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Where and When Did You Learn to Ski?

oldschoolskier

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Posts
4,229
Location
Ontario Canada
Austriq 1964 got snow dump on (actually buried) in the baby carriage slope side from a tree while mom and dad skied. 1965 was my actual start of skiing.
 

Scotty I.

I only care about the graphics
Skier
Joined
Nov 8, 2016
Posts
502
Location
Evergreen, Colorado
Western Massachusetts. Age 4. Bousquets in Pittsfield and Buttermilk Basin in Great Barrington. What? You never heard of those mountains?!?

Went to University of Colorado. Never looked back.
 

Sibhusky

Whitefish, MT
Skier
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Posts
4,806
Location
Whitefish, MT
4th grade, I think that was 2003

Campgaw-Ski-Area-660x360.jpg


who can name it?
Big Boulder? (Haven't been there in 15 years, so I'm not positive.)
 

Uncle Louie

The Original Gathermeister
Skier
Joined
Mar 19, 2017
Posts
499
Western Massachusetts. Age 4. Bousquets in Pittsfield and Buttermilk Basin in Great Barrington. What? You never heard of those mountains?!?

Went to University of Colorado. Never looked back.

UH....yeah heard of one of them Bousquets (complete with the gravel floor base lodge).... but the second one.......it's ButterNUT Basin.

You skipped Catamount ? Come on....who gets chance to park in NY state and ski in Mass. (though it might have been the other way around)
 

T-Square

Terry
Admin
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Nov 12, 2015
Posts
7,559
Location
Enfield, NH
6th grade (1964) at Big Tupper NY. Rental wood planks, leather lace up boots, and loong poles. Push your heels out to turn.

My parents opened many doors for me. Some I ran through, others I got thrown through. Mom threw me through the skiing door. Thank you, Mommy!
 

TQA

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Apr 27, 2017
Posts
75
Dry ski slope in Nottingham
2 weeks in Sauze D'oulx 1980
2 weeks in Livigno where I learned the magic of skiing on your edges. Thanks to a law student called Guido who was instructing during his holidays. He was the biz.
 

Scotty I.

I only care about the graphics
Skier
Joined
Nov 8, 2016
Posts
502
Location
Evergreen, Colorado
UH....yeah heard of one of them Bousquets (complete with the gravel floor base lodge).... but the second one.......it's ButterNUT Basin.

You skipped Catamount ? Come on....who gets chance to park in NY state and ski in Mass. (though it might have been the other way around)

You are absolutely correct. Combination of age and having skied Aspen (hence Buttermilk) too much. And I did ski Catamount when I could get a ride there. My parents drew the line at Pittsfield or Great Barrington.
 

Snuckerpooks

Getting on the lift
Skier
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Posts
166
Location
USA
In Maine somewhere when I was about 4 years old. My family went to a bunch when I was younger. My mother told me in the morning she would take me skiing before bringing me to daycare after lunch. Needless to say, I was a pretty easy kid to take care of in the eyes of a kindergarten teacher because I would just nap when I was there.
 

markojp

mtn rep for the gear on my feet
Industry Insider
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,604
Location
PNW aka SEA
Here. On this rope tow. Dec. 1965. This photo was probably taken a couple years before that.

hickory_sm_1965.jpg




And here's the opposite side many years later. Back in the day, everyone sidestepped up the hill for 'grooming'. They even have some snow making now, but the rope tow is still king!


buck_and_pete.jpg




This is looking back down from the top of the steeper pitch in the picture above. The lodge at the bottom is still there, but the rope in the first picture to the immediate left of the lodge is gone. You can see the corner up in the top picture. The right side was an addition if I recall, but don't know what year. Left is just about the same as it ever was including the fireplace. Stein has skied here. ogsmile

top_of_pete.jpg


Hickory Hills, TC, MI
 
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eok

Slopefossil
Skier
Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Posts
856
Location
PNW
1968 or 1969 at China Peak, after my first series of lessons. I was on skis for a few years before that - but I was a hopelessly clueless kid on skis until I got those first lessons.
 

pchewn

Skiing the powder
Skier
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Posts
2,607
Location
Beaverton OR USA
1967 Colorado when I was 10 yrs old. Wooden "Lund Blazer" skis. Leather boots. Cable bindings. Safety straps.

Started on the hill at the golf course. Graduated to Poma (platter) lifts at Loveland Basin and Arapahoe Basin.

Skiing has progressed in many ways, and in many ways it is still the same. Boots still are not "comfortable". Getting wet still makes you cold. Nice figured women still look good in ski gear. A snowplow is still useful for stopping and turning in certain conditions......
 

CrystalRose

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Apr 25, 2017
Posts
86
Location
Southern California
2016! Went to Big Bear for my 30th birthday to mix things up (what's life without a little adventure?). I bought one of those beginner ski packages that includes your rentals/lift tickets/lesson. I went in thinking it would just be something to check off my bucket list but ended up having a ball! So much so that I went over to the ski school and bought a second lesson for that afternoon.

After that I planned a ski trip for this year to Colorado (Breckenridge and Keystone). I had just as much fun and improved a lot! So now it's an activity I want to keep in my life.
 

Mendieta

Master of Snowplow
SkiTalk Tester
Contributor
Joined
Aug 17, 2016
Posts
4,905
Location
SF Bay Area, CA, USA
2016! Went to Big Bear for my 30th birthday to mix things up (what's life without a little adventure?). I bought one of those beginner ski packages that includes your rentals/lift tickets/lesson. I went in thinking it would just be something to check off my bucket list but ended up having a ball! So much so that I went over to the ski school and bought a second lesson for that afternoon.

