Whats some dumb, embarrassing, un-recommended thing YOU did on snow this season? - Page 2

I almost wiped out Billy Kidd.  Following him in early January at his Steamboat race camp, I went to slide to a stop next to where Billy had stopped and my edges hit some unexpected ice and crud just under the groomed snow, my skis begin chattering and hopping madly on their edges, I barely get the skis back under control and dig the edges back in, and I come to an upright stop at the last second with my skis literally 5 inches away from Billy's skis.  He was very gracious and laughed it off.
 

Stopped where I was not visible from above. It was early morning on a steep groomer with nobody around. I was bombing pretty fast and decided to pull to the side and wait for my son to catch up. I didn't think anyone else was on the trail and I really wasn't paying attention to where I was, but I was just below a terrain roll. This guy came flying over it and I clearly surprised him. It wasn't too close of a call, but I really shouldn't have stopped there and I felt like such a gaper.

Too bad I just found this thread but I will post anyway. I was skiing Mt. Spokane with a great epic ski member that was nice enough to meet up with me and show me around. Long story short, we are just go on the chairlift, the snow was high, and somehow I manage to catch both tips of my skis in the snow in front of the chair. Not only I went face first off the chair but, I also took out my ski partner. THE MOST embarrassing skiing episode that I ever had! 

I failed to get off the lift timely because I was paying attention to people coming down the mountain.  When I realized I had to get off, the chair was about to turn and I bailed, taking out the series of orange cones and the rope line that cordoned off the area.  All in front of my fiancee and her family, who have skied for years, and I was just getting into the sport.  They tease me about it 10 months after the fact - this is the year I can get off a lift! 

Sadly, no, just a poor attention span and panicky reflexes...

Ok.  This happened to me just last weekend.  I am in a race league.  After my strong 2nd place finish in GS, I was asked to paceset the next two groups which is considered an honor, as you are being recognized as one of the best in your division.  I had only been asked once before a couple of seasons ago.

Anyway, I race in Group One which always has the most difficult course.  I show up to paceset group 2 and all goes well and off I go to free ski again till I have to pace set group 3, which is the lowest level and has the shortest and easiest course.  I arrive just in time for my pacesetting run.  As the course is easy, I did not do a pre run inspection.  My turn comes and off I go!  I am having a good run, feeling smooth and fast.  Now my depth perception is not what it use to be and as I am approaching the finish, I notice that the finish gates which are suppose to be parallel looks offset.  In a split second I think I see another gate and prepare to go around what I realize at the last second that it was indeed the last gate and had to go through not around that gate. I throw my body towards the inside of the gate in a lame attempt to make it.  Somehow, someway I managed to make the gate, but one of my ski tips catches the base of the gate, spinning me around and I go through the timer backwards!  As I am trying to right myself I catch an edge which throws me up in the air and I land on my ASS to a round of thunderous applause from the spectators and other racers.  I get up and compose myself just in time to hear the announcer announce for all to hear, "Pacesetter Rick, time 34.50, difficulty 9.9!"  And of course a nice round of laughter from all including myself. 

I learned long ago you have to be able to laugh at yourself before you can laugh at someone elses follies.

Rick G

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickg 

Ok.  This happened to me just last weekend.  I am in a race league.  After my strong 2nd place finish in GS, I was asked to paceset the next two groups which is considered an honor, as you are being recognized as one of the best in your division.  I had only been asked once before a couple of seasons ago.

 

Anyway, I race in Group One which always has the most difficult course.  I show up to paceset group 2 and all goes well and off I go to free ski again till I have to pace set group 3, which is the lowest level and has the shortest and easiest course.  I arrive just in time for my pacesetting run.  As the course is easy, I did not do a pre run inspection.  My turn comes and off I go!  I am having a good run, feeling smooth and fast.  Now my depth perception is not what it use to be and as I am approaching the finish, I notice that the finish gates which are suppose to be parallel looks offset.  In a split second I think I see another gate and prepare to go around what I realize at the last second that it was indeed the last gate and had to go through not around that gate. I throw my body towards the inside of the gate in a lame attempt to make it.  Somehow, someway I managed to make the gate, but one of my ski tips catches the base of the gate, spinning me around and I go through the timer backwards!  As I am trying to right myself I catch an edge which throws me up in the air and I land on my ASS to a round of thunderous applause from the spectators and other racers.  I get up and compose myself just in time to hear the announcer announce for all to hear, "Pacesetter Rick, time 34.50, difficulty 9.9!"  And of course a nice round of laughter from all including myself. 

 

I learned long ago you have to be able to laugh at yourself before you can laugh at someone elses follies.

 

Rick G

Nobody will ever confuse my attempts at racing with the pacesetters, but several years ago I was racing at Nashoba Valley in Massachusetts.  Last night, last race of the season.  Came around the second-to-last gate nicely and then totally spaced and straightened out my line and tucked for the finish, thereby going on the wrong side of the last gate. 

The Nashoba setup involves two courses side-by-side and I was on the "red" side.  The announcer came on and said "Blue course time wins with a time of xx.xx, red course time of WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING???".

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinF 

 

Nobody will ever confuse my attempts at racing with the pacesetters, but several years ago I was racing at Nashoba Valley in Massachusetts.  Last night, last race of the season.  Came around the second-to-last gate nicely and then totally spaced and straightened out my line and tucked for the finish, thereby going on the wrong side of the last gate. 

 

The Nashoba setup involves two courses side-by-side and I was on the "red" side.  The announcer came on and said "Blue course time wins with a time of xx.xx, red course time of WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING???".

