The components of ski experience

Subjective elements are extremely hard to quantify, and often, in any discussion, an arbitrary approach can be quite helpful to get the debate started.

Alpine skiing is a complex sport that involves a difficult technique, a minimum fitness level, but that is affected by external conditions like snow, terrain, equipment and quite importantly, visibility.

The question is therefore, how do you weigh these multiple parameters in trying to figure out a total quality of experience?

I think that technique is very important, but not the most important. I gave it a 27.5% influence.

Like in any sport, Fitness plays a major role, but let’s not forget that alpine ski is a sport of gravity, with a lift doing most of the hard work, so giving it just 17.5% seems fair to me.

Finally, I would have a tendency to favor external conditions, like snow quality, terrain conditions (irrespective of specific difficulties), slope preparation, exterior temperature, equipment quality (ski performance, boots, gloves and apparel comfort) and visibility, as extremely important as a whole, attributing them a whopping 55%.

For sake of clarity (no pun intended!) I have separated visibility from the rest giving each group 28% for external conditions and 26.5% for visibility.

Now, it’s your turn, let me know what you think and if that’s the case, how your ranking might differ...