Skiing's Open Season: Where to Ski This Weekend

If there's one thing that makes cold weather and snow tolerable, it's skiing. You won't find me layered head to toe running on the Lakefront Path very often (I'm a mostly treadmill girl once it dips below 30), but I will bundle up--handwarmers, four shirts and all--to carve turns on the snow. The ski season may have started off slow with Keystone and Breckenridge having to postpone their opening dates, but it's certainly getting into full swing now.

Skiers were treated to epic conditions at Breckenridge, Winter Park and Wolf Creek (we heard Sunshine Village in Banff, Alberta, Canada, was pretty good too). You can thank the storm that blanketed ski country with much-needed snow in time for last weekend's resort openings. But lucky for you (and me since I think I'm hitting up one of Colorado's finest on Sunday), the colder weather that stuck around is making this weekend's openings equally as amazing.

Here's where you'll want to make some tracks before the family comes to town for Thanksgiving.

Crested Butte Reopens for the Weekend

Bonus ski weekends are the best. OK, so maybe I've only skied one of them--last year when Vail had so much snow on its official closing day on April 14 that it reopened a good portion of the mountain the following weekend--but it was pretty amazing, and I'd do it again without thinking twice.

So when I heard that Crested Butte was reopening for one final hoo-rah of the season, I was giddy. I skied there for the first time this season, and on a weekend where freshies were nowhere to be found, yet you wouldn't find me hesitating to go again, powder stashes or not. It also helps that we found some of the best pizza west of the Mississippi and the closest thing to Joy Yee's Governor's Chicken outside Chicago.

Fit-Pic: Crested Butte

Skiing, anyone? There's always a first time for everything, and this weekend marked my first time skiing Crested Butte in Colorado. Going in, I admittedly only knew a few things about the resort.

• My dad skied there in 1986 and loved it.
• I watch too much reality TV and still remember scenes from town when The Hills' Heidi, who was from Crested Butte, and Spencer Pratt would visit her family. Did I take note of where they dined for some post-ski eats? Nope. 
• While you'd find plenty of terrain for skiers of all abilities, Crested Butte primarily catered to the expert crowd. That might not be the reputation the mountain is going for, but it's what was pushing my husband and I to head west and check it out--him especially. 
• And that peak in the background? It's the resort's namesake, Mt. Crested Butte.

But what a place! Off the beaten--and heavily trafficked--Interstate 70, Crested Butte is a happy place for weekend ski warriors. That's code for minimal lines on a Saturday coupled with awesome terrain to tackle. Hopefully Sunday brings more of the same--and maybe even some freshies.


Disclaimer: lift tickets to Crested Butte Mountain Resort were provided by CBMR.

Play Hooky and Ski!

Lift lines, crowded runs, hiked-up hotel rates, struggling to find a place to sit at lunch, traffic delays (especially if you're an I-70 regular in Colorado). If you've skied your favorite resort or explored a new one over the weekend (and who hasn't?), you know these are part of what comes with skiing on Saturday and Sunday when everyone seemingly is off work. You've learned to accept it, but even the best of the weekend warriors want to ski at least once in the middle of the week when everyone else is at work.

If you needed an excuse for taking those mid-week runs--and holidays don't count--here's one: the third annual National Play Hooky & Ski Week. Running from Monday, March 3 to Friday, March 7, Play Hooky & Ski Week is your chance to ski when your buddies are still at work--unless you convince them to come too--and find corduroy at noon and make fresh tracks in the late afternoon because the crowds are thinner and less likely to hunt down every last powder stash on the mountain. I already snuck out once this season--so what if it was yesterday--and next week can't come soon enough.

Crested Butte's Super Bowl Spirit

Game? What game? I'm thinking more about the two feet of snow that dropped in the Rockies not who's going to win Super Bowl XLVIII (that reminds me, I still have to enter my friend's pool). I'm guessing I'm not the only skier mulling these thoughts, especially the Colorado ones who could have used what's being called the storm of the season to call in sick with the powder flu.

Think about it:  The Super Bowl couldn't be more perfectly timed with a ski day. Most resorts stop their lifts at 4 p.m. and the kickoff is at 4:30 p.m., mountain time. Plenty of time to ski a final run before dashing into a slope side bar to watch the Denver Broncos face off against the Seattle Seahawks. And extra calories in the bank for more beer and wings that you know you'd eat regardless of whether you skied, ran or did nothing all day. Besides, with all the snow falling, how could you want to leave the mountain early?

