What Is a Good Skier?

[pchewn]

I can usually tell a good good skier just by the way they stand and walk.... there's a certain balanced stance coupled with an independent motion of the head/arms from the legs. Hard to describe, but its there.

Just like my sister-in-law can tell who's a good dancer just by seeing them stand and walk....

 

[Chris Walker]

The first prerequisite for judging a good (great?) skier is that they are humble, and do not brag about their skiing or the run they just took...just sayin'...

I will say that, as a rule, most of the people I've known who talk the biggest about their skiing ability are actually pretty lame, and most of the truly elite skiers I've met are quite humble, self-effacing and down-to-Earth, but it is not a prerequisite. I've met a few pretty arrogant jerks who, I have to admit, are excellent skiers. There truly are some real-life Rudy Garmisches out there.

 

[oldschoolskier]

Good and great are separated by just a little.

A good skier can ski just about anything, with anything whether they like it or not, because they have the full bag of tricks and can adapt them.

Great are the same, they’ve just mastered them all.

 

[Goose]

Good and great are separated by just a little.

A good skier can ski just about anything, with anything whether they like it or not, because they have the full bag of tricks and can adapt them.

Great are the same, they’ve just mastered them all.

I am strongly of the opinion that one does not have to ski "it all" good to be considered a good skier. You can be very good and even great at what it is you like to do and what it is you do most of without necessarily being so good at other things.

 

[1chris5]

James -

One reason to practice at slow speeds is because it builds stronger neuromuscular pathways - something that I will cover in an upcoming article. It is why Martial Artists do katas very slowly.

On slow is smooth and smooth is fast.... I stand by that. Step back from being the observer and be the athlete. On those runs on snow or on the river where I was a tick off I looked rushed, and was consistently over compensating, using big muscles to make big adjustments instead of small muscles to make minute adjustments. My times sucked. On those runs where my intent was clearer to me, where I was more focused and in step each move felt like I had ample time. I was in that state of flow where time slowed. My best times are when I was in that place. The same applies to any situation in free skiing where you have obstacles.

Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. If you take the term literally, if you have't experienced it, it looses its meaning.

I love the concept of "flow" state. I read a book on it (The Rise of Superman, Kottler) and am fascinated by it. Would love to find this type of "grace" consistently in my skiing. It seems to appear for me when I am under extreme stress. That is not ideal and does not happen very often; luckily. I look forward to following this series. I find it interesting that you are also a river rat as flow state seems to show itself under those circumstances.

 

[Andrew]

Honestly, If you're having fun skiing that's all that matters in my opinion.
Sure, It'd be awesome to progress from 360's to cork 7's in a single season, but if you're not having fun with what your doing, why bother?

 

[Goose]

Honestly, If you're having fun skiing that's all that matters in my opinion.
Sure, It'd be awesome to progress from 360's to cork 7's in a single season, but if you're not having fun with what your doing, why bother?

very true indeed, but its also true (and fwiw only my opinions) when someone becomes better they end up having even more fun. You even say yourself it would be awesome progressing to higher level. But also some people find enjoyment in the work itself. They enjoy the fruits of their labor and is how they choose to view and enjoy it.
And they also imo will even better enjoy things when also skiing at lower levels of their abilities while knowing they are doing so with a heightened sense of efficiency, awareness (and even more second natured) even though not playing (at the time) in their upper atmosphere of their ability. Imo thats a win/win all around as for their skiing enjoyment in general.

The obtained skill set results in added enjoyment imo. No right or wrong at all here and different strokes for different folks. It doesn't truly matter because it needs to be fun which is most important to us all but the ideology of this imo is a good one that makes sense (to me). Every time I improve even a little bit I find skiing a little bit more enjoyable. That makes it all that much better. With a bittersweet feeling I can say .... thankfully I am not able to ski enough nor in enough places to ever even find a relatively high degree of great (if that's even a thing). So I look forward to knowing for the rest of my skiing life I will always be able to improve. That is a heck of a lot of fun imo to look forward to.

 

[James]

Maybe, one day, before I get too old, someone may see me from the lift, and say " Hey , that guy's a good skier"

That brings up an interesting aspect of this. There is looking from the outside, like on a chairlift, and looking from interaction with that skier or other's interactions with that skier. Looking from the chairlift we might consider them a good skier in the brief view we have and yet they could be a real ahole to people on the mountain. I don't think you can be considered in that top category without caring about something in the alpine environment other than how great you are. Whether it's for the environment itself or other people.
To get to that level you've had to spend an awful lot of time on the hill. Something should have rubbed off.

 

[Goose]

That brings up an interesting aspect of this. There is looking from the outside, like on a chairlift, and looking from interaction with that skier or other's interactions with that skier. Looking from the chairlift we might consider them a good skier in the brief view we have and yet they could be a real ahole to people on the mountain. I don't think you can be considered in that top category without caring about something in the alpine environment other than how great you are. Whether it's for the environment itself or other people.
To get to that level you've had to spend an awful lot of time on the hill. Something should have rubbed off.

Im not sure I follow. Are you suggesting that one needs to have a genuine awareness for these things in order to be a better skier?
I mean I do get it as for one caring for and appreciating and respecting in general the surrounds both human and environmental. If we are talking etiquettes , common courtesy, and a general interest to respect and appreciate it all, they are wonderful things which imo society lacks far too much of these days. Truly sad imo. and I can go on about it forever. But where does that make one a top skier or not? I suppose I can somewhat understand when one does poses those things they may be a bit more inclined to be part of something (in this case skiing) and feel more connected and therefore possibly lead to a better chance at improving. But can we really say those who lack this cant ever be considered a top skier? unless Im misunderstanding you I don't know if that would hold true.

