Fear and skiing

When I ski, fear generally never enters the picture. You see, it's not that I'm fearless, but there's very little room for fear in that sport. Skiing requires good physical shape, no unbearable pain and total concentration. The latter quality would be a whole subject in itself and because it's so important and has to fill the entire mental space available, it pushes apprehension away. This activity works best with speed and fear can be a dangerous brake. This is not to say that I've always been brave during my entire skiing life but the only noticeable feature of my apprehensions was that they didn't occur in motion, but always in “static” situations.

Let me explain; a few times I've been caught in moving snow that could be likened to slides or avalanches; I was stuck and fearing to get crushed, unable to breath and eventually suffocate. This form of entrapment stimulates claustrophobia and we can get really scared in these moments. Almost a decade ago, I was skiing Les Grands Montets, near Chamonix with my nephew Yves and Thomas Chauplannaz, both thirty years younger than me; they took me on a steep traverse above some forbidding and potentially lethal cliffs. My skis were too long for the trail undulations and I felt really uneasy.

I have encountered similar situations earlier in my life and the other fearful moments I can vaguely remember, occurred while I still was a kid and found myself on challenging terrain with much better skiers than me. Every time I had a ski accident (and I had a few) was just like surviving a car crash; all went into slow-motion, I remained incredibly aware of what was going on and probably did what I knew to lessen the blow. On the eve of this new season, I still feel perfectly confident and see no reason for fright to seep into my skiing any time soon. When that happens, my downhill days will be over.