Bernhard Welte’s phenomenology frames time as a qualitative, subjective experience where the present moment—or “instant”—interrupts routine and carries immense meaning. In skiing, this is realized through the “instant of occurrence” (the start of a run), the “instant of consummation” (the final, defining turn), and the “while” (the non-measurable atmosphere of the day), transforming a physical activity into a contemplative encounter with eternity.
We contemplate time as a purely subjective entity through which we comprehend what is presented to our senses in a remarkable manner, and that eternity is present in the instant.
Instead of thinking of time quantitatively we can do so qualitatively, as Welte proposes, and he formulates three dimensions of the instant.
In the instant of the occurrence, an event interrupts the everyday, like the arrival of a long-awaited race in which destiny places us in front of a decisive opportunity, concentrating the pure now of time.
The instant of consummation is the one in which a performance concludes, the instant of completion of the aforementioned competition in which we fulfill a decisive performance that has been consummated. The final moment of an epic descent is not simply any moment, as it is the moment that consummates the descent. It ‘makes’ the run by extinguishing the preceding moments, thereby giving meaning to the descent and all that was.
And there is also the while, which refers to different moments of the day that are not strictly measurable and can occur in the morning, afternoon, or evening.
