FEAR!

[Cygnet]

I have a fear of edges. I can be scared going across a bridge in a car on a highway. How sad is that?? Obviously this has huge implications for skiing - narrow paths and chair lifts spring to mind. I was petrified the first time I went on a chair lift and could not even open my eyes! I'm ok now (so long as there's a safety bar). I'm getting better at narrow trails. Had a set back a couple of years ago when I actually fell off the side of a narrow very gentle trail. I was only going slowly but ended up upside down, skis in the air, saved by the safety netting. I had to be pulled out!! No physical damage, but mentally it did set me back.
The fears are real, albeit irrational. What works for me is to concentrate on my breathing and relax, and focus on something else - anything else other than the edge.

 

[nopoleskier]

I actually like heights and have jumped out of perfectly good airplanes hundreds of times..
BUT I've been spooked on chairlifts and likewise have hugged the bar. Especially on windy days.

I think a healthy respect for the chair lift ride is a good thing, I feel for those that do feel panic.
Looking up and ahead and not down helps, talking about something else, tunes, all help. yes to breathe.

Lastly not to scare but for real,
If in fact you are on a 'run away lift going backwards.. this is the only time to JUMP Off it.
Other wise Sit tight (holding the bar/back etc) and wait for patrol to rescue you.
I've seen rescue practices, Ski patrol will get you down.
@mustski holy moly!! broken heels yikes !!!

 

[marzNC]

My daughter has a good friend from elementary school who used to have an intense fear of heights in certain situations. It depends on how much he trusts the situation. Note that he's always game to try something new, even when he's terrified.

When he was in 4th grade, being on top of a tall ladder was not an issue. But stepping off a ladder onto a metal staple meant for climbing a tree was impossible because he didn't trust the staple. We learned about how strong his fear was first hand at a 4H high ropes course their school used for a multi-day leadership and team work field trip. The counselors working with the kids were very experienced. When we introduced him to indoor rock climbing (baby steps) in 5th grade, he trusted the auto-belay or my daughter far more than when I would belay him. He was a good friend of hers starting in 1st grade. By 6th grade, he had conquered his fears related to climbing on metal staples. The way he scrambled up and handled the 4H high ropes was amazing.

The weird part is that he was learning to fly an airplane in junior high. He inherently trusts mechanical things. My daughter and I took him and his younger sister (no fear issues) to a local high ropes course (GoApe Raleigh) in 7th grade. He made it with lots of encouragement from my daughter. A year later I took him and his sister to do high ropes again. My daughter wasn't available but I wanted to take advantage of a special day soon when kids were free after local schools finished for the year. Since he had done the course before, he did fine because he knew what to expect. Was he still scared at times? For sure. But he pushed through. The wood ladder from one tree platform to a higher platform scared him more than the zip lines. Hard to figure out fear.

 

[marzNC]

@lmbotr825 : Have you heard about A Conversation With Fear, the book by Mermer Blakeslee? Her examples are mostly from teaching people to ski but there are good ideas related to dealing with fear in general. That's one reason the book was renamed from In The Yikes! Zone (2002) when it was re-released in 2016.

 

[SallyCat]

I had a scary experience on the bubble chair at Mt. Snow a couple of weeks ago in high wind that eventually shut down the lift completely.

I later ran into a couple of lift operators in line getting coffee, and I asked them what wind velocity triggered a shut-down. They said that it depends not just on velocity, but wind direction. They said that they will run the chairs slowly in high wind, but I still don't understand how that makes it safer. I forgot to ask.

There is one thing I definitely don't like about the bubble chairs at Mt. Snow and Okemo and that is that there is nothing to grab onto if the bar is up. Every surface is flush with every other surface, so you can't grab a side bar or put your arm over the back or get any sort of grip anywhere. The safety bars and the bubble top open automatically just before the unloading ramp, but I occasionally find myself on a chair with people who lift the bar well before it reaches the off-ramp and that gives me the heebie-jeebies. When I think of it, I keep at least one ski on the footrest so they can't do that.

