Skiing alone - thoughts?

[vetski]

So I read this, and I'm like holy $@#&!

I know things can happen, but actually the one time I had an incident with a tree well, years ago, I was probably only 50' from my husband and friend and neither of them heard me screaming for help under the snow anyway. I could hear them talking and debating where I went and heard them decide to just ski to the lift and I had to get myself out of it. Which was terrifying,

Then I get to this and I'm like, double holy $@#&!

I was skiing some mellow trees my hubby at Monarch once and he was just a few turns in front, when my tip got caught under a hidden downed tree, flipping me over into the snow and burying me without releasing my ski. Essentially, I was hanging upside down face first in the snow and unable to right myself for a good few minutes before I slowly managed to locate a lost pole and struggled to release my binding. Hubby was waiting at the bottom of the glade when I got there, covered in snow. I'd hollered a ton, was only 10' off a trail, and still had to rescue myself.

I do alot of skiing alone because I have almost zero ski friends, which I would desperately like to change. That said, I don't ski alone any place where someone would not happen upon me pretty quick if I got into trouble. Last year at Steamboat I watched someone fall into a tree well while I was riding the lift, and there was not a ton of fresh on the ground.
There are a series of YouTube videos posted by a guy who had his helmet cam on when he fell head first into a gnarly tree well. He posted the whole thing from beginning to end (4 parts) along with his thoughts as things were happening. He was eventually able to get to his cell phone and had his wife call Ski Patrol.

I definitely have more fun when I ski with a buddy, I just don't get the chance to much.

 

[pinto]

I like both, for sure.

(haha, that was helpful...)

 

[Sherr630]

I like the concept of skiiing alone - not holding anyone up / being held up, but truthfully when it comes down to it, I love sharing the joy and excitement of a good run with someone.

 

[Olesya Chornoguz]

I really like skiing alone. Like everyone else says - it's nice to have freedom to pick a trail, do it at your own pace - as fast or as slow as you want, do drills etc. Sometimes I talk to people while riding the lift, but most of the time I'm not the one initiating the conversation. Sometimes people on the lift express a invite to ski a few runs together and I agree usually. Also taking ski lessons are a good way of getting company. Several of the closest local ski hills are 1.5 hour away so driving alone is ok. Longer drives and multi-day trips are nicer with someone, but I've done long road trips to ski and just travel place alone too and it's not so bad. With that said I would like to get a few regular ski buddies I could ski with at least some of the trips top local ski hill.

 

[bounceswoosh]

So mostly there's me, striking up conversations on the lift, and making my lonely way down the slope. I don't mind it too much, but I totally agree, if I'm facing challenging terrain, it's way harder to do it alone than it is to do it with someone else. In fact, I was at one local ski area and I skied off the lift behind some guy on the Ski Patrol. I told myself "I'm skiing with that guy. He takes a run, I'm taking the run." I didn't mention this to him, of course, but it did help me psych up to take on a run I'd been afraid of before. I did it, and with bells on.

Sometimes, I actually find that I handle difficult terrain better when I'm alone. If I'm with someone, I tend to look toward them to reassure me or somehow make it all right. Especially if that someone is DH. When I'm alone, I just know I have to deal with it. I don't allow myself to freak out the same way. I'm much more matter-of-fact.

There's probably an upper bound to how difficult something can be and still have this pattern apply.

 

[geargrrl]

How many of you solo skiers carry a safety whistle?
I ski alone quite a bit, not too far off the beaten track, and we all rest easier now that I keep a rescue whistle in my pocket.

 

[altagirl]

I think a big part of it is whether I'm feeling introverted or extroverted at the moment. I have days skiing where the whole thing is very social and it's a lot of fun - and honestly the best part of my ski day. And then other days where I feel like I want to run and hide in a cave somewhere, and even though I don't really like listening to music while I ski, I wish I had some gigantic headphones as a signal to just please let me be in my own world right now. Haha, basically I'm an introvert who ranges from being utterly exhausted by much conversation at all to being so social everyone thinks I'm an extrovert (which I get a lot). And I have no idea what the trigger is there... but needless to say, there are times where skiing solo sounds like the most marvelous thing in the world. And yet, my favorite ski days the past few years have been our girls ski days where we go to Deer Valley with a big mob of women and eat and drink and talk more than we ski and then hit all the fancy bars afterward. Haha, I have no explanation for any of this. All I can say is that I think I'm learning to respect what I feel like I need at any given time a little more and that feels like a good thing.

So I guess to me, the biggest thing with solo skiing is whether you feel like it or not. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. If you do, that's awesome, but there's no sense pretending you like doing things alone if you don't. And if you don't, you can take lessons, join groups, talk to people on the lift or in lift lines and maybe ski a few runs together, meet up with Divas here to plan trips with... just become a regular at your home mountain and you're bound to meet people if you try. It might take some patience and perseverance, but there are options.

If it's just fear of "what if I get hurt and am all alone", then I think the answer is just sticking to runs that are not totally deserted and you should be fine. Beyond that, I think it's a bit of a false sense of security that being with people makes you safe.

 

[altagirl]

How many of you solo skiers carry a safety whistle?
I ski alone quite a bit, not too far off the beaten track, and we all rest easier now that I keep a rescue whistle in my pocket.

Yep, i have one attached to my jacket.

