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"SKIING IS A SLIDING SPORT":
Fear in Skiing
by Bill Jones, Ski Instructor
Certified Professional Ski Instructor (Registration #110478)
 The skier had learned basic skills on the learning
slope and now was preparing to try out her first descent of a "regular" trail. But
here were other skiers and snowboarders whizzing past, the snow surface was
irregular with steeper places and gentler ones and there was a rolling-ness to
the contours, and the run seemed so long and she was so far away from the lodge,
and the slope seemed so much steeper than the learning slope ('though it
wasn't), and the lift ride to get to the top of this first green run passed over
a double-black slope where seemingly crazy people were bobbing up and down as
they skied so fast, and one fell in that scary place! "You must make the moves
you have already learned," instructed her instructor at the start of the
run , "to maintain control."
Instead, as she turned her skis into the fall line they--and she--shot forward,
her body frozen with fear, and she failed to pressure, edge, or turn her skis in
a way they could continue taking her around the turn. She instinctively leaned
back, and then raced
down the hill gaining speed until it was too much. Fortunately the snow was
soft and she was limber. "But why," mused her instructor, did she opt to shoot
50 yards down the hill out of control and take a fall rather than moving her body forward 4
inches so she could work the skis?". Of course the instructor knew the
answer, but finding what to do about it was the challenge.
And why do I, mused the instructor, when on a bumpy steep that is daunting to me, move
reluctantly, too?
The novice skier may have good reasons to be
fearful in new skiing situations. The expert skier, too, who has come upon a
slope steeper, bumpier, narrower, rockier, etc., than attempted before is also
likely to need to deal with the Fear Factor.
Surely the most
important word in Learning to Ski/Ski Better is a four-letter word. No, it is
not a swear word, nor is it the word "Fear". It is the word, "MOVE". To make our
skis do what we want, we must tip them, turn them, or pressure them and move our
bodies in
ways that cause the skis to give the results we desire. If we do not move our bodies
so the skis get into a position that produces the outcomes we want,
the skis will nevertheless be in some position and will do what they want. We
communicate our intent to our skis by moving our body parts.
Further, our movements
must anticipate, not follow our skis. We must be proactive, although often
we will also be reactive as we readjust to changing external forces. We must look
ahead and say to ourselves, "I am going there," and concurrently make the moves
to get the skis set up to do so. If the slope gradient increases, we must tip
the body farther down the hill; if the angle decreases, we must tip it less. If
we want a tighter-radius turn, we must move the body parts faster; and if a
longer-radius turn is our wish, then we must move the body parts at a more
deliberate
pace. If we do not move, we are taken along for a ride over which gravity has
control. There is a law in skiing: It is the law of gravity.
How can we move if we
are locked with fear? Skiing involves a great deal of "headwork", that is, we
have to somehow convince our brains that the ways we want to move our body parts
will get the skis to work for us. The problem is that our brains have been
conditioned since birth that sliding can take us where we don't want to go,
tipping down hills causes us to fall, and acceleration and speed can be followed
by
sudden impacts. Too, moving body parts in ways that skiers do is not normal for
humans, and so learned "muscle memory" kicks in and we override the proper ways
to move with more familiar patterns that do not work as well or at all. And that
is why in learning to ski and in learning to ski better, we make progress in small increments as our brains
learn that new patterns of movement of our body parts work better in skiing
situations than old
ones. The good news is that we can influence our attitudes.
In 1983, Horst Abrams
released his book Skiing Right. This book
was not about skiing technique; it was a book about use of the right
side of the brain to ski well. Similar books came out in that era, too:
The Inner Game of Tennis and The
Inner Game of Skiing, for research had shown
that the two hemispheres of the human brain perform separate functions. The
right side of the brain is the rhythm or emotional side, whereas the left side
is the technical or technique side. To ski, we must train both sides. Abrams
presents some techniques to get the right side up to speed so it does not
inhibit the left side--or is it to get the left side subdued a bit so that our
right sides allow us to enjoy? One method he suggested is to pretend you are an animal
that has the character you want to ski with. A fearless animal might be a lion.
A graceful animal might be a bird. An animal with rhythm might be a river otter.
Probably you would not want to ski like a dove or an ant or a clam!
This author recalls a bump-skiing clinic in
which the clinic leader would pause at the top of a double-black diamond bump
run, scout out a line, and then raise his hands and ski poles into a position as
though gripped on handlebars of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, begin twisting his
wrists as though accelerating its motor, then pumping one ski up and down while
saying, "Rmmm, Rmmm, Rmmm" and then dashing off into bumpland. He was psyching
himself up. And he was an expert bump skier.
