Skiing less in covid times? What is replacing your skiing?

[liquidfeet]

I haven't gotten out yet to ski. My winter life has totally changed. Normally I rent a condo 3 hours away in the mountains and drive up every week for four days of skiing. Three of those days I work as an instructor. Not this year. No skiing at all so far this year. I may get out if the lines diminish. Maybe. I'm one of those people extremely careful about the virus.

The void left by skiing in my winter life is big. I've been struggling to find a replacement for my urge to be outside on snow. Where I live it's brown, not white, out there. The brown looks uninviting. The ground is frozen solid and unpleasant underfoot. The cold feels awful now and I finally understand why non-skiers hate winter. When I'm skiing I don't dislike the cold at all, and welcome it as long as it's not below zero. We had a brief five days of snow during which I got out on snowshoes every day and felt the bliss again, but that's gone now.

So what to do with my winter life? I've found something, I think, that might work for me. But I'll wait to post about that until I get a sense of whether it will indeed become an outdoor winter activity that drives me to look forward to daily adventure.

If there are others here who are suffering from the loss of skiing, or reduction of skiing, what are you doing instead to fill the emptied time and to feed your passion for outside activity?

 

[Tvan]

We also made the decision not to ski this year. I am in a high risk category, so we are home, sequestered, and quarantining. Once we have been vaccinated, things may change a little, but that is a long way off. Meanwhile, we are ultra-cautious. No bubble, no trips to the grocery, home hair cuts, etc. Fortunately, we are both able to and enjoy working from home. We know that we are privileged to have this option.

Our winter season so far looks a lot like our summer did: meals together (huge luxury!), exercise at home on our indoor equipment or outdoors (weather dependent). I’m heading out for a run shortly. Birthday and Holiday gifts included more activity-related items... pasta attachments for my kitchen aid, a very detailed and persnickety diorama kit of Diagonal Alley (which is really fun to work on), and my personal favorite: a “Learn to Tap Dance“ program including taps and a roll-up dance floor. I have a daily exercise schedule and I’m motivated. There is a LOT of music happening in our house with both of us taking weekly lessons over zoom. My teacher now lives in Seattle, but my lessons have continued uninterrupted. DH has now played on two zoom recitals since quarantine started. We are also deep in the design phase for our new house, so that is very time-consuming... and super fun. We’re starting to source a few items for the new house. I scored a great coffee table from a Vermont craftsman yesterday. Again, we know that we are privileged.

I absolutely miss skiing this year, but I’m really enjoying sleeping in, having slow weekend mornings and working on fun projects. So while it’s lovely to read reports on mountain conditions, etc, it’s also been lovely to have the luxury of time at home. By next season, we will hopefully be vaccinated, and will be able to rejoin you all on the hill.

 

[altagirl]

Birdwatching is still good in the winter. I'm getting it to hike with my dogs more too.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

I've been doing more walks in the woods. I'm still skiing a little bit, but I really don't like being in lines with people right now (yes, even masked outside) so it's really not that satisfying only skiing 45 min off the green lift (no real lines on that one until about 45 min after opening).
I'm also concentrating more on photography, taking advantage of the extra time to get out shooting more and also take some online classes.
@Tvan that "Learn to Tap Dance" program sounds like fun. I have always wanted to learn tap dance--I might have to look into that.

 

[geargrrl]

Snowshoe and Nordic, both skate and classic. It's so much less crowded; people disperse really well.

 

[kiki]

Since Covid started I’ve spent much more time at home. Some things I’ve really enjoyed that i have been able to do over zoom include Toastmasters, yoga, and Zumba. It’s important to create opportunities for social interaction and exercise both the brain and body.

 

[altagirl]

Snowshoe and Nordic, both skate and classic. It's so much less crowded; people disperse really well.

I will say that our local hiking trails are much more crowded than usual- but there are so many side trails all over the place that if you pay attention, it's easy to avoid people. But generally in past winters I almost never saw anyone on those trails at all. Yesterday there was an evacuation in progress - appeared someone fell off of a horse and had a badly broken arm. I don't know what happened, but knowing how many blind corners, runners with headphones on, mountain bikes and people on horseback there were, I have my guesses... If you listen carefully you can hear the horses and runners coming and it's no big deal to keep your distance from everyone. I think luckily I like listening for birds and that keeps me safe on the busier than normal trails. (And makes it possible to stay distanced too...)

 

[Christy]

what are you doing instead to fill the emptied time and to feed your passion for outside activity?

