The uncanny nature of skiing… (Part One)

My whole life has evolved in a universe of winter sports and in it I’ve earned my family living. That’s why my whole life and career have been dominated by skiing, as a paradoxical sport that is for the most part, "assisted", in the sense that most of the physical effort required to perform these activities is supplied by a ski lift (chairlift, tram, etc.), most by gravity and the rest by some muscular assistance. 

 Half-jokingly, I’ve always liked to say that skiing was a “lazy-man’s sport” and it’s probably true! This made me wondering what other sports, if any, could fall in that category. It’s true that skiing and snowboarding are unique because the hardest physical part, climbing up the mountain, is outsourced to a machine. 

In this series, I’ll be using the word “skiing” to simplify things and apply it also to “snowboarding”. The activity itself is seen as quite active and as a “sport”, but most of the energy input required comes from an external system (the chairlift and other means to get up the mountain). 

It we define an “assisted sport” as a sport where a mechanical system provides the primary elevation, propulsion, or access needed to participate, there are indeed several other activities that fit the same pattern. Here’s a quick overview: . 

1. Mountain biking (lift‑access downhill), 

2. Paragliding and hang gliding (when using a tow system like a boat), 

3. Scuba diving when boat-assisted to do the “transportation work”, 

4. Rock climbing through gym auto-belays or mechanical ascenders, 

5. Motorsports like ski-doo, jet ski, motocross, etc., 

7. Indoor skydiving where a vertical wind tunnel provides lift and resistance 

8. Surfing with jet-ski tow-in, and 

9. Other sports that are “assisted” in a different way, like cart-assisted golfing, sailing when wind provides propulsion, glacier hiking (tram-assisted) and indoor climbing with auto-belay. 

Still, skiing feels unique because it sits at a special intersection as it is a gravity-powered sport using machine-powered access and offering high-speed motion. It also costs minimal metabolic effort to start each run. Very few other sports listed here combine all four. 

Only downhill mountain biking and tow-assisted paragliding are the closest analogues. Tomorrow we’ll explore what makes skiing so effortless, but so thrilling. To find out, just stay with me...