New Mountain and General Skiing Anxiety

[badger]

The "What Ifs ? ". Let me tell you what to do with those if I may be so bold.

My strategy for these (negative, to be honest, questions) is to answer them before a "what if " occurs.
If you can tell yourself what you'll do ahead of time, you have already put yourself in a pro-active mental state. Take any "What If " and pretend it is actually happening. Then answer it. If you allow the unanswered questions to plague your thoughts, you will basically be in the Back Seat---skier parlance---until you have a plan that keeps you moving forward.

At most large new-to-me ski areas I take a lesson. This way I have people to ski with, an instructor who will provide great mountain information, and the encouragement I may need to hone the skills for unfamiliar terrain.

I just arrived at Taos today. Everything I had read had warned me that this is a steep mountain, mostly for experts or high-level skiers. My mindset before going was that I will be fine. Taking a group lesson for a couple of days. However, today my husband and I skied quite a bit of the mountain and discovered that I am quite capable of managing what is here. He is an expert, so having him stay with me today was fun...not alone as usual. He will have all week to play around in the trees, chutes, and whatever the playground offers.

IF THERE ARE ANY DIVAS IN TAOS THIS WEEK.......................................LET ME KNOW!!!!

 

[Jenny]

@badger - Have fun! We had a great time there last year and I had a really good lesson.

And this tactic is pretty much the way I handle things that I'm afraid might happen. That way I can stop worrying, and if it happens then I'm prepared.

 

[vanhoskier]

Good thread, and glad you brought it up, surfsnowgirl. More people than you realize suffer from anxiety. I can get in my head a lot, too, so I know what that feels like.

The important thing is that you are aware of it, you think about it, so you are well on your way to developing some tools to cope with it.

You have nothing to worry about at Diva East. Everyone will be happy to meet you, and you will find skiers to ski with!

 

[ling]

I read this in a book written by a mtn bike racer who's also a scientist. She was putting down her race placing next to the number of crashes during practice. She found she places better the earlier she crashes during practice. So she throw herself at trees and rocks during practice so she'll get the crash over with...

Whatever you're anxious about, let it happen and happen quickly. Then you'll realize it's not half as bad as you feared. And you'll be relieved from the anxiety.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Thank you guys. I feel so much better now. I guess I'm not alone. I didn't realize that others felt the same way at times.

I had my first "test" yesterday. I have met some very nice instructors since I started teaching, you know 2 days ago ha ha. A few of the instructors were saying we're released from lineup let's go take a run so before I knew it I was on a chair with 3 other instructors. Oh boy anxiety setting in. Skiing with others makes me nervous let alone other instructors..... OMG.... Calm down, deep breaths, you know how to ski just chill. One of them said how about Lucifer's Leap. I said not really up for that my first run, its a black with a bit of a lip so didn't want to do this with these folks. Someone said how about upper apple jack, ok fine. Had the Yumi's and just would prefer the magnums or kenjas on something like upper apple jack but I said ok. I've been on this run many times but was just nervous. 2 of them took off like a bat out of hell and the other guy was mostly right behind them. Poof they were all gone. I just stayed calm, didn't try and keep up with them and just skied quite nicely if I do say so myself down the steep and met up with them where they were waiting for me. I of course felt the need to apologize for being the slow one in the bunch. They were cool and said we are all having fun so no worries. The 2 took off again and the other guy stayed behind and I started to follow him. He held a nice pace but was going "slow enough" so I was able be right behind him and I skied with him the rest of the trail. I thought this was very nice of him. I ran into the girl with us a few minutes later in lineup and she was very cool to me and we chatted for a good 10 minutes. It made me realize that they weren't laughing at me, they don't care how I ski, we were indeed just all having fun. I did realize that the way to get better is to ski with people who are better than you. I felt faster after this because I felt the urge to step up my game. I know its not about speed but it made me want to try to keep up so I think it was a good thing.

I have xanax but only take it when I fly and never any other time. Mingle fests still make me nervous but I'm not so much nervous about meeting you lovely ladies more nervous about skiing with y'all but I do feel better about my experience yesterday with my fellow instructors because I realized there was no judgement, we were all just having fun and I think that's what it will be like at the diva events.

