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Giving up skiing

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
7 seasons here and I feel as if I've got as far as I can go. My skiing has advanced to the stage where, to get my kicks, its all becoming a tad risky. Boring, I know but I want to grow old gracefully. Piste skiing ended for me 2 years ago and even off-piste is loosing its appeal. Maybe I've reached a natural conclusion having done more than a lifetimes worth? I never thought it would be possible to feel like this?
Can anyone else imagine giving up?
Sad Sad
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Let's see how you feel in november wink
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
chris,
Quote:

Can anyone else imagine giving up?


NO
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I shall only give up when I'm no longer physically able...

However, I think I view it very differently to you. For me it's not about challenging myself and 'getting kicks', I just enjoy being in the mountains having a holiday that's completely different to my humdrum life and cruising about on the pistes. I don't get a thrill from taking risks and I'm not a thrillseeker at all...

Each to their own. Maybe you need to start throwing yourself out of planes or something? Or just chill out and cease looking at life as some sort of competition...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Me neither. Have you tried different disciplines? Snowboard, tele, XC?
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queen bodecia,

Quote:

I don't get a thrill from taking risks and I'm not a thrillseeker at all...



Dont you ride a Honda Fireblade Shocked Shocked
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chris, I feel I have reached a similar but lower plateau. I have also had really bad arthritic pain for weeks after each jaunt. I have other things in my life that are gradully eroding my skiing obsession.....BUT the thought of that cold beer at the end of the perfect day will always keep me going.

It is now more about the whole ambience of skiing rather than skiing itself.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
kwakazx6r, yes I do. Rather slowly and cautiously too although I did a couple of track days some years back. My enjoyment of riding my bike isn't about scaring myself...
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sure... I can understand it. giving up is a bit further away...but I can see lack of motivation at times....

Some skiing bores me so you look for better thrills and with that comes other issues.

Fitness, improvment, more risks etc etc etc ....plus you can OD on it as well, IMV which is why I have never wanted to do it as a job. Hobbies that become jobs
soon loose their appeal to my thinking....having been in that sort of situation..

Perfectly understandable..IMV chris..
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I think this is where men and women differ. A gross generalisation maybe but women are more happy to pursue their hobbies for enjoyment factor, for men enjoyment means making it more of a challenge, i.e. trying to ride motorcycle like Rossi, skiing down steep rocky gullies or chatting up the hot bird 20 years their junior...

Maybe one day the powers of science will invent a cure for testosterone? It might make the world a safer place... Very Happy
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Frosty the Snowman, JT, thanks guys. Glad to see some people understanding my situation.
kwakazx6r, queen bodecia, I gave up bikes some years ago too. Wouldn't have thought that possible either.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Any one got the name of a good asylum? Have you considered touring or tyring diffrent resorts? I mean 7 years is not a long time to be skiing? But I dont think the thought has ever occured to me
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I can't imagine giving up, but neither have I been living in a ski resort for 7-years.

I can imagine that eventually you get bored of something if you had it all the time. When there are always biscuits in the tin - who wants biscuits?
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
10 years ago I'd be keen to go out skiing in high winds, low vis and icy runs with brown patches (no not Scotland but Kaprun in October). Now I'm not so keen. Still like the biscuits but only want the chocolate ones now. Can understand someone who has done many seasons loosing the attraction of skiing esp if more risk is the only way of getting the same level of fun.

So what skis / ski equipment are you going to be selling us cheap then ? Toofy Grin (Some people never lose the love of skiing, for everyone else there's ebay)
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Frosty the Snowman, and you haven't sampled the delights of Montalbert.......................... yet Toofy Grin

Chris I guess quite a few folk who live in the mountains feel/have felt the same way, in Montalbert there are ex FIS skiers, a twice world champion, and people who have lived on the mountain since they were born, I've noticed they tend to ski only when it's a bluebird day and then way off the tourist areas and only with like minded friends. There's a moral in there somewhere Toofy Grin

Boris - a bit like marriage then? Puzzled
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Boredsurfing, yes - every now and again you need to have a crumpet
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chris, Ordhan makes the same suggestion I was going to - have you considered touring? I can see how repeating the same run (on or off-piste) hundreds of times could get a bit boring, although the variation in snow conditions you get off-piste does add variety. Getting away from the lift system though will open up more and more of the mountain without having to challenge yourself with progressively more risky descents from the same lift. It does require a bit of a mindset change though, and get your enjoyment from being in different parts of the mountain, getting different views of (maybe) familiar territory, and savouring each peak etc.. You also have quite a lot of time on the way up to appreciate the details of the scerey that you would miss as you speed by on the way down.

Are you also sure you've got the the highest technical level you can? I've improved hugely over the last two years (with some coaching from several very good coaches and a lot of detailed technical practice) am still doing so, and so am finding new stuff to do on and new ways to ski even very familiar routes (I've just come back from my 6th trip to LG in the last 4 years) doing it a bit better each time, and can see that going on for several years yet.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
May I ask what you find too risky?

Being a young wippersnapper and with a lot to learn and progress, I can't really understand where you're coming from.

