Drinking and Skiing?

[BobMc]

Any of you do this? Have a few beers at lunch? Possibly a beer on the lift?

I'm asking this question because twice lately I've been on lifts with people cracking open a beer. Both times have been at Snowbasin. Both times on the Strawberry lift.

I was at Snowbasin the end of January, Jamesdeluxe and I were riding the Strawberry Gondola. It was one of the first rides of the day, at the most ten o'clock. One of our car mates procures a beer from his coat and proceeds to down it on the ride up.

Two weeks later I'm riding up with Powderwhore, two guys with us. Both of them find Bud Lights from their jackets. This was about eleven o'clock.

I've friends back in Michigan that equate a skiing trip to a drinking festival. I've skied drunk twice, both times with bad results.

Example #1:

Time: December, 1991 or so
Place: Sugarloaf, Michigan
Situation: As follows...

A friend of mine's parents owned a condo in Sutton's Bay. This is a rather upscale town and a perfect setting for a drunken fest before hitting the slopes. The participants were myself, Andy, and Dennis.

We arrived at the "mountain" armed for bear. In the parking lot we divided up a half gallon of peppermint schnappes into three bota bags. What would a skiing trip be without a bota bag of schnappes?

We proceeded to ski the entire day while taking breaks to down shots. Every three lift rides down the puny hill we retire into the bar. Towards the end of the day the waitresses in the bar know us all by name.

It gets dark and the night skiing begins...

All three of us are by now quite inebriated. Sugarloaf has one TRIPLE BLACK DIAMOND run. Awful, Awful, Awful is the name of this intimidating swath of midwestern steepness. Mind you this run isn't lit, it runs under one of the "backside" lifts. Being as I'm quite drunk at this point I convince my two fellow skiers we should venture down this run.

Now of course I've been skiing out West for years, I can ski Michigan hills with my eyes closed, and drunk...

Being both solid intermediates my partners argue against this. Of course being the superior debater I capitalize on their manliness. "What are you guys pussies?"

We ride the frontside lift up and pause at the top of the rope guarding Awful, Awful, Awful. I once again insult their sexual preferences.

A quick duck under the rope and I'm carving turns under the lift. This run had no tracks upon it, purely untouched...

My second turn I discover why there are no tracks. It would seem to be because there is indeed also no snow. Midway through my second turn I discover a stump which protrudes an entire 3 inches from the ground. Hitting said stump ejects me downhill into the maw of this stunning chute. During my ejection I manage to catch my chin on another unidentified object.

Next thing I know I find myself at the bottom of the "backside" somewhat dazed. I look down and see my pullover shell now has a tear down to the waistband. While noticing the tear in my coat I realize I am bleeding, a fitting touch to my ruined coat.

I make my way to the lift line. While sitting there in the line I'm bleeding profusely from my chin. A girl in line ahead of me notices, "Do you know you are bleeding?" she says. I barely stammer out, "Yeah, I think I am."

Example #2

Time: January, 1992 or so
Place: Sugarloaf, Michigan
Situation: As follows...

Timeline, two weeks later. My chin is healed up and I'm ready for another drunken ski trip. We drive back up to Sutton's Bay with the same crew.

The same drunken fest occurs. After all, I only hurt my face last time, no harm no foul. The waitresses by now REALLY know our names. Pitchers in the bar are cheaper this time ;).

Same thing, night time comes. This time I once again am quite proud of my skiing technique. I decide to show my friends how I can ski. After all, I've skied out West, I could ski these hills drunk easily!

There I am, showing off on a blue run, watch me! Next thing I know I'm spinning out of control into a tree. I pick myself up off the ground and am ready to go. A few runs later we decide to call it a day.

I'm told I passed out in the car on the way back to the condo. Next thing I know I wake up in the car using a pair of skis for a pillow. At the time I think I walked up the stairs into my assigned room...

Next thing I know it's morning and I have to piss badly. I attempt to get up, my knee seems to think different. After crawling down the stairs on my ass I figured out that something was wrong.

I was off work for a week while unable to walk.

These two examples showed me that skiing and drinking weren't in my bag of tricks. I'm quite good at just skiing, or just drinking. But, I'm not good at mixing them up.

Any of you good at both? Can you carve turns after downing beers?

BobMc

[xboat]

good stories, bob!

out of at least 400 days spent on the mountain, i can honestly say that i have only skied drunk like twice. there used to be a huge st. patty's day party at the bottom of chute 1 at the 'boat. it was sometimes a challenge to get yourself back down the hill at the end of it. i really wasn't into it...going 50-60mph on skis is scary enough sober.

the st. patty's party at steamboat ended a couple years ago (RIP). it just got way too big and patrol shut it down. :(

[Beaver]

I don't ski drunk. Only cause touring drunk would suck. However, sparking up first thing in the morning is another story.