I honestly feel that becoming an instructor is the best thing I could have done because I honestly feel my skiing has improved by leaps and bounds so that increases my confidence. DH has even noticed that I'm getting a little more aggressive and picking up speed.

I think I am feeling better about my skiing but now my main issue is going to a new place and OMG the trail map, all I see are black........ My plan of attack when I went to the new mountains in Quebec was to find the easiest way down. I just liked doing this. It got me started on the mountain so I can sense the vibe and just feel better. I think I like this and will try to use this when I go to a new mountain as it seemed to work for me.

I did have a little moment of panic when I looked at the trail map for Jay. Looks like the entire top of the mountain are blacks.

Maybe we could all take a nice easy cruiser together for the first run and just them go from there . I am very excited to meet everyone, wish you all could be there.

 

[vanhoskier]

The fact that you decided to be an instructor, and you jumped in without knowing anybody...that's awesome. That takes some guts. You will find some instructors who will take you under their wing and you will rapidly become a better skier for hanging with them.

I was at Jay a few years ago with SkiDiva.Skisailor, and RachelV, and I remember cruising down from the top, I think, on a nice groomed run. I was the slowest of that bunch of skiers, and I was fine with that.

You will find ladies to ski with, don't worry. I wish I could take the time off to head up there for that gathering; I'd be happy to cruise around with you. But, this year is just too busy for me.

Have fun!

 

[geargrrl]

I read this in a book written by a mtn bike racer who's also a scientist. She was putting down her race placing next to the number of crashes during practice. She found she places better the earlier she crashes during practice. So she throw herself at trees and rocks during practice so she'll get the crash over with...

Whatever you're anxious about, let it happen and happen quickly. Then you'll realize it's not half as bad as you feared. And you'll be relieved from the anxiety.

I think this is terrible advice, at least from the perspective of someone who is in treatment for anxiety. ( and coaches mountain biking). Unless you know you respond to "immersion" I would not recommend it.

 

[Serafina]

Let me know when you expect to be at Mt Snow again - I'm up on Fridays and Sundays, mostly. We can go cruising.

 

[ling]

I think this is terrible advice, at least from the perspective of someone who is in treatment for anxiety. ( and coaches mountain biking). Unless you know you respond to "immersion" I would not recommend it.

I'm not a psychologist. But how does one find out one's responds to immersion unless one tries it? (and try it on purpose?)

 

[santacruz skier]

@surfsnowgirl I went on a trip to Whistler/Blackcomb about 20 years ago with a ski club from Santa Cruz with many expert skiers that I knew but had never skied with. I was probably an advanced intermediate at the time. Others on the trip were more intermediate types.... So I decided to do a 3 day clinic on my own because the people I knew were skiing Spanky's Ladder and lots of advanced areas with blacks/double blacks. I made that decision after one all the talk the night before going out. Certainly I didn't want to be embarrassed and frankly was didn't know the ski area at all. So at the end of the week the whole group had a bbq and did Nastar races (not sure if they are still around)... Anyhow, I won a bronze medal (others won medals as well) and the group that were skiing all blacks were so surprised and (nicely) said, "oh we didn't realize you really were such a good skier."
Well, my comfort zone was NOT skiing Whistler/Blackcomb's steep and deep....

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Let me know when you expect to be at Mt Snow again - I'm up on Fridays and Sundays, mostly. We can go cruising.

Aww, I would absolutely love that. It would likely be a friday. I will let you know. Thank you

 

[geargrrl]

I'm not a psychologist. But how does one find out one 's responds to immersion unless one tries it? (and try it on purpose?)

I'm hoping this is a serious question, and I am not a mental health care professional. I have been in treatment for anxiety for over 15 years. I see as a serious misunderstanding of what anxiety is, just as many people do not understand depression and say things like, " Oh, snap out of it", or "it's not that bad" or "You have it so good, why aren't you happy". True anxiety can be physically debilitating, to the point of paralysis or other symptoms that may require hospitalization. To suggest that someone with an anxiety disorder immerse themselves in whatever is causing the anxiety is a very bad idea.

