This question came up on a chairlift yesterday. I have always thought that the term "gaper" came from the fact that these beginner skiers frequently end up in places where the terrain is well over their ability level (steep lines, large terrain parks), and because of that sit in the middle of the line gaping (from the verb "to gape") at the terrain around them. Some of my friends thought that the term came from the traditional gaper gap between the goggles and hat/helmet of these skiers, in which case it should be pronounced gap-er rather than gape-er. What do you guys think?
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