When I first look at a chairlift at a mountain you always see at least a singles line, a two-person line, and depending on the lift size a four- or six-person line.  I rarely use the singles line because I try my best to always ski with friends.  Whenever I look at the singles line, one thought crosses through my mind, why would someone willingly choose to ski alone.  This isn’t to say I haven’t skied alone before; I have.  I just enjoy skiing with my friends more and I think there are many reasons for it and I am going to explain why I think skiing with friends is better than skiing alone.

I might as well start of by describing the times I have skied alone to better justify myself.  I have skied alone multiple times.  I have gone to the mountain alone many times and it’s not just the skiing that I do not like to be alone during.  The cars ride up to the mountain are usually long and being alone on these rides make them feel exponentially longer.  I fell as though I am just riding in the car sitting in my own thoughts.  When I ride up to the mountain with friends however, I have a much more fun time because I am either talking to friends, listening to music, or doing both at the same time.  Doing the ride with friends makes the ride go by much quicker as well.  Once I am at the mountain alone, I have to go up the chairlifts in the singles line.  Prior to COVID-19, this forced me to ride the chairlifts with random people.  Sometimes meeting new skiers was really interesting as you could learn about all the mountains they skied at and different things about skiing you never knew.  But, if the other people on the chairlift are not talkative, your forced to sit in silence for the whole ride up.  When the mountain is windy or its snowing, it also makes these rides feel just that much longer.

Once I have reached the top of the mountain, I am able to go quickly down trails as I do not have to wait for my friends to all decide on a chairlift that I want to go down.  This allows me to get more runs in but also takes the fun out of getting to decide which trails to ride down.  The final thing I do not like about skiing alone is that I usually get tired quicker because I am doing more runs, so I do not always want to stay at the mountain for that long.  When I am with my friends however, we are doing less runs and are taking our time, enjoying each trail which results in me staying on the mountain longer.

As you can see by my analysis of skiing alone, I am not a big fan of it.  Therefore, I always try and do everything in my power to find friends who want to go skiing with me when I want to go.  I advise always brining people with you when You go skiing for the best possible experience.