I used to hang out a lot at Barking Bear Forums / EpicSki, but drifted away, as apparently many folks did. As is true of many of the Intros here, I found this site after searching for the other, and I'm grateful to Phil for getting this going!
About me: I started skiing when I was 9 years old when my older sister dragged me to Stratton one day. In hindsight, it was an EPIC powder day for an East Coast area, but I had no idea at the time that this was not the norm. All I remember is that my sis and her husband got me rentals, took me up the chair, dropped me off at the top, told me not to give up, and let me fend for myself as they took off. They kept lapping me and checking on me (it was clearly a "no friends or family on a powder day," but what did I know?). I'm pretty sure it took me an hour to swim in the pow to the bottom, But by the time I got down, I was HOOKED!
And that was (gulp) 50 years ago! Needless to say, I LOVE skiing.
I have skied pretty much every ski resort, big and small, still existing or now-defunct, in the Western US at some point in my life in these past 50 years. Currently, and for the last many years, I have called Mammoth my home resort...having made the drive (or flight) from SoCal up there at least hundreds, if not thousands (?) of times. I usually ski about 50 days yearly...not bad for a commuter!
I almost only ski now, but did snowboard for a while in the late 1980s-early 1990s. And I'll ski just about anything. I figure if it's frozen, white, and on a pitch I can figure out a way to have fun on that! But if given a choice, besides blower pow of course, my FAVORITE snow condition is an epic wind-buff day at the top of Wooly Mammoth.
I have skied on so many skis over the years, it's dizzying to think about how much money I have spent on equipment in all that time. Currently my quiver has been whittled down to 4 pair of skis: Stockli Stormrider XXLs (sorry to say that I wrecked these, and so now they're my rock skis), Stockli Stormrider 95s-my daily drivers, Blizzard Brahmas for slush/glop/springtime bumps, and Volkl Gotamas. I have heard rumor that Santa might be bringing me a pair of Line Pescados if I am a good boy. I'm in a pair of Tecnica 120s with Surefoot orthotics and injected liners.
I'm looking forward to lurking, and contributing when I can!
About me: I started skiing when I was 9 years old when my older sister dragged me to Stratton one day. In hindsight, it was an EPIC powder day for an East Coast area, but I had no idea at the time that this was not the norm. All I remember is that my sis and her husband got me rentals, took me up the chair, dropped me off at the top, told me not to give up, and let me fend for myself as they took off. They kept lapping me and checking on me (it was clearly a "no friends or family on a powder day," but what did I know?). I'm pretty sure it took me an hour to swim in the pow to the bottom, But by the time I got down, I was HOOKED!
And that was (gulp) 50 years ago! Needless to say, I LOVE skiing.
I have skied pretty much every ski resort, big and small, still existing or now-defunct, in the Western US at some point in my life in these past 50 years. Currently, and for the last many years, I have called Mammoth my home resort...having made the drive (or flight) from SoCal up there at least hundreds, if not thousands (?) of times. I usually ski about 50 days yearly...not bad for a commuter!
I almost only ski now, but did snowboard for a while in the late 1980s-early 1990s. And I'll ski just about anything. I figure if it's frozen, white, and on a pitch I can figure out a way to have fun on that! But if given a choice, besides blower pow of course, my FAVORITE snow condition is an epic wind-buff day at the top of Wooly Mammoth.
I have skied on so many skis over the years, it's dizzying to think about how much money I have spent on equipment in all that time. Currently my quiver has been whittled down to 4 pair of skis: Stockli Stormrider XXLs (sorry to say that I wrecked these, and so now they're my rock skis), Stockli Stormrider 95s-my daily drivers, Blizzard Brahmas for slush/glop/springtime bumps, and Volkl Gotamas. I have heard rumor that Santa might be bringing me a pair of Line Pescados if I am a good boy. I'm in a pair of Tecnica 120s with Surefoot orthotics and injected liners.
I'm looking forward to lurking, and contributing when I can!
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