Why do you love skiing?

[Lola]

I hate to do this, but I must explain to my fellow divas that I have a clear head, I have a clear mind, and I have a clear conscience despite what others might say about me. On the other hand, I love SkiDiva and I love my friends here and I love skiing. Tell me, please, why do yo love skiing?

 

[Lilgeorg]

I love being outside in the Winter having fun in the snow. I used to think there were only 2 seasons....August and Winter because I was always cold. Then I started to ski. Now, I enjoy all the seasons and can be found on the ski slopes in weather when others might think it was too cold to be outside.

I love the feeling of going fast ( Although I don't ski as fast as THE Ski Diva). I like talking to friends on the lift. And, I like returning home tired after a day on skis. And that is why I moved to Vermont after 35 years in Philadelphia!

 

[2ski2moro]

Why I Ski

I ski around a bend in the trail to the panorama of the snow-capped mountains. No matter how many times I have seen it, it just takes my breath away. The scene changes between the morning light and the afternoon sun. I love the coating of rime ice on each evergreen needle, the grays of the mountain peaks in the distance, the brilliant white snow and the bluest sky you can imagine. Rocky cliffs hidden by frozen waterfalls. Riding the lift through evergreens, with no sound but the creaking of the pulleys on the lift towers.

When I ski, I am in my element. I point my skis down the hill and begin to pick up speed. Nothing but the wind and the soft sound of my skis against the snow. I am not thinking about the next turn, my skis lead me down the mountain, turning right and left in perfect arcs…picking up speed…flying. I know I must stop and wait for my friends, but just one more turn, just a little farther, and another turn and then another. When I slide to a stop, I catch my breath. My heart pounds a little faster. Ecstasy.

 

[segacs]

Me too, I love having a reason to love winter and to cheer every time it snows. It makes me much happier in the winter months.

I love the wind in my face on a crisp, cold, beautiful day, with snow on the trees and the trail, and winding down it. I love the scenery, the mountains, the fresh air and the way skiing makes me feel good to be alive.

I love the adrenaline rush of going fast down a steep or navigating a particularly tricky pitch and then being able to say "I did that!".

I love the great feeling of accomplishment I get when I learn something new or when something I've been struggling with finally just "clicks" and becomes easy.

And I love the apres-ski, too. But that's a whole 'nother story.

 

[Jenny]

It's fun!

I get to spend time with my friends, and meet new ones - both virtually and IRL. It's taken me to places I wouldn't have gone, so I've gotten to see some beautiful parts of the country.

It's healthy.

It challenges me, which I suppose is good for me.

And it makes winter go by much more quickly than it used to. In fact, too fast now!

 

[volklgirl]

Me too, I love having a reason to love winter and to cheer every time it snows. It makes me much happier in the winter months.

I love the wind in my face on a crisp, cold, beautiful day, with snow on the trees and the trail, and winding down it. I love the scenery, the mountains, the fresh air and the way skiing makes me feel good to be alive.

I love the adrenaline rush of going fast down a steep or navigating a particularly tricky pitch and then being able to say "I did that!".

I love the great feeling of accomplishment I get when I learn something new or when something I've been struggling with finally just "clicks" and becomes easy.

I couldn't have said it any better.

 

[ktp]

Why I Ski

I ski around a bend in the trail to the panorama of the snow-capped mountains. No matter how many times I have seen it, it just takes my breath away. The scene changes between the morning light and the afternoon sun. I love the coating of rime ice on each evergreen needle, the grays of the mountain peaks in the distance, the brilliant white snow and the bluest sky you can imagine. Rocky cliffs hidden by frozen waterfalls. Riding the lift through evergreens, with no sound but the creaking of the pulleys on the lift towers.

When I ski, I am in my element. I point my skis down the hill and begin to pick up speed. Nothing but the wind and the soft sound of my skis against the snow. I am not thinking about the next turn, my skis lead me down the mountain, turning right and left in perfect arcs…picking up speed…flying. I know I must stop and wait for my friends, but just one more turn, just a little farther, and another turn and then another. When I slide to a stop, I catch my breath. My heart pounds a little faster. Ecstasy.

Beautifully written....couldn't agree more....

The only thing I can add is that it makes me feel like I am flying I make believe I have wings and am careening down a hillside just for the fun of it

 

[litterbug]

2ski2moro, that was lovely. I ski badly and I love it, and I'll love it just the same when I learn to ski pretty (I'll get there someday). There's hardly anything that I don't like about it, but the absurdity of being out in the bitter cold during a whiteout storm is really fun, as is the sweet curviness of swooping down lightly packed powder with fresh wax, the challenge of steep ice and crud, my rubbery legs as I walk to my car, and the afterglow of a day on the slopes. Even bad days when I'm a completely unbalanced, spaced out and moronic skier are wonderful because I know exactly what a lucky, lucky girl I am to be able to ski at all.

I like spring and fall alright, but this year there's been ski season and waiting for ski season, and I can't imagine it any other way.

 

[PNWSkier]

I love all of the reasons already mentioned!