After that I planned a ski trip for this year to Colorado (Breckenridge and Keystone). I had just as much fun and improved a lot! So now it's an activity I want to keep in my life.

You did all the right things!. We went through it in this article. It is amazing what a difference early instruction makes. You are ways ahead of where you would be if you started on your own. And from now on, if you can keep up with taking a lesson now and then, you are golden. That's the fast track to enjoying the mountain sooner and better (still on the steep learning curve myself). Kudos!
 

NonNativeRado

Astonishingly Mediocre
Skier
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Posts
52
Location
Denver, CO
For all intents and purposes, 2015-2016 season. Self taught. Unhelpful first day lesson opening weekend at Arapahoe Basin. Attempted a day at Keystone which meant 3 hours down Schoolmarm. Texted some friends who recommended videos from Warren Smith, Darren Turner, Josh Foster, and Lito Tejada-Flores. Went to Breckenridge and spent 2 hours on the carpet w/ toddlers to learn how to turn. Skipped the whole wedging thing. Built up from there. Started lurking at EpicSki, here, and elsewhere for tips. Recorded myself at times and had instructor friends evaluate it.

75+ days later at all the Epic Pass spots in Colorado, a couple days in Aspen, a couple runs down Loveland Pass... I can survive almost anything, but can I actually ski? Nope.
 

CrystalRose

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Apr 25, 2017
Posts
86
Location
Southern California
@Mendieta My father has been skiing several times and always talked about taking lessons and how much fun skiing is so it seemed like a no brainer to take lessons. He never took my mother again after the first time in the 80's. He said he didn't want to spend his whole trip picking her up:roflmao:. She didn't enjoy it anyway. I never went with him because they were always "Guy Trips". Anyway, I ended up taking two full day lessons on my trip and plan on taking more. I find them to be fun!

@NonNativeRado So funny you mention Schoolmarm! After 2 nice calm days on the greens at Breckenridge. My dad and I head over to Keystone to ski the infamous "Schoolmarm". My dad had talked about it for years but hadn't been back in 10 (plus he was 10 years olderogwink). So we get on the gondola and start heading up and my stomach is in knots. There's an mid station and the gondola doors open and I prepare to get off but the liftie says "There's nothing interesting here, you need to go to the top." As the doors start to close I pry them open and say "WAIT! Are you sure? We are trying to get to Schoolmarm." He says "Yep go to the top!" :eek::eek:So now my stomach is doing cartwheels. We get off and I might as well be on top of the world. Anyway we huff and puff and fall down Schoolmarm for probably an hour+. As soon as I got to the base I signed up for another lesson, my dad taps out. Instructor later told me that Keystone's greens are Breck's blues. I have lost my trust in the color system!

It would not be somewhere I would send a first timer (and that is their easy /family run!). Sorry to derail the thread please continue.
 

Stev

Orange Mocha Frappuccino
Skier
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Posts
778
Location
Mt. Sputnik, NV
When I was in high school (mid 1970's) my friend and gymnastics teammate Ken “taught” me to ski at Four Lakes in Lisle, IL. Here is the level of instruction that I received in its entirety: “Rent the equipment, it is easy.” So after leaving the rental shop and putting on my skis I headed up the rope tow watching people skiing down as I headed up. Based on what I saw, I put my skis together and pointed them downhill. Without turning I sped up as I headed downhill well past the bottom of the rope tow into the parking lot. Fortunately my skis were aimed at the passenger door of a car which allowed me to catch myself and absorb any impact with my arms while my ski tips went under the car without hitting the tires. Neither the car nor I was harmed by this. I made my way back to the rope tow and watched people skiing as I headed back up. This time I noticed that they also turned their skis. I proceeded to make a combination of right turns and pointing straight down until I was as far to skier’s right as possible by the time I made it to the bottom of the hill. After a long step and push back to the rope tow I headed up for my third run. I was able to combine left turns with right turns which allowed me to ski directly back to the bottom of the rope tow. On my fourth ride up I noticed that there were some people who actually fell when they skied. I had no desire to do this as I hadn’t fallen, but I was concerned for their safety so I practiced stopping on my way downhill just in case they fell in front of me. I skied the rest of the day without falling even once. My friend Ken was right. It was easy.
 

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,129
Location
Not Ikon, UT
2016! Went to Big Bear for my 30th birthday to mix things up (what's life without a little adventure?). I bought one of those beginner ski packages that includes your rentals/lift tickets/lesson. I went in thinking it would just be something to check off my bucket list but ended up having a ball! So much so that I went over to the ski school and bought a second lesson for that afternoon.

After that I planned a ski trip for this year to Colorado (Breckenridge and Keystone). I had just as much fun and improved a lot! So now it's an activity I want to keep in my life.

@CrystalRose
I am about the same place as you at this point, but older :) And like you I am getting boots in December. Do yourself a favor, read Inner Skiing by Timothy Galloway. It is a great insight into learning, and should help you improve at a faster pace. It made a huge difference to my Golf in the late 70's early 80's. Back then there was no Inner Game of Golf, we just used the Inner Game of Tennis and adapted it to golf.

My goals are to just be able to ski well enough to ski with my wife..... some of the time :)
 

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