers, fearless adrenalin junkies. I'd love to have their skill level, but I would only ski terrain where if I fell, I would still be around to ski another day.

Arno,
Megamum, Will never be skiing the sort of terrain, that those, probably amongst the greatest technical skiers of all time, skied. They knew the condiderably risks and chose to ignore them. Fear would probably have saved them.
I'm not trying to scare anyone. Better technique will lead to greater confidence, but a little fear is no bad thing.

uktrailmonster,
Me too on the mountain bikes, cost me a fortune in dental work, when I got a bit too cocky.

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Megamum, I am with you on this one. As your technique increases,so will the difficulty of slope that scares you. It is sometimes worth stopping at the bottom of a piste that has tested you and looking back up. Things always look steeper looking back than they do when you are actually on it

After all it is free

I wouldn't recommend avoidance as a coping strategy for any type of fear, or anxiety little tiger. It's not a healthy way of dealing with it.

Megamum, if you are really serious about improving your skiing and getting the mental side sorted out then I can't recommend Carlyle at Prohab enough - (www.prohab.co.uk). I was very skeptical about the whole thing at first but after a couple of sessions my mental block about skiing exposed traverses was cleared. As his website states you need to get everything working for you - equipment, technique and the grey matter if you are going to see serious improvement in your skiing. It may be a bit much for the two weeks a year skier but if you want to improve and ski terrain that you never thought you could then it's worth it

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Megamum, A lot of good comments above which resonate well with my experience. My confidence took a knock last November when I was skiing like a gonk, with jelly legs not realising that it was mild AMS and dehydration to blame. Getting my balance right (weight forwards) helped me recover (I had been sitting back through fear) and skiing with an instructor I trusted, down something quite steep (but not busy, bumpy or icy) helped A LOT. I also found that 'getting angry' with the slope helped me overcome the fear, sort of 'right you b@st@rd, I'm not letting you scare me' (I actually shoted that out loud at one point Embarassed

maybe a tad too much testosterone there Toofy Grin

).

Overall I'd agree with the messages that improving technique helps reduce fear (particularly of steep slopes) and it is defintely worth re-visiting a slope that scared you 'last season' at the end of this one. Mrs Axs was intimidated by the top of the slope at Xscape first time she skied it, we went back for the EB ski demo day and it made her laugh Laughing

(BTW we both started skiing at 40+).

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uktrailmonster, so, are you saying that if something that paralyses you with fear (e.g. the icy double black), it might (sometimes) be a good idea to avoid it?

my tip is try some climbing - you'll find skiing very tame in comparison wink

seriously though I rock-climbed and mountaineered in my teens and early twenties - little since. I've never felt "gripped" when skiing. THe point is that you can train yourself to deal with exposure - just takes practice.

J

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Humans react to fear in two ways.

They fight or flight.

Practice more. Train more. Learn more. Get fitter. Eat better.

And you will gradually fight more, and flight less.

Hard work, both physically and psychologically, is the only way you will overcome fear on the slopes.

A snowHead

Megamum, the best way of overcoming your fear, is to ski with someone who you really trust (ie a good instructor). Then put yourself in their hands. Do what they say. That way you will attempt things that you would never otherwise try. The key is to pick your person carefully....someone who has the skill to assess you and what you are capable of. Then go for it.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Megamum, I'm not Mr Intrepid (I wouldn't go near the Grand Couloir at Courchevel or LDA), but three things helped me become less fearful and more confident of my ability.

1. Having some real purlers and not hurting myself particulalrly badly.
2. Having first class instructors who gave me the confidence to try runs I really didn't fancy.
3. Becoming a more competent skier.

You need to strike a balance between always staying in your comfort zone, and so improving only very slowly and not getting the buzz of doing something really challenging (to you), and being a suicidal maniac. Where that balance lies depends on you, but I'd advise that if you really, really don't fancy a run, don't do it. You're there to enjoy yourself, and only some people enjoy pushing themselves to and beyond their limit. There's no intrinsic virtue in being a good skier or in skiing tricky runs.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Wear The Fox Hat, I think you are confusing the types of fear. Also simply avoiding situations is not a simple solution - as Kramer said, it was not the slope itsself that worried him - he had been in those situations before so how should he have known to avoid it?

After all it is free

little tiger, I see what you're saying now. For some people, "flooding" works as a technique, for others graduated exposure is a better approach. I misunderstood what you were saying. Embarassed

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uktrailmonster, thanks for that.
On another site I argued that point, but was told I was just a stupid testosterone-fueled man for even daring to suggest it.

My question I asked at the time was:
"If someone is regularly and frequently paralyzed by fear, then where does the enjoyment come from in doing the sport?"

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Ski Psychology - have you overcome the ski 'fear factor'?

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