Maybe instead of giving it up completely, just don't ski as regularly.
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chris, Sad Sad That is very sad news, I can't imagine not skiing, but I do see where you are coming from. How about moving to a different resort ?
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We've just finished the 7th season in our apartment. I agree it's about the whole ambience, and above all about being in the mountains. We also love being there in the late spring/summer/autumn. We don't ski every day, by any means, and certainly not if the entire mountain is covered in cloud. We have a lot of friends and family who come to stay, we come home for the 4 busy weeks of French holidays, we also do things in the mountains that we would do here - read, listen to music, cook delicious meals, go for walks, go shopping, have siestas. Trying other sports also makes a change - we've done some cross country, we have snowshoes, I sometimes snowboard. On a bright sunny day a trip down to Lake Annecy is a delight. In fact, we can do anything we would do here in the winter, but also go skiing etc. And the weather is far better - a much higher proportion of sunny days. There are a number of other areas we could visit, quite close by, but this year our only excursion outside the Espace Diamant was to Areches-Beaufort.

We don't seek thrills either, because we're too old and not good enough skiers. I like to feel I become more skilful each winter, but for me that doesn't have to mean anything very dramatic.

Like FtS we find that if we ski too hard for too long we get sore. I had one really hard fast morning this year, with some young Belgian guys who didn't know the area and wanted to see it all. We were on the first lift and by 1 pm, when we stopped for a picnic my knees were protesting. But a couple of Ibuprofen and a day or two taking it easy, and they were OK. It's hard to do that when you only have a week though.

We're so far from fed up with it that we will be doing a week in Les Deux Alpes in June and - quite possibly - 3 days in Tignes in October, lie last year. But it's not just about skiing, by any means.
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pam w, you really know how to rub it in down't you wink

Sounds ideal to me snowHead
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Boris wrote:
pam w, you really know how to rub it in down't you wink

It is a nice area, I have spent the last three seasons there too.

I can understand what chris wrote though, I don't think that I am going to get any better than I am now.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Only 4.5 decades skiing and I still love it and plan to hike a closed ski area today and ski a open one tomorrow, I did have to go tele to keep the entertainment factor up and I get a lot of off-piste/backcountry. I don't ski as hard daily as I used to, but still I go, and I really love the bluebird days with beers and friends at the end of the day, always loved that part of skiing.

chris, Good luck finding the joy in your next sport, I'll be one of the old ones with bad knees and hobbling ungracefully. Toofy Grin
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chris, take a break...accept that the season is all but over and only bother again in 30cms of fresh and a bluebird day.... wink

Take stock in the summer and go from there.... but there may be something in hitting a wall...in every sense ...so redefine that wall and maybe have afresh outlook next year.

However, if you feel the malais is terminal..... Shocked Shocked take Lin's big skis away .. wink

Maybe, you have just pigged out just a tad too much this time round
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GrahamN wrote:
chris, Ordhan makes the same suggestion I was going to - have you considered touring? I can see how repeating the same run (on or off-piste) hundreds of times could get a bit boring, although the variation in snow conditions you get off-piste does add variety. Getting away from the lift system though will open up more and more of the mountain without having to challenge yourself with progressively more risky descents from the same lift. It does require a bit of a mindset change though, and get your enjoyment from being in different parts of the mountain, getting different views of (maybe) familiar territory, and savouring each peak etc.. You also have quite a lot of time on the way up to appreciate the details of the scerey that you would miss as you speed by on the way down.


x2 - I actually think I'd be pretty bored of pure lift-served resort skiing now (with one or two exceptions). most of my best skiing memories from the last few seasons have involved a bit/lot of walking/skinning

Quote:
Are you also sure you've got the the highest technical level you can? I've improved hugely over the last two years (with some coaching from several very good coaches and a lot of detailed technical practice) am still doing so, and so am finding new stuff to do on and new ways to ski even very familiar routes (I've just come back from my 6th trip to LG in the last 4 years) doing it a bit better each time, and can see that going on for several years yet.


This is an interesting question for me - brought home by my sideslipping incident on the Pan du Rideau. Part of me wants to break through that fear and carry on pushing my barriers. The other part of me says that this is getting well into the realms of skiing where one mistake could have really serious consequences and how far into that do I want to get? An interesting thing for me to contemplate over the summer...
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I was the same with rock climbing, mad keen obseesed for a few years pushing myself, climbing harder and harder grades, then a few near misses, a few friends taking falls and I stopped for a while and now enjoy it occasionally at a much lower grade purely as 'fun'

I've been skiing for 25 years and am still rubbish so no worries for me about reaching the plateau Laughing
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chris, You've just got to the end of the 'holiday' skiing trail. there are lots of other things to do though, and you can't retire until you've skied LG! Shocked I'm going to try telemarking next week. Very Happy Very Happy There is snowboarding, lots of suggestions as per the other posters. You have not reached the end, only a change. I couldn't amuse myself skiing for more than an hour of so these days, but I still enjoy my one run home each day (well not today.)
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I can't imagine this feeling. I still like to be on skis and challenging myself, at every opportunity. I especially love skiing with my daughters who are much more accomplished than me.

