Happy 4/20 to all the cannabis loving happy people out there. Of course, today is also Hitler’s birthday, the anniversary of the gulf oil spill and Columbine shooting so it’s a weird day to celebrate, right? Which brings us all into the mindset we need to be in:
Marijuana – is it good for skiing/riding, or not?
GOOD FOR SKIING/RIDING?
YES – The only real particulars I can offer here are subjective. I know from first hand experience that being stoned on a powder day is a truly ecstatic sensation. The exhilaration felt while skiing is splendiferous. The euphoria of being stoned is stupefying. Combine the two and you get a bizarre synergistic effect that that will literally make you feel like you’re soaring. If skiing ever felt like flying, it does when you’re smoking weed and skiing.
NO – The flip side? For me the flip side was that I didn’t ski as hard. I didn’t take as many chances and I’d get tired more rapidly. When ripping around without smoking weed, I’m more aggressive, I take bigger airs, throw more tricks, and charge the mountain with more furor in general. Although I may have had more rhythm and soul when high, the bottom line is that I ski better sober.
The active drug in marijuana, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannot be classified as a stimulant nor depressant. It’s effects are always simply perceived by the user and can vary from use to use.
Marijuana would get me fired up for skiing, but once I got tired, I was very tired. It can go both ways within a single use.
It can also be argued that skiing/riding high is dangerous to yourself and others. This article is about a Swiss study that shows alcohol to be safer to use while skiing than marijuana: www.thegoat.com