So i heard a discussion the other day about falling. Do you think that if you're not falling you're not learning? How often do you fall? When you fall is it on difficult terrain, cruddy snow conditions or just a mind somewhere else deal?

I suppose there is a little truth to that cliché. When I'm skiing groomers I don't fall much. And it's true my technique on groomers hit a plateau a long time ago, but what's wrong with just mindless cruising for fun, especially if you're starting to push senior citizenship?

For people learning the sport - not falling much is not necessarily a sign of not learning much. Some of this could be age related. If you are a 16 year old High School linebacker and you never fall while learning to ski you're either incredibly athletic or something's wrong. But a 40 year old first time skier probably shouldn't be told they need to fall a lot to get competent at skiing/riding, especially after the first day. They might never want to do a second day.

Having said above, in the snowy winter of 2009-2010 I fell far more than normal, usually tips catching in deep unpacked snow. Those conditions were less familiar and fun, and I guess I learned some about dealing with them. Just wish I had about five more winters like that one to practice in fresh snow

I think it's a gravity thing. There are places on the hill where gravity is much stronger and it has a tendancy to pull you down. Take the drop with all it's whales for instance. You never see people fall when they are on top of a whale, just in between them. There is more gravity in between, otherwise the whale would be there.

I once fail when I fell asleep while skiing.
Otherwise, I fall when:
What was that?
Humm... that was interesting!
Watch me...
I won't try that again!
Wohaaaaaaaa- ploof!
Let's try going a little fa.... boom!

and once when I tried spelling fail.

Falls are pretty rare for me. Maybe one or two a season. They're generally caused by either a big screw up in the moguls or something I couldn't avoid. The second category has included a submerged stump and a hidden bar of ice that stripped one ski off without slowing me down. I was surprised how far I made it before falling on the second one.

I started skiing sorta late in life (~38). And I fell a ton! I had taken up whitewater canoeing a few years earlier and was told if you're not flipping - you're not learning. So I accepted the falls as a sign of learning. And I think there is quite a bit of truth to that.

Now I'm 44 and I still fall but I fall far far less because, well, I encounter fewer new situations. But put me in a new situation - trees in CV during MLK weekend this year - and I can still manage to wipe-out.

I don't take the sport too seriously so when I do roll in the snow, I think its pretty funny (as long as no one in the family has a camera!!!)

I also started skiing late in life (46) and I fell a lot. My first time skiing I kicked my skis off about 200 yrds down from the top of Timberrun at CV with the intention of walking the rest of the way. My two ski buddies proceeded to yell at me to the point that i got mad, put the skis back on and pretty much fell the rest of the way down the mountain. That was 12 yrs ago, I still ski with Paul and Jimmie. I also still fall when challenged with something new and occasionally when I'm going slow and not paying attention. Which is really embarrising.

I would say getting out of your comfort zone is important to learning, and early in the process that most likely means falling some.

But once you are more advanced I don't necessarily think this is true. There are lots of technique issues that most people (even very advanced skiers) could and should improve and working on those issues most likely isn't going to result in a fall.

Everyone has a comfort zone, even Bodie Miller. Go beyond that, and you'll fall more often. Often, a mental commitment is required more than technical skill. How can a technically competent advanced skier get out of their comfort zone?

• Ski something steeper than normal. Even though snow conditions out West make a slope easier, a 45-50 degree slope with exposed rocks, cliffs, stumps and a long slide if you fall changes your perspective and your skiing.
• Ski faster than normal. Say you're technically competent in the bumps. OK, ski the bumps a lot faster and more aggressively. A lot tougher on your technique and your conditioning. If you're used to turning at a certain tempo, increasing that tempo is a challenge.
• Ski a tougher line. Always possible to find a tougher line. Instead of skiing around the whales, ski directly over them. Ski a tighter line in the trees, over a ledge, through some brush, turn every 2 bumps on a mogul run, reverse zipper line, GS turns in bumps, etc.
• Ski on extreme ice or boilerplate like a racer. Don't avoid the bad spots, seek them out. Ski nasty, icy bumps.
• Get controlled air. Off whales, stumps, ledges, bumps. Keep turning before hand, keep turning afterward; tough to do. Get controlled air on a steeper, icier or tighter run.

I fall when I screw up.

I fall quit often actually. I fell on the bumps this past weekend with my instructor (Liberty Adult Development Program). I fell on my FIRST RUN this year on the bunny slopes at WISP showing my cousins how to ski.

I also agree that sometimes it's a mentality thing; you can almost make up your mind NOT to fall instead of being to scared/losing your composure and falling.

I, too, started skiing at an older age (26) and believe that falling is part of the learning process.

Darwin

Well, the first thing you describe on your list is what I would consider the "no fall" zone. In other words, you better not be falling.

I guess I'm talking about working on advanced, technical aspects of skiing. Which I don't think would increase your chances of falling all that much.

I am a ski god expert level 13 skier here on the internet; in real life i'm a short fat guy on short fat skis who aspires to ski easy bumps and trees under control with some finesse and not make who I'm skiing with wait too long at the bottom. Most of us can ski teh grommers and make turns where we want to which is not the same as making turns in tight spots exactly where we HAVE to.

I don't agree with the if you're not falling you're not learning school. I think with most people who try to figure out some advanced skiing by themselves or having a friend give them a pointer or two they are gonna dig a bunch of snow before they make much progress. There is a better way.

I fall constantly! A couple times a day. HOWEVER I DON'T USE POLES when I ski. It is a much more physical workout that way and I feel more in tune with the mountain. The down side is I don't have the "fall back" of a pole helping me out when I lose my balance.

Uphill lift lines are also a pain....

