• Blackout@kbin.social
    141·
    1 year ago

    First time skiing, friend was desperate to get someone to go so I went. Paid for everything like the meme says except the lessons. “I can teach you! Let’s take this lift up to that ridgeline”. I don’t know any better so up we go. Get there and it’s pretty high, oxygen is thin and a blizzard moved in. “Ok, ready?” He says. “What do I do?” I ask. “Just crouch down and twist back and forth to slow yourself. Here we go!” He replied and then off he went.

    It started out fine. I’m upright, the snow is powdery so it is helping to slow me down and I kinda got the twisting movement right, for the first 50 feet. Then the ground dropped beneath me and suddenly I’m cruising at what feels like mach speed. There is no twisting anymore, just barrel rolls. I finally stop and my arm is no longer in the socket. I just lay there wondering if I had died and hell really was frozen over. Then a ski guide came up, asked me if I was ok. “Uuuuughhh” I answered him. He then asked me if I could make it down on my own which I answered with a stare of both death and fear. Another dude arrived with a sled. By that time I had regained the ability to talk and popped my arm back in place. At the bottom they offered to call an ambulance but I was largely ok, got the direction to the ski lodge bar instead.

    10 hours later my friend finds me. “There you are! I was wondering where you went!” This is a story of the first and last time I went skiing.

  • Matumb0@lemmy.world
    464·
    1 year ago

    If the weather is so nice that you could get a sunburn, then you can at least probably see something. But the worst part about skiing, at least in Europe, is that because of Global warming we have to little Snow, so we use a lot of electricity to create artificial snow. Way to go Europeans, at least we can ski for another five years even if the future 20 generations will suffer und this (if they survive).

    • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
      82·
      1 year ago

      Laughs in nuclear and renewables and sprays snow in your face while skidding to a halt

    • DickSledge@sh.itjust.works
      1125·
      1 year ago

      Jesus christ even in a meme thread about skiing. It’s Lemmy…we all know about global warming you don’t need to point it out in every fucking post.

      Like, look…I know it’s important to talk about. But maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to make every single comment section about global warming and eating the rich. Just a thought.

      • TheTetrapod@lemmy.world
        133·
        1 year ago

        I never understood the whole “don’t talk about bad thing!” thing. It doesn’t make the problem go away if you just ignore it. It just makes it sneak up on you.

        • DickSledge@sh.itjust.works
          52·
          1 year ago

          So we should just echo chamber it on every Lemmy thread? Do you really think there’s anyone here on the other side of this issue?

          There are any number of things you could do that might actually have a meaningful impact if that’s what’s so important to you. Gloom and dooming on a meme comments thread is not one of them. Don’t act like I’m stopping you from changing the world here, I’m just saying feeling bad for yourself on a forum full of people who already agree with you isn’t productive.

          Organize a protest or write a politician if you feel so strongly about it. No? Then let people enjoy internet memes in peace without making every single thread about these issues.

        • DickSledge@sh.itjust.works
          42·
          1 year ago

          Yep. Tiresome and it doesn’t actually do anything about the issue. You could even argue it gives people a false sense of action and makes them less likely to do basic shit like vote.

  • Colour_me_triggered@lemm.ee
    361·
    1 year ago

    Second hand cross country skis from a charity shop : 250 NOK

    Second hand poles : 100 Nok

    Boots: too fucking much, but I have comedy size feet so I can’t get them used.

    Access to Norway’s extensive network of cross country trails: absolutely nothing

    Risk of injury… Still pretty high, but skiing around under the northern lights is honestly pretty amazing.

    • limelight79@lemm.ee
      13·
      1 year ago

      Wait, I thought downhill skiing was the risky one. What are the risks of cross country skiing? I would have expected that to be pretty safe, aside from exhaustion and tree wells.

      • usualsuspect191
        3·
        1 year ago

        There are still small hills that you can wipe out on and the bindings don’t release in CC so your legs have the potential of getting pretty messed up. Same with hitting a tree (and helmets aren’t really a thing in CC either).

      • lepthesr@lemmy.world
        31·
        1 year ago

        Um, the risk is like quadrupled from a groomed slope. It depends on what you do, but I know lots of cross country skiers that hike up and ski downhill. Avalanches, exposure, wildlife, what you said etc.

        There are really tame routes that ski resorts make, but you’re still driving out there, parking, etc.

        I suppose the idiot factor plays a lot here.

        • usualsuspect191
          2·
          1 year ago

          What you’re describing sounds more like AT skiing to me? Granted I have gone up to where people were AT skiing before with my cross-country skis, but I have back-country ones and skins.

    • CForsyth
      111·
      1 year ago

      If you rag doll again you may be fine, people hurt themselves when they lockup falling. Try penguining next time.

    • Dave.@aussie.zone
      9·
      1 year ago

      If I fell like that now, would I still bounce back up unhurt?

      Generally no, simply because you are now heavier and taller and longer-limbed and as a result all the injury-causing forces are much larger.

      I’ve seen kids try and do a backflip and land on their neck and get up laughing. If I tried that? I’d be fuckin’ DEAD.

  • mayonaise_met@feddit.nl
    171·
    1 year ago

    Were I typically ski in Germany/Austria the most expensive ticket during the season is €44, but it’s considerably more affordable outside the peak months and the tickets get progressively more affordable if you arrive later in the day. And let’s be real, if you’re skiing and aren’t some sort of athlete a 12-4:30PM skiing day is long enough.

    Ski rental is around €25.

