My friends have called me the "mommy skier" for years, long before I had my baby, because I ski so very carefully within my limits and rarely fall.
Since my husband doesn't ski, I end up skiing by myself most of the time and stay on or near the piste, and sometimes take the train to the mountains for a weekend alone - unlikely for the near future now that I've got a kid. It's pretty much impossible to be alone at a ski area in Bavaria or Austria, so I have always felt pretty safe (though concerned about being hit by another skier).
This article has changed my mind about that a bit - I now see the danger in a fall that isn't bad enough to keep me from getting back up, but does "ring my bell". Imagine had Hatcher (the son) gotten to his car and driven like that, or had the dangerous secondary head injury or just gone on using a smartphone or reading instead of resting those two weeks because no one was watching him closely enough to worry about him.
A young woman recently died in a fall on our local ski mountain. I think it was technically off piste, but in an area that is avalanche controlled and easily accessed from the lifts.
My kids have been skiing since they were 5, and my oldest is rapidly approaching that wonderful time of risk taking and impulsive behavior known as adolescence. So I worry about them now, instead of myself. But I have to give them the opportunity. Life is short, no matter what, and there are no guarantees. What are we here for, anyway?
Since my husband doesn't ski, I end up skiing by myself most of the time and stay on or near the piste, and sometimes take the train to the mountains for a weekend alone - unlikely for the near future now that I've got a kid. It's pretty much impossible to be alone at a ski area in Bavaria or Austria, so I have always felt pretty safe (though concerned about being hit by another skier).
This article has changed my mind about that a bit - I now see the danger in a fall that isn't bad enough to keep me from getting back up, but does "ring my bell". Imagine had Hatcher (the son) gotten to his car and driven like that, or had the dangerous secondary head injury or just gone on using a smartphone or reading instead of resting those two weeks because no one was watching him closely enough to worry about him.