If you want to maximize your Super Bowl weekend, one of your best bets is to head to Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) where they're making the most of the Broncos quest for the Lombardi trophy. Over the weekend, you'll find everything from discounted lift tickets for supporting the Broncos to a tailgate party complete with a wing-eating contest and giveaways.

Super Bowl Skiing: Liftopia's Big Game Day Sale

It doesn't take much to convince me to go skiing. When it's cold, snowy and the middle of winter, there's really nothing I'd rather do. Even on Super Bowl Sunday. Actually, skiing before watching the Super Bowl practically became a tradition in my house. My mom, my sister and I would ski at the local hill, but unlike every other Sunday, we'd get better parking, a seat in the lodge for a quick warm-up and nearly no lift lines. Better than watching the Bills lose to the Cowboys...again. 

Apparently we were onto something 20 years ago. "Super Bowl Sunday is one of the best days of the year to get out on the hill," said Evan Reece, co-founder and CEO of Liftopia, the largest online and mobile marketplace for lift tickets and other mountain activities. "You'll find wide-open trails, no lift lines, and great bars and restaurants to view the game when it starts at 6:30 p.m. EST. You might as well burn some calories on the hill before you dive into those wings." 

Pizza may have been my food of choice as a kid, but the pre-game workout hasn't changed much. And Liftopia is making it even more tempting to ski before the big game. On Tuesday morning, the site launched a lift ticket sale that'll make Super Bowl Sunday one of the more affordable days of the season to hit the mountain. With snow in the forecast, it's a hard offer to resist. 

The Game Day Sale, as it's been called, has become somewhat of an annual tradition for Liftopia, and skiers and boarders can reap the benefits at more than 250 resorts across North America. Liftopia's biggest sale of the year on lift tickets has prices starting as low as $19.99, as much as 55 percent off walk-up window rates. Now there's a huge thank you to my wallet!

10 Reasons to Ski This Weekend...or Any Weekend of January's Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month

Vail, I'm coming to ski you--hopefully as good as I did last April!

There’s powder in the forecast, which means you’ve had a case of the powder flu growing all week. The winter chill that spread across most of the country just after the new year has finally thawed out (hello 40 degrees ABOVE zero in the Midwest after a few days of 40 BELOW zero wind chill temperatures). And while we’re all a little bummed that Lindsey Vonn announced her withdrawal from next month's Sochi Olympics, skiers aren’t going to let that ruin their winter fun. If anything, we’ll just ski harder and take a run or two for Vonn.

If there’s a weekend your skis shouldn’t collect dust in the closet, this one is it. The holidays are over. The resorts are clear of those Christmas and New Year’s crowds. And skiing is mindless exercise, especially on a pow day—we’re starving by day’s end and feel a good quad burn simply by playing in the snow. Need more reasons, concrete ones, to ski in January? Here are 10:

A Skier's Dream Weekend: 5 Reasons to Hit the Slopes

Park City turns 50 on Dec. 21. Happy Bday! Credit

The Christmas tree is decorated. Check. The holiday shopping is finished. Not quite. The gifts are all wrapped and sitting under the tree. Almost. Santa slides down the chimney Tuesday night, but I still have a lot to do before then. Where's my Christmas miracle, hehehe?

But pass up a weekend to ski? No way! And what a weekend it is for hitting the slopes. Here are five reasons we're itching to get out there before the holiday rush.

Park City
Big Sky isn't the only ski resort celebrating an anniversary this year. Park City Mountain Resort celebrates its golden 5-0 on Saturday, December 21, 50 years to the day that its lifts started spinning in 1963. The day will include an Opening Ceremony, birthday cupcakes, commemorative giveaways, a free concert by Robert Randolph and the Family Band, and a special 50th anniversary fireworks display. But even if you can't make it on Saturday, the celebrating will be happening throughout the season with more parties, giveaways and special events. For more details about Saturday's festivities, check out the event schedule.

