Skiing by proxy

It’s not rare that I’m asked - or offer - to make a few ski turns FOR, or on behalf of someone. 

When asked or when I offer this service, I always promise to make some decent, well rounded turns instead of hard, angled ones. 

This happened again yesterday when my French friend Gérard who used to be a “Professeur” at the renowned ENSA, this Chamonix school that has graduated thousands of ski instructors and mountain guides and is arguably the best worldwide in its class. 

You see, Gérard has been a slacker this winter and has only skied a couple of times, which in my eyes is unbecoming of a former ENSA Professeur. So to make up for that questionable performance, I offered to make my best version of these turns on his behalf. 

Frankly, I don’t know what his own definition of “best turns” is. 

Meaning what kind of radius they ought to be, how inclined the slope should be and what kind of snow quality is acceptable to him, but reality is that the conditions weren’t that good that Saturday, so I did my very best, and in checking my tracks as I rode the chairlift over them, I could see half a dozen of them, flawless, and of large radius, indicating they were produced at a fairly high rate of speed. 

Of course, they got erased quickly, which is the nature of skiing, but for a while they stood out and honored my dear friend has I had said I would!