So Your Non-Skiing Friend is Gonna Ski
By: Jason Tross
Just because we’re skiers doesn’t mean we have complete tunnel vision. While most of us would rather be ripping pow turns, there are more people on this earth who do not share this passion. We’re all friends with these poor souls (as we see them). So we try to change that for them – and it’s almost always more than either party anticipates.
People fall in love with skiing by what they see, rather than doing it. It’s what we’ve seen on television. Tanner Hall winning the X Games or the Olympic heroes of downhill, these are what the general public identifies with skiing. Getting out there to try it seems more than daunting. So when your non-skiing friend hears your stories about living the life, they think it sounds cool, but probably out of their ability. Both are likely true.
Hardly surprising how when you coerce them to try skiing with you at the mountain, things don’t go so well. They seem to love skiing, but scared of it at the same time. And when you are short fused about their learning curve and they aren’t catching on, no one has fun.
I’ll be taking a good buddy of mine to Timberline tomorrow while I get some work done on a couple stories I’m writing for Freeskier.com. His name is Craig and he’s an engineering student who recently left active duty in the Army as an unmanned aerial vehicle operator. He did two tours through Iraq and decided school at home in America with his wife was probably cooler than a third tour. Good call Craig.
Tomorrow will be his second day on skis. His first was a great spring session at Mt. Bachelor late last season. He’s totally hooked now. Before Craig can start thinking about pow days or perfecting his switch takeoffs, he’s got to master the parallel turn and finding affordable gear on Craigslist when he has almost no idea what he should look for. Check back tomorrow to read about how Craig did and get some ideas on how to make a great experience for you and your non-skier friends.