Big Sky
What's not happening at Big Sky in December? The Montana resort has had something every weekend this month. First it was heavily discounted lift tickets. Then it was its 40th birthday party. And now Tony Horton, the trainer who became a household name thanks to creating the P90X workout, will be at the resort all weekend. The Master Fitness Trainer is an avid skier, and he'll be at Big Sky Resort's Wellness Studio for the second annual Tony Horton Weekend. The weekend is packed full with three days of workouts from Dec. 20-22, each lasting two hours, and a chance to meet Tony. Read more about it on Big Sky's event calendar.

Lake Louise
Searching for pow? You'll find it at Lake Louise Ski Resort in Alberta, Canada. It's been snowing at the resort for most of the week meaning there's more than a meter of snow base on most of the groomed runs. Hit up the back bowls and you'll find some deep pockets of windblown snow. And just in case you need a break from skiing, Lake Louise will be hosting its first FIS World Cup Boarder Cross race on Dec. 21.

Keystone
For the last few winters, Keystone has erected a snow fort at the top of Dercum Mountain that provides climbing areas and tunnels for big and little kids to explore. Back for its fifth year, the Kidtopia Snowfort will open Dec. 21. Its unveiling kicks off the season's Kidtopia activities, which include fireworks, a cookie hour and the Ripperoo Village Parade.

Copper
Copper Mountain is starting Christmas a few days early by kicking off its 12 Days of Copper on Dec. 20. From December 20 to 31, you'll find plenty of holiday spirit around the resort from Santa Claus stopping in the village to deals and specials that'll make ladies dance and lords leap. Plus the snow continues to pile up, creating some of the best December conditions the mountain has seen in a few years.

Besides all of these events happening at resorts in North America, a week's worth of cold weather and a storm cycle have left plenty of fresh powder begging to be skied--and on terrain that is opening for the first time this season. Whistler-Blackcomb announced new terrain openings earlier this week. You know the ski season is off to a good start when Vail opens its back bowls before Christmas. But the conditions must be really good this season because it announced on Thursday that Blue Sky Basin would be opening for the weekend ahead.

Well, I'm sold. My skis are still in the car from last weekend. When do we leave?

Where are you taking tracks in the days ahead? What resorts have your favorite December powder stashes?

Photo grabbed from Rudi Riet, randomduck, via Flickr.

Trade a Turkey for a Lift Ticket

What would you do for a free lift ticket to the "Biggest Skiing in America?" Sing and dance? Dress in a costume that's worthy of winning any sort of contest? Camp out to be the first person in the lift line?

How about bringing a turkey? And no, not one that you have to go hunt in the wild. We're talking a frozen turkey, one you can grab at the grocery store before driving to Big Sky Resort in Montana.

If you're planning to ski at Big Sky on Friday, December 13, you don't need any fancy gimmicks to score a free day of skiing on the mountain. You just need a turkey or 20 cans of food to donate for Big Sky's 7th annual Turkey for a Ticket day, which is the largest one-day food drive benefiting Gallatin Valley Food Bank, Madison Valley Food Bank and the Big Sky Food Bank. In exchange for the food donated, participants receive a free lift ticket to Big Sky and businesses receive a lift ticket voucher for every 20 pounds of food donated.

What's the Deal with Brighton's Quad Wednesday?

Not every ski day has to break the bank if you don't have a season pass to that favorite mountain. Lift tickets might seem pricey during holiday prime times, but pick an off day to hit the mountain (powder flu, anyone?) and you don't need a season pass to feel like you're skiing for free. And it's even better when those ski deals coincide with cold weather and snow dumps.

Take last week where cold weather and snow falling across ski country made it hard to believe it was only the beginning of December. A season pass already feels like free skiing since you plunked down the big bucks earlier, and the more days you make it to the mountain, the less it'll cost you per day (or at least that's how this skier justifies a pass purchase). Big Sky Resort in Montana offered $20 lift tickets on December 6. Brighton Resort in Utah offered $20 lift tickets on December 4 provided you brought a gift for the charity it was supporting for the day (in this case, a toy valued at $10 or more for Toys for Tots). It's a deal Brighton likes to call Quad Wednesdays--and it happens on December 11 and 18, too.

A Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale for Skiers

Who doesn't love a good sale? Not me. And who doesn't love a sale that can spell more days skiing this winter? Not me again--I can't resist a good deal especially if it involves a powder day.