    You could have a skiing day for less than €60.

    • ohlaph@lemmy.world
      9·
      1 year ago

      The cheapest ticket near me starts at $85. I used to snowboard several times a week, but the cost has just over doubled since I started. I just don’t go anymore.

  • HerbalGamer@lemm.ee
    12·
    1 year ago

    The only way it was affordable for me was as a ski instructor, but then general life became unaffordable.

  • ThatFembyWho@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    12·
    1 year ago

    And what are you going to wear? Planning to ski naked? At least I don’t have appropriate skiwear at home, gloves, visor, pants, jacket, etc. I remember the one time I skied as a child, a friend of my mom invited us. It was expensive even then, and not very fun, but I remember the clothes we bought specially for that one trip.

  • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
    12·
    1 year ago

    It’s ironic, I used to live in a mountainous region and had a season pass so a day of skiing would set me back less than 30 bucks, but if I ever wanted to swim in the ocean, something that’s basically free for many people, I’d have to pay easily more than the person in this post

      • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
        141·
        1 year ago

        The ocean is free, getting there or staying there, not so much.

        But same thing goes for a lot of mountains. The lift company only owns the lift, but if you wanna hike up the slope and then ski it back down your free to do so. There are even special furs that you clamp to the underside of your skies to not slide back down

        • Rodeo
          10·
          1 year ago

          Many ski resorts are built on private land and you skinning uphill is against the rules and will get you kicked out and/or banned because it creates a safety hazard for other skiers. Even if the resort is on public land you’ll get the boot for being unsafe.

          Lots of mountains on public land without resorts you can do that on though.

      • Dlayknee@lemmy.world
        5·
        1 year ago

        I’m assuming they’re factoring in travel, lodging, food, etc costs for a trip away from their area to wherever a beach is.

      • Xanthrax@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        I don’t know why, but I had to do the math. The total cost was $320.

        If they live far away from the beach, I imagine gas would he the main cost.

        Let’s assume gas is $4/ gallon, and they’re getting about 20 miles/ gallon:

        They’d have to drive 1600 miles for it to be that expensive.

        • UnspecificGravity@discuss.tchncs.de
          2·
          1 year ago

          That’s kind of a false equivalency though because you always have to actually get to where a thing is. You can live thirty feet from a mountain and all these costs are the same as if you lived a hundred miles away.

          • Xanthrax@lemmy.world
            1·
            1 year ago

            I was just curious if it was going to put them super far from the coast. They would have to be about 400 miles away from one coast, and then drive the opposite direction, 1,600 miles, to get to the other coast lmao. (In the US)

            Also, you can find a nice hill and just ski, but you won’t have a lift. I lived in the San Bernardino mountains, and snowboarding and skiing was free. The big issue was safety (making sure the path was free of trees) and avoiding private property.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        You usually have to pay for parking. When I lived in L.A., that was what I had to do. But apparently they have a train to the beach now.

  • chrizzowski
    175·
    1 year ago

    Don’t let this discourage anyone from trying. Yes it sounds absurd when put that way, and yes the costs are getting out of hand at most major resorts, but it can be an absolutely amazing sport/hobby/passion/lifestyle.

    The first few times add up cost wise, hard to get around that, but once you figure out what you’re doing and make the decision the sport is for you then it gets better. With a season pass and my own gear I’m <$30cad a day on the hill, and that’s at a major BC resort.

    Still a big wad of cash for gear and a pass up front, and definitely coming from a privileged lens to say that it’s affordable, but lots of people spend way more than that on take out, coffee, booze, streaming services, etc. All about priorities!

    • paintbucketholder@lemmy.world
      5·
      1 year ago

      Grew up near the mountains, learned skiing in kindergarten, went skiing so frikkin much as a teenager and young adult.

      Haven’t been skiing in years now, mostly because it’s no longer affordable. Used to go skiing in the afternoon, just after getting out of school, but all those little lifts have closed because there’s not enough snow any more. Skiing resorts used to be nearby and affordable, but they’re no longer an option, either.

      There was a scandal a few years ago with one of the bigger resorts because people had bought season passes, but even at higher altitude there were only a couple of weeks of good snow, and the resort refused to refund. They’ve since put in new water ponds and pumps and snow cannons, and they invested in new snowcats and trail groomers and all that jazz, but ultimately that just means that tickets are now incredibly expensive, while the season is still significantly shorter than it used to be.

      That leaves traveling all the way to one of the big resorts high up in the mountains, and that’s just not economical. The best option for going there is really going on a ski vacation for a week, buying a week pass, staying in a hotel, maybe getting some combo deal…

      But essentially, the proposition has changed from “want to spend 20 bucks and go skiing for a day” to “want to spend 2,000 bucks and go skiing for a week?”

      On the flip side, alpine hiking is pretty great, and it’s still pretty affordable!

    • SaakoPaahtaa@lemmy.world
      33·
      1 year ago

      Good points all around. I’ve personally skiid (skied? Ski’id?) a few times, not my jam, but I can absolutely understand why people like it. Economics of scale quickly dampens the cost of an individual day and if someone likes it, don’t let an internet meme discourage you.

  • big_slap@lemmy.world
    8·
    1 year ago

    I went skiing with my dad last year. I snowboard all the time but it’s been more than 10 years since he last went.

    took him down a blue after he got his bearings again and he slam into another person from our group. the fall looked dramatic and we all laughed it off until he tried laying down in bed at night and started screaming in pain.

    my dad had to have surgery on his arm and the other person from our group had a fractured rib…