Non-stop skiing

Do you enjoy watching a home movie and be incessantly interrupted by phone calls? Do you like reading a book and have to put it down every two minutes because your neighbor keeps on asking questions? Most likely the answer is no. The same goes with skiing. If you need to stop three times while doing a short run, you’ll ruin the whole “adventure,” break the whole piece into skimpy bits and you’ll have to start over again and again, thinking everytime “where was I, what do I do next, oh gee! I’m scared to turn here,” etc. I’m of course not suggesting that everyone should ski the Grands-Montets near Chamonix from top to bottom (6,700 feet vertical) in just one take, but if you’re a reasonably good skier, you should be doing between 750 and 1,500 feet vertical without having to catch your breath. Sure, snow and terrain conditions can make a huge difference; if you’re on soft “corduroy” you can descend 2,000 vertical without batting an eye, conversely, if you are battling mean moguls on a steep slope, a mere 500 might suck the best out of you and force you to a stop now and then. The point I’m trying to make with “non-stop skiing” is that it provides several great benefits. First, it gives the run a chance to “tell” its full story, from beginning to end without pesky episodes; that’s logical and makes plenty of sense. Second, it stretches a skier’s abilities to do a bit more and be more economical with both gestures and efforts. Third, it teaches to continually search for the best route, the ideal line as the run unfolds. Lastly, and of paramount importance, it inculcates a sense of automatic response making all moves much more instinctive as well as natural, and the entire practice of non-stop skiing constitutes a crucial step towards making the whole activity “second-nature.” So, next time you find yourself on the slopes, don’t pay too much attention to these cramped quadriceps; keep going!