Don't feel so bad.  I did the exact same thing last year in a Dual GS race at Swain, NY.  Though the announcer was kind and did not make fun of me, (though I derserved it) all of my team mates as well as other racers kept asking me, "How do you miss the last gate in a GS Race?"  Of course  the only answer I could come up with was, "Oh well, I must have had a Brain Fart."

It is a good thing I don't take myself too seriously.

Rick G

Couple weeks since the last reply here, but I'll bump it anyhow with a HUGE gaper alert!

Definitely the most embarrassing thing I've ever done on the mountain.

Last weekend we headed up to Snowshoe with 2 other couples that we'd skied with once before and I was anxious to show off how much I've progressed since our last trip up together (probably 3 years ago now when I was just beginning to ski). Things were going well and I felt proud of how much I'd improved since our last outing together.

About halfway through the day Saturday, myself and the two other guys in the group are on a quad lift coming up and we ski patrol off to the left tending to someone that double ejected and landed face first in the snow. Shame on us for rubbernecking. I felt something on my right ankle catch, and sure enough, I look at my boot and there's no ski attached. I guess I turned so hard to catch a glimpse of what was going on down below that my ski actually caught the tall pole that holds up the cables for the lift, and off my ski went.

I felt like the biggest gaper of all time. Had to do the "one legged ski of shame" off of the lift and then shimmy down the blue, and hike up about 50 yards to where my ski was lying directly under the lift in the middle of a path through the woods.

LESSON LEARNED! I'm still wondering if my bindings were set a bit tighter if there would've been a danger of the ski not releasing and me getting pulled right off the lift...

bumbled my goggles off the chairlift on the second ride up, it was powder day!

Here's one thing I don't recommend: eating something funky and taking a lift all the way to the summit, at which point you quickly realize that you need to get back to the base lodge ASAP and use the facilities.  But the problem is, a fall or even too much of a jolt from a bump could cause a sudden... eruption... so you want to get down fast but have to be very careful.  Worst descent of my life but fortunately I made it.  Now that would have been embarrassing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayT 

Here's one thing I don't recommend: eating something funky and taking a lift all the way to the summit, at which point you quickly realize that you need to get back to the base lodge ASAP and use the facilities.  But the problem is, a fall or even too much of a jolt from a bump could cause a sudden... eruption... so you want to get down fast but have to be very careful.  Worst descent of my life but fortunately I made it.  Now that would have been embarrassing.

Just picturing a rogue set of moguls appearing on your way down has me cracking up over here.

Were you getting "the goosebumps" at that point?

That's when you know it's GO TIME.

The worst part was, it was the day after a powder day so the entire mountain was chopped up crud, and even the groomers were pretty bumped up by this point.  Not exactly a smooth ride down.

skiing another four hours after I tore my meniscus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdf 

skiing another four hours after I tore my meniscus.

how about skiing 5 years after I tore my ACL ....... (now the meniscus is 60% gone) 

This year...not paying attention at Breck while loading the chairlift. I am standing there talking to my friends and notice the foursome in front of me has moved up to the chair. Not thinking, I just ski right up to catch the next chair....when in reality the foursome's chair has not gotten there yet. So I just skate right up in front of the current chair making the lifty stop the lift. There are no words to express the embarrassment of having everyone stare at you and being pissed off because you stopped the lift.

About 10 years ago while visiting Whistler, I wanted to show off in front of my new ski buddy who is a beginner. We take off down the hill and I am totally out of control. After about two turns I corkscrew and do a total yard sale. It is then that I noticed that I never buckled my boots. Yeah...what a hotshot I am!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artemat 

how about skiing 5 years after I tore my ACL ....... (now the meniscus is 60% gone) 

mine was three and a half seasons.  But i really think the last incident was the first time the miniscus tore -- it felt different.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdf 

mine was three and a half seasons.  But i really think the last incident was the first time the miniscus tore -- it felt different.

I had same experience: was just fine until the last incident, and then ACL surgery.... 

Skiing bumps with friends and I've got a nice, flowy, cruisy run going on.  As I ski past one guy he says, "Man, I want to ski like you".  No sooner had the last word escaped his mouth when I crossed my tips and toppled over like a felled oak.  The snow was soft and we all laughed and laughed.

I'm sure there will be plenty of fodder for this thread, some mine, after the Blue Knob gathering this month.

Trying to carve going like 5 mph, I fell..haha.  I'm still learning though, I've only been skiing for a month now.

On President's day I was coming down a tree run at the local hill.  I came over a big mound of man made snow and the next thing i know I was on my stomach sliding towards a tree.  Somehow I managed to rotate myself so I hit the tree with my hip rather than my head all which occurred just a few feet from the chair lift.  I did get up, collect my gear, and ski down but I was pretty sore.  To add insult to injury I manged to cross my tips in a mound of sugary snow Saturday and body slammed myself on the other side just a few feet from the same chair.  So I came work yesterday with a bruised knee, bruised hip, and a sore shoulder along with the sore elbow I've had for a while.  I don't heal as quickly as I use to so getting old sucks.

Was staying slopeside last weekend about 3/4ths the way up the lodge on top mountain.  However the trail off our house was a solid blue trail and my son is a solid green skier, not ready for solid blue yet.  So, we hiked up and across about half a mile each time to get to the point where we could start out on the nice 2.5 mile winding mostly green with some blue trail.  It was pretty challenging for us to get there each time then walk back down to the house.

As we were passing the lodge leaving for home my son asks.."Dad, why didn't we just take the car up here instead of walking?"

Snow snake got me on the flats, just getting unloaded off the Avanti chair at Vail. I was just about to skate away, but got distracted by something. The worse part was doing the side skip hop and falling in front of some seated snowboarders.