There are tons of different personalities that you might meet while on the mountain. Here are the top 10!
- The Snow Bunnies
A Snow Bunny is the person that you will find standing around at the bottom of the mountain wearing $15,000 worth of new gear so they can look cool and seem like they know what they are doing when they have no idea how to actually ski. You can often spot a Snow Bunny by how many pictures they are taking, and how often they are posting on social media. Although strangely enough, Snow Bunnies have been around for a lot longer than social media has, so I guess that just goes to show how little people actually change.
- The Wannabies
The Wannabies are similar to the Snow Bunnies in the way that they have gear that is much too good for their skill level. The difference is that Wannabies actually use their skin-tight racing suits, aro helmets, and racing skies, instead of just standing around looking “cool” in them. That doesn’t mean that they know what they are doing though. You can usually find these kinds of people either sticking to where they are comfortable on the little hills, and trying to race down them much faster than their skills allow. Or you can find them ponderously doing the snow plow all the way down a black diamond section. There is very little in between.
- The Newbies
Ah Newbies. Both a representation of growth, health, and prosperity in your hobby of choice, and massive irritation to anyone with any sort of skill in the given activity. This is true in almost all hobbies, but nowhere is it more true than in skiing, where you can find a Newbie’s lack of confidence congesting the ski lifts, slowing down, and clogging up tracks that are much too high level for them, or just generally getting in the way. They can be irritating, we all know that, but that doesn’t mean that we should lash out at them as they are just innocently attempting to love the sport as we all once were.
- The Royal
The Royal is a special type of person that you might meet on the mountain because you will never actually find them on the mountain. Instead you can find them doing basically anything else other than skiing. They will be relaxing in hot tubs, keeping warm in their lodgings, or enjoying a nice après after doing a run or two.
- The Powder Hound
You will know when you meet a Powder Hound. The passion, and pure pleasure they take from a good day of skiing is both infectious, and awe inspiring. This will be the friend rabble rousing you, and all of their other friends out of bed at 7:00 AM to “start the day right” whatever that means. You’ll find them doing as many runs as they can all over the mountain, recording every second of it on their action cameras, and sharing a frosty smile with those around them.
- The Wiz Kids
Wiz Kids are the kids that have been going skiing, and taking lessons for longer than they can remember. You can find them skiing twice as well as you at a quarter of your age. If you ever wipe out on the track there is about a fifty fifty chance of one of these kids showing up out of seemingly nowhere, and helping you to your feet before whizzing off, never to be seen again.
- The Snow Patrollers
These are the people that will pick you up the other fifty percent of the time. They are the safety officers of the mountain. They usually wear red jackets to signify their importance, and can be found rescuing Newbies, Wannabies, and Snow Bunnies alike from places that they really should not have gone to.
- The Old School Kids
Old School Kids are who Wiz kids grow into. They have been skiing for decades now, and are living proof that gear really means nothing. They are the polar opposite from the Wannabies as you can find them crushing the hardest tracks with no problems in gear they got for their graduation thirty years ago. They also prove that age is just a number as the feats of athleticism that they pull off are truly spectacular. The only potential warning that I have for you is never get them started on “how things have changed since their day” as once you do there is no way to stop them from monologuing.
- The Patient Parent
These moms and dads are often also Old School Kids themselves, and are just trying to introduce their child to the thing that has brought them so much joy over the course of their lives with varying degrees of success. You can find them following their six year old around, and trying to make them interested in going pizza, french fry, pizza, french fry. The parents may also be just a little disappointed that they aren’t able to do as many runs as they wished, not that they would let anybody know that.
- The Show Off
And finally we reach the end. Oh what a journey it has been. The last of the people that you might meet on your exertion to the peaks is the Show Off. They are the person that will try to find a way to show off, or brag about their “skills” at every possible time no matter how potentially inappropriate. Their skill level varies widely. If they aren’t nearly as good as they think they are they make a great laughing stock, but if they are actually good then you would be warranted to be a little jealous.