 

[newboots]

When it's damp and/or snowing, you can't see out of the bubble chairs! It arrives at the top and quick - you're unloading! I like to feel ready, and it startles me.

 

[nopoleskier]

@SallyCat Totally agree, I did find a small ledge on the back of the seat on Okemo's bubble. A Friend put his poles back there and the lip is high enough he forgot the poles LOL.. but would offer a tad of something to grab.

I agree always keep a foot on the foot rest, last week at Okemo, I was riding alone, had the bubble up and took my foot off and footrest FLEW up!!! Because of the up hill angle I was unable to pull it back down by myself!!! Yikes!!

Fortunately it was not windy but was disconcerting.. I checked it the next ride and yes indeed, if you don't have weight on the foot rest it will pop up. With the bubble down, you do have to wait for it to go up automatically on top..

Yes some people open it way too soon.. Courtesy would be nice for those ants in the pants people to ask fellow passengers.

As for slowing lifts in wind yes they do.. I was on Killington Gondola it kept stopping due to wind was 45min to get half way. I bailed out. Okemo slows their lifts too.

I think when wind exceeds a certain speed they close and I would think if it's a cross wind (cars could swing too much?) they would close then..

 

[Abbi]

When it's damp and/or snowing, you can't see out of the bubble chairs! It arrives at the top and quick - you're unloading! I like to feel ready, and it startles me.

Try looking out the side where there is usually a little bit of visibility. You can get some sense of where you are on the ride and start to get ready for the bubble coming up. Maybe!

 

[SallyCat]

Lately my fear, no joke, is being alone with my thoughts on the lift ride!

Other active things (mountain bike, basketball, running, etc.) are always a great and renewing escape from work/life worries because there's no "down' time.

That lift ride, though. That's a lot of time to brood.

When life/work is going well, it's great and I enjoy the quiet or listen to music. But when things are stressful or sad, evidently I bring all the stress and sadness right on the chair with me; it's like sharing a very slow double lift with a "Dementor" from the Harry Potter books.

Perhaps I need a ski resort that supplies on-chair therapists!

 

[Little Lightning]

As a rule I don't have trouble with lift chairs. That said, I could always tell when my SI Joint was out of alignment because I would get the feeling I was going to slide off the chair. Also, sitting on the chairs was pretty painful.

 

[kiki]

@SallyCat are there usually groups or other singles on the lift with you? I usually talk to the other people on the lift. It can be quite interesting. It is one of my highlights of the ski day. And then no time for brooding.

 

[kiki]

I skiid the past 3 days and it has all been good except for yesterday morning.
Yesterday i got to the top of the mountain. By that point I'd been up 5 hours working to get there (get up, shower, stretch, breakfast, pack snacks, drive 2 hours, park, line up, wait, traverse up hill...). So after 5 hours of effort i was finally at the top, ready to go, and i was just so scared. Its steep up there and crowded. Lots of people wizzing by. I was on my own. i was terrified to ski, so i sat in the bathroom crying for 20m trying to get the nerve to go down. It was ok in the end, drank a glass of water and buckled down, but it sucked. The fear and terror is the hardest battle for me with skiing. Ok skill and physical shape get in the way too, lol! But those are easier battles.

 

[SallyCat]

@kiki, where do you ski?
I completely understand about crowds making everything harder. It's so true.
I find that backing off and working on the basics on easier terrain is a good way t create and restore confidence. When you feel really ready to tackle the summit runs, you could take a lesson and have an instructor show you some strategies for steeper skiing or ski with people who can give you some guidance and support.
Good for you getting through that experience, and good luck!

 

[newboots]

The crowds are scary. I realized today that my legs get so tired because I’m braking all the time. I can’t go too fast with all these people in the way!

Also braking because the conditions today at Okemo were so firm and fast. It was probably 12* or lower, and the surface was packed down. I want to learn to make those easy, arcing turns, but not when it feels out of control. Maybe I just need some more days in snow to bring me back to where I was last April.