 

[Celestron2000]

Yep, i have one attached to my jacket.

I have one on my key chain, so it's pretty much always with me... but I'm so used to having it I could see myself not even thinking of it in a crisis.

 

[lynseyf]

I ski on my own a lot. Last winter was my first in Munich and my boyfriend is still in Scotland. I have a couple of friends here who ski, one broke her leg in January and the other got pregnant in December so I never actually got to ski with them. Even when I ski with my boyfriend I still ski on my own a bit. I pretty much agree with Altagirl, sometimes I ski tougher stuff on my own, I maybe lap an easier route nearby making sure I can ski exactly where I want to them I give it a go knowing I can sideslip, traverse out or even stop and hike back up all without holding anyone else up. I wouldn't go some totally outside of sight off piste route but between pistes or off leading down onto another are totally fine. I have thought about going ski touring on my own. I've only been once in Germany but the group I went with were total weight weenies so I didn't go back as I have Alpine boots and F10s. I did think about going on my own as the place we went to was so busy but not actually done it yet.

 

[jellyflake]

How many of you solo skiers carry a safety whistle?

My backpack that I always carry does have one built into the shoulder/breast strap (what is the word for this leash?) - so yes, it is always there just in case.

 

[jellyflake]

(…) were total weight weenies so I didn't go back as I have Alpine boots and F10s (…)

Haha, I know that - Gotamas in 183 with Marker Baron plus my alpine boots. Most of my buddies seem to upgrade their AT stuff, most (not all!!) are on Dynafit now. Brrrrr…..
But in fact I am currently looking for a new AT ski, mine is really worn out now. But no Dynafits for me, I stay in my boots!

 

[abc]

How many of you solo skiers carry a safety whistle?

Nope. Not normally in my local northeast mole hills.

I do make a point of taking one when I go out west. Still, unless you have a really good (read: LOUD) one, I'm a bit doubtful of its usefulness. I had a chance to use it trying to attract attention of the group I was with, instead of shouting. It didn't really work any better. The group first didn't hear the whistle. By the time they got close enough to hear it, they also heard the shouting of my companion.

 

[Serafina]

How many of you solo skiers carry a safety whistle?
I ski alone quite a bit, not too far off the beaten track, and we all rest easier now that I keep a rescue whistle in my pocket.

I don't. Hadn't occurred to me. But I stick to groomers, and even at slack times they're usually traveled enough that at least one other skier is in sight at any time. Be only a matter of a few minutes before someone comes down the hill and discovers me there.

 

[geargrrl]

Nope. Not normally in my local northeast mole hills.

I do make a point of taking one when I go out west. Still, unless you have a really good (read: LOUD) one, I'm a bit doubtful of its usefulness. I had a chance to use it trying to attract attention of the group I was with, instead of shouting. It didn't really work any better. The group first didn't hear the whistle. By the time they got close enough to hear it, they also heard the shouting of my companion.

I use the same kind we have for whitewater rescue.

 

[badger]

I ski alone 90% of the time. This is not exactly a preference, but mostly a logistical situation.

As others have mentioned, skiing alone does offer a lot of personal freedom.
1. I can ski to the restroom when I need to.
2. Can grab a cip of coffee when it suits me.
3. Go to the car/locker if necessary...and head to the bathroom again. ( funny that I really do not use the restroom much when I DO ski with other people though).
4. I can select the runs based on mood or adventure.

When the rare opportunity to ski with others presents itself, I will admit that I may not know the etiquette involved.
Waiting for people does not bother me at all and I know that others will offer me the same consideration. Skiing fast is a bad habit of mine; I walk too fast also.
As far as my husband goes, well---Altagirl so accurately described---riding the lift together and finding yourself waiting at the bottom for many minutes because he decided to discover a new course through the trees or whatever-------THAT gets old quickly!

 

[altagirl]

My backpack that I always carry does have one built into the shoulder/breast strap (what is the word for this leash?) - so yes, it is always there just in case.

I don't know what the official term would be for that - I'm guessing you mean the strap that connects/stabilizes the shoulder straps? I usually just call it the "chest strap" but I don't know if there's a better term or not. But I think a lot of backcountry packs have that built in these days. Mine is built into the buckle. I don't know how loud those are though, but it's good to have (provided you know/remember that it's there!)

I generally don't wear a pack when I'm skiing at a resort though.

 

[bounceswoosh]

How many of you solo skiers carry a safety whistle?
I ski alone quite a bit, not too far off the beaten track, and we all rest easier now that I keep a rescue whistle in my pocket.

I have one, but I'm not sure where it is - need to find it or get a new one!

 

[geargrrl]

Altagirl, its a "sternum strap".
Here's some things to keep in mind about a whistle:
1. As abc pointed out, how loud is it and
2. Can you get to it? I remembered that I keep mine on a short lanyard around my neck, not in a pocket. "In" a pack doesn't seem like a very good place, to me.

 

[altagirl]

Altagirl, its a "sternum strap".
Here's some things to keep in mind about a whistle:
1. As abc pointed out, how loud is it and
2. Can you get to it? I remembered that I keep mine on a short lanyard around my neck, not in a pocket. "In" a pack doesn't seem like a very good place, to me.

Good point. I keep mine on a chest pocket zipper, where it's in reach of my mouth on the zipper.