For am experienced athlete, yes, throwing yourself at a a physical challenge may be the right thing to. I would never recommended for a stressed out typical mountain biker, that's for sure. There's a skill set involved, for one thing. See our thread on "abandoning beginners" in one of the other subforums on whether people think this is a good idea for skiers.

 

[elemmac]

I read this in a book written by a mtn bike racer who's also a scientist. She was putting down her race placing next to the number of crashes during practice. She found she places better the earlier she crashes during practice. So she throw herself at trees and rocks during practice so she'll get the crash over with...

I think she's probably an outlier in the fact that crashing prior to a race would make you faster during the race. I would think most people gain confidence by not crashing...interesting that some people think of it the opposite way though.

I've never really had anxiety with skiing, but I've definitely gotten myself into situations mountain biking that I've had a tough time with. I've dealt with it by taking a deep breath and trying to break up the "big situation" into smaller segments. If that "small segment" still brings up fear, than break it down further. Focus on making it down to the next bend in the trail or even just your next turn on your skis. Focus on the bottom and meeting your group only once you can see them. Then, riding up the chair, try not to think about what's going to happen on the run down, just focus your energy on enjoying the company of the people you are with and make it to the top.

 

[ling]

I'm hoping this is a serious question, and I am not a mental health care professional.

It was a serious question. Thanks for answering.

I can see there're two kind of anxiety. One is fairly normal kind of anxiety. We are endowed with some sixth sense so we don't rush headlong into danger without a thought.

Then there's the true anxiety that turns someone physically "frozen". I assume that's a smaller percentage of the population that have that form of anxiety.

But one needs to figure out which form it is. One obvious way to figure out is by going to the doctor and get it diagnose. I'd think immersion would be another way, if one has reason to believe that's just normal anxiety.

 

[ling]

I would think most people gain confidence by not crashing...interesting that some people think of it the opposite way though.

She never explain why it helped. I got the sense she never really figure out the why part. It's just a correlation that she observed. And she decided to try to take advantage of it.

When I used to race mtn bike (xc), I found I can't get myself to do thing in practice that I would do during races without thinking. Basically, the adrenalin DURING the race got me to take lines I don't normally consider taking, which I wouldn't do during pre-race rides. (I don't like crashes, but then who does?)

So when I read that passage, I was thinking perhaps that's why she race better when she crashes during practice. The harder she pushes during practice (leading to crashes), the better she races.

 

[just jane]

This thread is interesting to me. I started on medication for anxiety and depression last fall but I've never noticed anxiety playing a big role in my skiing and I don't know that the meds have made a difference this year. (Granted I'm in the middle of writing my final Master's project and haven't made it up to the mountain in a few weeks - this whole Master's thing has been a HUGE source of anxiety for me. Crippling. Which is why I finally gave in and got meds - otherwise all those doubts and fears about being a failure were going to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anyway.)

In general, my biggest source of anxiety on the mountain come from riding the lifts, because I do have a fear of heights. I just try to remind myself to keep breathing and focus on that, and staying calm. And I always want the bar down. Riding chairs without bars is a real challenge, so lots more breathing and holding on and not allowing any self-shame to come into it - so I'm scared, and I'll handle it and it doesn't reflect on me as a person. Usually that works. If it starts becoming overwhelming, I know it's because I'm getting tired and it's probably about time to call it a day anyway.

In terms of actual skiing, I know I've developed techniques for when I'm at the top of something and get that flush of fear and the internal voices start telling me I can't do it, and I'm not sure I can totally articulate what they are. For one, I don't really care what other people think of me any more (except DH, and when I do well on something hard I wasn't sure I could do and he told me I could, and then he tells me I did a good job, ohmygod I love how that feels). I just remind myself that if other people think I look bad, well, everyone has to learn at their own pace and progress, and everyone has stuff that they struggle with, but I won't get better if I don't try and who cares if the first time down something hard I'm traversing back and forth over the entire run. And so far, I've managed to get down challenging runs in one piece and injury-free, so when I do that, I consider it a success. And when I go back and do it a second time, it's usually a little bit easier.

