What's your skiing level?

[nay]

FWIW, I thought Nay's point was that the Aristotle quote was unactionable. You can't act on the basis of what you don't know. But skiing is more of a "doing" than a "knowing" anyway (which is a point Aristotle might have made). I didn't really take it as a stab at @KingGrump at all. More playful than anything else. My $.02. Keep the change!

Defintely not a stab . I just like that quote...which I think probably explains the poll results centered on L7, which is as broad as all the other levels combined...

 

[tromano]

Almost the opposite, I think.

On the wall a coworker of mine has a saying. "I can explain it to you, but I cant understand it for you."

 

[Tricia]

To quote Martin Luther King Jr -
I may not be the man I want to be; I may not be the man I ought to be; I may not be the man I could be; I may not be the man I truly can be; but praise God, I'm not the man I once was


I have come to the realization that my current skill set is not as good as I thought I was ten years ago, before I took my first ski lesson.

What a wonderful quote about life. Just sitting back a moment to appreciate it.

And yeah, it's funny how I used to be an expert at skiing, and here I am with like 8 times the skills I had then, but far from expert.

“The more you know, the more you know you don't know.”

― Aristotle

Yes. Arrogance and ignorance so often go together ...

The unhelpful creak of wisdom.

It is only unhelpful if you choose it to be.

Middle age is no place for a prince.

Looking back at @Mendieta 's quest for where the thread was going, I have to chuckle because it all started with my MLK quote and was actually a good follow up with @KingGrump and @nay 's Aristotle.
Good stuff here.

 

[Tricia]

I'm not sure what you're saying. Would like to understand better. Are you just saying it takes time and effort?

Almost the opposite, I think.

On the wall a coworker of mine has a saying. "I can explain it to you, but I cant understand it for you."

Deep thoughts on overthinking and not comprehending.

@Monique embrace @Weems Westfeldt 's sports diamond.
Power Purpose Will and Touch.
Time and effort live in the Power and Purpose corner of the diamond. Sometimes you need to go to the Touch corner so that you can understand it without thinking about it.
Very zen, eh?

 

[scott43]

.... to being above average looking?

Well either that or a strong woman! Not sure where I'm going with this!!

 

[skibob]

Well either that or a strong woman! Not sure where I'm going with this!!

You could cop to liking strong women

 

[scott43]

You could cop to liking strong women

I married one! She kicks my ass every day and believe me, I need it!!

 

[DanoT]

I'm an old guy now, but back in the day for a brief period of time I really was the best skier on the mountain.

In the 1970s Tod Mountain (now called Sun Peaks) was a sleepy little place with only 2 chairlifts. Ok with 2900' vertical it was not that little but with only 30-50 skiers per day midweek they just ran the Burfield chair that ran the full vertical. So if I took a late lunch I would be guaranteed to be pretty much the only and therefore best skier on the mountain.

I should add that these day I qualify as an expert...side slipper and traverser.

 

[lonewolf210]

Just to add to the fun: There are a large number of skiers on here that would be considered experts by the general population. Studies have shown that experts tend to rank themselves lower but for people who like math like me let's do some. I saw talk of 1%ers which includes a lot more people then most realize, math with big numbers is funny.

Last year SIA reported aprox 9.4 million ski participants in the US (maybe NA not sure) that means that 1% is 94K skiers. The Noram cup had about 180 participants, assuming they are all the best skiers in the US, probabyl not a true assumption, that would make them the top .0001%. Do I think that a good number of skiers on this forum are in the top 94,000 in the US you bet.

Edit: Formatting

 

[lonewolf210]

O just to add a little more perspective. Vail is the most visited resort in the world with 1.6 million skier visits annually. With a 5 month season of mid November to mid April that's an average of 10,666 skiers a day. You could take an average day at Vail multiply the number of skiers there by 8 and still not fill the resort with the top 1% of skiers in the US.

 

[fatbob]

Or take a typical midweek day at Red Mtn and up to 50% of the people on the hill will be in the 1%.

 

[Philpug]

I'm an old guy now, but back in the day for a brief period of time I really was the best skier on the mountain.

In the 1970s Tod Mountain (now called Sun Peaks) was a sleepy little place with only 2 chairlifts. Ok with 2900' vertical it was not that little but with only 30-50 skiers per day midweek they just ran the Burfield chair that ran the full vertical. So if I took a late lunch I would be guaranteed to be pretty much the only and therefore best skier on the mountain.

I should add that these day I qualify as an expert...side slipper and traverser.

The only time I was the best skier in the mountain is when I was the only skier on the mountain, sadly that day I was also the worst one too.

 

[Mendieta]

The only time I was the best skier in the mountain is when I was the only skier on the mountain, sadly that day I was also the worst one too.

The way I see it, when I'm the only one, I'm average

 

[KevinF]

math with big numbers is funny.

A one-in-a-million chance should happen to eight people in New York City.

 

[Don in Morrison]

Looking at the poll results again, and it basically shows that level 7 skiers are at the top of the bell curve, which means we're mostly all average. Advanced is average. Who'da thunk. Sorta pokes a hole in everyone's balloon, don't it.

 

[KingGrump]

A one-in-a-million chance should happen to eight people in New York City.

OK, I'm 1 of the 8. What do I get? Hope something good.

 

[nay]

Looking at the poll results again, and it basically shows that level 7 skiers are at the top of the bell curve, which means we're mostly all average. Advanced is average. Who'da thunk. Sorta pokes a hole in everyone's balloon, don't it.

Why is 7 average on a 9 scale? Wouldn't most skiers have to be 7 and above?

 

[Monique]

Looking at the poll results again, and it basically shows that level 7 skiers are at the top of the bell curve, which means we're mostly all average. Advanced is average. Who'da thunk. Sorta pokes a hole in everyone's balloon, don't it.

From what I've seen (outside of this forum), level 7 is the first ski lesson level where you really need to spend a lot of time and effort to move past it. I'm talking skill, not terrain. A lot of people either don't invest the time (perfecty legit) to work their skills to that extent, or are perfectly content with where they are because it brings them plenty of enjoyment.

 

[Don in Morrison]

The poll is, of course, by no means representative of the real world, because the polled population is so miniscule. I just turned the graph sideways and saw a bell curve shape. I think the skiing population piles up at level 7 because it is so broad and difficult to move beyond it. The poll actually has a few more folks on the high side of 7 than the low side, while reality is probably the other way 'round, so maybe the true average is a little lower. Shoulda used a smiley on my other post.

The only lesson I ever had was the first one, and ever since I've progressed by trying to imitate others and fumble along by trial and error. I'm not particularly athletic, so I must've made it to where I am more by determination than talent.

 

[Monique]

The poll actually has a few more folks on the high side of 7 than the low side, while reality is probably the other way 'round, so maybe the true average is a little lower. Shoulda used a smiley on my other post.

I also suspect a lot of people aren't contributing to the poll.