Ski Fast, Ski Safe

I recently made my annual pilgrimage to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to spend a long weekend skiing at the Indianhead ski area. The trip is something I prepare for all winter and its presence in my memory is much larger than most other weekends of the year.

Most often, I ski on hills with a consistent pitch and width. The biggest challenge is described by one of my favorite people: “Pooh looked at his two paws. He knew that one of them was the right, and he knew that when you had decided which one of them was the right, then the other was the left, but he never could remember how to begin.” Just like with Pooh, it is all pretty easy once I figure out right from left. When my guide calls a turn, it’s a pretty safe bet it will be in the opposite direction of the last turn I made.

What makes the Indianhead ski area both exciting and challenging is how it differs from the skiing I do in the Milwaukee area. Three features of the Indianhead ski area in particular make the hill special; the hill is much longer than where I usually ski, there are many ski runs which merge together as you get closer to the bottom of the hill, the fall line of many of the ski runs follow a path that is different from the natural fall of the hill. In these cases, it is necessary to adjust the turns to compensate for the pitch of the run. It is common at the Indianhead ski area to ski a long run of left and right turns followed by a long traverse to another part of the hill and another set of turns at a different speed.

The wide variety of ski runs on a big hill is both a blessing and a curse for a blind person. Although I have some residual vision, I ski like I’m totally blind. The small amount of vision I have doesn’t provide enough information for me to make reliable decisions while flying down a steep hill lined with trees.

I ski with a guide who calls turns in the form “[direction] and turn.” When I’m in a good rhythm with my guide, I’ll make my turn as my guide says the word “turn.” Experience has proven my responsiveness to the guide sets up a reinforcing loop:

– Responsive skier
– Confident guide
– Faster skiing
– Increased focus
– And so it goes

When I ski at Indianhead ski area, I use the time on the hill as a meditative exercise. Since there is too much hill for me to fix in my mind, I focus my attention on my guide’s voice, my ski technique and the snow under my feet. When I am able to stay focused there is a wonderful contrast of the simplicity of following voice commands and the exhilaration of well executed skiing. In contrast, when I am not focused, it is very easy to make a mistake.

One of the great things about skiing on a long hill is the opportunity to reinforce good ski technique. I was reminded to work on consistently planting a ski pole in anticipation of my turns. The simple act of touching the snow in advance of a turn initiates a series of actions which make it much easier to turn quickly, efficiently and safely. The biggest problem I have with pole plants is just remembering to do it.

On a number of occasions, while on my most recent ski trip, I found myself losing focus on my guide and incorrectly assuming a turn was being called. I have good reaction times and corrected my error but fell twice as a result of my lack of focus. I am very uncomfortable when I don’t follow the direction of my guide. Beside the potential danger, I don’t like creating a situation where neither my guide nor I have complete confidence in my ability to respond to the guide’s direction.

I recognized I had few options if I was going to stay on the ski hill: ski slower to allow for error correction or improve my focus. Skiing slower didn’t seem to be any fun. The obvious answer was to focus more effectively on the direction my guide was providing. Unfortunately, it is far easier to acknowledge the need to focus than to actually do it.

The solution I came up with was to more actively engage in my skiing by bringing together the pole plant technique I was (inconsistently) working on and actively listening to the directions my guide was giving. I blended the guiding call of “[direction] and turn” with the pole plant technique to get a sequence of “[direction]/extend the [direction] pole and touch the pole to the snow/turn.” If I didn’t hear a direction I didn’t have reason to extend a ski pole or to initiate a turn. The result was a more effective reinforcing loop:
– Responsive skier
– Better skier
– Confident guide
– Faster skiing
– Increased focus
– And so it goes

Lessons learned:

Reflection on my weekend at the Indianhead ski area left me with two reminders and one very good lesson. All were enlightening: one at a more personal level and two which spoke to me intellectually.

I cannot look at the above reflection without acknowledging the importance of the relationship between my guide and me. I’ve skied many times with Mary Blandino and she and I connect very well on the ski slopes. The only things that connect Mary and me while we ski are her voice and my trust in her. I trust Mary with my life and she accepts that responsibility. My commitment to execute her directions precisely is in recognition of her commitment as a guide. The result was described by the elder statesman of our group: Mary and I ski beautifully together.

The big lesson I learned on this ski trip was the power of combining seemingly unrelated practices. A big hill is an ideal opportunity to develop and reinforce ski technique. I wanted to integrate pole plants into my skiing but was having trouble with consistency. Losing concentration on my guide’s directions is a very different situation. I was well aware of the dangerous situation I was creating when I failed to follow Mary’s direction. When I treated these two situations as a single practice I found I was both skiing better and safer.

Combining the pole plant technique with more effective listening reminded me of the power of reinforcing loops. At one level, I found that the improved ski technique lead to better skiing which reinforced the value of using good technique. At another level, I used the pole plant technique to help me concentrate on the directions from my guide. My increased focus led to increased confidence in the guide/skier relationship which led to a more focused ski experience.

Applying the lessons:

I recognize that downhill skiing is not a sport for everyone. It is important to note it is a rare breed of person who not only skis well but can take on the responsibility of guiding a blind person down a steep hill with nothing but their voice and their wits. And I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to remind the reader that real skiers don’t look downhill, we just ski. Despite these facts there are practical applications of the lessons learned.

Although our political discourse might suggest the best relationships are those where I win and you lose, sustainable relationships rarely survive such inequity. Who in your organizational life carries a heavy burden of responsibility? Who relies on you for their personal, professional, or spiritual safety? How are these relationships acknowledge? Honored? How can burdens be lifted?

One of the challenges of organizational initiatives is that there is often a disconnect between the inspiration for the initiative and the point of implementation. Are there well meaning initiatives in your organization that have been around for a while but have never gotten off the ground? Can this initiative be aligned with other practices which have parallel or complimentary goals? Are there practices in place that would help make the outcomes of the floundering initiative more tangible?

Reinforcing loops are common to many situations in our private and public lives. The relationship between skill and accomplishment is an example common to many organizational settings. Once a level of skill is achieved, goals can be achieved which will lead to increased skill development. Where do you see reinforcing loops in your personal or professional life? What small action would start things rolling along this reinforcing loop? Who are your allies on this journey?

For more information:
Dan.Lococo@MainstreamingonMainStreet.com
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