Skiing Solo: what do you like?

probably about 75% solo if not more...

solo is great because you get to choose every run.  you don't have to spend anytime figuring out where everybody wants to go.  if you make a bad choice and the run sucks, you get it over with and don't go back.  with a group i sometimes feel guilty about poor run choices.

i'm compulsive and like to ski the same runs over and over again all day.  most people don't.

it's also nice to never have to wait... though i tire myself out pretty quickly when solo.

My pace, my trail, my line, my speed, my music, my thoughts, my...

 I'm a "love the one you're with" sort of person.  I like to ski with others, but if there isn't anybody around to connect with I happily go by myself.  I do at least 2/3 of my skiing solo.  Everyone else has to go to work.  Too bad for them.

I love to be on the first chair in the morning, alone with the beautiful mountain and free to go where I want and focus on whatever I choose for that day.

 I almost never ski solo for safety reasons. I usually am off piste so having someone with me is imperative on the off chance that I get stuck in a tree well or crack my head open. Also I find it is more fun to ski with friends because sharing such a fun experience can hardly be matched. Ski lifts seem to be more fun when you have someone you know to talk to. 

where do you think the rest of us are skiing?

Skiing with others is great.  Lots of grins giggles and shared turns.  Normally let others choose the where because it pretty much is all good. 

Alone: activate senses, deactivate thought, and dance with the mountain.   

Never said everyone else skis groomers, I just stated that because I ski off piste I believe I should ski with a buddy thats all. I take it you thought I said that trying to have the "I'm better than you" tone, which wasn't my intent ;)

A large majority of my skiing is done solo. When I am skiing I am there to ski. I am not there to chat or catch up with friends, skiing is not social hour. I am there to ski and nothing else. Nothing is more annoying than having to wait around for someone else to buckle boots or say hi to someone they know. I do not mind skiing with others if we do not hold each other up. Just finding someone that skis at the same pace is key.

I do not mind the chairlift ride solo. It lets me think about the last run or the run coming up. Figuring out where I am going to go what I want to do and go over it in my head. I can be a person that skis the same run over and over trying things. Getting my head into the game can play a huge factor in this. My skiing is completely different when I am skiing solo vs skiing with a group. With a group everything is more relaxed ad just cruising. It is fun but gets boring very quickly, and why I spend more time skiing solo.

I probably ski 90% of the time solo.  I do meet up with people and ski a few runs together, then separate and ski a few runs alone, meet up with someone else, take a few runs with them, some days, but by and large I could go whole days by myself.  Last year when I was confined to the groomers by the doctor and PT because I was still healing from the knee injury my friends considered me extremely boring to ski with until about March when I sort of rebelled and started tentatively going down some of the other slopes.  Finally in April I picked up more ski partners.  This year I hope to be back in a more social mode, but I still expect to be alone more often than not.  I ski midweek and just like to be on my own rhythm.  I get to the slopes early so I don't have to park in the boonies.  I take one lunch break, I like it to be pre-crowd when the food is fresh and there is no issue finding a seat, etc.  I leave either when I am tired or last chair and if I say last chair, I mean I eke out the very last chair, I have the patrol order nailed so that I am just ahead of the sweep.  Normally the lot is empty of cars when I go to mine, so I don't have to contend with traffic on the way out, either. 

Avoiding crowd rhythms is something I picked up back East and I still work at it, even though I guess it is fairly ridiculous where I ski now, but I've just developed a sense of the flow of the place and I move around it.  That's a tad harder to do when you're with someone and I really like empty trails (you might have noticed there are few skiers in my pictures).  I also start getting antsy with "gang skiing" and people who talk a lot.  I have/had a friend I used to ski with a lot more before someone else joined us who is incapable of shutting up.  I don't see so much of him anymore.  I tried to tolerate the chatterbox, I really did, but ....  I've moved onto others who are more low key.  Or my own company.

Some of you may find this hard to believe, but I ski solo more than with SugarCube, friends and other Bears.  I would also guess it at about 60/40.

When on my own, I hit lines that I won't take others to and greatly vary my terrain, speed and movements.  I'll turn up the speed and arc some huge turns on groomers, ski a few bump lines, hit tight and open trees and head to the bowls. Lunch is a quick stop for something light and something to drink, and I usually bag it around 3.  I usually can't do anymore after a whole day with myself

I also go to a few spots at Breck where I have never seen another track.  That's a very special time for me.

Im the SAME exact way.

