What’s it like skiing with your significant other(s)?

My wife will only ski 2 or 3 of hours, blue/green trails, and then call it a day. She’ll meet me at WF late morning. When she’s done she’ll either go back to the house or hang around and have a couple of drinks later with me and/or friends. She will only ski a couple of times a year. A lot of my friends complain about skiing with their wives, but I like skiing with mine. If I had to ski like that every day I’m sure it would get old, but I don’t so when it happens I like it.

I’m getting her new gear this season; hopefully she’ll get out more.

I like skiing with Zelda. Since I moved her to alpine gear, we're more ski compatible. I'll stay with on the groomers about half the time. The other half, I'll hit something in the trees and meet her at the lift.  I like the chair rides on those fixed grip chairs like the High Peaks Chair.  It's a double and it gives us a chance to connect.  We've talked about some pretty big picture stuff on that chair.

IMO: New gear for your wife = best investment you can make.

My wife has dutifully followed me on trips all over the ski universe.  She keeps up when we're on groomers, and when I want to ski something she's not up for, we meet at the lift.
 

Angel Fire, NM


Snow King, WY


Lech, Austria


Mont Edouard, Quebec


Whiteface, NY


Monarch, CO

Once we make it to the mountain, we have a great time.  The tough part is getting her there.  She wants to stay in bed until mid-morning, and I want to be there before the lifts open.

Another issue that I addressed a while back in another thread is getting separated on the hill.

Early in our marriage I found that my wife had a passion for hiking (which I thought was boring) and I was passionate about skiing. In A few weeks we will celebrate our 17th anniversary and a lot has happened. First, she convinced me of the fun we could have hiking. I was especially drawn by the fact that our two oldest kids (now teenagers) LOVED hiking and it really grew on me.
She was slower to take to skiing, which I think was mainly a lack of confidence. When I bought her a set of "shaped" skis in 2001 and she took a lesson when we were skiing at Pico something "clicked" for her. She has continued to improve. While she will never be as passionate about it as I am, she genuinely likes it now. As far as the question goes, there is no one I would rather ski with. She is my wife but also my best friend and I have a BLAST when i ski with her. Kids complicate things now, but I look forward to more skiing together in the future!!

P.MAC wrote

When I bought her a set of "shaped" skis in 2001 and she took a lesson when we were skiing at Pico something "clicked" for her. She has continued to improve.

IMO the new gear helps bring some couples together.

It may sound corny, but it's workin for me.

(Exhibit A: Zelda's avatar.)

GFG = ROI*

*Gear for Girl = Return-on-Investment.  

In 08 I bought her a pair of Atomic 'Highnoon's (which is what I have) and she came up another notch in ability...




...she loves them!

Last year was our first winter together skiing.  It has tested our patience, on both ends.  She is a good skiier, but I'm the person who is also saying, "lets go a little further,  follow me".  Of course you win some, and loose some.  Chatimac has helped perform the most far out tests of our relationship.  



It's always worth it.  It pushes us both, helps us both become better and the pay offs are really worth it when you finally find that nice line in the woods and can share it with your lady who comes out smiling snowy ear to snowy ear

My wife hates skiing..she would rather have a colonoscopy

What's it like skiing with Harv?  Where do I begin?...  I've never met anyone who wakes up earlier on his days off than he does on a work day.  It's all about first tracks.  He's a man with a mission.  No high maintenance female, mouse or toddler will stop him from making it out the door in time for the first gondola.  He moves his troops and without fail gets to where the gettin is good.

How do I feel about this?  It varies from moment to moment.  At 5:30 am, I'm in a haze and roll over to pretend this is not about to happen.  By 6:30 the reality sets in and I make a b-line to try to put myself and everything else together.  It's a race at this point, but I recognize the rewards are likely worth it in the end.  

The actual skiing with Harvey is always positive.  I'm a beginner and there has never been a day I felt like this guy just doesn't care.  He has always had patience with me and encouraged me every step of the way.  Every time I go out I get a little better.  The new sticks certainly didn't hurt.  I can't always keep up with Harv and his friends, but I do enjoy myself - the views, the people, the cold, the time to myself and feeling like I am learning a little more each time.

It is always a treat to ski with Bubba, because he doesn't ski much anymore. He doesn't like the cold and would rather stay inside. We were at Jay Peak for 4 days with fresh snow each day and he only skied for 2 hours one afternoon.

He didn't ski when I met him. He was 47. But he wanted to learn and he did, and got pretty good at it. But now that he's 60, he is just not all that keen about being out in the cold, on a chair life. I think he suffered on the GMF at Jay and decided he just can't hack it. He's planning to go someplace warm for a month this winter.

