On Twitter Gregg Blanchard tweets this:
“I may not dream of skiing big lines anymore, but I do dream of living a life where, yes, I keep skiing for a few more decades but also one where I do more good.
“This skiing story from @SkiUtah
gives normal skiers – people – like me something aspire to.”
Skiing for the Most of Us: Ski Pr0n
In skiing there is something we usually entitle ski pr0n. When I think of ski pr0n the first thing in my mind is blaring heavy metal guitar and someone ripping down an isolated and extremely steep mountain, often times dodging sluff. However, I’ve also come to include anything involving big air in that category. The point is how many of us even come to close to skiing like that? Yeah, we watch it and give “ooohhhhssss and aaaahhhhssss” to it but how many of us are going to helicopter into some remote location in Alaska, climb up a mountain, and then ski a steep 10’ wide couloir down? How many of us are going to build a ramp and spend the day doing inverted aerials? Not many of us, most of us are closer to me in this video of me skiing an intermediate mogul run, in fact during the video I dance around that point with my commentary.
Skiing for the Most of Us: Why Not?
Why don’t we aspire to such heights in skiing should be obvious. It requires a ton of expertise and knowledge. It is costly, requires meticulous planning, specialized support, specialized gear, and the support of others. Even with all of that in place and all the care in the world there is no guarantee you are not coming out in a bag.
Is all of this a shame to either the ski pr0n industry or us mortals? No it is not. The ski pr0n grabs our attention and people looking to get products into our awareness value that. If their gear can withstand the perils of skiing in those settings, surely they can get us through our next resort trip, no?
Skiing for the Most of Us: Do Not Smash Barriers but Push Them
I am looking to continue to push my boundaries with skiing. I look to ski on steeper terrain and in deeper snow. I am working to ski in trees and maybe it is in the cards for me to ski the backcountry either via cat or hiking in. I look to do some international ski touring too.
When I ski local one question I always ask others on the lift is if they do any ski touring. Most do, but I have yet to hear anyone tell me they fly a chopper to a remote mountain range, camp, climb the mountains, and ski down.
Ski dreams may be sleeping with the polar bears and ripping down big untracked mountains but its heart is a family skiing greens together and hot-chocolate breaks.
Your Turn.
So, what are you skiing or snowboarding aspirations? Do they include the types of adventures I describe as ski pr0n? Or are they more humble?
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