Wow 5 pages!
I see “good” skiers every day, and in fact make a “living” (in the winter anyway) telling them that they are good...at least in the context of what they are doing, maybe having a breakthrough moment or mastering a task, even if it’s only on the beginner hill.
I know, I know, everyone wants to put up a definition and that’s ok, it’s a way of seeing how we measure up (or maybe fall short). And within the context of the OP I tend to agree that one has to master the skills of how we make the Ski Tip, Twist, or Bend and that blending those skills to achieve balance on any terrain in any conditions makes us efficient (and good?).
People have a choice, as they should, of what terrain they like to ski. A given skier may no longer enjoy skiing the bumps, but he/she has the requisite skills to do so at a level that even a non skier would recognize as “good” (they are not merely surviving the run) the difference from them and someone who has never or rarely ventures into the bumps is obvious, same with trees, powder, steeps etc.
I watch skiers all day long and the vast majority ski at the intermediate to advanced levels (if you apply say the PSIA definitions) and there is nothing wrong with that, some of them are even quite good (at that level). Maybe they only get out 6 days a year and they have skied at the same level for the last 20 years, but they are (relatively) stable on their favorite blue run and are in a state of joy as evidenced by the smile on their faces
. Who am I to tell them (unless they ask and have signed a waiver) that the way they ski is not going to work on a bump run?
I learned awhile back to watch a persons turns (ski performance) then what their body was doing and then render judgment about what they were doing (or not doing that they should do). But those “judgements” were never about them, a fine line I know. We all have egos and if for a few hours or days a person gets to live out a positive reinforcement of a perception of themselves just because it brings them joy then I say everyone managing to get themselves up the lift and down the hill is good enough, but then maybe I’m just an eternal optimist
.