I love that while I am focusing on getting down the mountain, and having fun doing it, I have no room in my mind for any of the off the mountain stress of everyday life. My mind is 100% focused on skiing and I love that!

 

[segacs]

I love that while I am focusing on getting down the mountain, and having fun doing it, I have no room in my mind for any of the off the mountain stress of everyday life. My mind is 100% focused on skiing and I love that!

Yes! This!

 

[vetski]

but just one more turn, just a little farther, and another turn and then another. When I slide to a stop, I catch my breath. My heart pounds a little faster. Ecstasy.

So right

 

[MaineSkiLady]

I guess I say it better in videos? Music copyright violation might red-flag me (again :mad on this one and take it down, but in the meantime, it’s a bunch of Go-Pro footage (thus the weird fish-eye lens terrain-flattening effect) taken last April, on a mind-blowing Corn Day.

@ Lola: there’s your Flume headwall, at :55.
@ vickie: there’s your Ramdown headwall, at 1:55.

[YOUTUBE]4--WF1hcWpo[/YOUTUBE]

 

[nopoleskier]

It's the BEST Feeling in the world for me! I can't wait to go!!

 

[tinymoose]

While I love the rush and act of skiing, I find standing on top of a mountain just taking in the scenery to be very therapeutic. It's an escape from the everyday hustle and bustle that is life. To take in your surroundings, to hear the quiet (bonus points if it's snowing and it dampens sounds even more), and to just stop and breathe in the cold air. That's the icing on the cake for me.

I've actually got a photo from the top of a run at Stowe on my desktop at work. It's nothing but a shot of an empty mountainside, trees, snow and clouds. *sigh*

 

[gardenmary]

I guess I say it better in videos? Music copyright violation might red-flag me (again :mad on this one and take it down, but in the meantime, it’s a bunch of Go-Pro footage (thus the weird fish-eye lens terrain-flattening effect) taken last April, on a mind-blowing Corn Day.

@ Lola: there’s your Flume headwall, at :55.
@ vickie: there’s your Ramdown headwall, at 1:55.

That's the kind of music I tend to hear in my head when I ski. Loved it, thanks MSL!!

 

[Bumblebee]

Life can be really difficult just doing the day-to-day stuff and surviving.

When I get on a plane I'm in holiday mode already - the gas bill can wait type thing.

I love the whole shebang, from the "dressing up in funny clothes" to the freezing of my nasal passages, the eating the enormous breakfast to keep me going all day, standing on top of the world (it feels like that at the summit in Lake Louise), the physical exhaustion at the end of the day as opposed to mental.

I totally relax. At the end of a two week holiday even my gait is smoother, my pelvis relaxes and I move better.

 

[AliceH]

Before I started skiing, I used to hike as soon as the trails got clear enough that I didn't have to deal with much snow, until the weather started getting too miserable to hike. Getting up into the mountains washes all the grime and stress from the week. My seasonal depression actually got worse when I was hiking but not skiing, probably because I didn't have that sunlight and energy expenditure that I had grown accustomed to during the summer.

And then there's doing something that I would never have predicted I'd do. Most of my family is not athletic at all, there's morbid obesity rampant, and no one else in my family does any sort of sport that involves physical risk (other than grinding one's joints into oblivion by pounding pavement running for miles, then falling even further back into obesity when the injuries get to be too much to sustain chronic cardio).

And, of course, once in a while there's that awesome run where every turn is perfect and I'm flying and it doesn't even feel like there are skis on my feet. That's the biggest thing. I remember when I first started skiing, the first time I thought "OH! THAT'S why people ski!" when I had a nice glide and turn. I was talking to a friend (former skier) who snowboards all the time (literally every month, for the past 20+ years) and he said he was jealous, because he'll never be able to push hard enough to get that rush again. So part of me hopes I never get good enough that I can't still get that feeling.

 

[SkiGAP]

I started in order to make the Munich winter pass more quickly and because I wanted a new, technically challenging sport. I fell in love in part because of the technically challenging aspect (so much to learn), and also because of the positive feeling I get as climb that learning curve. For some reason I keep making that curve steeper by taking on new challenges (higher speeds, off piste, switch, telemarking). So my love doesn't seem to come from mastery of any particular aspect, rather improvement across the board.

I agree that no matter what, a good solid on piste run full of wide turns up on my edges is an amazing feeling.

And of course, the scenery is fantastic.

 

[EnglishSnowflake]

I too love the scenery; the smell of pine needles, the astounding blue of glacier ice, the way the sun sparkles off the snow.

I don't ski very pretty either (or very fast as I am a bit of a coward) but I do love the grace of the movement, and how 'right' it feels when I know I am carving well.

I also love the sense of achievement when I have challenged myself to do something that frightens me and surprised myself by not only doing it but doing it with a modicum of slopeside dignity. And of course sharing a high five with Mr EnglishSnowflake at the bottom of a great run.

 

[eSki]

I love having something that I can do with my 7yo son that is fun and exercise. In skiing we are both on a level playing field since we are learning together.