I fall a few times a year. My son use to live for those moments . why varies. it ranges from lack of concentration to technique needs improvement. Luckily I am usually in pretty decent control, so the fall is rarely painful. But I have had my share of yard sales. I remember one last year I messed up in moguls and went head over heals. I buried my ski tips and must have embedded them in something and I went straight over. I fell a few weeks ago on a green looking back for my son. It was almost flat very embarrassing. I don't think you need to fall to learn, but I do think if you are going to do tougher terrain, you will fall. It is part of the sport. A golfer doesn't drive perfectly every time, a skier is not going to make a perfect turn every time. The key is to be good enough to minimize the consequence so in either case you don't lose a ball.

I learn something everytime I fall down..........I learn that the ground is very hard and unforgiving.

And water is wet.

And mud is dirty.

I didn't say it! I may have been thinking it, but I didn't say it.

I don't fall much, perhaps 2-3 times so far in a season that is at 15 days. I don't like to fall but I should do more of it and practice my self arrest. I learned more about falling in one day on a snowboard than in the previous 30 years of skiing. I learned to do one forward roll or backward roll and then arrest with an edge. Rolling dissipates momentum slowly. Just going splat dissipates it fast.

In difficult backcountry conditions I often fall once at the start of the day. After that I get it dialed in. This year conditions have been so consistently good that I'm not doing that much.

Cool topic.

I started skiing when I was 49 and this is my 5th season. The first day I skiied I fell 10 times on the the easiest slope at Wintergeen. I tend to think of falls as learning opportunities but I could learn perfectly without ever falling!

This year I have taken approximately 250 ski runs (I count them) and have fallen 7 times. Here is the catalog:

Caught edge on Upper Wild Turkey at WTG - 1
Thinking about a woman I just passed - 1
Trying to make a high speed turn on unexpected ice and slid into trees - 1
Coming out of woods onto a groomed trail where the sides of the trail were piled with frozen snow - 2
Running a NASTAR course, strayed too far from gates and caught edge in crud - 1
Not sure WTF happened - 1

I think falling is part of the game and it happens, but anytime you fall you are chancing an injury.

That said, I think I learned something from each of these falls.

Everything depends on your risk tolerance .

I think this statement basically refers to feestyle skiing and boarding

my falls happen when either i screw up or i screw up. one or the other. not paying attention on green slopes is a pretty good way. running into a tree is another.

muscle memory is important. so falling will make you better, imho, but you can also get better in other ways.

There is a big difference between falling and getting hurt/injured.

I agree with Bruce that if you're riding/skiing and working on freestyle then if you're not falling you are not learning. I like to say "if you are not fallin' you're not learnin', but if you're cusin' or bleedin' you arer doing it wrong unless you are in the terrain park".

When teaching boarding at any level I always try to teach the proper way to fall in order to avoid injury. When teaching to lower level riders my progression/method is different based on their learning style, but one thing is constant...I want folks to learn how to make turns while falling as little as possible for two reasons. First, folks should have a good time, and second, an awkward/hard fall tends to make folks timid and more difficult to teach.

Skiing is a leisure activity for most. The idea is to get out have a good time, cruz around with friends, etc. There is nothing wrong with going out and not falling; however, one should know a safe method to falling. Some folks don't desire to ski aggressively or ski difficult terrain. It's all good.

But in general the saying "if you're not falling you're not learning" is true for truly upper level skiers/boarders IMO. However, to me there are two types of falls. One fall is a digger or a whipper that is unexpected and can cause injury (ie. Hitting a tree, catching an edge, etc). The other type of fall is a controlled fall (ie. sit down, skid out, or even a cartwheel that occurs when you are aggressively playing with a new movement skill, speed level, or attempting more difficult terrain).

But if you're seriously trying to improve you're skiing/boarding at a higher level of performance and you are not occasionally controlled falling then you are just cruzin' and not really "gettin' on it". It's the difference between raising your skiing/boarding level a couple notches in one day vs. an entire season or one season vs. ten years.

One way to prepare one's self to learn to ski/ride more aggressively or at a higher level is to learn the mechanics or falling safely. One key component is to know when it is safe to fall and when it is not safe to fall. Like any other sport stretching before and after a sessions is important as well. Once you know those things controlled falling can be an important tool for beginners as well as upper level skiers/boarders.

Yeah, the controlled fall is preferable, but when gravity takes over when confronting a self imposed, nearly impossible situation or circumstance you have one of those "Aw, sh_ _!" moments. Those unfortunately do cause some pain, either immediate of eventual. I try to avoid falling, but realize it comes as a unwanted requirement of the sport. As Dirty Harry once said, "a man's gotta know his limitations."

Does hugging a tree count as a fall? Affects my stats a bit.

Tree hugger, that's funny.......I've been milking this little hit at the top of Silver Streak at Tline for the last month or so, right under the lift behind the lift house, showing off a little and Sunday it took revenge, landing was a bit further to the left than i intended, skis skidded almost recovered then boom, digger, ski comes off, laughter ensues. Have not decided what I learned but it wasn't to quit skiing under the chair.

My last run of the day yesterday was under the orange lift. I made it about
Halfway down the bumps and started hearing footsteps quickly approaching behind me. I bailed to the left and somehow got spun around and ended up on my back, looking straight up at chuckling skiers on the lift. I learned not to stop and get out of the just because it sounds like you may get taken out from behind.

David and Jimmy.... youse guys need to be careful under the lifts, then again, me too. I was just standing on the boundary line between Hollywood and WL and my boot left my binding for some unknown reason allowing me to fall head first into the bumps under the silver streak lift. That was two falls in one day which really changed my stats...