I dont like skiing solo at all, friends can help you quick. My solo/group time is probably 5/95.

Plus if I am skiing solo the chances of finding someone I know who knows me are high, and even if I dont I am too friendly on chairlifts. I almost always meet new people any day I ski solo.

 Quote:
not at all.... i had just never considered off-piste skiing to be a reason you can't ski alone.

if i had to stick to groomers when nobody wanted to ski with me i wouldn't bother.... i'd get hundreds of hours less skiing per year!

I ski solo when not with my 7 year old or Bears. 
Advantages:

• Singles lines
• Not having to wait or be waited on
• I can stay as long as I like or leave early if I'm not feelin' it, it's raining, or whatever..  When I ski with the kid it had typically been a very short day.

Disadvantages:

• Three hour solo drive there and then back is more boring and more expensive.
• I don't push myself as much skiing solo
• I really prefer skiing with someone/people in spite of the advantages to skiing solo.

when solo i push myself more in terms of stamina, and less in terms of GNAR.

I used to average over 100 days a year for so long that I know so many people around here, I very rarely ever have to ski alone. I'm much like Bushwacker though. i like to meet and talk to people on lifts when I'm alone. Last trip alone skiing was at Crystal in Washington. Met a couple Patrollers early on and hit it off. especially after telling them I did 10 plus years as a Patroller. I hung with them most of the day and they shared some hikes and some of their secret stuff. Made for a very awesome day skiing some terrain i'd never have found otherwise. If I don't hook up with anyone, I usually just cruise around high speed carving, working on technique or head for the moguls and work there. Look for lines and practice. Actually, I've found more friends on the lifts skiing bumps than anywhere else.

Ah okay, I still ski off piste when I'm alone but I tend to always ski with a friend. I guess the key is to find someone who is at perfect pace with you.

I ski solo a lot (80/20) because I hate stopping, I prefer to be in a rhythm. Plus when you have a massive wipe out no one of importance to you will know. Although I prefer not to ride chairlifts alone, that tends to get boring after a few runs, especially on the non-detachable chairs.

I like skiing alone.

I like skiing with someone.

I guess I just like skiing.

I'm probably 50/50.

Solo 90% of the time.  Most of my friends go maybe 5 times a year, so i don't get to go with many ppl.  I like going alone though, can do what i want, go where i want, ski how i want.  Try new things without making a fool of myself.  It's also nice to listen to music without pausing it because a friend is talking.
I meet lots of nice ppl on the chairlifts, some give me pointers on where some good pow is.  It's still nice to go with friends though.

90% of the time I ski with my family. The other 10% I ski solo, usually very fast with my favorite music blasting through the ipod.

I used to be 90/10.

Lately it's more like 10/90.

It's all good, no matter how you do it.

I am 80% with people mostly family and 20% alone. I would like to bring the second number up alot. I love getting inside my head when I ski alone, dissecting the last run, going over technique in my head. I also will ski the same run over and over again when alone. I will varying the line slightly each run. Last year I hit the same run 7 straight times each run was like a new experience.

I have a tradition that every Superbowl Sunday I head out for the day alone. The slopes are usually empty and I ski till I can't stand and then get in the car and drive to a party.

Funny most of the people at the parties, even those who ski, look at me strange when I say I skied alone. That's what is great about Epicski lots of people who think the same.

And I like to ski alone too. I'm slow and hate having people wait for me so if I want to plod along, I can do that. If I want to practice drills, I can do that too. I'm not much for "mob skiing" as it can be dangerous and deflating. I'll happily ski with a handful of people who I know I can learn from and who'll be patient with me but for the most part (80/20), it's me and the mountain.

It's interesting that on this forum, which is partly devoted to getting people together to ski, so many people confess to skiing alone a lot. My theory: if you really like skiing, and you don't live in a ski town, you probably end up having to ski alone a lot.

I skied a lot with my wife before we had kids, now I start most days alone, and either bounce around from group to group, hook up with one other person for a run or runs, or just go it alone. Our mountain is pretty clubby, so even if I'm skiing solo, there are always a lot of familiar faces in the tram line or on the ski routes.

I like company well enough, but since I never feel like I'm getting enough days in, I'm pretty inflexible about what I want to do. If a friend or houseguest wants to ski at my pace (which isn't necessarily fast), where I want to ski, all day, great, company. Otherwise we meet up for drinks afterward.

Damn Phil, I was thinking of the same song. But you did it better.