Drinking and Skiing
March 26, 2004
I have had the occaisional beer at lunch - but to me anyone who drinks more than that and straps on some skis are crazy, not to mention dangerous.
Hmmmmm... I've got some friends who should probably not ski in Italy. One was just telling me how a couple buddies of his got plastered on the slow chairs at Canaan last weekend.
How about listening to headphones, drinking, and skiing?
Don't mean to sound preachy, and I like beer as much or more than the next person, but skiers have no more business skiing while under the influence as they do getting behind the wheel of a car under the influence. Skiing is risky enough without the added danger of alcohol. It creates real danger for everyone on the slopes. Leave the drinking for apre ski.
A snowboarder out in Colorado drank a fifth of beam and ended up plowing some little kids involved in classes. his ass is now in prison. There's no room out there for that kind of stupidity. A drink with lunch is probably par for the course for many of us, but to get drunk throughout the day and take it out on the hill is retarded.
I must say I enjoy the occasional beer while skiing. It's a nice rest off the trails.
I'm not endorsing heavy consumption -- but a beer or two can mellow you out and sometimes improves the skiing.
If not for a couple of beers on my first-ever ski trip, I would have quit forever.
My college chums (born on skis) took me (born as an uncoordinated oaf) to the top of some Vermont mountain and about an hour and a half and 100 painful falls later I got to the lodge at the bottom.
I vowed to never ski again and sat in the lodge drinking beer. Talking with the bartender and other patrons I finally decided to make one more stab -- but at a bunny slope this time.
A little bit of liquid courage, coupled with looser limbs and a bit of foamy anaesthetic made the experience enjoyable.
Now, I ski every chance I get. (I also drink beer every chance I get -- though I try to keep the mix of the two to a minimum:-)
MM
I'm with the MangyMarmot on this one. Skiing is not a sport, it's a lifestyle....unfortunatly excessive drinking is also a lifestyle. I like to partake in a FEW adult beverages during the ski day and quite a few apres'.
Seems straightforward to me.
Nothing wrong with having a few beers on the slopes. Heck, taking Johnny feel-goods, smoking acid, and riding the bologna pony are all respectable things to do a long lift ride.
Getting messed up and endangering others if obviously wrong.
Marmot.... Your story made me sooo nostalgic... My first experience skiing was at the top of Cranmore in NH... They took me to the top... Bye Bye!!!.... I did make it down... And had a few afterwards since they didn't have Naproxen back then...
I do agree that a glass or two of wine at lunch or a couple of beers, may not be of consequence. After all, that's the reason why Shnopps was invented. However, to come down both, out of control AND plastered down a ski run is dangerous. Regardless of Italy, the courts in the US are taking a dim view of out of control skiers - Remember the twit in Colorado who is now (thankfully) making license plates at some State prison after being convicted on negligent homicide for killing a skier while out of control? The jury gave him a zero for sympathy. Just think then, if he had been drunk... A forward-thinking prosecutor would look at this as a chance for a promotion... And by the responses to this thread, I would say such a happening today in the East would result in the guy getting fried in a court of law...
