story n photo by Dana J Turvey

Kirkwood Times – January 2007 

Why Take a Kirkwood Women’s Clinic

or

How To Look Like a Girl And Ski With The Guys

 Okay, let’s start with the acknowledgement that this title isn’t politically correct.  Most of us know that we are now women, rather than girls, but that didn’t sound as catchy, and I’m rather tired of being P.C. And the following little tale is about awareness, rather than correctness… 

 To ski, unlike pro football, has never been strictly a male activity, it has simply been portrayed this way for oh-so-very-long. That does not make it right. Example: If Jonny Moseley won the moguls gold medal at Nagano, who won the women’s that same year? Uh-huh.

 However often not flaunted by the media, there are some amazingly competent and aggressive female skiers, just as there are many mediocre males abusing the slopes. (Sorry, guys, but it’s true.) While there certainly aren’t enough Picabo Streets in the female sector, nor is each man involved in this sport a personification of Jean-Claude Killy. Or Bode Miller. Pick your own generation…

 A lot of this comes under the heading of ‘attitude.’  Ski industry statistics say that 75% of all participants are in the intermediate skill range.  These would be the folks who seek out blue square runs, look good on green circles, and flounder down black diamonds. Ask a male specimen of this group how he skis, and he’ll usually say that he’s advanced. Ask a woman and she’ll reply that she’s just a beginner.  Same skill level – two very different concepts. Well, gals, as Cher said in the movie Moonstruck: “Snap out of it!” And often this same-category woman will have a higher skill level, since she has had to rely on finesse, rather than muscular strength.

 Yes, skiing, as with any sport more active than lawn bowling, can be intimidating. But we need to learn how to channel this fear, and let it show its nasty face only when necessary. For instance, if an intermediate takes a wrong turn and ends up at the top of a steep mogul run, go ahead – be scared!  Use this sense to heighten awareness of the situation, and if it is truly beyond your skills, then find another way out.

 With most thinking adults there is a struggle with the logical part of your mind, i.e. can’t break a knee, gotta go to work to afford the puppy chow, condo payment, etc.  This doesn’t mean you can’t win the struggle over wanting to push away your current limits. If this hadn’t happened in the past, how would skiers, regardless of sex, have moved beyond the confines of the beginner slopes?

 So how have men become purveyors of the ‘aggressive’ attitude, while women have been stuck with the ‘timid’ personae?  Male skiers seem to build on past glories, and amplify them in their minds (this is not a bad thing), while also building on their previous adrenalin thing.  Women, as a group, do not. 

 If I ran into Olympic downhill racer, Tommy Moe, while out freeskiing, and he said, “Come on, let’s go make a few turns together,” (Fantasy Situation #103) I would initially be a bit intimidated about the skill level of this gold medal skier. But my mind would assert itself with the realization that I am an experienced skier, and the worst-case scenario would be that Tommy might have to wait a few moments at the bottom. Big deal.

 While we as women can work to change the timidity stereotype that has landed on our shoulders, we need also to hope that men will raise their expectations of us. When the male support-giver in our life doesn’t think the female will ski well, simply based on her sex, it doesn’t bode well for the improvement factor.

 But the real responsibility rests on us. If someone you ski with regularly thinks you cannot improve, prove them wrong. Find groups of women who ski well and/or aggressively, and start following along. Sign up for a ladies only skill-improvement clinic, and see if the group and the female coach can urge you to lose unnecessary fears. Take a long, hard look at your skiing goals, and don’t try to change everything at once. Take small steps, but open up to the idea of ‘I can.’  If you tell yourself often enough that you can’t do something, you will eventually believe. Isn’t the reverse also true?