Après Vous Skiing

Over the weekend, we went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for some skiing. We love skiing – but haven’t been for awhile. One of the best things about skiing is that it is a well-mannered, friendly and polite sport. For the most part, nearly everyone followed the well-known rules of skiing:

• Learn the trails and respect the markings
• Ski trails of your ability and ski in control
• Look uphill as you enter a trail
• Skiers below you have the right of way
• Call “on your left” or “on your right” in tight areas like catwalks so you don’t startle folks in front of you as you pass by
• Offer help if you see someone who has fallen. And retrieve equipment/gear if you can
• Follow the rules when mounting and dismounting the chairlift
• Remember to ask, “are you ready for the bar to come down” before pulling it down once settled on the chairlift
• Don’t cut in the lift lines; remember to alternate when lanes converge
• Be cheerful and say “hello”

By in large, our recent ski excursion reaffirmed our memories of this well-mannered sport.

A fellow skier theorized that skiers are so cheerful, outgoing and polite because it takes so much gosh darned time and effort to get on the ski slopes to begin with, that if everyone were in a bad mood it wouldn’t be worth it in the first place. Think about it. Skiers have to get dressed, deal with boots, struggle with awkward ski equipment, and pay a lot of money to get on the slopes. I don’t know about you, but by the time I am finally ready to “hit the slopes”, all I want to do is sit down and relax in the lodge. The rewards of suffering through the ski prep process are that you get to enjoy the outdoors and be with nice people.

But there was one bad apple in the bunch who violated the cardinal rule about not cutting. But he took it to a whole new level by actually overtaking us in the same line, then cut in front of the young children whose turn it was when the lines converged. And the icing on the cake was that this bad apple and his cohort then proceeded to get on a chairlift by themselves despite it being made for four.

Did we say anything when this happened? Me: “are you with the folks in front of us” (figuring they would make a foursome). His answer: “no”. Me: “well then, it seems that you just cut us.” Him: “I am 99% sure we didn’t.” Me: "You skiied right by me on my left." Then his companion said, “But if it is that big of a deal to you - you can go ahead.” Me: “No, that is ok. I am just shocked by your rudeness.” After that there wasn’t much left to stay. We were polite and still stood up for ourselves but decided they simply weren’t worth it. The situation reminded me of the saying, “Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you – not because they are nice, but because you are.” These bad apples weren’t going to ruin our trip. But it would be nice if all the Mountains would remind their visitors the simple reason why skiing is such a great sport – because of people who are marvelously well-mannered. Pure and simple.