There are countless times when you see a young skier ride through the park at any resort.
All eyes are on this skier when it’s his or her turn to go through the park.
Next come the countless complaints from the guys waiting on the drop-in.
Why, as a skiing world, do we do this to the younger generation?
I am just asking why any of us do this at all.
What do we gain from this?
Is it pride, knowing that we are a better park skier than them?
Or does it just make us feel better about the way that we ourselves ski?
Several years ago I was skiing through the park and my younger sister and her friends tagged along.
At the time, she was only about 8 or 9, and fairly new to anything park related.
Her answer was plain and simple.
It was at that moment that my view of the younger generation was changed.
All they need is someone to step up and teach them how to do it properly.
I want to bring my point around again, about how we should be helping these kids learn.
We should help them up and teach them the right ways to get things done in the park.
When I asked her why, she described it perfectly.
Snowboarders are much more like “homies”, as she put it.
After she said that, I realized she was right.
Instead, we should be trying to help those who are not yet at the same skill level.
Even if they just ski through the park without hitting anything, they do it to watch YOU.
Do you remember back to the first time you hit a jump?
We all started at the same skill level, whether you’d like to admit it or not.
You don’t know the background of every skier.
I say, let them have fun on the mountain, wherever that may be.
Let them use the lips of rails as a jump if they are uncomfortable with hitting a big one.
Let them roll over the tops of jumps and teach them the proper way to hit one.
Just let them ski.