Another skier came to be
known as "The Growler" as he mastered his bump technique, audibly growling at
each bump he was to turn around.
Once a 10-year old boy
was seen negotiating a bumpfield, talking to them as he turned, "I think I'll
turn here", "Now I'll turn around you., "Oh, here's a big one--up and over, now
down and around", etc. as his father followed, shaking his head, saying, "He
talks all the time!"
Shouting or calling out
words at turn initiation can help some, using words such as "Commit", "Move",
"Pole", "Go", "Turn now!". Or shout internally. An instructor teaching bumps had 3 in the
small class. Two were burly American men, and one a delicate English lady. The
instructor told them to touch their poles to a bump with each turn, shout
"Pole" as they did so, and then turn around the bump and pole. The word would serve as a
timing device and get them to keep moving, essential in a bumpfield. The refined English
lady could not be so forceful, however, so came up with her own phrase: "Nice
spot!", "Nice spot!", "Nice spot!", she called out as she went through the
moguls and was soon out-performing her macho classmates. Some women sing as they
ski; if you choose this, pick a tune appropriate to the task--probably not a
lullaby if skiing bumps.
One time in his early
skiing career, this website author was faced with the task of skiing across a
snow-covered log. But partway through the task, he lost his resolve and crashed.
Yet it would have been so simple to continue had he had commitment. And there
have been many times since then t hat fear has leapt into his skiing and caused
undesired results. Overcoming fear in skiing may be good preparation for life in
general, for there are many instances in human activities where a positive
approach is required, like standing in front of an audience or sticking up for a
principle, for instance. Think of The Power of Positive Thinking
by Norman Vincent Peale. Certainly, dealing with
fear in skiing is not unique in the sports world: think of gymnasts, swimming
divers, SCUBA divers and snorkelers, surfers, windsurfers, hang gliders, sky
divers and BASE jumpers. A catcher staring down a baseball coming at high
speed past a batter takes resolve to stay without flinching, as does vaulting over a high pole,
climbing a rock wall, facing down the slope of a huge wave, and many
more. An expression is "Fake it in order to make it."
Avoid trying new maneuvers in difficult
situations of slope or traffic, for fear is almost surely to kick in. In fact,
in such situations, for safety, it is better to use what you know will work. Put
off learning and practicing new stuff until your environment is more
comfortable. The rule is "Learn new skills on old terrain; Use old skills on new
terrain."
Is skiing unsafe? How
unsafe?
The sport of skiing is known for its dangers.
Of course skiers do get injured. But how does the number of skiing injuries
compare with those from other sports?
In 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported:
- 139,332 injuries from snow skiing
- 164,002 injuries from snow boarding
- 133,551 injuries from ice skating
- 53,273 injuries from ice hockey
- 160,020 injuries from sledding, snow tubing, and tobogganing
- 34,562 injuries from snowmobiling
It would be useful to know the number of participants in each of these
activities to get an idea of the relative injury rate, but the data does show
that skiing is not the only winter sports activity with hazard. We know of many
injuries from other sports, too, such as bicycling, kayaking and white-water
rafting, and the team sports as well.
"How many psychologists does it take to change a
lightbulb?", was asked. "Psychologists can't change the bulb," was the
answer, "the bulb must change itself." Ski instructors can't
change their students either, but like psychologists, they can help if allowed.
"SKIING
IS A SLIDING SPORT"--a skiing web manual: Skiing Web Manual Contents
Why Read this
Skiing Web Manual That First
Lesson
A
Little Skiing History
Motion in Skiing
Conventional Skiing Wisdoms
Skier Excuses FEAR IN
SKIING Conditioning
for Skiing Equipment
and Technique
Skiing Equipment
How Skis
Work
How
to Develop Balance on Skis
A Skiing
Turn Simplified Tactics for Terrains and Snow
Textures
Skiing Tips and Tales--a potpourri
Children
and Skiing
Age and Skiing
Gender & Skiing Culture
& Skiing
Skiing Ethics and Slope Survival
Slope Safety Skiing
Environment Glossary Acknowledgements
SkiMyBest Website Contents
This "Fear" page last
modified 11/23/2009: \SkiMyBest\skifear.htm.
Copyright © 2010 William R Jones.
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