I've had to lower the bar and shift priorities with both summer and winter outdoor activities. It's really crucial to me to get outside and just experience nature. Normally in summer I'm taking really beautiful alpine hikes and backpacking trips. In winter I am mostly downhill skiing but also make the time to snowshoe at Mt Rainier or other beautiful spots. Summer crowds/full trailheads and now long lift lines/parking issues/crowds at ski areas have in general just been too much for me, and I don't want to join the mobs. It's not fun. (Nordic and snowshoe areas here are very crowded too. Given avalanche danger and limited access--they don't plow forest roads in winter--there aren't unlimited places to go).

So the general strategy has been: more far-away-from-the-city cabin rentals, where we can hike or nordic ski/snowshoe with less people. (But it's also been hard to get reservations--everyone wants to rent cabins). Do second-tier hikes, which in WA are still pretty good. And really, what has turned into the main thing keeping me sane--lots of exploring suburban parks and natural areas. There are some really nice trails and forests not to far from where I live in Seattle, that I just normally wouldn't go to instead of hiking. In years past I would have thought, why would I hike in second or even third growth forest with no views when I could be in a national park? But this past year I have, and have learned to appreciate the less spectacular (but still full of trees and birds) spaces around me.

 

[ddskis]

Second all that Christy says.
Been out skiing twice so far and it was fun, but........the crowds, the lines, the parking, the mask hassle, booting up and eating at the car; just ugh.
And thru all of this, the question I always get to is, is it essential?
Never really go skiing much over the holiday season as it’s just too nuts, but just not dying to get out skiing now as I don’t really see things changing much.
So. Lots of walks and local trails and maybe doing more lowland hiking on less than stellar days, but jeez it just still seems so dang crowded outside!

 

[Oski]

Does online shopping for ski equipment count? . New to this forum but gotten so much good information already so I'm using my time to look up ski equipment reviews in preparation for purchasing at the end of the season. Also doing more running (which is my go-to sport), golf with the family, biking with the kids.

 

[SkiGAP]

Here in Andorra the lifts are currently only open to residents of the country - something I am not. I came this weekend for the first time since summer, and tried two new activities.

After research Friday night, Saturday I bought some snowshoes and had great fun on the side of very lightly used ski runs and also in the woods on semi-marked hiking trails in both tracked and untracked snow. I definitely want to do that again!

Sunday I broke out the skins I bought back in about 2014 when i purchased my Volkl Amaruqs. At the time I had great ambitions of doing backcountry tours or at least exploring in my telemark bindings..but never did. And I rarely ski the Amaruqs. So yesterday I walked up a blue piste for about 40 mins, then came back down. It was ok - I think I need something steeper to make it feel like real work but I didn't want to be too ambitious for the first time out and the first day of the year. The experience has reawakened my desire to take a guide out and to explore new parts of the mountain. I realize telemark boots and bindings are not ideal for touring, but as I am partly in it for the workout, lugging heavy gear around doesn't bother me too much - I don't see being into it enough to get all new gear.

All and all the snow is ok here, it fell all weekend - and we'll see how the situation evolves.

 

[newboots]

Does online shopping for ski equipment count?

Absolutely! You are going to fit in well here!

 

[Kimmyt]

We decided as a family to cancel our ski passes this year. We may get one or two days in at a small mom and pop resort, but since we are in the front range, the process for 'reserving' a ski day is really difficult and frustrating and I have seen way too many people from out of state still planning on coming to visit and I don't want to risk an exposure when there is the potential for a vaccine in the next year. So, as much as we love skiing (and we love skiing!), we are laying low. We do have a few backcountry yurt trips we will take as a family but we won't do much skiing due to the avy danger right now so it will be mostly snowshowing and playing in the snow with the kids around the yurt.

To replace skiing, I am getting back into trail running (winter trail running is my favorite!) and hoping to avoid injury by really taking my time to build base and just run for the fun of it instead of trying to make mileage. I have been continuing to climb at the gym due to reduced capacities and strict requirements for masks, and I've been doing at home yoga. We got snowshoes for the kids and hope to take them out a bit but again, the trails are rather crowded with everyone discovering that nature is good therapy, so in general we have been staying home a lot more than I would like.

 

[ling]

I’ve been lucky there’s good condition to cross country ski some of the time. But I plan to get out my snowshoe if condition are not good for xc skiing.

There’re some trails here that are kind of rough to hike, but just perfect once the snow fills in and smooth out the surface.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

If we had any snow on the ground near where I live, my XC skis and snowshoes would definitely be coming out!

 

[snoWYmonkey]

Skiing, but way more nordic, even teaching a little again, and way less alpine than my usual.

Our federal land nordic destinations are busy, but the local nordic private club trails are not at all in the mornings.

Forgot how much I love to classic ski.