Such a weird post OP. Quite simply, people like different things. Live and let live. There are many things I don't like or " don't get", but great for the people who do such as skydiving, hiking, bowling, whatever.

Golf to me is like a walk made less pleasant by silly little interruptions, needless chatter and fake nature. Downhill skiing is paying insane amounts of money for the pleasure of icy feet in dumb heavy death grip boots and waiting for an injury to happen. I enjoy cross country skiing and snowshoeing.

I like winter (and the cold), and the physical activity, so skiing is preferable to golf for me.

Usually, I ski with one or maybe two other people. We socialize in the lift lines, on the lifts, over meals, and at night. But honestly, skiing on your own is pretty great too.

I understand why some people don’t love it though—especially if they don’t like or can’t tolerate the cold. Your criticisms are valid: it’s expensive to just go one or two times a winter (it gets cheaper per day if you go every weekend). And even the local slopes aren’t particularly close-by, and to get “great” skiing, you need to go north or west.

I love being outside in a different environment. I love the mountains. I love the physical exertion.

Basically everything OP says she hates, I love. Except the cost of course.

I love to ski. My family loves to ski. We travel to the West to ski twice a year in addition to skiing locally in WV many weekends. We got our 7 year old skiing really early, so now he can ski everything we do, including double black diamonds in the West. It is the one activity that I can say is pure joy to do with my son. We love to do it as a family.

If you have only skied in NE, I understand why you don't like it. Skiing in NE is different than skiing out West. It is cold out West but it feels different. The snow is easier to ski on because it isn't icy. There are more days with lots of sunshine which makes it feel warmer. Yes, it is cold but with the right clothing it doesn't feel like it's too cold.

Once you reach a certain ski level, it isn't as tiring. I remember when I was first starting out, I would be exhausted by lunchtime. My skill improved which results in less effort all around.

I've played golf for years too. I, personally, don't like it as much. I think playing golf with any proficiency that you don't piss off others on the course is more difficult than skiing. Around here, it is difficult to get a tee time and the courses are crowded. I used to play with my husband and we used to get paired with twosomes of men and lots of them were barely civil when they saw they were playing with me.

If you don't get skiing, that's fine. No one is forcing you to go. I don't get renting beach houses in the summer for a week. How boring can you get? Everyone likes different things.

I love mountains, in the summer and the winter.
I cannot do snow sports to save my life, but many of my relatives and friends are die-hard ski fans. Most of them do downhill skiiing, of course - I understand it's the thrill of the slide. My aunt and uncle used to Nordic ski, which is a lot less immediately rewarding, but is a terrific workout. They love the outdoors and were very athletic until their 70s.

It would be boring if we all loved the same thing, OP.

How can you possibly compare golf to speeding down a snowy mountain?

Skiing is great. It gets you to beautiful locations, is one of a very few opportunities to be outdoors in the winter, and yes, is physically tiring, which I see as a bonus. As PP mentioned, it's thrilling and invigorating in a way few others things I do as an adult are. It feels so great to come in after a long day and soak those tired muscles in a hot tub! It's also very much a family activity - one of the few things me, my teens, and DH all enjoy.

My experience is that it is a very social activity. We rent ski houses with friends, cozy up with drinks at the end of the day, and half your time is on the lift, so lots of time to talk.

I enjoyed it back in the day, but it was much less expensive then than it is now. Going downhill in the snow is fun, whether that’s on a sled or on skis.

That said, I think the cost has gotten out of hand, and you really do have to go fairly regularly to get good at it. I haven’t skied in over a decade, and living in VA I don’t think we’ll be taking the kids anytime soon.

Its easy and free in the old country. It's like going for a walk in winter wonderland, but moving much faster plus the exercise.
The skis and equipment is 100 times better than when I was growing up.
Anyone can make circles in their small village or find trails. Nobody pays for it or travels to trails unless they want mountains.
Same with iceskating as man made rinks, ponds, rivers and lakes are everywhere.The roads are one big icefield.
Golf? Come on. I would have to look for it, drive there and pay.

I don't understand it either. It's definitely an aspirational sport. People who do it either are rich or want to appear so. My husband grew up skiing and likes it so he made sure our two kids learned to ski. One likes it as much as DH does and the other one hangs out on the greens with me. If I never ski again its totally fine with me. I've mostly just put up with it to appease DH.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a flat desert and I love skiing. It's thrilling, unlike golf. I don't want to leave at the end of the day, I think it brings out the kid in me, unlike golf. Just thought of it brings me joy, very much unlike golf.

I also enjoy the physical exertion you claim as a negative.

I grew up in a flat desert and I love skiing. It's thrilling, unlike golf. I don't want to leave at the end of the day, I think it brings out the kid in me, unlike golf. Just thought of it brings me joy, very much unlike golf.

Maybe don't do it then?!

Why come here and ask people to defend why they enjoy something? Such a strange post.

I grew up in New England, where a big part of the culture was going skiing on weekends/vacations. I skiied a few times throughout middle school/high school, and I didn't really enjoy it; it always felt very physically tiring, lots of exposure to the cold weather, etc, so I never really pursued it after that.

Thinking back on it as a adult, I understand the appeal as a lesiure activity even less. Coupled with the drawbacks I mentioned earlier, it's expensive (something I didn't have an appreciation for as a kid obviously), inconvenient (you have to drive several hours to get to get to a resort, depending on where you live), doesn't really lend itself that well to socializing as you can't really chat with someone while you're skiing down a mountain, and the safety/physical danger aspect.

Compare with golf (which I don't, but DH does), golfing:

- Has a lower barrier to entry (many more golf courses around vs ski mountains)
- Lends itself well to socalizing
- Less physically taxing (my guess is that many more 70 year olds are able to golf vs go skiing)