What's good for you?

[Bad Bob]

How many of you do this, and if you don't why not?

There is some truth to the old adige of, "what does not kill you makes you stronger". Lots of common phrases thrown around on the topic in our sport like, 'don't just ski what is good, ski what is good for you'. It has always interested me that so much of most mountains don't get skied when the conditions are not pristeen. I have noted over the years that if you do this often others will start trying it, at least for one run.

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For 50+ years I have always tried to put down a few runs every ski day on some less than desirable snow or terrain. It is always an interesting experiment to go play in the stuff that most people shy away from and it is normally pretty easy to find on any given day. You will be hard pressed to convince me that it doesn't hone the skiing skills (and survival skills). Some examples of the stuff that might get hit in a day depending on conditions:
icy bumps or steeps.
several day old manky crud.
funky bumps (extra points for bad viz, especially on this one)
the groomer line (ballroom on one side, crud and or bumps on the other) 3 turns on each side and back across can be entertaining.
breakable crust, within limits.
refrozen stuff.
wind buff
crud in general.

There are some limits to my game and new rules keep getting added every year, after all there is snow on the peak (who am I kidding, it's a damned glacier up there):
If it might fall on you, don't go there.
If it hurts very much don't do it again.
no ducking ropes solo unless others can see me, and NEVER if there is a "CLOSED" sign.
when skiing solo, stay in places where somebody might find the body.
stop playing this game when you get too tired.

Do you intentionally ski this kind of stuff, and where do you drew the lines?
If you have some variations to the game, would love to hear them.

 

[scott43]

I don't believe in the makes you stronger bit. I have enough broken bits to look back and say, that was unfortunate and I feel every busted bit every morning. But yeah, stretch the envelope, just do it in a smart way!

 

[CalG]

Last year I sought out ICE. It was easy to do, we had lots of it ;-)
By season's end, I was getting the hang of it even if it still rattled teeth, jarred bones and jiggled muscles mercilessly.
That effort has changed everything about how I go about skiing on ice. And I'm referring to the shiny stuff you can see into.

This past season we had our share of crusty conditions. Warm rain and then a freeze up. ..... I'm working with that.....;-)

 

[Bad Bob]

Seem that skiing the changeable or odd snow surfaces makes a smoother skier, because there is rarely any tolerance for abrupt motions. Also gets you to alter your weight both ski to ski and fore and aft.

I don't believe in the makes you stronger bit. I have enough broken bits to look back and say, that was unfortunate and I feel every busted bit every morning. But yeah, stretch the envelope, just do it in a smart way!

That is kind of how the rule about if it hurts too much don't do it again came about.

 

[Bill Talbot]

There are old skiers and there are bold skiers...
We're supposed to get smarter with age

 

[Bad Bob]

There are old skiers and there are bold skiers...
We're supposed to get smarter with age

I have a lot of Norwegian in me, what would you expect? Had one booboo this last season and it happened on a groomer.

Actually rarely fall in these little adventures, but do tend to concentrate more on the skiing rather than just do. The skiing after these little drills seems to be of a better quality, or maybe it is just the mental relief of going back to autopilot; my concentration span is as good as any goldfish.

 

[Carolinacub]

Being an old guy let me start by saying " back in the day".
Back in the early 80's I was just getting started in skiing and basically skied every day the mountain was open for 3 years. A lot of the stuff I did back then I did because I didn't know any better. we'd have some great powder days and after it had been skied to death I'd jump off to the sides of the run and ski in chopped up off camber snow. The reality of it all was that when I was doing laps I would start to get tired of doing the same old thing and I would look for stuff that would give me a challenge.
Bumps, chopped up crap, ice, whatever I came across I would try to ski.
Now as I look back on it doing that stuff is probably what made me a pretty good skier.

 

[KingGrump]

I am rather picky when it come to snow conditions. I only ski stuff that I considered as good snow.

OTOH, lots of folks disagreed with my definition of good snow.

 

[David Chaus]

If there’s snow, it’s good.

Usually. I will admit to a few moments of thinking “F&#k this s#^t!”

A couple of years ago, I decided my goal was to get better at skiing crud and chop, and if I happened to come across some fresh, untracked dry powder, that was a slight disappointment that I’d just have to learn to live with.

 

[BS Slarver]

The older I get, the quieter I like the snow to be !
If conditions aren’t to my likings, there is always tomorrow.

 

[graham418]

All snow is good!! There's snow that's good, and theres snow that's good for you. You have to be able to do it all, because its always changing ( well, except for you lucky people that live the dream and have endless powder all day , every day) What was groomed hardpack soon turns to ice, (maybe only at my hill), what is flat in the morning may be full of bumps by afternoon.
What a wonderful , ever changing world we have. Never boring!!

 

[François Pugh]

It's all good.

 

[Jilly]

As per @Lady_Salina , I'm doing at least one run of bumps every day I'm out. Unless they are really icy or rocky, or crowded, or....you get the picture!!

There are old skiers and there are bold skiers...
We're supposed to get smarter with age

That I have to agree with!!

 

[Rod9301]

No question that, for me, skiing bad snow helps build confidence. To a point.

If it's a committing line, steep, don't fall, I would seldom ski it in icy conditions.

I can probably do it, but I also want to ski it in good conditions, so next time I look at a similar line, my memory is positive.

 

[Snuckerpooks]

Regardless of weather I try to lay down some runs. With race skis powder becomes utterly slow and meaningless.

But I'd like to think that skiing in adverse conditions can add another tool to my skiing box.

 

[Jacob]

Whatever doesn't kill you can only injure you very, very badly.

I don't intentionally ski bad conditions just for the sake of it. But, I often have to ski some difficult bits to get to/from the good stuff, so I get enough of it to know how to deal with it.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

When I was chasing the PSIA examiner dream 30 years ago, I'd seek out "good for you" conditions regularly. Now I'm more mindful of potential harm.

 

[Wilhelmson]

Is that frozen crud or medium regular crud? I like skiing that type of stuff and depending on the day try to take the fast steep line if it looks doable. If I'm alone or with my boy I'll draw the line at most anyting in the northeast that's open, with the exception of very steep ice or frozen crud in the woods, although we usually end up just about over our heads once or twice a year. Gota teach that's there's no shame in taking the skis off and sliding down a waterfall once in a while. With the girls I'd prefer to have a bailout option to the side.

Mountainbiking, hell no I don't like to endo.

 

[TQA]

I was more likely to ski crap snow in crap conditions when I was 30, 40 years later with a knee that is held together loosely with spit and string it is groomers and in good light for this fair weather guy.

 

[Seldomski]

I draw the line at tracked, refrozen slush/crud. If I find myself on this, I'll start traversing through trees/whatever to find something... ANYTHING ... else. I have never seen anyone ski that kind of surface on purpose.

Upside down soft snow is not fun either. Wet/heavy on top with soft dry stuff underneath = not fun. I'll also try to traverse out of this. Generally it is better somewhere else!

I'm good to ski anything else.