Drunks Hit The Ski Slopes

Do you enjoy imbibing from time to time? Do you enjoy skiing on icy slopes?

Answering 'yes' to either one is a matter of personal preference.

Answering 'yes' to doing both together is not necessarily a good thing. This is especially true when the imbibing becomes drunkenness - and leads to skiing while drunk.

Hurtling yourself down a steep hill while not in control of your faculties is danger personified. While a danger to yourself, the chance of injury, or even death extends to those around you as well.

Ski conditions are excellent this year in the United States and Canada because of plentiful snow. This exacerbates the 'skiing while intoxicated' practice common with some snow enthusiasts.

It's an easy thing to do. A ski vacation or a single day ski trip is fun, as well they should be. The thing is, if you're drinking at lunch (or even breakfast!) or during a ski break, you're tempting fate. Of course, this is relative. It's all relative to your body weight, how much food is in your system, and the amount of drinks ingested. Overdrinking definitely makes it dangerous no matter which way you look at it.

A United Kingdom survey shows that 11% of skiers and snowboarders do their activities after they have indulged in alcohol. Not all are flat- out wasted, but they are skiing or snowboarding with alcohol in their system.

The scary part of this survey is that one in five said they had an accident while under alcohol's influence. One in twenty-five reported that serious injuries to themselves or someone else resulted while skiing influenced by alcohol.

Why, aside from the obvious, is skiing under the influence of alcohol dangerous? Here are the main reasons:

* Alcohol makes us less inhibited - we tend to do crazier things when our inhibitions fly away with the wind. We take more risks. Sometimes calculated risks are good. Oftentimes we take risks without the aid of a reliable calculator - a clear mind.

* Sometimes alcohol can make us overconfident - we think we can do things beyond our capabilities. We can only do what we're physically and mentally capable of doing. We're not superhuman, no matter how hard we try to impress that 'snow bunny' or 'snowman'.

* Alcohol inhibits reaction time. We think we can respond quickly; we think we are responding quickly; we are not responding quickly. This is usually evident to those not under excessive alcohol influence skiing past and looking at us strangely.

* Alcohol can gradually take hold of us. We think we're fine, so we have another drink. Before we know it, we're on the ski slopes enjoying our skiing holidays and suddenly the 'wallop' comes, we're intoxicated and moving at high speed.

On top of all this is the possibility that, after a day on the slopes, we may now drive home in this condition.

With ski-friendly countries in the midst of their season now, it's a time for enthusiasts to enjoy the great outdoors. To everything, there is a season. For skiers it's the winter season. It's the season for exciting, thrilling, sensational skiing. In that season, there's a time to enjoy fine wines, liquor, or a cold beer...when the skiing is over.

Remember, you want to be able to ski all over again next time!