[Guerilla Poacher]

Never skied drunk, and after observing a bunch of my teammates attempt to ski last weekend while shitfaced @ Boyne's Crazy Days, I don't think I ever wanna ski drunk. Nothenkyew.

Now driving drunk, that's where it's at! ;)

Kidding, of course.

[Beaver]

Originally posted by Guerilla Poacher:
<STRONG>

Now driving drunk, that's where it's at! ;)

Kidding, of course.</STRONG>

[obligatory rant response]How can you even joke about something like that wha wha wha bla bla bla wa wa wa wa wa wa burb blurb blurb blub[/obligatory rant response] ;)

[Pinner]

Never before lunch. If I stop for lunch, chances are pretty good I'll have a drink or two. Makes the afternoons highly entertaining.

On the odd occasion I've skied after 10 or more beers (tele comps, BB&B, Spring Splash, etc) the one run to the bottom is usually a carnival. :D

A Dutch study showed that skiers who imbibe are less prone to injury. Whether they cause injuries to others is another story entirely. :rolleyes:

[mfi2000]

IF YOU WANT TO TRY SKIING DRUNK,TRY THIS FIRST,PLAY A HARD VIDEO GAME SOBER,THEN GET SMASHED,TRY PLAYING IT NOW,YOULL GET THE POINT.

[MacDaddy]

Originally posted by mfi2000:
<STRONG>IF YOU WANT TO TRY SKIING DRUNK,TRY THIS FIRST,PLAY A HARD VIDEO GAME SOBER,THEN GET SMASHED,TRY PLAYING IT NOW,YOULL GET THE POINT.</STRONG>


HUH?

[BobMc]

Originally posted by MacDaddy:
<STRONG>


HUH?</STRONG>

My thoughts exactly.

BobMc

[Telenater]

Originally posted by Pinner:
<STRONG>On the odd occasion I've skied after 10 or more beers (tele comps, BB&B, Spring Splash, etc) the one run to the bottom is usually a carnival. :D
</STRONG>

Don't know what you could be talking about.... :)

[mfi2000]

I'm not sure if the HUH is aimed at my comment, if it is I will enlighten. play a video game straight then try it stoned or wacked,you probably will do it very poorly,just like if you tried to ski wacked. friend of mine tried skiing killington on acid,didn't work out well. the video game trial would be much safer. this does not apply when skiing in austria where it is manditory to be wacked at all times.

[Pinner]

Originally posted by mfi2000:
<STRONG>friend of mine tried skiing killington on acid,didn't work out </STRONG>


See that's the problem. If he'd skied a real mountain he might have had a seminal day! :cool:

[mfi2000]

out here in the sluggish east killington is a pretty real mountain,but i still haul my ass out west as much as possible. too bad about the french,chaminox is off my list for now,screw france.

[SheRa]

Hmmmm. Once I skied with a group of office friends at Keystone. Lunchtime turned out to be bloody mary time as well. And I had a few. Then I decided that everyone had to see my favorite tree stashes. It wasn't until we got well into the trees that I realized these people weren't fit for the experience, for a number of reasons. I'm just so glad everyone got out of there ok. It was just bullet glades, but still...

Also have gotten pretty drunk night skiing at Keystone. Then skied really fast. So glad nothing bad happend...

But there is one time that I like to have a drink and I think it's ok. At Vail, coming back from the back bowls it's good to have a drink at the top and then relax on the gaper path down to the bottom. Just a little warmer, inside and out. ;)

Now that I patrol on the weekends there's a strict rule - no drinking until sweep is in.

[Karl Stall]

I just drink more when the day is done. Broke my leg last summer wakeboarding drunk. IMO - golf is a better drinking occasion.

[powderhound]

I've always enjoyed a beer or few skiing, as AJ always says "it loosens things up." Since moving to Utah, I found drinking to be taboo, in Oregon, they told us Idaho boys, "Hell Idaho serves beer in the drive through." Frustrated last Thursday at the Bird that I would not make first boat, I crack open a cold one, and indulge in my breakfast of champions. So WTF, does anybody else enjoy a cold one in the morning? Another time on G-Zoom(afternoon) me and my knuckledragging buddy bust out some beers, crack, fizz, glug, glug, glug, aaahhhhhh. some dude, "Do you guys have to make it sound sooo good?" ??? "Well...they are good, you want one?" gesturing to one in the pocket. Duder just shakes his head, rolls his eyes and stares away the rest of the ride. Piss off buddy. By no means do I get totally wasted, well rarely, I just enjoy having some beers and good times. As the snow softens up the drinking just gets better. One other thing, will the fuck face that, broke into the conversation in December at the Bird with "Must be great to have nice parents" upon me telling a visiting friend how many days I had in, please rot in hell, you don't know shit. That one has been on my mind for a while.

