The Perfect Ski Partner

For me this kind of grew out of the ski alone vs not threads.

What is the perfect ski partner for you?

Skiing style, ability, preferences, temperament or any other variables you consider.

Keep it clean!

Got friends that I ski with but I ditch them ASAP, we just have different styles and speed. So for me it would be someone who pays their fair share and easy to room with. I’ve been skiing alone so long I just prefer to ski alone. None of that what you want to do next I just go and enjoy at my pace.

Anymore I enjoy skiing with people who are naturally fun to be around and can ski pretty well even if they don’t ski like me. We can have great chair rides together even if we get from the top to the bottom on different paths.

scrundy wrote

Got friends that I ski with but I ditch them ASAP, we just have different styles and speed. So for me it would be someone who pays their fair share and easy to room with. I’ve been skiing alone so long I just prefer to ski alone. None of that what you want to do next I just go and enjoy at my pace.

Is this a slow - down - and - smell - the - roses situation or that your casual skiers friends can’t keep up? I actually sympathize with both scenarios. I also like to ski alone some times because I just get tired of hearing the same bullshit all day every day, to include my own. Some times I’d just rather listen to Joe Walsh or Steve Miller on my Walkman.

That being said, Harv is a pretty good ski partner, as is my buddy Greg from work. My kids. None of them are perfect though. I don’t mind skiing with my siblings but they are shitty skiers who don’t really get it so that gets old before lunch. I wish I could ski with an exact clone of myself that had been raised by a different family in a different place, that I had just met and didn’t know and who was able to ski 10% better and faster then I could. Is that a weird answer?

Generally I want to ski with somebody a little better and faster then me who has some funny stories to tell on the lift.

Speed has a little to do with it as I generally like some speed, but mostly due to length of run before stopping to smell the roses. I’m mid fifty’s and they are early 60’s so that’s got more to do with it. This is the first year of me skiing I feel as though I didn’t improve, that age thing creeping in. They like greens and blues I like blues and blacks and this season I find myself enjoying blues the most.

Harvey wrote

For me this kind of grew out of the ski alone vs not threads.

What is the perfect ski partner for you?

Skiing style, ability, preferences, temperament or any other variables you consider.

Keep it clean!

Right now, the best ski partner, 'gun to my head', is my 9 yo son.  He has a great attitude and loves to ski.  He is super coachable and sweet.  If I catch my awesome daughter (6 yo) on the right day, she is right there.   The challenge is our personalities are a bit too similar.  I am a lucky dude.

Generally speaking, my number one criteria for ski partner is good attitude/stoke.  I am happy to ski with near beginners (haven't skied with a straight-up beginner in a while) or experts, and everyone in between.  My Gore storm chase day I had a blast with a random 18 year old from NJ who I bumped into on the first chair (very nice young man).  We skied all day together until the power cut out.  My only gripe (which turned out to be a blessing) is that he didn't let me take lunch because the skiing was too good.  When we were finally going to take a break at 2:15, power went out.  A neighbor of mine has had a few free weekends and in a couple of days of skiing we got him on some fun stuff.  The guy has one of the best attitudes I have ever seen (nothing to do with skiing necessarily).  

Pick partners for attitude, and bring em up (or catch up to them) for aptitude.  Or something like that.  

 My perfect ski partner has been my two youngest sons. They are willing to get up long before the sun comes up.They do not mind  driving  longer distances to get to the better ski areas. There love of the outdoors and skiing have racked up hundreds of family fun and bonding others here  wil never experience.
    They both skied have skied in  on mountain structured seasonal programs , so they are true experts. My definition of true experts(ski controlled anywhere any conditions any terrain ) certainly not me. They have pushed my ski abilility and comfort zone , but are never critical of my lower skiing ability. Without them there are places at Gore and other places I would not have explored.
   The older son of the two  is his twentys now ,so does not get out much because of lifes others commitments. But when he comes out, watching the two of them destroying Rumor or burning the woods down is fun to watch.
    I am gonna enoy the next three years , because when younger son finishes school  ,I know the west will be calling!

I like skiing with people who don't clog an in trisection when they stop.

Actually, a lot of the times, I'm skiing alone, and if I happen on any of my friends, I jump in.

At Mt van Ho last weekend, I stopped several times to smell the roses as it were.  It was so great.  

