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Why Ski
by Bill Jones,
Ski Instructor
Certified Professional Ski Instructor (Registration #110478)
The skier was just learning how to turn. Her goal was to later
take a run down the easiest of the green runs on the mountain. She looked up the
slope above the beginner hill and saw a steep double-black run with moguls and
with skiers gingerly turning among them. "Why would anyone want to do that?" she
asked. It would be some time before she would be able to understand why they
would want to "do that", but it was clear that they did not have to ski that
terrain, it was clear they wanted to ski there so much they accepted the cold
and blustery wind that was swirling powder about them, and it was also obvious
that they were even willing to pay to do it So it must have been fun!
Some say the sliding sensation is akin to what a bird might feel
while flying. Others find it exhilarating to move body parts in precise ways to
manage balance and to feel the sensation of acceleration in a turn or a steeper
descent. There is also the stimulation that many feel from using the body in a
physical way, perhaps a sensation that comes to modern man from his roots, and
perhaps akin in a way that horses in the meadow seem to feel when they romp
together as a storm approaches or the way an otter must feel sliding down a mud
trough into a river..
And those--and more--are the reasons we ski.
SKIING IS A LIFETIME SPORT. My son learned while 1 year old (he was nearly 2),
another person, now an instructor, started skiing when he was 58, and I
have started persons into skiing in their 70s. Many skiers continue actively into their
80s. Yet how many of us learned other sports as youths--football, baseball,
basketball--and still practice them? It is hard to find enough persons to field teams
and times when they can, let
alone spots where games can be played. Skiing, on the other hand, can be done with any
combination of others, or alone. And there are plenty of ski areas in most areas of the
U.S. and many areas of the world. Because skiing is a lifetime sport, if one enjoys physical activity it is
well worth learning. Perhaps learning to ski or to ski better would go a long
way to improve the health of Americans.
[Here may I insert a "political" statement? My
campaign is to have skiing itself and sports like skiing that can be practiced a
lifetime--such as tennis, golf, swimming, bicycling, inline-skating--become the sports we spend our tax dollars
on in our school athletic programs rather than the traditional team sports that get
those dollars now but are seldom engaged in once out of school.]
This "Why Ski" page
of SkiMyBest.com website last modified 03/26/2006: skiwhy.htm. Copyright 2006 © William R
Jones.
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