Bottoms up.

http://www.michielsijbers.com/images/Ski_beer.jpg

"With alcohol, your dreams are all in white"-Brad-Interiors-Lift(i think its on Further)

[snowsprite]

I can have one beer and go back out skiing but that's it. I can barely ski sober! ;)

I've seen you ski BobMc, and I believe you could certainly ski better inebriated than I could sober. But your story is very scary, and it goes to show...alcohol can hurt you out there no matter how good of a skier you are, mostly because it makes you think you can do things you know you really shouldn't do in that state.

Sprite

[CantDog]

my nonmaggot friend cameron and I usually rock a beer or two on the lifts when we go, but skiing drunk always strikes me as a bad idea, and after doing it once, I'd be happy never to do it again.


This is a funny post coming from a guy, who upon reaching his car after skiing at solitude all day, reaches into a snowbank and pulls out a Busch.

[Summit]

Skiing is enough fun sober... at least hte skiing that is fun... and its usually hard enough sober...

I have never skied drunk... or tipsy... i've had a beer or two and skied... but thats exceedingly rare and i try to avoid it.

I've seen too many examples of people fucking themselves or others up because they were drunk and skied... i'm sure there are examples of the same with people who are absolutely hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh and have accidents while skiing. not that i'm anti drinking or otherwise... just that... drinking and driving is stupid... you ski as fast as you drive except you dont have a bumper and crush zones and a metal frame and an airbag and seatbelt protecting you...

[warthog]

Can honestly say I only did it once, and I was snowboarding. Eldora was having one of those pond crossing thingys, and my buddy bet me that I couldn't 180 into the pond and ride out fakie. Well, a bet is a bet, soooo I decided to drink up and have at it. They had all these gates set up to slow you down, I must have skipped 3 of them, come hauling ass into the take off, and.... I stuck it. Sprayed the shit outta half the people though. I also managed to run straight into the girl that had gone before me(she made it too). Yeah- that was fun. I went out with her a couple times after that. Ahhhh the memories, good times, good times.

Honestly, I hate it when aquaintances start talking about skiing. I always end up walking away shaking my head. They are usually talking about the blue runs they did, and it inevitably gets to the part where they go to the bar at 11 and get hammered. Then they tell me about how much more fun skiing is when you are drunk. At that point, they are scratched off my list of possible condo contibutors on my next trip. I have no patience for that type of thinking. I mean, do you get hammered and run a marathon? do a triathalon? Go biking? Why is it so common to drink and ski? Maybe it is cause the bar is open.

[Mountain Junkie]

Nope. Never. Don't know what you're talking about.
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergalleries/albums/userpics/10531/normal_Apres.jpg

[BobMc]

Powderhound,

I must commend your ability to pursue previously placed threads and expound on them. I like that much better than new threads. :)

Funny thing too, I had just read this thread the other day. Whomever bumped MFI's first board post made me look around at the older stuff.

I posted this around a time when I was trying to get some of you fuckers over here. Heh, now that everyones here...

BobMc

[char]

Beer at lunch? Sure. 5? Never.

I'd feel like shit if I took somebody out while skiing, even more so if I was drunk. I kind of equate it to drinking and driving, the conseqences are much higher than my own life.

[splat]

Just dropped in to ask if everthing is going OK for you, Bob?
hopin so......

[Snow Dog]

Originally posted by BobMc
I posted this around a time when I was trying to get some of you fuckers over here. Heh, now that everyones here...

BobMc
You're the trailblazer BobMc.

I'm don't like to cloud my skiing experience with an alcoholic haze. So I'm all for a breakfast beer but I'm over the thrill of getting wasted. What were we talking about?

[BobMc]

Originally posted by splat
Just dropped in to ask if everthing is going OK for you, Bob?
hopin so......

Check your PM box. I swear there is no system crashing virus in said PM.

BobMc

[Alkasquawlik]

I won Junior Olympics so hung-over I was puking off the chairlift on the way up to my run. And they don't call us the Alkasquawliks for nothing.

[Theodore]

Never more than a beer at lunch. I just don't like the feeling of being tipsy and needing full control of my body. Pinner, any idea where that study is? My PT's were telling me that alcohol relaxes the muscles just enough to lessen their protection of major joints. I had 1 PT who took out her ACL after a few beers playing soccer.