With snow in the forecast and plenty of ski resorts already open for the 2013-2014 season--and more are expected to open in the days to come--you'd be hard-pressed to pass up a deal that could save you some precious dollars on lift tickets. After all, money saved to get on the mountain means more days you can spend skiing it.

Liftopia, the largest online and mobile marketplace for lift tickets and other mountain activities, has just the deal for skiers and snowboarders this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Starting Monday, Nov. 25, Liftopia is offering lift tickets as low as $5.99, or 78 percent off, at 119 resorts across the country. Forget dodging a fight for a big-screen TV or searching for the best merchandise sale online, these ski deals are too good to pass up.

Ski Free? Yes, Please!

First chair at Crested Butte, Nov. 2012. Credit: Nathan Bilow

Good news for skiers and snowboarders who want to hit the snow before Thanksgiving, especially those seeking to make tracks at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado. Not only is the resort opening in less than two weeks, but you won't have to pay a penny to ski those runs on opening day.

Wait what? Yep, you read that correctly (I blinked twice too). When Crested Butte's lifts start turning on November 27 for its 53rd season, you can ski free for the day, no strings attached. Crested Butte started this tradition two seasons ago and had to bring it back for a third.

“With Ski Free being such a tradition here in Crested Butte and the excitement that it brings to the mountain on opening day, we wanted to offer the promotion again this year,” says Scott Clarkson, vice president of marketing and sales for the resort. “It is a great opportunity for guests and community members to get a few runs in early season, at no charge, making it an awesome day for all!”

Still More Snow: Get Skiing This Weekend

Ah yes, that was Vail on Sunday after 13" fell.

I'm supposed to be done thinking skiing for a while. That's what I told myself Sunday as we packed our gear into the car after a week up in the Colorado mountains.

Sunday was Vail's final day of the season. I earned my Last Call pin. I dodged the crowd at the summit (or tried: the Chair 4 at 4 party, or whatever it's unofficially called, only got bigger as the day wore on). I lucked into a stash of freebies at the Mountain Plaza base (yes, I'll play plinko and collect raffle tickets until I win). I got on the mountain earlier to ski the fresh pow that likes to drop before closing day (same thing happened in 2011 and 2012). I skied most of the runs I'd want to hit before closing out the year.

But the ski season's not over yet. Sure, I knew I could still ski other Colorado spots like Arapahoe Basin and Winter Park, except usually by mid-April you're looking at slushy conditions, terrain closings, and more tanning than skiing. I already have one crazy looking goggle tan, and I already skied on dry slopes last April when it didn't decide to snow at Vail until April 15.

Buy Now, Ski Later: A Guide to the West's 2013-2014 Season Passes

Vail's Epic Pass

I have skiing on the brain. Let’s just say that a week in the mountains will do that to you, especially when you’ve had some of the best snow conditions you can recall (2011 may have been better but that feels like ages ago and any skier can remember the season that wasn’t last year). It's mindless exercise, it burns tons of calories, and it counts as cross-training toward all the cycling and running I'm not doing because I'm skiing. 

But there's one problem: The 2012-2013 ski season is coming to close. Some resorts have already closed, some are about to close this weekend (sob!), and not too many will be open after April 21. How did April arrive so quickly? My only answer to that is time flies when you're having fun. 

Just because you're about to put the skis in storage for a few months, it doesn't mean thinking skiing comes to a halt, too. It means it's time to start thinking about next season, and what season pass to buy if you're like me and need as much time as you can manage in the mountains, hitting up the white stuff. 

Before you miss out on the best of the pass perks, here's a look at the season passes you might want to consider purchasing if you're a regular at ski resorts in Colorado, Montana, Utah and the Lake Tahoe region.

Play Hooky and Ski

Make tracks like that March 4-8 at Sun Valley. Credit

Who needs to get in some skiing miles this season? Who doesn't want to break the bank buying lift tickets? I know I'm guilty as charged. With the exception of last season when the snow was lackluster, I itch to get on the mountain as often as I can (take all this week). But there's one problem: Something else always gets in the way (again, take all this week).

Work time, family time, exercise time, vacation-to-a-warm-island time. But where's the skiing time? Left on the backburner--or left for the three-day weekend holidays in January and February. Except with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and President's Weekend already past, it's even tougher to get out on the slopes over the weekend when you only have two days to spare.

