How ironic it is that you begin this thread about fear by being so brave to bring up the subject.
I salute you.
Thank you! I'm very brave in other aspects of life, for sure. I think that's one reason my fear while skiing frustrates me and perplexes me.
You skied the headwall down to Chief Joe Bowl or the south facing stuff off of the Blackfoot lift? In the fog? Either way good for you-Targhee has a lot more fog than sunny days as a rule on the upper third to half of the mountain- just ski those days. Or get some badly scratched googles to simulate the low vis. I have severe problems in those conditions-vertigo-falls are frequent- and have found myself in places I never suspected to be when I can see again. Good to hear that some western experience has given you greater confidence on your home hills. Come back to Targhee and have some more fun in the murk. As an aside, the Blackfoot lift is now a fixed grip triple- some interesting times watching unsuspecting visitors loading... and longer days for the guys working the lift.
Yes, the Blackfoot lift! I knew I was calling it the wrong thing. Yes, skied it in light so flat, I was freaking out on the flatish runout to where we dropped in. Once we dropped, I WAS scared, but because I couldn't see to the BOTTOM, I just made one turn, then another, until we reached the flatter section, and I was just fine. (A little scared, but not so much so that I couldn't function.) Next day? Full sunlight, really nice snow, I saw how FAR down that lift was, how LONG that run was, and just froze. Funny, I biked there this summer, looked up at that terrain, and marveled that I skied it. FWIW, we get a LOT of fog at Snowbasin, as in, vertigo hits HARD, and so I have learned to deal with it OK, usually knowing that once I drop down a few hundred feet, the visibility will improve at least a wee bit.
In the moment? I have no surefire recipes. Bigger picture? Make sure you ride a horse or paddle a boat or ride a bike or ski nordic or do something that chills you out. Show up at the hill with a lighter brain.
Maybe a quick lap on snowshoes isn't a bad idea. I tend to like to show up early and get first tracks, regardless of conditions. No reason I can't throw the snowshoes in the car and take a lap around the groomed track there.
That is a ridiculously simplistic thing to say! Skiing is fantastic and that is why we are all here, but to suggest that there is no terrain on this planet that would frighten you? Come one. You just haven't seen it yet. She isn't afraid of living! She is one of the bravest people I have met. You should see the competition horseback riding she does! However, she freezes up in certain ski conditions in certain types of terrain. I get that. I freeze up in steep bumps - even super soft, steep bumps. For me, it's the fear that I can't do it. This will always be amplified if there is a drop off on one side of the run. Then I fear that I will ski right off the side and be unable to turn in time to stop myself. It is a completely unreasonable fear ... but then, I can't kill rattlesnakes either. It's why I got married. Someone has to kill the ugly, dangerous things. It turns out he is also pretty darn good at talking me through the bump runs that terrify me.
Amy, if you have a guy who is patient and will talk you through tough stuff, he's a keeper!
Thanks, Pat
I'm definitely not a chicken in general. I also am typically a joyous person, but joy was kind of hard to come by at all last winter. And yes, my guy has the patience of a saint and refuses to leave me, even if I insist he does. I thoroughly enjoy skiing with him, for sure! He never pressures me. We also bike together, and have a blast.
Excellent post. I've seen so many men drag women onto terrain because those men have a different view of fun and satisfaction. One thing I've noticed is that often, men seem to be happy just having gotten down something, while often women don't find that meaningful unless they feel they skied it well. I remember one time when, after a harrowing descent, my husband pointed up the hill and said, Look what you skied! He wanted me to feel proud, but I wasn't, because it had been a mess. Note: actually, it was an instructor who TF'd me on that day. Husband was just there.
Nowadays, it would be a warmup run ... but that took a lot of time on skis.
See, the perfectionism in me tends to not allow me joy unless I ski something well. I need to let that go, don't I? Probably why my favorite days last season were in powder and fluffy crud. I look quite like a tool in it, and I don't care, because it's so fun! I did ski quite a lot of steeper stuff in powder and did really well in it, including some of the steeps that I did just fine on in the powder, but freaked out on when they were groomed.
I feel like this is Fear Anonymous meeting...Hi, I'm Phil and I have fears..... Hi Phil...
I have more fear mountain biking now than I ever have..I look at what could go wrong in a situation verses what could go right. Rocks are hard and the ground hurts. Sadly since
@Tricia's accident a few year back, she is in the same boat. Have these fears been projected on one another? Maybe, maybe not and if so it is not fair either way. You know what? We are fine with it and have accepted the fact that we just don't enjoy aggressive mountain biking on anything more than what you might consider a green or blue trail. Are we wimps now? Some might say so but we have found other things that we enjoy in place of it.
I have much more comfortable on skis than I ever was...but more so on the ground. I don't like being in the air as much as I did when I was younger. Last season was the first season ever that I did not do a helicopter...why? probably because of the fear of failure. Failure to get all around, that 270* that slams you on the ground, maybe the fear of embarrassment of not doing it, not sure.
I won't even get into the fears of launching Pugski. The fears of the unknown from when we were released from Epic. As they say, that is a whole 'nother talk show.
Wish you guys could make a trip out here to ride with us and 4ster. I'm very OK with being comfortable with easier trails on the bike. I do it for the exercise and to get outside and to hang with friends and the man friend. I am VERY competitive on the climbs, and there are always sections that challenge my technical skills, and sometimes I ride them, and sometimes I don't. Not sure why I'm more comfortable on the bike and don't carry the ego with it, frankly. We've been pondering that all summer. My thought is that 1) I don't feel the pressure from others to get my ass down the hill 2) I don't hurl myself down a steep slope on the bike--nothing is super steep, and nothing has an unobstructed view for 100s of yards down such a hill and 3) I don't have people zipping by me, which truth be told, freaks me out on skis.
Another factor that I've been grappling with is that my daughter was recently diagnosed autistic. In that discovery process of reading books and studies and articles, I have seen a lot of similarities in me--particularly the anxiety and sensory processing issues that accompany it. When I hear a skier or even worse, snowboarder coming behind me, I stiffen up because it's so LOUD to me. I've also been hit from behind more than once, and had near misses several times. There are also gross motor function skills that go with the territory. In order for me to master a move that others seem to get quickly and easily, I have to do it OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER... and even then, it's a crapshoot if I'll every TRULY master it. I sometimes think the dynamic nature of skiing along with the willingness to allow myself to be out of control makes it a lot for me to master.
I'm getting some ideas from this thread, including things I might tell people I'm skiing with to do if I DO freeze up to help me. What
@Muleski 's story above told--get in someone's head by talking talking talking, and not necessarily about skiing. Talking helps to release that negative energy. I also need to stop being a perfectionist and comparing myself to other skiers. And ski a lot more powder
Because powder makes my day fun and joyous, and I forget about perfection and just go play!