vail bail
spent the day with joshua_, knightofstarz, xsavvyx at beaver creek instead of vail today. while yesterday was exciting and intense, today was relaxing and confidence-building. (it was also a day of committing to decisions early and feeling good about it.) going down each slope i could feel where my skill level was, what i was comfortable with and when i was pushing myself, whether my form was any good or needed work.
the interesting thing about skiing as compared to other course-based activities (itg, climbing) is that there's no metric for whether or not you "pass" a run or not: basically any slope you put me on i can get down one way or another, even if it means going down in total noob mode (which i would feel bad about which is why not to do runs that are beyond me). the only way of telling a successful run is by how much i enjoy myself - do i lose control too often? is it a pain in the ass to get down? did i have to be agonisingly slow on some sections of it? etc. and yet there's still the eventuality that some runs are obviously my level, some are too comfortable, some are pushing my boundaries; and each of those is good for (respectively) having tons of straightforward fun, working on my form, and testing the deeper waters to see what to be shooting for. after nearly every run today i got on the lift and thought "that felt great; i am really glad i did that" - regardless of whether it was a vanilla steep slope or a nerve-wracking mogul field or a twisty navigational challenge.
the interesting thing about skiing as compared to other course-based activities (itg, climbing) is that there's no metric for whether or not you "pass" a run or not: basically any slope you put me on i can get down one way or another, even if it means going down in total noob mode (which i would feel bad about which is why not to do runs that are beyond me). the only way of telling a successful run is by how much i enjoy myself - do i lose control too often? is it a pain in the ass to get down? did i have to be agonisingly slow on some sections of it? etc. and yet there's still the eventuality that some runs are obviously my level, some are too comfortable, some are pushing my boundaries; and each of those is good for (respectively) having tons of straightforward fun, working on my form, and testing the deeper waters to see what to be shooting for. after nearly every run today i got on the lift and thought "that felt great; i am really glad i did that" - regardless of whether it was a vanilla steep slope or a nerve-wracking mogul field or a twisty navigational challenge.