Night Skiing for the 1st Time

[ski now work later]

I'm heading to our local hill (oh the joy of a season pass) with my daughters tomorrow night to ski and ride with several families. It will be our first night-skiing experience. Other than bundling up and some clear goggles that I bought myself at the start of the season, any other tips those of you who night ski can share with me?

 

[dloveski]

Hand warmers?

 

[Robyn]

Take it a bit slower than you do normally. Your ability to spot changes in terrain will be diminished.

Don't ignore symptoms of possible frostbite, learn from NannyMin's experience in Aspen!

 

[Jilly]

I find night skiing colder for some reason. Don't know why. So make sure you're properly dress. And make sure you're not too tired. The cold will affect more too.

 

[num]

Oooh nightskiing, love it. You've got the two major ones covered, though I can't stress the extra cold thing enough. Other things to keep in mind are food- make sure you guys are well enough nourished to have energy but not eating something that will sit in your stomachs like lead, and conditions- at least around here, nightskiing is often extra icy unless it's not cold enough to be so, which has been the case the past week. Then you end up with the super squeaky snow. Also, don't forget about hydration just because it's cold and night. I find that it matters to me more at night because I'm generally starting skiing after a tiring day.

Stay warm, break often if it's too cold, make sure to bring extra layering options for the kids should the weather make any drastic changes, have fun, then write a trip report and tell us how much fun it was

 

[ski now work later]

Great suggestions. I woke up pretty weak and queasy, probably from the Lupron, but hopefully will have the energy to pull this off later. It's a small hill and I can always hang out in the lodge with my iPod if I'm feeling tired, but I'm gonna need a second wind later on just to load up and get to the hill! Fortunately it's only 40 minutes away. I'll just have to see how I feel. Health First, Ski Now, Work Later.

 

[Brooklyn Skier]

Night skiing = no lines = less people on the slopes

I use my regular day goggles for night skiing as well. I do go just a tad slower because not all the bumps are visable. This is true even if you don't wear goggles. Big plus is that once you get over the ice scraping sound you realize the slopes are not crowded at all.

Plus the night is so pretty with the stars above and the smell of the woodstoves and the pretty lights of the town below.

#1 is wool socks, #2 is a really good pair of double insulated ski gloves.

Also, when you are on the chair lift try not to hold your poles by the metal part. This will make your hands a bit more cold by the time you hop off. Try instead to either tuck them btwn your snowpants or lay them across your lap with your hands holding gripping the seat.

 

[ski now work later]

Thanks Divas for all the tips. It was actually pretty mild last night as there was no wind. What caught me off guard were the crowds as our local hill is typically very quiet. They offer "family night" on Saturdays where a family of 3, for example, can ski and ride for only $39. Can't beat that, so for families that don't have passes, they come for the whole evening.

My daughter had her first time out on the hill with her 2 buddies and no adults, both 4th graders (mine is in 5th grade) and she had a blast though she collided with one of them and bent her pole quite artfully. With the help of a hair dryer and some good coordination, DH thankfully bent it back to about 98% of its original condition.

My biggest complaint is that they don't run the groomers in the late afternoon, so the trails were scraped off and somewhat icy. I also found the light tough at the very end of the afternoon before it became dark, but once it became dark, those clear goggles worked like a dream. And overall, it wasn't as wierd as I thought it would be. I had pot luck style dinner with two other families and that was fun too. And we were back there this morning about 13 hours after we left, which was really fun, especially since they'd groomed, made snow, and we received about 1" of fresh!