to tell you where to go?



That's what friends are for?

There are lots of ways to improve as a skier but I think one of the under-rated ways to improve your skiing is to ski with people who are good skiers, better skiers than you, any chance you get. There's a big difference though between following someone down the groomer or into the trees and following someone down something that you can't really see your way out of until you commit to it. I've obviously skied enough with johnL to realize that he knows the terrain and my ability well enough, maybe better than i do, and I trust him to not take me anywhere that would, how should i put this, present an unacceptable level of risk. I'm probably going to ski some things with him i probably wouldn't/shouldn't on my own.

I remember my first trip to Seven Springs, i was overwhelmed by the gnar and vastness of it all. I remember being scared if i got separated from my friend Paul that i might get into some terrain i might die on. He smiled and said don't worry just follow me.

Do you trust anyone that much?

Where do you draw the line as far as go/no go?

Are you more likely to go if your encouraged?

dam right..that is what friends are for...one of my best days this year was at sierra at tahoe, it had snowed a couple feet the previous few day and they had just opened up the back gates after avy control...I was staying out in tahoe for about three weeks or so with two great friends of mine who have lived out there for about 8 years, we had ridden together for years in WV and all over the country but I hadn't ridden with either one of them in about 8 years(about 10 years ago one of them and I chased storms from WV to CO to Washington to montana for three months straight camping in the back of a jeep cherokee)...anyway back to the story... my first day out there in sierra at tahoe three of us pulled up to the back gates that were just opened first run after drinking a cold tall coors on the lift ride up, it was steep waist deep pow-10-25 foot boulder drops everywhere...you couldn't see any landings but just tree tops over the boulder drops...my two buddies were stoked and I didn't have any idea what the terrain was like but I knew it was going to be good...they both rode out to the front of the first drop looked down, looked at each other then looked back up to me and said TUcker "you got to drop right here, right beside us, aim for that tree top" I said how big is it. how fast do I go, and do I have to clear anything...my one buddy said "don't worry you will thank us, go fast and give a little pop"...it was my first run out of my tahoe trip and I hadn't ridden with either one of them in 8 years, but I didn't really think twice....I dropped in gave a little pop and dropped a 20 footer into waist deep pow in between two trees...I probably wouldn't have dropped it if I had seen it...definetily not my first run, but that is what friends are for....the next four hours of that day we took turns calling out blind waist deep landings to each other over 15-25 foot drops and pillow lines.....skiing/riding is half of it the other half is hanngin' out with good friends and pushin' each other...

Know what you mean Jimmy. I've been there too with John L. Scared myself and also had a good time. But Tucker, I don't know about that 20 footer. I don't do deliberate air and don't do blind landings. I became a decent skier too late in life and therefore was already a wuss.

Denis, I would jump off blind landing 20 footers into waist deep pow all day long before I even considered getting into a puddle jumper and landing on a field of snow ...you could have supermodel flight attendants serving jack and sam and I wouldn't even get into one of those little planes ...In my younger days I designed and built terrain parks...the first one we built at timberline had a 6 foot tall take off and measured 55 feet to the knuckle(the start of the landing) and 65 to the sweet spot...we used to hit that thing on hardpack days, my buddy(who lives out in tahoe now) would spin 540's off that timberline booter when you could see your reflection in the landing...he still does that kind of stuff and builds the parks at heavenly and kirkwood(he also has several pins, a ton of broken bones, and no longer owns a spleen)...I went the opposite direction- I own a business and have a mortgage...I used to pull up to big jumps and gaps and love the addrenaline rush, now I look at them and think about my mortgage, guess I am getting old...but that day at sierra was nostalgic and like old times......but there was carnage my one budy twisted his knee and was out for a week and a half and two out of the three guys I was riding with broke their boards, one broke the nose off the front of his board on a landing...