Why some risk is important! Learning to Ski as an adult - Part 1

Being risk averse makes one a stable individual, no doubt. But can one accomplish anything without believing in a great goal and committing to it, irrespective of what comes out of it?

I have concluded that being excessively risk-averse makes a personality that will never realize the greatness inherent in one’s being. I have also learned that intellectuals—those who lack faith or are too grounded in reason—suffer from this.

Such bold ideas at the outset might rebuff you. But! I say it in no uncertain terms. Next, I will follow up on this with precise examples from my life to solidify this point.

Risk-taking, if defined in simple terms, means doing something that you have never done before but hope to learn along the way as you go, and more or less, you are uncertain about the outcome of the process. If everything works out, it will be a fantastic result. If things don’t work, well, suck it up privately.

One of the simplest ways to measure whether you are taking enough risks is to check how many times you put yourself on the line to learn something new. This could mean things varying in a spectrum of skill and intensity. I often judge myself on this measure and try to put myself in uncertain positions. The result is that I have an endless number of stories of mine failing spectacularly and a few interspersed successes that I cherish deeply. Today, I want to cover one of those things that I love deeply, a skill that presented itself out of chance and coincidence, thanks to the choice of my grad school in the US. And a skill which I vowed to learn and perfect over the years.

Learning to Ski as an adult

This past winter (2024), I went to the Swiss Alps and skied from the highest skiable peak in Europe, the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, which is 3883 meters or 12,740 feet high. It was a dream come true, for I never thought I could do something like this.

Let us rewind the clock to 2015

I grew up in India, where the weather is tropical and warm. India gets its snow, but only in a few northern regions. Those places are not always accessible unless you are planning a vacation. On top of that, there is just one ski resort in Gulmarg. I don’t think most Indians even know such a place exists.

When I moved to Minneapolis for graduate school in 2015, I was amazed to see the completely different landscape. For the first time, I saw heavy snowfall right at home! I still remember when all of our friends came together and tried throwing boiled water on chilly winter days, and the water converted to steam almost immediately. Thankfully, one of us video-recorded it, and you can still see this happening in this video clip.

Meanwhile, as we adjusted to the new lifestyle of wearing layered winter clothes, biking at -25 degrees centigrade to our morning classes, and walking on frozen lakes, it felt almost like a dreamlike world—especially if you have lived so far in all the other northern parts of India. I enjoyed every part of this change, and I still remember the late-night bus I would take with a friend while finishing work in our respective research labs. The last bus was at 2:40 am, and we, being night owls, used to get the best of our research done late in the night and thus craved those times. While rushing down from the lab to the bus stop, we would slide and glide through the university alleyways covered with snow flurries. Some memories go deep within us, and this is one of those.

Minneapolis Snow Days!

While going through the humdrum of daily grad school life, one fine day, a friend convinced me to join him for skiing at a local ski resort, and we skied together. It was one of the worst days of my life! I will detail all that went wrong that day to show how unprepared I was for this adventure and what sort of bad taste it left within me for this sport.

First, I came to the resort wearing Flip Flops, thinking - oh, I will get some gear, and then I will go skiing. Flip Flops to Ski Resort! The bus driver who drove us for the final leg of connection from the parking lot to the resort laughed at me when he saw I was not wearing socks or shoes. He told me, make sure you don’t get a frost, my friend. Then, I wore my regular jeans and T-shirt, along with the Columbia jacket I used to wear for my work in the lab. The jacket was fine, but jeans for skiing! How wrong is that? And yes, how can I miss that I didn’t bring my gloves either?

Thankfully, Aman, my friend who accompanied me to the local resort, had an extra pair of new socks with him, and he gave them to me when we came to the rental station to try on the right ski shoes. When I realized I didn’t have gloves nor the right pants, which every other person had, I thought, ah well, I don’t need those things. I am fine without them; I have managed life so far somehow, and I will manage this!

Then came the worst nightmare of all - the rental ski boots. I can go on and on about the pain of skiing boots, for until very recently, they have troubled me. Skiing boots are sturdy, hard-plastic containers that your feet need to be adequately snuggled into. But! They are weird. You must strap them around your feet and lower legs to ensure they are tight. And once you wear them, it is not easy to walk, for the boots are built using hard plastic, and thus, they force your feet to remain at a specific angle. After trying out a couple of boots and realizing it took me a lot of time to strap and unstrap each one, I decided to go with whatever I tried next — feeling a little guilty about making my friends wait on me. In hindsight, this was the biggest mistake, for I could feel a slight nibbling pain, which I decided to ignore, thinking it would go away. It didn’t! and it increased with time. I am just happy now that it didn’t leave permanent damage!

Ski Boots

Next, you must put these ski boots on top of a ski, which also connects with a click. The idea is that you want to keep these connected neither too hard nor too loose. I was explained that if you fall, and if it is a bad fall, it is best if the Skis detach so that your legs don’t wind up in weird positions. But when tackling some sharp slopes, you want your skis to remain connected and sustain that pressure so that you can manage those turns safely. This scared the shit out of me for two reasons.

• Fall? I mean, am I going to fall today?

• Sharp turns create pressure on the skis. Why?

While the rental guy explained the above, he tried to find the right skis for me. He decided on a “145” HEAD after glancing at me - from head to toe. Not knowing what these numbers meant, I took the skis and, carrying two poles in my hand, wearing a helmet and ski boots, slowly (and painfully, my toes were hurting hard. The initial painful nibble had now started throbbing) I started walking towards the slopes.

The first time I saw a skiing slope, my mouth fell wide with agape. Those are tall! I can’t do any of this. This is freaking hard! How can anyone ski with these weird shoes on! My mind revolted with ideas that I had made a foolish mistake today. I know I am used to some of that, but this is foolishness with a death wish! Next, I saw my friends connect their boots with skis and slowly drift towards the slopes. I copied them, connected the boots with the skies, and tried doing the same. And thud, I fell immediately on a muddy snow puddle. The skies slipped on that thin layer of ice that is generally there at the rental onboarding station.

I quickly realized this would not be my first fall, and getting up with legs all mushed up with skis would require some learning, too. Meanwhile, as I was on the ground, struggling to get up, I glanced and saw tiny kids flawlessly gliding down from the top of the mountains. Oh, what an added salt to the wound it felt back then!

After taking my sweet time to get up, I was directed to the bunny slopes, where I spent the rest of the day. I fell countless times, hurt myself in numerous ways, and, in general, was in a horrid mood thanks to the screaming pain in my foot.

I never went again for Skiing for the two years I was in Minneapolis. I was convinced that skiing was too challenging for me, and maybe this was not the right time to get into this sport. For whatever reason, I am glad I stayed away. I was a poor student, and expenses for this sport quickly adds up (for now, I know this surely). Besides that, Grad school, as ghastly busy as it can get, devoured me for the most part.

In 2017, I got my first job after school in the flashy city of New York. The first glimpse of the actual salary was wholesome. After the initial excitement subsided, I started feeling the itch to complete an unfinished business, the seeds of which were already planted in Minneapolis, which was skiing!

I will continue with my skiing adventures in my next post, which will come to your inboxes two weeks from now if you have subscribed. If not, please do so. If you don’t want to and are reading, why are you reading? Haha.

Stay tuned! Until next time!