7 reasons why whiteouts are fun
Picture the scene… You wake up in your ski chalet, you look out the window and all you can see is white cloud. You think to yourself “bugger” and you get back into bed. As you lie in bed you think about going back to sleep and having a lie-in, you are on holiday after all.
You can hear the chalet host setting up for breakfast and other guests getting ready to go out. You start to feel guilty and start working out how much the lift pass costs and how much your lie-in is worth. Reluctantly you get out of bed and start dressing for the day at the same time you convince yourself that it is low cloud and that it is bright and sunny up top, probably with a light dusting of snow.
Don’t be downhearted there are lots of ways to have fun in a whiteout.
1. Trees
Head for the runs that carve through the tree line. There you will find plenty of shade to mark out the piste and the contours.
2. Guilt-free lunch
That’s right. You probably won’t burn off your lunch today however you can take your time over it. Without feeling guilty that you are not making the most of the perfect conditions.
3. Lose the slow ones
Sometimes you have a few slow mates that you feel duty-bound to ski with. Use the flat light as camouflage to accidentally on purpose lose them and have a day hooning around.
4. Imagine the adversity of others
We all know the story of Scott of the Antarctic. While he never had the luxury of a Folie Douce, piste patrol, or chair lifts, he did have his share of poor weather conditions. Use the whiteout to imagine what it must have been like to face the epic struggle that he went through, then go to the pub.
5. Appear knowledgeable
A whiteout is a perfect time to show your ski knowledge and tell anyone who will listen that the piste markers with the orange tops should always be on your left to ensure you are in the middle of the piste.
6. Create a story
When you get home remember no one wants to know about the blue run you skied 8 times in a row. They will be much more interested in the tale about you losing your partner on the side of a run only for you to have to walk back up, locating them with squeals of “help I am in a hole”, which you dig them out of while laughing at their misfortune.
7. Extended apres ski
Pretty self-explanatory. Remember you will regret this when tomorrow is a fresh powder day with blue skies.