 Poster: A snowHead
|
I am the first to admit I am not at all good at skiing, yet nonetheless I am hooked - totally. I am interested to hear what it is about skiing/boarding that hooked you and keeps you hooked?
For me?
- the breathtaking scenery
- the way I feel so much healthier & more "alive" in the mountain environment
- the challenge of learning new skills
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Butterfly, Are you sure you are not good at skiing? 5K posts does rather suggest a few years sliding about. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
i was thinking the same thing ph! for me there is nothing like waking up to a beautiful bluebird day when there is barely anybody else on your bit of the mountain. Clicking into your skis for the first run of the day, the crispness of the mountain air and the snow sparkling like diamonds, that lovely floaty feeling you get in the deep, the sheer speed and forces you can generate, the scares, the giggles...man i miss it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
I have no bloody idea. If I did I might be able to find a cure and finally get back to some normality in my life.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
ph, I wouldn't put a lot of money on any positive correlation between skiing ability and number of posts. 
Personally I think the addictiveness is because of the enjoyment of improving, and because the sliding is so exhilarating. Sure, the scenery and surroundings are terrific, but they'd be just as terrific if you were walking, or just sitting in a café. Sports such as surfing are equally addictive, I'm sure, but much less accessible to many of us. Downhill skiing on prepared pistes allows people who are not particularly well coordinated, strong, fit or young to experience the sort of physical exhilaration which would normally demand a good deal more expertise and commitment. Just paddling out before picking up a wave would be beyond many of us. The nearest I've come to a similar enjoyment was windsurfing - in warm, tropical, waters. I had a big board and a small sail (the easiest combination) and never got very good at it, but it was equally addictive. In many ways I'd like to get back into it - but I don't think I'd have the strength and cold water just isn't the same. The sort of skiing I do doesn't require any strength or much exertion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Definitely the scenery, plus the exhilarating feeling of sliding, turning, the wind in my hair, the sun on my face. Just being somewhere that is a world away from my humdrum life and forgetting all about proofs, clients and deadlines.
Can't really claim the learning bit, I haven't learned anything about skiing in 20 years or so! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
Butterfly, I read this on a post here a few years ago - not sure who posted it sorry (I'm not stealing it - only recycling it!). It caught a few of the reasons that I am addicted!
"So what happens when you’re skiing then? What’s it like? Do you go fast? Yes you do. Mostly towards the end of a run you can schuss, which means you just go straight down the hill with your skis side by side, head down, and your eyes watering. To be honest, that’s the easy bit. And that’s not the magical essence of skiing.
Imagine yourself on the top of your roof. Yes, it is about that steep. You tip over the edge and immediately start to gain speed at a frightening rate. To control your speed you have to turn, and turning means putting your head down the hill and passing through what skiers call the fall-line: the quick way down gravity takes you. All your instincts are telling you to lean back and keep your head away from the crash, but you have to force yourself forward to turn. Turning is a kind of knees-bend stepping action. Cut smoothly it feels almost balletic. Turns link together and flow. Rhythm. Swing. Read the slope. Push. Pick a line. Extend. Dip, loop, glide. It feels like flying. You have the freedom of a bird to swoop through the iceberg sky.
So what’s the secret? How do you achieve these magical powers? It’s easy. Well OK, not easy, but easier than it looks. Really. You pick it up quickly, I promise, and you will go from feeling like Bambi in that famous scene on the ice and wondering how you can possibly control these ludicrous clown-like extensions to your feet to gliding elegance before the end of a week. Honest. And that’s not all. You’ll see things more beautiful than you can imagine. It’s a fantasy movie with you as the star.
After a snowfall, the sun shines on untouched snow and the mountains and the valleys look like a dream creation in marshmallow and icing sugar. Imagine- and I’ve done it – skiing down into the clouds. On the top fringe of the cloud-layer, ice crystals dance around your head like fairy dust. They catch the light and flicker like a million tiny diamonds. Or high up on the glacier, teetering on the edge of space as the thin blue-white air fades above you and the world spreads away below your feet.
And the companionship. The shared experience. Fear conquered; joy shared. Smiles flash beneath the goggles. Way, way below in the valley you can see a bar. Time for a beer? Let’s go!
Minutes later your group arrives one by one, some skidding to a halt in a shower of snow; some gliding elegantly to a stop. A clicking of clips releasing skis, clumping of heavy ski boots on wooden floors. Warmth from a log fire glows on your face. Hot wine please!
