Parallel Skiing and Parallel Skills - 7 Key skills the Backcountry Skier brings to work.

This Saturday, we had the privilege to explore some amazing alpine terrain near our home in Lake Tahoe Ca. We went to a zone that had received more snow than average. The avalanche report listed things as Moderate (2 of 5 on basic risk scale). We read that the key problems of the day would be 1) Windloading, where high winds can load leeward slopes with excess snow and make them unstable and 2) Wet Snow slides - warming snow would be an issue as the day went on under the intense April sun.

Early into our tour, we encountered a recent large avalanche that appeared to have caught another skier. This was spooky, immediately gave us all pause, but we continued walking towards the slide, but staying out of avalanche terrain. As we got closer, the whole group was still there, including the woman caught in the slide. Fortunately everyone in that group was safe, though it forced us to reassess our plans/intentions for that day.

As we climbed a couple mountains and traversed snowy landscapes, I couldn’t help but reflect on how the skill sets that we develop & use to safely navigate avalanche terrain in the backcountry, provide a ton of parallel skills for success in the business world.?

Some backcountry skiers might not appreciate me highlighting the sport on Linkedin, as like surfing, there can be a territorial sentiment. I believe there’s plenty of public land for us all to explore, and the skills and experiences should be shared with those who are willing to put in the work to pursue them safely.

If you are already a backcountry skier, I hope these resonate with you. If you have considered getting into it, and these sound like skills you’d like to develop, (In a very different setting than most business environments) I’d encourage you to start with reading Bruce Trempers, “Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain” and if after that, you want more, take the 3 day AAIRE 1 class and start building skills and racking up experience. Let's dive into how learning the skills required to be a safe backcountry skier will support your career as well.

Continuous learning - Backcountry skiing requires special knowledge for avoiding avalanches, navigating off trail in inclement weather and all of the below skills. You’ll learn to assess snow conditions based on the days weather, and the weather trends leading up to the day. You must embrace constant learning, as there’s so many ways to expand your awareness of safety, travel, gear, etc. I try to appreciate when I start to learn something new, my first learning is how little I know about the thing…Then I get excited to dig in and learn more!

Willingness to do hard things - Mark Twain’s expression, “Eat the Frog” has been adopted by corporate america to encourage folks to not shy away from the hard task. Climbing the mountain has fallen out of style as an expression, but that is literally what many of us do on weekends. Backcountry skiers are willing to put in the work. You earn your turns.

Delayed gratification - Putting in a hard effort first, without the expectation that the payoff will exceed the input. Ideally, you are climbing mountains to ski great snow, but in reality, you often climb a mountain for an hour to many hours, sometimes to ski a harrowing descent on terrible snow conditions. It’s about the journey, not the destination. At work, we all want quick wins, the proverbial, “Easy Button” in reality, that seldom exists. Trust the process, good things take time.

Communication skills - This feels cliche, but the vast bucket of communication skills is among the most critical in business, relationships, and life. Skiing the backcountry with your partners requires you to be a thoughtful communicator. Clearly articulating your desires/plans/ intentions, and being willing & able to actively listen to your partners preferences then collaborate on a compromised solution. It’s important to be proactive to draw information out of those who don’t readily volunteer their thoughts, and then work as a team to decide on a path forward. The skilled communicator seeks to give everyone a voice, and ensure nothing important goes left unsaid. We strive to check our ego’s, think clearly, reasonably, and act to strike the right balance of fun/safety, (or benefits & costs at work)

Risk Mitigation - There are no trails, grooming or ski patrol in the backcountry. It’s you, your party, and your skills you must rely on to keep you alive in what can be a deadly environment. Avoiding avalanches, crevasses, bad weather, poor fueling, etc. There are infinite things that can go wrong, it takes practice to be aware of all of them, to know what to mitigate. I work in Sales. Sales is about communication, driving change, and helping companies manage and mitigate risk as they seek to drive change in an evolving business landscape. Many of the other skills listed, serve to support risk mitigation. We all need to work together to avoid putting ourselves or others in unnecessary risks.

Decision Making - Driving decisions collectively among a group can be challenging. People have different needs and preferences, and not everyone is perfect at communicating them. The skill is to ask questions and draw out the relevant information from people about their preferences, so that the group can make effective decisions that take everyones thoughts and preferences into consideration. Leaders need to be appointed, sometimes this occurs naturally, other times, it may need to be clearly stated. Figuring out what are the criteria that we will make the decision around, (In skiing: experience, weather, avalanche report, time allotted) help ease the process of actually making the decision. This is why the Decision Making process, is a core element of the best sales qualification methodologies. It’s important to unpack, HOW decisions are made.

Planning - From reading the avalanche report, discussing routes with partners, looking at the weather, planning for a ski tour requires taking into account many dynamic variables. Much like business, it requires taking in a ton of data, looking at the big picture, and finding options that benefit as many parties as possible. The more experience you gain, the easier this planning process becomes, as you have personal data to work off of.

Plans often come together as a group. One person may propose a plan, and others need to comment, share their feedback, and work with the proposer to ensure it meets the objectives of all parties involved.

What else?

I’m sure there are many more parallels, these were the first that come to mind. What other pursuits/ passions do people have outside of work that bring them good perspective into how they approach their career?