For me skiing with friends/family is much more fun than alone. It sort of depends on where you're at, both for the day and in your life. Slipping away for a few hours at Whitetail is something I'd consider doing alone and at our busy local mtns you're hardly ever really "alone". But it would be kind of strange/selfish for me as a family man to continually enjoy a time (and $) consuming pastime like skiing and not engage my kids as well.

Before kids I usually skied with buddies. In my teens and twenties I had a season pass and used to ski by myself 40 or 50% of the time working on skills or blowing off energy, but best times were with others. In distant past I've done two western trips alone. You got to do what you got to do, but its not something I'd repeat often especially now that I have family that wants to ski with me. Even if going it alone, when skiing big/dangerous western terrain I think you should try to keep someone within hailing distance whenever you can. I don't do backcountry, but would not generally think of doing that alone, although I have gone on one or two hour cross country ski outings alone in semi-remote areas of PA, CO and VA.

Not that I'm any hot skier, but I've occasionally been in the situation where I want to try tougher terrain than my companions. Usually I would just dumb down my skiing, this gets easier to rationalize as you get older. Sometimes I break away for a few runs/hours, esp if at a new place I want to explore. Sometimes I'd talk companions into joining me on tougher terrain, regretted that more than once; for example when I saw my buddy sliding out of control on his head & tail most of the way down an icy double black (White Nitro) at Sugarloaf, ME in '97. Another time me and an Austrian guide rushed a buddy down three back to back runs of 3000' vert to get back to a base area by certain time. Buddy was not happy camper. Oh well, it's all good.

In honor of Moonshine Mountain, we should also ask if anyone here drinks alone. That will be the core of the skiing community at Moonshine Mountain, the drink-ski-alone crowd.

On the ski alone subject, I took a trip by myself to Lake Tahoe two winters ago and spent the better part of my day at Northstar in the woods. At the base of the mountain, I was chatting with someone who works at the ski area and they said you are never supposed to enter the woods alone. I appreciate the reasoning behind it and understand where they're coming from, but that would virtually prohibit me from glade skiing out there, so it is a rule I choose to ignore (and also, because I know why they have that policy, should something ever happen to me glade skiing I would not sue anyone over it. Doesn't stop family members from suing if they want to but hopefully I won't die and open that possibility up). Skiing alone out of bounds, however, is a definite "no" in my books.

Hey Tick, Welcome to DCSki! Where do you ride?

Every morning just before breakfast,
I don't want no coffee or tea
Just me and my good buddy Wiser,
that's all I ever need
'Cause I drink alone, yeah,
with nobody else
Yeah, you know when I drink alone,
I prefer to be by myself

The other night I laid sleeping,
and I woke from a terrible dream
So I called up my pal Jack Daniel's,
and his partner Jimmy Beam
And we drank alone, yeah,
with nobody else
Yeah, you know when I drink alone,
I prefer to be by myself

-G. Thoroughgood

Jimmy, thanks for the welcome. Kind of weird for me to get onto this list server at the END of the ski season huh?
I live outside of Christiansburg and it's about 3 1/2 hours to Snowshoe (and I am NOT a Hokie, in case you were wondering). A few of the Virginia resorts are closer, but the conditions at Snowshoe make that extra drive worth it. How about you?

My whole family dun give up on me,
and it makes me feel oh so bad,
the only one who will hang out with me,
is my dear old grandad.

George

Tick, I'm a 7 springs & Timberline fan. No one calls me to see if I'm skiing just to ask where .

The other day I got invited to a party,
but I stayed home instead
Just me and my pal Johnny Walker,
and his brothers Black and Red
And we drank alone, yeah,
with nobody else
Yeah, you know when I drink alone,
I prefer to be by myself
GT

Now that it's may it seems all those DC skiers who ski alone are now drinkin alone.

I deffinately had a few wild years in College but since then my drinkin has been pretty tame. Now that I have to pay rent, food, skis, lift tickets, car, etc... who has money left for beer?

I almost never ski alone for whole day, A couple skiers/ boarders that are near you alibiltiy(alittle better than you is better IMO) and have great attidude are invaluable to me(or anyone).

Tick welcome and glad to hear you're down in God's country with the rest of the DC ex-pats (and Louisiana ex-pats in Murphy's case). Unfortunately I'm in DC right now and will be for the summer- we should get together to introduce in August.

Jimmy I'm liking you more and more with every post. A man who drinks alone and skis alone can't be all bad!

To quote another great George Thoroughgood remake:

"One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer!"