Phil Smith from Snoworks Ski Courses talks about the land of ‘ing’, the place where skiing originated from but which many skiers forgot about along the way.
Photo: Emma Carrick-Anderson, Snoworks coach, enjoying skiing in the land of ‘ing’ with her three children.
When I rediscovered skiing in the land of ‘ing’, my skiing changed dramatically. ‘Ing’ is a land of freedom, of individuality, of infinite skiing possibilities. Skiers are all different, following their own passions and developing their own way of skiing. Like most kids, I remember being in this land when I was young but veered off track along the way in my skiing career as many do, taking a few wrong turns, and I was unable to find my way back until a lot later on in my skiing career. I lost my map.
The land of ‘ing’ was where skiing originally began but along the way for many skiers it was lost. Luckily for some skiers, they always new ‘ing’ existed and have benefitted from its existence all along, achieving great heights in their skiing.
Let me explain. In the early days, skiing was pretty straightforward. It was a means of go‘ing’ somewhere, travell‘ing’, mov‘ing’ and slid‘ing’ across the vast snowy plains, and it took place in the land of ‘ing’. Then, along the way, skiing became a pastime, a hobby, and ski schools sprouted up. Techniques of turning were developed and given names such as “snowplough turn”, “parallel turn”, and “stem Christie”. Freedom was replaced with technical adherence, and for many skiers the land of “ing” slowly but surely disappeared.
You see, the land of ‘ing’ is all about verbs. About do‘ing’ activities. Ski‘ing’ is a verb, and verbs while you’re doing them finish with ‘ing: jump‘ing’, runn‘ing’, mov‘ing’, swerv‘ing’, avoid‘ing’, brak‘ing’, accelerat‘ing’.
Some may say I’m just being pedantic and it’s just names. But it’s more than just names, it’s your perception, and your perception affects how you ski, how you learn to ski and how good you can actually become at skiing.
Children ski in the land of ‘ing’ all the time. They’ve never heard of a “parallel turn” or “stem Christie”, and they’re not interested in facing their shoulders in a particular direction or skiing with their feet a certain distance apart. They certainly don’t care how they look. They’re doers and they just want to go ski‘ing’.
Many skiers miss out on skiing in the land of ‘ing’ altogether. The urge to want to do it right takes over experiment‘ing’, try‘ing’, correct‘ing’ and even fail‘ing’. You see, in the land of ‘ing’, everything is a verb.
The land of ‘ing’ is not about skiing a particular way or mimicking a demonstration. It’s not about attempting to replicate a noun, a name of a manoeuvre, a parallel turn. It’s all about being active, doing stuff. Names of manoeuvres (nouns) don’t exist, only activities (verbs): slid‘ing’, skidd‘ing’, accelerat‘ing’, brak‘ing’, swerv‘ing’, steer‘ing’, gripp‘ing’, slipp‘ing’.
Unfortunately, I lost my way to ‘ing’ when I became serious about skiing, wanted to ski correctly and trained to be a ski instructor. My skiing became predictable and repetitive. Some may say I skied well, very well, but I began to lack creativeness, a kid’s playfulness and individuality. Luckily, by starting a company that specialises in all-mountain skiing and then having children of my own I was able to rediscover the land of ‘ing’ a number of years ago, and my skiing was totally rejuvenated. It was like being a child all over again.
You see, the land of ‘ing’ opens up a whole new world of skiing, a world that kids ski in all the time. A world where how you look doesn’t matter, because in the world of ‘ing’ everyone is different and everyone is hav‘ing’ fun, do‘ing’, try‘ing, experiment‘ing’, creat’ing’.
You may be one of the lucky ones who discovered the land of ‘ing’ a long time ago. Great skiers have always skied there, and that’s why they are so different. If you haven’t discovered skiing in the land of ‘ing’ yet, I urge you to do so quickly – your skiing will literally take off.