I've had a couple of heavy falls this season. Nothing new in that, but I am noticing that the injuries, while not incapacitating, seem to take longer to heal with advancing years. I'm still not minded to slow up.


Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much on Fri 17-04-09 15:45; edited 1 time in total
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I am by no means a great skier and thought it was going to be 1 trip this year, but am really looking forward to the EOSB, but probably more for the fun and atmosphere than the actual skiing.

My other passion is flying and it has become relatively cheaper than skiing in the last 12 months, believe it or not. Sking is getting expensive.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
chris, Shocked How can you even think about giving up!!!! I'm sitting here having had a fantastic day in Monetier. It was good just to get the snow under our skis again after everything that has happened this winter. Yes we took the pistes and also took it easy, as it was JulesB's first day on skis since he broke his neck, and at no point did he ever consider not skiing again. Life is full of risks , even if you don't ski.
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queen bodecia wrote:
I think this is where men and women differ. A gross generalisation maybe but women are more happy to pursue their hobbies for enjoyment factor, for men enjoyment means making it more of a challenge, i.e. trying to ride motorcycle like Rossi, skiing down steep rocky gullies or chatting up the hot bird 20 years their junior...

Maybe one day the powers of science will invent a cure for testosterone? It might make the world a safer place... Very Happy


If they didn't have testosterone you'd be tootling around on an Enfield Laughing Who do you think designed blades Puzzled

Then again... I was looking at some great photo's of Lynn Hill leading the 3000 ft route up El Capitan. Amazing bold and commiting climb and she was the only person in the world who free climbed it without using aid. Probably the best climber in the world at that time.
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Have you tried Utah, Tahoe, Interior BC, skied down the side of a smoking volcano in South America (not very dangerous at all), heliskiing etc - thers's more than one type of snow in the world
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
We are four days away from 100 days this season -

fingers crossed I don't fall down the stairs again like 2 years ago when I broke my kneecap at this stage (and no, I wasn't drunk it was 7 in the morning!") - and would not be anywhere else for now - but we take it easy, bimble around, have friends and guests to stay and just love being in the mountains. I am going to take lessons again next year - after many years without them - just to be able to not wimp out of doing things as I sometimes do at the moment.

My OH says we can be poor at home or poor in the mountains and he knows which he prefers - we have to eat in any case, and once you have taken that deep breath and bought the season pass, and I just think of all the shoes I do not wear out by wearing my ski boots day after day....
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chris, I have had similar thoughts. I note easiski's comment, though.
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chris, I tend to get all into one hobby and after a few years get bored with em or as good as i will ever get at it and then move onto something else. Used to like flying planes, then it was beach volleyball, then golf and now skiing... in a few years time who knows... my money is on diving or chatting up birds 20 years my junior as queen bodecia suggests (i can stretch to 15 at the moment without it feeling like an extreme sport) Toofy Grin
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How could any (male) get bored of watching beach volleyball ?

Re. the male vs female psychology thing, I am still happy skiing even though I reached a very poor plateau that probably equates to a decent 2nd / 3rd week skier. I have a female colleague who isn't happy unless she is going as fast as possible down steep runs in Verbier on a mountain bike and whose idea of a relaxing weekend is taking part in 24 hour races. Another female collegue drives her horse to Germany after work on a Friday to take part in competitions and is back at her desk (in the West Country) first thing Monday.
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truffaut wrote:
Another female collegue drives her horse to Germany after work on a Friday to take part in competitions and is back at her desk (in the West Country) first thing Monday.


poor horse! Shocked
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Christopher wrote:
May I ask what you find too risky?

Being a young wippersnapper and with a lot to learn and progress, I can't really understand where you're coming from.

Maybe instead of giving it up completely, just don't ski as regularly.


I expect he means risks skiing offpiste / in the backcountry such as avalanches and no fall zones.
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chris,

"7 seasons" = more than a lifetimes worth? Hmmm.

"taking risks" - "to get kicks"? Hmmm.

I've skied 34 years and something like 200 weeks. I would hope for at least another 34 years and hopefully an increased ratio of weeks to years. To get kicks I work on, inter alia the perfect carve (made way to easy by modern kit), more effortless bump ziplining, trying to amuse my young nieces, deciding on which vintage of Mercurey I really like with lunch, railing big mountain turns in waist deep powder on race dept slalom skis, finding perfect spring snow, finding powder 2 weeks after it's snowed, more Mercurey...

...and little of that list so far involves randonnee, helicopters, alternative riding tools, etc.

But I don't live in resort permanently (I would go mad), ski every day (I have a real job), and I don't feel bad if I have a long lunch with mates. Unless it's a real powder day. In which case one has no mates.

I can understand your comment, I think, but I wonder if maybe you don't just need a bit of a rest and a change of scene.

Anyway, take a couple of years off and the sport will have changed beyond recognition when you get back. The slopes will never be groomed and you'll have to learn to ride 203cm SL sticks (or something.
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Quote:
deciding on which vintage of Mercurey I really like with lunch
under a new name, I like your style Very Happy
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