Then back to the lift. Sitting in a gondola capsule breaking through drifting clouds. New territory. Like being in a space craft approaching an unknown planet. Rocks and sharp arêtes drift past. Fear? A little. It’s the salt on this particular adventure. Then a shaft of sunlight. The run opens up below you and the skiers bound and slide in their mad joyful dance away through the crisp snow."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ph, not really, it suggests a lot of time infront of a computer 
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
| Quote: |
Why is skiing/boarding addictive?
|
i was wondering the exact same thing this morning!
weird.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
Skiing / boarding is about the 6 Ss.
Sun, snow, scenery, sounds, speed and s*x appeal.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
That amazing feeling of happiness - you've pushed your body and your fears to the limit, adrenalin/endorphins are pumping round your body and you've come out smiling while taking in the amazing views and there's some other nutters next to you with the exact same grins.
Think Whitegold has captured it very succinctly!!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
That exquisite little woopsie feeling when the snowpack goes wooomp under you feet...
The thrill of knowing that the next tree is a lot harder than you'll ever be...
That little hop that turns out to drop five meters into what you are praying is deep powder...
The pleasure of playing people slalom on the last meters down from Mooserwirt...
The thrill of being raced down the mountain strapped into a blood waggon...
The smell of beer and pizza emanating from the great unwashed in the morning... smells like... hangover
Do you need more?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
In the immortal words of train spotting
Take the best orgasm you've ever had... multiply it by a thousand, and you're still nowhere near it
Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a  big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got SKIING?
Its everythign the air, the scenery the rush the challange the company it is my Nirvana and heaven rolled into one.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Hoovering up whitelines of powder? Getting high?
erm let's think
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Standing still at the top of a fresh face, sun catching a rainbow of crystals on the surface of the snow. Deep breath, that sharp smell of fresh fallen snow and bluebird skies. You can already picture the run in your mind.
It starts with the smallest of movements, a relaxing of the foot, a slight shifting of balance, the board starts to run. You can hear the squeak and crump of the snow pack compacting beneath your feet. Find the toe edge, a lazy turn into the fall line, the speed builds and the wind rises from nothing to a roar in your ears, like you're facing into the storm. Drop down lower, keep the knees bent, absorb the bumps and vibrations, feeling the changes in the snow, soft to firm, from marshmallow fluff to icy chatter, let the board wash out from heel to toe, finding your edges. The pitch of the slope increase and you initiate your turn, a movement you've done a thousand times and is now hard wired into you - you feel the edge bite, lean into the turn, extend though it as you come around, pushing into the mountain, pitching in at an angle that if you thought about it would be madness - how can this be working? An impossible action in an impossible place, Yet here you are, tracing an arcing path over virgin snow, trailing a rooster-tail of powdery crystals behind you. Turn follows turn, arc on arc.
The slope shallows out, you slow, breathing hard, cold air rasping in the back of your throat. Relax, but not too much, this thing'll bite you if you give it a chance. Riding away, glance back and you see the start blue of the sky, and the electric white of the face, draped with a single ribbon of your fresh track. Your signature for the day, writ large in nature.
Now all you have to do is do it. 
To paraphrase Steve McQueen "The mountains are life; everything else is just waiting"
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
Beer, gear, sun, mountains, friends, laughs, continual (if gradual) improvement, sense of achievement, beer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Richard_Sideways, now where's that "like" button???
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
| Richard_Sideways wrote: |
Standing still at the top of a fresh face, sun catching a rainbow of crystals on the surface of the snow. Deep breath, that sharp smell of fresh fallen snow and bluebird skies. You can already picture the run in your mind.
It starts with the smallest of movements, a relaxing of the foot, a slight shifting of balance, the board.... |
..... the what? nah you've lost me......
| ski-finder stole and wrote: |
.... the skis starts to run. You can hear the squeak and crump of the snow pack compacting beneath your feet. Find your edges, a lazy turn into the fall line, the speed builds and the wind rises from nothing to a roar in your ears, like you're facing into the storm. Drop down lower, keep the knees bent, absorb the bumps and vibrations, feeling the changes in the snow, soft to firm, from marshmallow fluff to icy chatter, [snip] finding your edges. The pitch of the slope increase and you initiate your turn, a movement you've done a thousand times and is now hard wired into you - you feel the edges bite, lean into the turn, extend though it as you come around, pushing into the mountain, pitching in at an angle that if you thought about it would be madness - how can this be working? An impossible action in an impossible place, Yet here you are, tracing an arcing path over virgin snow, trailing a rooster-tail of powdery crystals behind you. Turn follows turn, arc on arc.
