To receive a skiing tip from Canadian alpine ski legend Nancy Greene Raine is a priceless gift.
It’s also slightly embarrassing.
We spent last week skiing at the Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, and one of the immeasurably valuable benefits available at the mountain is the opportunity to ski with Nancy Greene, Olympic medalist and World Cup champion.
She is gracious, kind and generous with her time. Several times a week she skis with visitors to Sun Peaks, and last Tuesday I was one of those lucky guests.
I’m a competent skier, but it seems that no matter what I do, I am always last in any group. I don’t care for speed. So, that day fifteen or twenty skiers followed Nancy down the hill, and I trailed behind.
She stopped to make sure the group held together. Of course I was last. She and all those fifteen or twenty skiers watched me struggle with fresh snow on the final slope.
“You’re all right?” she asked.
Oh God. Was it that bad?
“When you’re skiing, look ahead at the big picture,” she said. “Don’t keep your eyes on the snow just in front of your skis or you’ll get tense. Look ahead and relax.”
I remembered her advice when I skied after that, and it helped. I noticed it especially on Friday night when we attended the Alpine Fondue & Starlight Descent.
We enjoyed a three-course fondue dinner at the restaurant on the mountain and then skied down after dark via starlight and headlamps.
Spectacular.
Skiing in the dark meant that I had to free myself of concerns about what lay ahead. I had to relax and go with the flow. I took this photo of other members of my group coming down the mountain AFTER me.
I wasn’t last!
I had time to stop, remove my gloves, take out my phone, unlock it and take the picture, and just look how far behind me those skiers are.
Keep our eyes on where we’re going, not what we’re going through.
Freeing, free advice from a champion
Wonderful, empowering message.
Sharyn
Sent from my iPhone
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Thank you. It was eye-opening, to be sure. And fun at the same time.
Wisdom from the slopes … impressive, Arlene! I always trailed behind in skiing and other things, like computer learning. In classes long ago, I was the last to catch on, always had my hand in the air for instructor’s help. Now, I’m figuring out how to write/publish a book.
It’s probably not just luck that got to selected to ski with Nancy. And looked where you end up … eyes on the goal, looking back at the other skiers. Brava! 🙂
I guess the way they say it is, “Keep your eyes on the prize.” That works too.
Great advice. It sounds like a lot of fun to sky in the dark.
Her advice gets right to the point. And it’s true!
Neil Scheinin
That is so cool. I was in BC last week too but we were driving thru snow not skiing. What a great experience you had on the slopes and good general advice for lifetime look up and ahead.
It’s definitely more fun skiing in snow than driving through it. In that case, you need to remember where you’re going not what you’re going through too😁