The answer: skip work, plan a vacay and get skiing. And Liftopia has just the ticket, provided you can wait until March 4. Literally. Liftopia, which is the largest online marketplace for deals on lift tickets and mountain activities, recently launched one of its biggest sales of the season to coincide with the second annual National Play Hooky and Ski Week. The unofficial holiday runs March 4 through 8, the perfect time to escape work and other obligations to go skiing. And if memory serves me correct, the powder forecast isn't half bad either (2011, I'm talking to you).

More than 100 resorts across North America are part of the sale, providing incentives for skiers to take to the mountains with deals that offer up to 84 percent off lift ticket prices. “With continuous snowstorms hitting many resorts across the country, the second half of winter is shaping up to be a good one for skiers and boarders. Now is the perfect time to forget work and school, pull out the excuses and plan a mountain getaway,” said Ron Schneidermann, co-founder and CMO of Liftopia. “Our ‘National Play Hooky & Ski Week’ sale is a favorite among our customers -- but possibly not their employers -- due to the killer savings, fewer crowds, and more fresh powder that can be found when hitting the slopes mid-week.”

Schneidermann is right. There are fewer crowds midweek after all the locals have returned to their desks. There's fresh powder to be had and repeat runs to take through it--how many times have you seen powder dump pictures while you're sitting at your desk? I know I did two weeks ago when some storms rolled through.

If you don't have a season pass to a favorite ski resort, lift tickets can easily cost $100 or more when you purchase at the ticket window. Yikes! But Liftopia has some sales that are pretty tough to refuse. Take a look:

• Save 84 percent at Suicide Six in Vermont with lift tickets starting at $7. 
• Save 78 percent at Caberfae Peaks in Michigan with lift tickets starting at $7.50.
• Save 65 percent at Ragged Mountain in New Hampshire with lift tickets starting at $21.99. 
• Save 51 percent at Loveland in Colorado with lift tickets starting at $29.99.
• Save 50 percent at Alta in Utah with two-day lift tickets starting at $72.50. 
• Save 44 percent at Diamond Peak in the Lake Tahoe area with lift tickets starting at $32.99.
• Save 32 percent at Homewood in the Lake Tahoe area with lift tickets starting at $45. 
• Save 31 percent at Sunday River in Maine with lift tickets starting at $59.00.
• Save 30 percent at Sun Valley in Idaho with lift tickets starting at $67. 

Utah's Canyons, Colorado's Arapahoe Basin, and California's Squaw Valley  and Alpine Meadows also offer deals during National Play Hooky and Ski Week. The only catch is you have to grab these deals on Liftopia before they're gone. But really, what are you waiting for? The ski season is half over and only getting better. Now my only problem will be breaking myself from my desk. How about you?

Photo grabbed from jurvetson at flickr.

Fit-Pic: Skier Spotting

Look who we spotted at the 2012 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup at Beaver Creek. He's a bit unrecognizable sporting his Movember mustache, but that dapper fellow is none other than Ted Ligety, 2006 Olympic gold medalist in the combined (slalom and downhill) and three-time giant slalom World Cup champion. Basically, he's one fast skier--and the favorite to win Sunday's giant slalom race as a fellow fan told me on the bus ride back to the Beaver Creek base.

Considering it took me for-ev-er to drive to Beaver Creek (a later-than-planned start, super slow drivers,  and overestimating the length of the downhill event), catching Ligety signing autographs and taking pictures in the finish line area completely made up for the action I didn't catch. I missed hiking up to the pumphouse to watch--and feel because they're skiing so fast--the racers whiz by. I missed Aksel Lund Svindal's second place run. I missed Ligety's run--though that might be for the best considering his GS strength and his 31st place finish today (granted he'd still make the super scary top section look easy, like Jonny Moseley on moguls, while I have to timidly ski across the mountain, making some of my most cautious and slowest turns to avoid slipping and skidding on the ice). I missed the rest Team USA's runs--minus Bode, who ruled this downhill last year but has an uncertain ski season ahead.

But hey, when you spot a skier, a World Cup skier who you recognize right away, hanging at the finish line--and most of the crowd is heading down the mountain instead of hanging out--you have to stop and say hello. Or clam up and not know what to say beyond, "Thank you!" A "good luck" or an "it's awesome to watch you race" probably would have been better conversation starters.