The slope shallows out, you slow, breathing hard, cold air rasping in the back of your throat. Relax, but not too much, this thing'll bite you if you give it a chance. Sliding away, glance back and you see the start blue of the sky, and the electric white of the face, draped with a parallel ribbon of your fresh track. Your signature for the day, writ large in nature.
Now all you have to do is do it.
To paraphrase Steve McQueen "The mountains are life; everything else is just waiting" |
Much better 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Skiing and post count bare no correlation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
no, he keeps his correlation under wraps
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
For me, it is mainly the same as the second of Butterfly's reasons.
I have never felt more alive than when skiing. There are some things which have come close - sailing in strong winds for instance, but nothing quite the same.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
|
pam w, well that's a relief!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Because it's the one time of year I get to decide where to go and how fast.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
hum difficult one......I'm not sure but it seems to have brought me to the other side of the world just to slide for a few extra months a year!!!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
It's the "alive thing".
I don't feel anywhere near alive as a I do when I'm standing, contemplating a run, amonst snow capped peaks. Life is totally different, up there.
Judging by other comments, I guess that's why absolute "abililty" and "performance" is such a small part of the whole, as gratifying in it's own right as it may be.
And immense gratitude, that I'm allowed the opportunity. Immense gratitude.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
BCjohnny, nail/head interface. I'm never more alive than pulling a fast carve, on the ragged edge, then shifting weight over to the next carve and have it stick perfectly, same goes for off-piste, pushing through the powder in the (relative) wilderness.I'll add to this the total and complete escapism from my real life. By this I mean the single-minded focus that skiing and boarding require, whether you like it or not the act of sliding down a mountain requires one to focus on nothing except the next turn, what line you're going to take, and possibly what and where lunch will be. All other thoughts get relegated, thereby enforcing the relaxation from the stresses of work in a way that laying by a pool or beach never can. A skiing trip is the only time I really and truly relax and recharge my batteries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
I think Robert Redford sums it up quite well
This place in the mountains, amid nature's casualness toward death and birth, is the perfect host for the inspiration of ideas: harsh at times, life threatening in its winters of destruction, but tender in attention to the details of every petal of every wildflower resurrected in the spring. Nature and creativity obey the same laws,
to the same end: life.
quote: Robert Redford on Sundance
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
Agree with most of the comments here, for me it is;
The thrill of skiing down fast and the way it makes me feel really alive in a way that few other things manage, the challenge of skiing difficult terrain and the slight fear that standing at the top of a steep pitch invokes followed by the excitement and achievement felt when having skiied something I previously thought I was unable to do. The ability of a sport to invoke this coupled with the beautiful scenery and serenity of the mountains has rendered me addicted to skiing for life I reckon
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
All the above plus I can get gallons of sunlight and not have to suffer the irritating heat that usually accompanies it...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
its one of those things you can always get better at.. you can have great days and days when it just doesnt work.. you can stack it and as long as your mates see it its funny if no one witnesses it its just painful .. you get those moments where there is no one around, an early morning run on cordrouy where you cant see a soul except people on the chair witnessing your brilliance.. (ok your still pissed from the night before on this ooccasion)..
sailing even golfing can have the same addictive properties
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ski-finder, was wondering if i could get a board post through on The Piste...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Richard_Sideways,
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Butterfly, the 'how much better can life be feeling' is difficult to explain to people who dislike skiing, I have tried before to a few people who did not understand it, but its seemingly impossible, people seem to love it or hate it (or occasionally hate it before they've even tried which was a rather annoying argument to have given that one side was completely unfounded!). Wish I'd taken it on at the age of 3 or 4 but sadly not possible sans aid of flux capacitator or something similar. Just glad to keep on improving at the moment, although find frustrating that can't ski things some others can. But I agree, there are few things that match the ski feeling, roll on December
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
) but with skiing there's always going to be something new and challenging yet being fun be it starting to ski off piste or attempting race training or, as might be next, learning to ski moguls without looking like an idiot. With other sports I've always found that I've kind of stopped in how far I can go, I'd never play in a higher league, was always either going to plateau at that level of skill and the only thing I could do would be to get fitter, but skiing seems to offer a whole new level. Maybe I'm just not that good at it yet and i'll find that in the future, but doubt it given the number of ski addicts 