I mostly ski with my other friends and leave him home. It doesn't make sense for him to pay all that money to ski for 2 hours and not really love it. He is totally fine with me going on ski trips without him. I've got plenty of great ski pals to travel with incluing Pam, AC and Rochester Mark.

For me it is great.  My husband is a strong, versatile,(fast) all mountain skier.  I can tag along with him all over the mountain and if I need to pull out and meet him at the lift.  Over the years I have pushed myself to stay with him and this has paid off.  After 20+ years, I am a versatile, all mountain skier.  Just like him, minus the strong and the fast.  He also likes to get out early and I might groan when the alarm goes off, but the rewards are always worth it.  We have been skiing together since college. Whiteface was one of our first outings together.  I think that skiing is something we will be able to do together into our old age, should we be so lucky.  

Goreskimom, you are VERY lucky! What a great life!

Goreskimom wrote

....the rewards are always worth it...

That is an inspiring story. I agree with PDQ - pretty much livin' the dream.

GSM - OT to this thread but where was your avatar taken? (I have a theory...)

My wife grew up skiing at Gore on boys junior race skis...now she skis men's Volkl 5 Stars.  She can out-ski me on one leg.  She forces me to improve all the time, keeps me on my game, and stops any of my whining in its tracks...

But she's gotta have a hot chocolate mid morning at the Saddle, especially if the wind on the East chair is "crisp".

Do you want to guess or just have me tell you where the avatar was taken?  I should mention that my significant other also put three kids on the slopes without any help from ski school (or any significant help from me apart from lunches and an extra hand).  Our ski time together was seriously impacted for quite some time.  Now we are reaping the rewards...the kids are all very independent skiers and this is the first winter in over a decade that we envision logging some serious time together on the slopes.

Tele skiing is our commond bond and what brought us together.  She's one of the strongest tele skiers I know and when she's on 'em and I'm not can kick my butt.  We've skied all over togther and she is my best ski buddy.  Life is Good!

The Test

I met my wife-to-be in the late summer of 2002, and we became engaged the following April.
The intervening 7-month period was “The Test.”

During that time, I found out that my wife-to-be could handle the sharp end of a climbing rope,

On lead, Roger's Rock, Sept. 2002
Climb the High Peaks in any conditions,

Early season snow on Sawteeth, Oct. 2002

Wright Peak, Jan. 2003.
And of course, ski:
Alpine...


Telemark...


Nordic...


and backcountry...



I knew I had a keeper, and we were married exactly 7 years ago today, on September 13, 2003.

What’s it like to ski with her?  She understands how important skiing is for me, gives me time when I need to do a few runs on my own, and puts up with me pointing out Mount Marcy EVERY time from the top of Cloud.  But most importantly, she loves skiing herself.  During the winter, there’s nothing else we’d rather be doing as a family.

puts up with me pointing out Mount Marcy EVERY time from the top of Cloud.  -ADKJeff

Jeff - LOL!! I thought I was the only one who did that!! My teenage kids even bust my chops about it! "Hey dad, look, you can see Mt Marcy from here!" I give them the old Ralph Cramden line... "How'd you like to see it from the moon!" LOL!! Sorry, Honeymooners was before your time...

My gal's not much of a skier. She tried it for several seasons and now gave up. She's much better at holding down the couch with a good book, though she does like riding the ATVs.

When she did ski, I really liked it. We had fun. She was a bit of an odd ball tho. Ya see, She fell asleep on the chairlift - twice. She fell asleep in a chair sitting outside of the kid's kampus lodge one cold day and woke up more than an hour later freezing. Once, coming down the lowest part of Sunway, she had to stop and sit cause her legs were so tired. I told her to go off to the side and....she fell asleep sitting upright in the deep snow. People skied up..." Is she ok? " " Yea. she's just taking a nap." hehehe. That got some odd looks.

She finally got "good" enough to ascend up the ADK Express. I told her not to go but she insisted. We made a couple runs down Pete Gay and then we stashed her at the Saddle Lodge for an hour or so. We picked her up on the way back and part way down  to the base she was all boo hooing, crying, " I can't go on!" yada, yada....I went after Ski Patrol and they brought the sled.

Anyway, she went instantly from having her worst day to having the most fun ever. She absolutely loved the sled ride down. Said it was the most fun ever. Her tears were erased by a huge smile. Patrol kinda haul azz on the way down.

Well I met my ladyfriend skiing, so I'd say it's pretty awesome. I have to chase her on groomers, but I usually have to wait for her in the bumps and trees. Sometimes she'll just run Hawkeye when I'll do Double Barrel or Straightbrook, and we'll meet up at the lift.

If all goes well, she should be coming out to Salt Lake City with the fam this winter