The Season for Swiss Skiing, from Vail to Verbier

Wow! Jaw-dropping, isn't it? Credit: Vail Resorts, verbiersportplus+

Chamonix. Zermatt. Portillo. Treble Cone, New Zealand. St. Moritz. All those random places we ogle over after watching a Warren Miller film. Who doesn't want to ski outside of North America at least once in their lifetime? Especially if that off-this-continent trip meant going to the Alps? You can this season with an Epic Pass, the season pass that lets skiers and snowboarders access the seven Vail Resorts properties and Arapahoe Basin.

Vail Resorts recently announced that 2012-13 passholders not only had access to its skiable terrain in Colorado and the Lake Tahoe region but they gained access to Verbier located in Switzerland. Yeah you don't have to blink twice and think you're seeing things. It's true: The Epic Pass is good for three days of free access at Verbier and that includes Les 4 Vallees, which makes up the largest ski resort in Switzerland. It might not be a word, but Epic just got Epic-er (more Epic if you want proper English). Looks like I must have some type of skier's intuition--I suspected a deal was cooking when the Epic Pass lowest price deadline hit on Labor Day, but I never expected it to be bucket list worthy.

Stretches for Skiing's Post-Season

Hip flexors, how I need to stretch thee.

It's not tough to destroy your body skiing. That's how I feel after chasing my husband down the mountain for a few days, especially if I follow him into the bumps. My arms and shoulders hurt from carrying my skis to and from the car. My quads start to burn from crouching most of the day--and often not resting them on the chairlift with the help of the safety bar. And get me turning a lot on groomers and sure enough, the hip "pinch" that we learned to recognize for good turns around the gates (to my teammate Mel: I still remember you etching that term into our brains) is back but not in a good way--my hip will ache until the end of the day, even in the hot tub.

Yeah, I know I probably sound like I'm an old cripple--it's my running legs wreaking havoc on my skiing, I swear--yet I'll do it again and again. Point blank: I love to ski. When you don't live in the mountains and only get one, maybe two, trips to the mountains each year, you ski until your legs are ready to fall off on the final day you're at the higher elevation. Wouldn't you do it, too? But in order to ski as often as I sometimes do, the trips to the hot tub don't always help. I need to stretch. You know how it goes: fix the kinks in the system, loosen up the tight muscles (ahem, hip flexors, I'm talking to you), and let the body recover so it can take another day on the slopes.

Swap Skiing for These Sports

Some days you just don't want to ski. Maybe you don't want to get out of bed. Maybe your knees ache and your quads burn (my whole body ached my second day on the snow, worse than when I tried snowboarding). Maybe you're unsure of your skiing skills on the slushier than normal conditions, especially when there's ice lurking underneath. But that doesn't mean you have to abandon all hopes of exercise--or live it up in the fitness center all day.

Not even close, as people have been proving to me all week. I've seen snowshoers trekking up the mountain plenty of times--I even tried to bring mine this trip but they didn't fit in the ski bag. I've seen at least two fly fishermen wading in the waters of Gore Creek. I've seen bikes cruising along U.S. 6 and the Frontage Road. It's like playing a game of I-Spy. But it's also given me plenty of ideas for ways to keep my legs busy without putting on the skis as outlined in this buzz.snow.com post.

Fit-Pic: Welcome Home, Lindsey

It's always a good day to be skiing in Vail. But it gets even better when Vail hosts a welcome home party for its world class athlete and World Cup champion, Lindsey Vonn. Arrabelle Square in Lionshead was decked out for a celebration this afternoon that brought Vonn back to Vail and marked the U.S. Ski Team retirement of local Sarah Schleper. In the above Fit-Pic, you'll see Vonn, Schleper's son Lasse, Schleper and Picabo Street--all three women are some pretty well-known and respected ski racers.

Hosted by Picabo Street, Vonn answered questions from a group of girls from Ski Girls Rock (I hope I'm getting this name right) who were lucky enough to race her down the mountain earlier in the day. My favorite answer from Vonn: how fast she travels down the mountain on her skis. The answer: the fastest is somewhere between 92 and 95 miles per hour. Wow! I'd get a ticket if I drove that fast, and I'd probably end up wrapped in the orange mesh nets lining the race course if I tried skiing at those speeds.