I will verbally talk myself through something if I need to, out loud - a little bit of pep talk - Okay, I can do this - and a little bit of instruction - just try to stay out of the back seat and and focus. Last time we were up, DH took me down a really hard run for me - definitely a stretch - and he - bless his heart - just starts giving me all these instructions and tips and at some point I just have to tune him out and do my own thing. This time, I just took a deep breath and I actually was saying out loud as I went down, "okay, commit - turn! ... commit - turn!" Hilarious but it worked.

I also think that relative to some of the other things we do, skiing feels less dangerous, and I've had to learn to keep my cool in much more precarious circumstances, and those techniques help me on the mountain too. We do canyoneering, and after talking myself through 200+ ft. rappels (did I mention I'm scared of heights?), or paddling through a whitewater rapid, skiing is relatively less adrenaline-filled, for me. (Granted, I have made very clear that I will never ski something so steep that in other circumstances I'd want to be on rope to rappel down it!) In canyons, frequently, once you go down the first rappel, you're committed to finishing. You can't go back up so there's only one option. I have no choice but to keep my cool and deal with whatever comes up. If I freak out I'm putting everyone else in the group in danger, so I just can't. So I've had a lot of practice at managing my fear.

 

[TeleChica]

Great thread for many reasons. I do want to chime in on the difference between "normal" anxiety and the kind that can debilitate a person. It's actually quite a bit more common than you might imagine. About 18% of the population has some type of anxiety disorder, and 4% have a severe form (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-anxiety-disorder-among-adults.shtml). And you can't just will yourself out of the feeling--that's exactly the problem, the feelings overwhelm your ability to use your intellect to "talk yourself down." So I think it's important to understand the difference. The LAST thing you want to do is immerse yourself. There are methods that work at slowly exposing you to stressors, but little by little.

I also had a panic disorder in my 30s and it was no picnic. I was fortunate to be able to overcome it with therapy and some CBT techniques. But it does still lurk and manifests in somewhat different ways, just less acute.

As for being nervous about attending a Diva event, as a tele skier, I can relate! Of course, I could just ski parallel most of the time. But years back I joined a bunch of tele women at Jackson Hole for 4 days, and it was tough. Compared to most of them (who all lived and skied out west), I was slow and out of shape. I could ski a lot of the same things they did, but at a much slower pace, and there was no waiting. Plus the runs were SO LONG--I needed many more stops. I quickly told everyone I would just ski solo, and I did for almost the entire time. There were two other women who were at a more beginning level, and looking back, I should have skied more with them, even if it meant skiing mellower slopes at a slower speed. I am a strange combination of being able to ski advanced terrain, but doing it at a slow pace.

That said, I completely believe that this would be a cool group to ski with. Someday I hope to see some of you on the slopes.

 

[geargrrl]

Great thread for many reasons. I do want to chime in on the difference between "normal" anxiety and the kind that can debilitate a person. It's actually quite a bit more common than you might imagine. About 18% of the population has some type of anxiety disorder, and 4% have a severe form (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-anxiety-disorder-among-adults.shtml). And you can't just will yourself out of the feeling--that's exactly the problem, the feelings overwhelm your ability to use your intellect to "talk yourself down." So I think it's important to understand the difference. The LAST thing you want to do is immerse yourself. There are methods that work at slowly exposing you to stressors, but little by little

.

very well explained.

 

[ski diva]

Aww, I would absolutely love that. It would likely be a friday. I will let you know. Thank you

@surfsnowgirl and @Serafina, I could meet you guys down there if you like, too, so keep that in mind. But only on a Friday; not a Sunday. I don't like skiing in crowds.

 

[Serafina]

@surfsnowgirl and @Serafina, I could meet you guys down there if you like, too, so keep that in mind. But only on a Friday; not a Sunday. I don't like skiing in crowds.

I'm there almost every Friday through the ski season!