Originally Posted by KevinF

I've spent enough time at alpine ski areas to see lots of people say "hey, this doesn't look so bad" with the thought that the worst thing that could happen is that they slip and fall a couple times. Half way down they realize that the "worst thing" is a lot worse then they imagined.

The consequences of getting in way over your head can be pretty severe. You did it and it worked out, congrats. If the OP is smart enough to listen to his body and realize that "this isn't going to happen" and gets into a SAG wagon, then yeah, not bad. If you keep trying to push "five more miles" or whatever -- you could be in a lot of trouble.