Mermer's book is well worth reading. And re-reading later on. My initial reaction was that it didn't apply to my approach to skiing. I'm not particularly a worrier and fear is not a significant issue for me on the slopes. Perhaps because I learned to ski as a teen even though I had a long hiatus. However, during and immediately after knee rehab her stories made more sense and were helpful. It also helped me understand friends who are/were cautious intermediates better.
As for skiing with friends, what helped me add mileage on ungroomed terrain for which it was a challenge to link 6+ turns was having a specific friend act as a "sweeper" for a specific section. Meaning I went first. Just knowing that someone was watching and ready to help if I got stuck or popped a binding for whatever reason meant that I was a bit more assertive and went a bit faster. So I was more likely to try linking more than 3-4 turns. Or as I improved, I was more likely to finish the entire section without a break to re-set.
During a lesson at Alta, the instructor took me and my ski buddy, Bill, to a short, steep, run in trees with deep powder. The short story is that we did the same run three times. Perhaps only a dozen turns. By the third time, I was skiing faster in that sort of terrain and snow conditions than I had ever skied before. Had a blast! Since then, I'm much more likely to ski the same trail or even the same line at least twice, if not three times, before moving on to another area. What was even more unexpected is that as Bill has gotten more into taking lessons as an advanced/expert skier, the more willing he's been to repeat a trail. When we first started skiing together, he wanted to do a different trail every lift ride.
