When you’re driving a car, how many steps are involved in approaching a traffic light at a busy intersection where you’re planning to make a left turn? Chances are, you’d have a hard time listing them all. Check to see if the light’s changing. Check the rearview mirror for traffic behind you. Check for traffic approaching from the cross street. And on and on. Do you think of all those steps at the time? Nope, if you’ve been driving a while and feel confident in driving, you just do them automatically. Ira Riklis can tell you that it’s the same when you’re speeding down steep mountain slopes on skis.
Once you’ve learned, and practiced, the techniques you need to know, you just perform those techniques automatically. Skiing—done well—is a complex, rhythmic ballet of motions, movements and shifts of balance. With experience, the correct motions simply become, muscle memory. Today, Ira Riklis doesn’t even notice the turn he’s currently making; he relies on instincts born of his prior training and experiences. He’s thinking about a half mile down the mountain choosing his path to most effectively use the terrain, find the most enjoyable path and to avoid people and obstacles ahead.