The Seven Habits of the Highly Effective Skier will take you on a seven-week spiritual journey as you develop the habits necessary to be best après-skier you can be!
Habit 5: Communication - Understand First, Then Be UnderstoodHabit 6: Synergize?Habit 7: Sharpen The Skis
Habit 5: Communication via Après-ski
The Fifth Habit of Highly Effective Skiers, Communication via Après-ski, explains why skiing and, more precisely, après-skiing is the key to unlocking true communication and expanding your circle of influence in the mountains.
We all know that basic communication is necessary to navigate our daily lives, but there is another level of communication that comes with understanding another person, gaining insight into their values and life goals. In the fast-paced world that we all live in, few of us ever take the time to get to know and truly understand another person. And in turn, few of us are ever understood beyond what’s seen at face value.
Après-ski is the key to acceptance — understanding others and being understood.
Why après-skiing you ask? Well, après-ski requires us to take time from our daily lives to sit and enjoy a moment with friends. We reflect on our day and bond with someone else over our shared experiences. Over some greasy comfort food, we sit and listen and relive the same day from someone else’s perspective. We let down our guard a little, we find it easier to talk about our passions.
For tourists and people new to a ski hill, après-ski is a great chance to see the mountain from a local’s perspective. Buy a round for a local, sit, listen and try to learn something new for the rest of your vacation, or the next time you’re back in Utah. You never know where a shared drink could lead.
I know it’s hard to make time for après-ski. Even I, Après Adam, occasionally find myself skiing straight to the car and heading to the next thing on life’s never ending to-do list. Sometimes commitments are calling and I can’t afford to be late, but often I pass up a chance to après-ski because it’s just easier to stay busy in my own world than to sip a cocktail and learn about someone else.
Sharing a beer, some chicken fingers, and some stories of the ski day is the best way to see the the same day from someone else’s perspective. Some of the best friends I’ve met in my life have been through skiing and après-skiing. A shared powder day is something that can develop and maintain a relationship between storms, but a shared powder day, followed by an all-time après-ski session, and you’ve made a friend for life.
