Message #21045

[jim-ratliff]

Svend: My apologies for posting this frivolity after your well thought-out post above. 

Svend:  This must be a language problem with you "northerners".  A "pedestrian skier" is someone who skis on sidewalks and streets and shopping malls, places frequented by pedestrians.  The name came into existence due to the number of pedestrians that such skiers would run over -- because pedestrians didn't realize that skiers had the right of way. 

Historically, that was the reason behind the creation of early ski resorts, to give skiers a place to get away from the pedestrians. 
You still see pedestrians hiking on the hill sometimes (especially at Beaver Creek, it seems), but those pedestrians have at least learned that skiers have the right away.
Only the historical faithful still do pedestrian skiing, oftentimes in college towns where aficionados are "cross country" skiing to school.  Note that the term "pedestrian" has fallen into disuse as modern terms like 'cross country' have become more popular.