How not to look like a total gaper... - Page 28

Don't let it come to this!

...or this:

Bob, that looks painful.

 

Good to "see" you old friend!

ABasin has new avalanche guns?

 

A don't know what's worse a "gapper" or a "Spore"- which is a Spastic Person On Rental Equipment.

 

Jeffrey C. Ped

http://www.usorthoticcenter.com

Hey AC--wow--great to see you again too--and an honor. (For those who do not know, AC is the founder of EpicSki.) I was just admiring your incredible work again on your (other) website.

Keep in touch.

Best regards,
Bob

Guess what? A lot of people don't know how to ski. If they want to learn they usually rent equipment and they might look a little spastic to someone who is skiing in master fitted boots, but we all gotta start somewhere.

It's so exciting, isn't it? 

Well said, Telerod. Everyone starts out as a beginner, and in fact, being a beginner--at anything--is one of the most enviable states you can be in. You're learning! The zen "beginner's mind" is a pre-requisite for all learning, whether it's your first day on skis or your 50th year on them. And it takes real courage and guts to learn--to be a beginner (although it comes naturally to children). I have nothing but admiration and respect for adults who decide to take up something like skiing.

Dr. Balance--I'm sure your post about "spores" was meant to be an attempt at humor, but I think that when you look back at it, you'll agree that it's in pretty poor taste.

Now I'd suggest that true "Gaperism," on the other hand, can afflict people of any level of skill, and it's something you choose. It's more of an attitude--an unwillingness or refusal to learn. A choice to remain mediocre. Just the opposite of being a beginner. We've all probably been there a few times, too, strangers in a strange land but too stubborn to admit it. Not "bad," just oblivious. Worth poking a little fun at!

Best regards,
Bob Barnes

 

 

Thanks for the link.  Cool stuff!

It would seem, in light of recent discussion, that a real explanation of and "How To" book for the art of Gaperism is in order. Fortunately, we have our own GaperBoy to the rescue!



(With apologies to Chris Fellows, whose excellent and thorough book, Total Skiing, I own and have read and recommend to anyone who is truly serious about becoming a better, fitter skier.)

There's just something about that smile....

Wow.

 

I find the whole thread to be in poor taste. I rarely look at it but when I saw AC had posted here I got excited and had to take a peek.

 

A picture of someone making fun of people who can't carry their skis in an efficient or stylish manner, over and over and over again. I guess people who find that sort of thing amusing never tire of it.

 

Anyway, thanks for explaining that you're only poking fun at the unskilled skiers who are just there to have a little fun, and not the good, hard-working lesson-takers striving to better themselves.
 

 

Sorry it's not for you, Telerod. I'm pretty sure you didn't read me right, but such is the Internet. It's certainly not a thread meant to generate a lot of deep discussion, nor do I think it needs much explanation.

Thanks for expressing your opinion.

Best regards,
Bob

 

Well, thanks Bob.  

 

I learned at 46 because I decided not to worry about being a spore.  Wasn't courage, just a desire to ski.  Starting old, you've got to be willing look like an idiot, to fall down, look stupid, screw up getting off lifts, lose your skis, drop your poles, and do the panic flail for the first season or so.  I mean, you are clueless.  Is what it is, can't be helped.  Eventually you blend in.

More people would be willing to take up the sport, probably, if they could get around being laughed at.  (Or if other people didn't laugh -- but you can't control that.)

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations, Lakespapa--you have my deepest respects, and perhaps even a little envy, as I mentioned before. You get old only when you stop learning, and when you lose your sense of humor. The key, I think, is to be able to laugh at yourself, and to know that you are improving--whatever your current level. Lack of skill (ie. beginnerhood) is never a mistake--it's a new step in the right direction. The mistake is to accept mediocrity, when you are capable of learning.

Don't think that it didn't take courage, though. "Willingness to look like an idiot, to fall down, look stupid, screw up getting off lifts..." is the very definition of courage, I would say. Many people lack that will, no matter how much they'd love to learn to ski (which can be a metaphor for just about anything). On the other hand, falling down, losing a ski, and so on happen in skiing, at any level. Getting past the feeling that these things must be signs of failure is an important lesson too!

Best regards,
Bob

Haha, I guess that "choice to remain mediocre" crack hit a little too close to home and I got a bit defensive. Sorry.

 

I thought a gaper was someone who saw a skier doing something impressive enough to cause the observer's jaw to drop. "to gaze stupidly or in openmouthed surprise or wonder". I didn't know obstinence was part of the definition. I'm not sympathetic to those unskilled skiers who behave in a manner that endangers others or even just being uncourteous and loutish in their gaperhood. But folks who struggle to carry their skis don't deserve ridicule in my opinion.

 

While the premise of the thread is somewhat distasteful to me, I must confess I find some of the photoshopped images quite funny. Carry on! (get it? 'carry on'? OK, I'll leave now...) 

It serves to show the intrinsic flaw in the term: photographic proof. It's my favorite thread, and I never really even connect it to reality or anything in the real world. Bob and Pete have some skills we all enjoy.

 

Teasing is actually a sign of high respect in most athlete's world, saying that the object of the tease is cool enough that everyone knows it's a jest and solid enough that he/she won't take it to heart.

These folks have way to much time on their hands and after a certain amount of time it's just boring.

well, yes, in the grand scheme of things, and you could say that about 90% of the threads here and elsewhere if you look at them critically; actually you may have already suggested that but no one was listening; so frustrating to be the lone expert in a gaper world.

 

 

Dude, this thread is making you so famous! You've become the poster child for all of gaperdom!

 

 

Edited by MidwestPete - 11/13/11 at 9:59am

 

Bob Peters photo