 

[Abbi]

The crowds are scary. I realized today that my legs get so tired because I’m braking all the time. I can’t go too fast with all these people in the way!

Also braking because the conditions today at Okemo were so firm and fast. It was probably 12* or lower, and the surface was packed down. I want to learn to make those easy, arcing turns, but not when it feels out of control. Maybe I just need some more days in snow to bring me back to where I was last April.

It's hard to concentrate when you are worrying about life and limb! It will be better next week when you can get some more open space.

 

[nopoleskier]

The crowds are scary. I realized today that my legs get so tired because I’m braking all the time. I can’t go too fast with all these people in the way!

Also braking because the conditions today at Okemo were so firm and fast. It was probably 12* or lower, and the surface was packed down. I want to learn to make those easy, arcing turns, but not when it feels out of control. Maybe I just need some more days in snow to bring me back to where I was last April.

Holiday skiing at big resorts is 'combat' skiing. It's very hard.. and very scary!! Hang in there, you'll be back to where you were in April,
you definitely need less traffic to work on your skiing!
Wonder how Pico is? sometimes is less people than Kmart and okemo?
I'm so fortunate to have my home Mt. we've had no crowds, great snow we do know we're lucky everyone kept commenting all day how lucky we are!

 

[SallyCat]

Holiday skiing at big resorts is 'combat' skiing. It's very hard.. and very scary!

I had a powerful moment of fear the other night skiing down one of the steeper trails at Blue Mountain in PA. Several lights were out on my side of the trail and suddenly I found myself in the dark, while above me was a group of three young snowboarders straight-lining the run like human torpedos (#notallboarders). I thought for sure I was going to be clobbered, and a hit like that would have meant a high probability of death.

Crowds are tough on developing skiers, that's for sure.

 

[newboots]

It's hard to concentrate when you are worrying about life and limb! It will be better next week when you can get some more open space.

Holiday skiing at big resorts is 'combat' skiing. It's very hard.. and very scary!! Hang in there, you'll be back to where you were in April,
you definitely need less traffic to work on your skiing!
Wonder how Pico is? sometimes is less people than Kmart and okemo?
I'm so fortunate to have my home Mt. we've had no crowds, great snow we do know we're lucky everyone kept commenting all day how lucky we are!

I should try Pico! It looked somewhat busy on the webcam the other day, but it is certainly less well-known.

I’m just skiing for a couple hours on these holidays. Turns out it has been very tiring, so that’s just as well.

I actually long for my sweet Berkshire East when I’m at these big resorts. Never a lift line, rarely crowded even on Saturdays. And very familiar trails! I’ll get back there this year. I’ll be the only one driving south from Vermont to Ski! I also want to try Suicide Six, which is probably 3 miles from my house!

 

[nopoleskier]

I had a powerful moment of fear the other night skiing down one of the steeper trails at Blue Mountain in PA. Several lights were out on my side of the trail and suddenly I found myself in the dark, while above me was a group of three young snowboarders straight-lining the run like human torpedos (#notallboarders). I thought for sure I was going to be clobbered, and a hit like that would have meant a high probability of death.

Crowds are tough on developing skiers, that's for sure.

OMG!! I would be freaked.. I night skied decades ago and it was so scary because of the poor lighting and way too many drunk guys, I've never done it again!! You are braver than me that's for sure!!

 

[newboots]

I had a powerful moment of fear the other night skiing down one of the steeper trails at Blue Mountain in PA. Several lights were out on my side of the trail and suddenly I found myself in the dark, while above me was a group of three young snowboarders straight-lining the run like human torpedos (#notallboarders). I thought for sure I was going to be clobbered, and a hit like that would have meant a high probability of death.

Crowds are tough on developing skiers, that's for sure.

Only time I ever skied at night was Berkshire East’s Thursday night special. At $17, it appeared to attract a large number of novice snowboarders who would shoot haphazardly out of dark corners, and drape themselves decoratively all across the trail, I guess resting. Or drinking beer. I shared the lift with a sober one. He was wearing jeans, and he was in the newer-novice-beginner cadre. Poor kid!