Snow Skills

Tree skiing could be one of the most challenging terrain choices. Even experienced skiers can be reluctant to ski in close proximity of large, immobile objects from which a collision can only make you worse for wear. Some glades seem to have an aura of a Forbidden Zone, similar in manner that the maps of early explorers marked the edge of the world with; “Here be Monsters”.

Well, not all glades are built the same and running into obstacles is more optional in a glade than conventional wisdom allows. Skiing in the trees is all about finding the open space. Football great Jim Brown said he used to “Run to daylight”. His focus was on going where there was room to go, not fixating on where he couldn’t.

Finding room to ski between stationary trees is much easier than eluding mobile tacklers on a crowded playing field; it just takes mental conditioning to focus on the open areas and ignore the trees. You need to train yourself to be capable of quickly observing and making decisions while on the move. One good technique for this is to use color to identify where you can go. When moving through a glade, you won’t always have time to observe every tree or terrain detail. Since open space is the priority, use your peripheral vision to steer toward areas that are white and steer away from areas that are dark.

With practice, you’ll soon be able to focus more on the skiing than the decision-making and develop comfort with skiing in narrow confines. You’ll also soon begin to see opportunity where you used to see “monsters” and that will open up new terrain everywhere you look.