My daughter for sure. There’s nothing like sharing experiences with her. At this point I’m more into passing the torch so to speak.

In the back country it’s folks that share their thoughts and concerns with no one that’s primarily stearing the ship. Folks that aren’t locked down and any specific objective and are adaptable and observant of changing conditions with a healthy sense of awareness.

Harvey wrote

What is the perfect ski partner for you?

Skiing style, ability, preferences, temperament or any other variables you consider.

I'm fine skiing with anyone, but ideally: someone who knows the mountain well and can make good suggestions, someone who skis at a similar pace to me, someone who is up for a little adventure at some point, someone who can take it in stride if that adventure turns out to be a poor decision, someone who takes pics (or doesn't mind if I do), someone who can have a decent conversation on lifts, someone who is cool with having an aprés beer (or 3) and talking about the day's events.

SIAWOL jr.

Kid can rip and has passed me on pretty much everything except the bumps. LOVE watching him fly by me as we crank thru the woods. Goes all day, no maintenance, no drama. A quick nod and a tilt of the head and he knows where we're going. Plus he puts in some time clearing the deadfall over summer and early season so he earns all the local intel.

Put on 50 days with him last season.

We talk about school, friends, the terrain, but mostly the mountains. We've been working on our 46 and on a clear day stop at almost every scenic view to pick out each mountain on the various ranges.

To paraphrase Marie Kondo:

If you do not spark joy, I do not care to ski with you.

If you can ski within your ability and are realistic about it, like to have fun, laugh at yourself, pause for the cause, and enjoy being present and conversational on a lift ride, we’ll get along fine.  

My brother for being a little better than me, having the same taste in what to ski and when, always knowing where we are on the mountain and talking more than me (I only talk a little).  My daughter for making me laugh on the lift more than anyone else.  

If you like pina coladas.....

Kind of an unfair question, Harvey!  I mean, my wife is a perfect ski partner when I spend the day on the Bunny Hutch with her, because that is one special kind of ski day.  My kids are also great ski partners because it gives us time to bond together and share time on the slopes, in terrain we all enjoy.  That’s another special kind of ski day.

Days with my brothers are fun, too.

The last kind of skiing days....and don’t make me judge if they are better than those other kinds.....well, I guess I could just cut and paste MCs description here.  When I’m solo I always keep my eyes open to hook up with someone, be it a local, a NYSkiBlogger, a guide and other clients.  People who ski my speed, are into adventure, don’t mind a hike, are talkative with a story to tell on the lift, who are game for a few drinks at the end of the day.

For most of the time it's my daughter, she will ski anything that I ski and she like to ski fast. But I also enjoy skiing with other people  such as when I went to Platty in January skiing with new people was a great day of skiing also.

If you enjoy doing laps from first chair until the bar opens you're ok in my book.

my 25yr old daughter...

You beat me to it ......my 7 year old son.
He's in the Whiteface Cloudsplitter program.
He absolutely rips ----to sit next to my son on the chair lift, see the happiness on his face, the excitement and listen to him explain where he wants to go and what to do and what to ski ...and this ...and that ......is an absolute joy to hear.

Soon, very soon ----Dad ain't gonna be cool and his buddies will be cooler. I am not looking forward to that day so I soak it all in now.

The UNHOLY Skier wrote

You beat me to it ......my 7 year old son.
He's in the Whiteface Cloudsplitter program.
He absolutely rips ----to sit next to my son on the chair lift, see the happiness on his face, the excitement and listen to him explain where he wants to go and what to do and what to ski ...and this ...and that ......is an absolute joy to hear.

Soon, very soon ----Dad ain't gonna be cool and his buddies will be cooler. I am not looking forward to that day so I soak it all in now.

THIS.

This thread is pretty cool.

I dig witchy's quote, it is sig worthy.

The nordic guys don't care about partner speed, just don't clog the damn intersection!

I really like skiing with my daughter, and we are about the same speed now. It just hardly happens. She really digs the trees.

I can't really chew gum and ski at the same time, so I like someone who knows the terrain, and leads.  One a side note, I've actually led two times this year at Gore, with other skiers who were good but didn't know the secrets. It's a hell of a lot of fun when you're leading and your friends are pumped about the terrain and snow.

This year Scottski has been my most consistent partner.  We want the exact same thing from our days, and will both go to great lengths to score. Hooking up with him has paid big dividends for me with epic days in a relatively thin season.