 

[James]

Im not sure I follow. Are you suggesting that one needs to have a genuine awareness for these things in order to be a better skier?
I mean I do get it as for one caring for and appreciating and respecting in general the surrounds both human and environmental. If we are talking etiquettes , common courtesy, and a general interest to respect and appreciate it all, they are wonderful things which imo society lacks far too much of these days. Truly sad imo. and I can go on about it forever. But where does that make one a top skier or not? I suppose I can somewhat understand when one does poses those things they may be a bit more inclined to be part of something (in this case skiing) and feel more connected and therefore possibly lead to a better chance at improving. But can we really say those who lack this cant ever be considered a top skier? unless Im misunderstanding you I don't know if that would hold true.

You're just looking at it as skill level. Sure, you can reach a very high level of skill, but I'm saying if you're missing that other piece you don't get the "good skier" tag. There's an asterix.

It's not that concern for others "makes one a better skier", it's that those "good skiers" we refer to as such have something else besides just being technically good. If someone is say always trashing people who ski at a low level, we might say of them "they ski well but..."

You can use Glen Plake as an example of what I'm talking about, a good skier. Obviously beyond that. What makes him great though is he shares his love for the sport with pretty much everyone. He'll spend time at little hills people haven't heard of. Spend time with kids, etc. If you're just starting out and he comes across you he's likely to help you out.

He's not just about how great he is, even though that's basically how he earns a living.

 

[graham418]

That brings up an interesting aspect of this. There is looking from the outside, like on a chairlift, and looking from interaction with that skier or other's interactions with that skier. Looking from the chairlift we might consider them a good skier in the brief view we have and yet they could be a real ahole to people on the mountain. I don't think you can be considered in that top category without caring about something in the alpine environment other than how great you are. Whether it's for the environment itself or other people.
To get to that level you've had to spend an awful lot of time on the hill. Something should have rubbed off.

I think that could be a whole other thread.. The Gestalt of Skiing

 

[mister moose]

... They move like silk in the wind. ...grace...

...efficiency of movement ...options. .... It should feel effortless.... .

Silk in the wind, I like that. Grace, yes. Efficiency - optional. Quite often what looks easy - isn't. Options - another invisible talent, you only see the outcome of the option chosen, not the many available. Effortless, has it's place, but again, optional.

Well yes, but the point Mikaela was making is "slow is slow". The clock doesn't care if one is smooth or not. And in racing all that matters is the end result.

Watching Mikaela on the afternoon slalom run at Killington, many top racers before her skidded, slipped, or missed gates on the first 6 turns. Mikaela made it look like a marble down a celery stalk. Smooth, surgical, rhythmic, precise. Effortless? No way.

Anyone that spends time on skis and doesn't fall, is a good skier. Learn all the right movements and discard the unnecessary ones makes them a better skier.

As others have said, falling is not the exclusive province of the not-so-good skier. If you push yourself to learn, you fall.

Efficient or not, the good skier to me has style, and by that I mean they have made it their own. You can pick them out on the hill from a distance once you know their style. Exuberance. Clearly having fun. They own the terrain. Usually this means grace, well throttled power, smoothness, but it might not. Radio Ron, for example, is usually a cascading flash of gyrating color.

 

[slowrider]

There's a special skier. You don't see them often but when you do they're one of a kind. All the right moves and a powerband out of each turn.

 

[SSSdave]

Not addressing the whole subject of a good skier that reads more like a much too broadly posed skills question but more narrowly for what I care about,

A "good" skier is a skier on a fresh powder day just after the first chairs loaded ahead of me on the lift, that skis whatever fall line (s)he gets to rightly chooses. And as to their style, whatever makes them happy is good.

A "bad" skier is one that immediately traverses across a wide fall line on a fresh powder slope where I and others would otherwise have enjoyed a pristine peak experience.

 

[jgiddyup]

Four pages when the answer was obviously a Tai Chi skier

 

[Goose]

Not addressing the whole subject of a good skier that reads more like a much too broadly posed skills question but more narrowly for what I care about,

A "good" skier is a skier on a fresh powder day just after the first chairs loaded ahead of me on the lift, that skis whatever fall line (s)he gets to rightly chooses. And as to their style, whatever makes them happy is good.

A "bad" skier is one that immediately traverses across a wide fall line on a fresh powder slope where I and others would otherwise have enjoyed a pristine peak experience.

Id say a good skier is one who gets up there then efficiently and enjoyably skies the situation just fine regardless. And there doesn't even have to be powder

 

[Bolder]

Fluidity. Nothing looks forced or awkward. That leads to good line choice etc. Doesn't need to be the most skilled etc, but knows his or her sweet spot.

I have a ski bud here in France who grew up skiing in the Massif Central and even at 45 or so just looks buttery smooth. For him there's no difference between groomers and hacked-up mush. But, he's not a powder guy or bump skiier.

 

[Uncle-A]

Not addressing the whole subject of a good skier that reads more like a much too broadly posed skills question but more narrowly for what I care about,

A "good" skier is a skier on a fresh powder day just after the first chairs loaded ahead of me on the lift, that skis whatever fall line (s)he gets to rightly chooses. And as to their style, whatever makes them happy is good.

A "bad" skier is one that immediately traverses across a wide fall line on a fresh powder slope where I and others would otherwise have enjoyed a pristine peak experience.

So a "Bad" skier is a developing skier that got up earlier than you? Doesn't their lift ticket give them equal access to mountain as long as they are not endangering themselves other skiers?

 

[Philpug]

Conscious Competence, a "good sker" can ski all of the terrain all of the time in any condition.

 

[slowrider]

& make it look easy.