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Can you really get "out over your skis"?

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I keep hearing some version of the phrase "he was out over his skis," which I am led to believe means that the person got ahead of himself, or was "out of his league."

I understand the concept of striving beyond one's ability, or exceeding one's logistical capability. But I'm not sure that getting out over your skis actually works as a metaphor, and I knew that TSD was the place to go for guidance. As the season comes to a close, I turn to the literary discernment and technical expertise of this wise group. Also, I've put my skis away for the season and am having a very slow night at work. :wave:

So.

Does the phrase mean that you lean so far forward that you fall over? Ok, but that's pretty hard to do in an "over the skis" sort of way. Modern alpine bindings would seem to prevent users from getting too far "over" the front of their skis. Usually falling forward looks more like a last-chance, desperate pizza wedge that goes terribly wrong. And the skier isn't really "over" their skis, except insofar as they might fall on them as a last act in a slow, novice-in-rental-boots sort of recreational tragedy.

Even the big-mountain cool guys don't really get "out over" their skis when they fall. For example there's that move where they huck a big jump and then land on their backsides and start sliding. Then they somehow manage to stand up and keep skiing and everyone cheers even though we all saw the a**-slide.

Then there's the more aggressive tomahawk fall, during which the skier is temporarily over his skis, but just as often under them, beside them, and then wondering where they've gone.

Is it a reference to ski-jumping, perhaps? This seems to have the most relevance because jumpers do seem to lean over their skis. But then, where is the hubris-fueled mistake? One can overshoot a landing area, but surely that's down as much to speed as anything else, and anyway if your feet are restrained by bindings there's only so far forward you can go.

Alas.

Just as I believe that Terri Gross will never stop confusing "hilarious" with "hysterical," I'm sure people will keep using the phrase "out over his skis" and I'll just have to let it slide, like ... something ....argh, writer's block!
 

Kimmyt

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Sure you can absolutely be too far forward when landing jumps. If you drop a cliff and are too far forward you'll double eject on the landing or maybe tomahawk. I've never heard this saying before in my life though.
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
As a group, Jackson Hole skiers get docked for being to far forward and out over their skis. As in, we don't use the rear half, which is often the over used part of the ski and our center of mass ends up out over the precipice of free falling space that is in front of our skis. Is this what you mean????

Would love to hear it in a full sentence! Was it in reference to people eating S@#t, or more as a compliment?

It sure beats being under the skis, unless getting inverted with a purpose. :bounce:
 

newboots

Angel Diva
I, too, have been reading the phrase in all kinds of contexts. It jumps out at me because I’ll be reading about politics when suddenly the word “skies” catches my eye.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
For some reason this type of phrase gets tossed around a lot at my company. They’ll say “you don’t want to get ahead of your skis” and I always have the urge to shout back “actually I don’t want my skis to get ahead of me!”. Lol It’s always distracting because I don’t really subscribe to it the way they are meaning it to sound which is just not to get ahead of ourselves. So then it throws me into that thought process for a couple of minutes rather than focusing on what’s being said next.
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire

lisaski

Certified Ski Diva
For some reason this type of phrase gets tossed around a lot at my company. They’ll say “you don’t want to get ahead of your skis” and I always have the urge to shout back “actually I don’t want my skis to get ahead of me!”. Lol It’s always distracting because I don’t really subscribe to it the way they are meaning it to sound which is just not to get ahead of ourselves. So then it throws me into that thought process for a couple of minutes rather than focusing on what’s being said next.

Ditto!
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I have never heard that before in that context at all.

I mean, sure, something in lessons to the effect of keeping your skis under you (and thus not in the backseat), but... the usage in question here is a bizarre one that I've never run across before.
 

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