Are you sometimes scared on skis?

These days, my grandson is making huge progress with his skiing and while we were riding the chairlift, I said to you him: “You don’t look scared at all on steep slopes...” He interrupted me saying: “Yes, I do!” 

This got me thinking and I remembered a time I was scared on skis. It took me back to the spring of 2000, when I skied Les Grands Montets, near Chamonix, in the company of my nephew Yves and one of his friends, both were in their early twenties while I was well into my fifties. 

They took me to some hairy place that really scared me because I had skis too long for the circumstances, didn’t know and wasn’t prepared for the spot they wanted to take me down, and a simple fall would have ended my life on the spot. 

Since that time, I can’t recall being scared or even nervous, no matter how steep or tricky the place I'm skiing is. 

Did that event change my view of my own safety on snow? I can’t say for sure, but one essential thing I’ve done ever since, though, was whatever fear I could harbor is instantly replaced by a tight, unyielding concentration, and that specific frame of mind appears to have forever eliminated any reluctance I could feel on two boards!