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10 ski culture faux pas

ZealouslyB

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
From this blog post here: https://blog.skis.com/skiing-faux-pas/

Here's the list, do you agree?

  1. Not clearing the exit ramp area off a chairlift. If you’re waiting for others, shifting your gear or just deciding where to go move out of the way.
  2. Wearing jeans while skiing. Come on people.
  3. No stopping in the middle of the slope. Pull off to the side.
  4. Throwing trash off the lift, e.g. beer cans, cigarettes, ect.
  5. People who put the bar down on the chair with asking or telling you they intend to do so. Being hit in the back of the head with a bar is not cool. (Think they meant to say 'without' ZB)
  6. When skiing with a group, not stopping at an intersection to keep the group together.
  7. Listening to music on the chairlift. In general, it’s common courtesy to talk to the people on the lift with you. Listening to music implies an ‘I’m too good to talk to you’ demeanor.
  8. Two people at a table in the lodge taking up 6-8 spots with all their stuff. Your helmet and gloves should not get their own seat when it’s crowded.
  9. People that bomb the hill without turning or people that are completely out of control flying straight down the hill with no regard for human life.
  10. Smoking on a crowded lift/in the gondola. That’s common space, don’t do it.
I think these are close to my top 10 as well. 1 & 2 would be stopping in the middle of the trail and not clearing the off ramp. I might add not merging in the lift line.

Other thoughts?
 

snow addict

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Fairly accurate. I would omit wearing jeans as I am not a fashion police, and while it's not practical it's a person's own responsibility and unless they fall the discomfort would be minor. I know few guys who work in the resort, sometimes they go for couple of spins on slopes after work or on lunch break and they would wear jeans as they don't have time to get changed. Also, listening to music is fine by me. I hardly talk to people on lifts unless they want to talk, I say hi and mind my business. And I would add lifting the bar without making sure all skis are off.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I don't listen to music while I ski, but most of the time I don't want to have to talk to random people on the chair, so I definitely wouldn't complain about that. I only find it annoying when they then still try to talk and are yelling over their music.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Hah, I was just thinking that an extrovert clearly invented the rule about it being common courtesy to talk to people on the lift. Kind of like talking on an airplane. If you happen to both want to talk, great, but to me, common courtesy does not include forcing people to chat when they would clearly prefer to just relax and enjoy the scenery.
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
Hah, I was just thinking that an extrovert clearly invented the rule about it being common courtesy to talk to people on the lift. Kind of like talking on an airplane. If you happen to both want to talk, great, but to me, common courtesy does not include forcing people to chat when they would clearly prefer to just relax and enjoy the scenery.
I was laughing at that one too because in my head I automatically changed it around to something like - Blathering on to the other person on the chair who is really just trying to mind her own business and doesn't want a new BFF.
 

geargrrl

Angel Diva
While some of them are obvious courtesy and/or ski safety issues, but some of them are just silly IMO.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
While some of them are obvious courtesy and/or ski safety issues, but some of them are just silly IMO.
Agreed. If someone wants to wear jeans, it's not anyone else's problem.

Yes, it would be dangerous in a backcountry situation, but you're not likely to die of hypothermia at a ski resort, no matter how inappropriate the clothing, you'd just be miserable.

(Short of being stuck in a tree well or something, in which case the clothing isn't really the main issue)

And how many places are there where it would be socially acceptable to litter?
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Listening to headphones on the lift and wearing jeans: someone needs to get a grip. These are no one else's beeswax. That's like bitching about gay people because you're straight and you can't wrap your head around it.

People who put the bar down without asking, however, deserve to go straight to hell in my book. I've been clocked a couple of times; DH is 6' and gets clocked all the time. Inevitably the special flower who did the deed will tell us that we should just expect the bar to slam down and it's our fault.

Trash and smoking are worse than the bar-puller-downers.

As for skiing with a group, if we stopped at every intersection we would be stopping a lot. For trees or poor visibility/dangerous situations, yes, stop a lot and reconvene. For typical groomer or bump skiing, just agree on which lift you're headed to ... or what your next stopping point will be.
 

klar

Certified Ski Diva
Agree with the point about jeans and music on the lift being silly.

I have always found it oddly fascinating that Americans generally don't seem to put the bar down. In Europe you expect someone to slam it down the moment your butt touches the seat and get your head our of the way. Most people glance at the others on the lift to check if everyone is ready but you better hustle to be ready - that bar is coming down.
 

alicie

Angel Diva
I don't care whether someone is wearing jeans, or whether someone talks to me on the lift. The bringing the bar down quickly thing, I've never been hit on the head but sometimes you don't get on in seat properly and if someone brings the bar down it hits your leg and they continue to try and push it down (they did not speak much English) that hurts, I had an absolutely massive bruise from the the thing that sits against the seat.

Another is those who stand on your skis in the queue and then when you try to go forward it's difficult and the person complains.
 

Xinga

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
That's got to be one of my biggest peeves! People all over your skis in the lift lines. Or anywhere, for that matter.
 

sibhusky

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I think the talking thing must be regional. If you are not talking here, you're in the cranky demographic. I could probably count on ONE HAND the number of rides per season that people haven't talked. And, it's not me starting it, it's the other person. But, if they don't talk, I definitely notice the unusual silence.

I would hope the stopping at intersections thing means NOT IN THE INTERSECTION. We've got a couple spots here where people waiting for their buddies stop at a critical juncture that also causes an obstruction. Nothing like twenty people stopped at the START of a long cat track, so you end up having to skate. (Pet peeve)
 

maggie198

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Not to rag on snowboarders (after all, my DS is an excellent snowboarder), BUT - I hate it when they're sitting in the middle of the trail buckling up their bindings after getting off the lift, or sitting in the middle of the trail at the top of a headwall.

Oh wait, that's snowboarding faux pas....

Now skiing across my skis, that REALLY ticks me off!
 

Xinga

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I was in a lesson class many years ago when a guy in the class either ran into me or ran over my skis at least three times when we would stop as a group to talk. After the third time I angrily asked him to please stop running into me, after which he promptly left the class. Thinking back, I almost wonder if it wasn't some form of flirtation...? Thoughts? Definitely NOT effective, if so!
 

Gloria

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My pet peeve is people who take their skis off at the bottom of the lift, plant their poles in the snow next to them and then go to the lodge. It might not be polite to step or ski on other peoples skis but if I have wade through 20 or so pairs of skis to get to the rack to get mine, I have no problem stepping on, moving out of my way or even skiing over other skis if they are going to leave them in everyone elses way. Other than that I am pretty easy to get along with.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I was in a lesson class many years ago when a guy in the class either ran into me or ran over my skis at least three times when we would stop as a group to talk. After the third time I angrily asked him to please stop running into me, after which he promptly left the class. Thinking back, I almost wonder if it wasn't some form of flirtation...? Thoughts? Definitely NOT effective, if so!

Without more info to go on, I'm gonna guess, no, just inept, and then felt self-conscious after being called out.

I've been run into by the same guy in a lesson a few times. It is INFURIATING.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
My pet peeve is people who take their skis off at the bottom of the lift, plant their poles in the snow next to them and then go to the lodge. It might not be polite to step or ski on other peoples skis but if I have wade through 20 or so pairs of skis to get to the rack to get mine, I have no problem stepping on, moving out of my way or even skiing over other skis if they are going to leave them in everyone elses way. Other than that I am pretty easy to get along with.

Around here it's usually the racer kids who do that. Drives me crazy, too.
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The group intersection thing really is more about the group. But that being said, being a newbie in an established group can be tooooouugh.
 

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