[CaddyDaddy77]

Originally posted by Alkasquawlik
I won Junior Olympics so hung-over I was puking off the chairlift on the way up to my run. And they don't call us the Alkasquawliks for nothing.

The way to do it, speed events the more hung over the better, body is nice and lose, don't overturn due to your lack of brainspeed and too stupid to get scared, or too scared at least, =perfect.


Don't mind popping one on the chairlift, but won't get blitzed during the day typically.

[Alkasquawlik]

Originally posted by CaddyDaddy77
The way to do it, speed events the more hung over the better, body is nice and lose, don't overturn due to your lack of brainspeed and too stupid to get scared, or too scared at least, =perfect.

Yeah that's a good point, but I think for me it was more about the fact that my coaches found out about the kegger at my condo the night before the race. The ultimatium was that if I did anything less than win, I would get to truly learn the meaning of the term "eternal damnation".

[fez]

A couple times a season its fun to get loaded on the hill and see if you can make it down.

Usually at bridger, everyone has their shovel and gear in their pack. last day, its a 12pack. of course thats why the bastards closed early, to avoid the last day party.

I used to have a beer at lunch pretty often, but i save it for the drive home now (yet another reason to love montana).

My craziest drunk skiing experience was a day of touring on teton pass, followed by an evening of putting them back at the stage coach. Sometime after midnight someone mentioned that it was a full moon and we should go ski from the pass to the resort. It was seconded, then a group of maybe 8 of us headed out. We managed to summit glory before we realized there was no way in hell 8 drunks were going to be able to ski to the resort in the middle of the night so we just skied back down. Plus we were out of beer.

[shamrockpow]

Yeah, I realized this season that I can't really ski when drunk or extremely high.

A little puff or one beer on the chair - fine. Bong and a blintz breakfast - bad.

[shmerham]

If somebody ran in to me and they were shitfaced, they would probably get a ski boot up their ass. As funny as some drunk skiing stories are, I don't think I can in any way condone it.

I don't understand the whole intermediates drinking for challenge thing either. Why wouldn't you go down something harder and pretend you're drunk on a blue? ...because you're a drunk and you suck at skiing. My relatives do this; they drop beer off on a bunch of places around the mountain and then they spend the rest of the day skiing back to it and drinking it. This seems like it would be a lot more adventurous if you were high.

Alas, I do have a few skiing and drinking related stories:

-I had never raced before either, but I joined the ski team at my college so I could meet some skiers and ski cheap. There were some racers who were really good and trained hard; but abstaining from drinking was not a part of the training regimen. Every race we bought a keg (on student union funds). Kegstands in a van on a highly patrolled highway are pretty interesting. One race we had beer left over on sunday morning, so we brought the keg to the mountain. What better place to have it then at the top of the course. I never drank while racing. I was always amazed at how well some people could ski while under the influence. Needless to say, the following year we received a letter from the mountain where we did this, requesting that we didn't do so in future races there.

There were 8 teams in our division and 6 of them were closely matched (our team included). Usually there was enough of a difference that the placing was pretty consistent. Rarely did a 4th place team ski their ass off and beat the 3rd place team. Thus, you could drink it up and it wouldn't really matter, because if you were a 3rd place team, you were gonna be 3rd place. One team, however, was leaps and bounds better than everyone else. While the rest of us would consistently be bottom of the barrel at regionals, they'd make nationals. One night, we devised a plan to get everyone to chip in and buy them a bunch of shots. I think we pooled enough up for 7 rounds. Ended up being a stupid idea, which we undoubtedly came up with AFTER we started drinking. They drank free, and they still kicked our ass. They drank like champs. It was nothing for them. It didn't help either that despite our master plan, we all drank it up and ended up hungover the next day (this is moot though as they would've beaten us regardless of how well we skied).

[lemon boy]

I admit to being a ski hill drinker. I learned it from the professor.

Always either coors or coors light.

One in the AM putting on boots (boot lube).

One a little later in the AM riding lifts.

One a little later in the AM sitting around between riding lifts

One at lunch

One a bit later riding lifts

One at the truck.

A nice even sixer - each beer except #1 & #6 get split usually.

Note, I don't ever get "drunk" skiing. Okay, except when spectating comps. This of course is cause I stopped smoking pot pretty much.

[teledave]

I've been known to have a beer or 6 in a days skiing a time or two myself. As long as they are spaced out sufficiently you just maintain a nice 2 beer buzz. I pretty much use about the same schedule as lemon boy without the splitting, and for the same reason.


Originally posted by lemon boy
This of course is cause I stopped smoking pot pretty much.