What is your skiing history?

[Kingslug]

Tried skiing when I was 13 back in 77 at Big Vanilla....kept falling..feet bleeding...hated it.
Tried a few more times..kept falling..feet bleeding...hated it.
Then I married a skier. She teaches me how to ski at Vernon valley Great Gorge...kept falling..everything bleeding..hated it.
But..then we go to Belleayre where her family has a small place. Now I get the hang of it..Stopped falling..nothing bleeding..I like it. Then I get addicted to it..Then its all I want to do every weekend. Get divorced. Marry another skier. Now I've skied all over the world and get about 40 days a year in. Things are good.

 

[Ripitz]

Good thread
I started when I was 4. Silver Bells at Wells. When I was 13, my father and I were riding the single chair at MRG and some guys with long hair and long skis ducked the rope and jumped the cliff.
“ Dad, who are those guys? “
” ski bums “
” What’s a ski bum?”
This had a big influence on my life. I moved to Waitsfield in ‘91. I thought I was good but I wasn’t. The real local ski bums crushed me. So I learned. I started racing at 20. I came in somewhere around 90th. The next season I was in the 80s. When I got into the 60s I quit drinking in between race runs. I was a carpenter working for John Egan so I got some good advice and eventually made the top ten.
I moved to BigSky in ‘91, won my first race and then wrecked my race skis on rocks and pretty much quit racing. Now I ski powder and bitch about the old days and how IKON has ruined my life

That must have been a trip working for John. Around that same time I had the pleasure of skiing with him, his brother Dan and the DesLauriers brothers. I was a student in their first Extreme Team Advanced Skiing Clinic at Bolton Valley and Sugarbush. Those guys were my ski heroes and it was so cool to meet them let alone ski with them. Many years later I met Dan in Big Sky where he was still doing clinics with his wife Miki. I ended up skiing around with them helping with the clinic and shot a lot of photography. I was there another year when they returned and was fortunate to do it again. They obviously rip but I was more impressed about how down to Earth they are. There’s a lot of great people in the ski industry. Those guys are among the best.

 

[cerv1]

I started skiing around 7th grade, at a place called Yawgoo Valley. It’s Rhode Island’s only lift-served ski hill. I remember taking one lesson, deciding I was ready for the lift, and tucking straight down a blue square and crashing into a fence at the bottom.

My parents weren’t really skiers, but because I was into it and it was a chance to do something together, we’d go skiing a handful of times each winter.

After tiring of Yawgoo, we did night skiing at Wachusetts, then a few weekend trips to NH and Maine. My father has family in Italy, so we even went skiing a few times in the Dolomites, which was spectacular.

I loved studying trail maps almost as much as I loved skiing. During my teens, I would literally read ski guidebooks cover to cover. I’ve never met anyone else who shares this bizarre hobby, and sadly they don’t seem to publish ski guidebooks anymore (I can’t even find old used ones on Amazon).

After college, I lived in tropical climates for over a decade and basically forgot about skiing.

Somehow, a couple years ago, I saw that James Neuhaus was publishing a book of all his trail maps. He was a hero of mine. I immediately ordered a copy. It arrived about a year later - I read it cover to cover, and this rekindled my interest in skiing.

This past winter I introduced my 6 year old son to the sport and we notched 10 days together, mostly at Belleayre.

Reading this site and others’ experiences is inspiring, and gives me hope that one day I will be good enough to ski Rumor on spring snow, Plunge on a powder day, or the Slides any day they’re open...

 

[Harvey]

I started skiing around 7th grade, at a place called Yawgoo Valley. It’s Rhode Island’s only lift-served ski hill. I remember taking one lesson, deciding I was ready for the lift, and tucking straight down a blue square and crashing into a fence at the bottom.

My parents weren’t really skiers, but because I was into it and it was a chance to do something together, we’d go skiing a handful of times each winter.

After tiring of Yawgoo, we did night skiing at Wachusetts, then a few weekend trips to NH and Maine. My father has family in Italy, so we even went skiing a few times in the Dolomites, which was spectacular.

I loved studying trail maps almost as much as I loved skiing. During my teens, I would literally read ski guidebooks cover to cover. I’ve never met anyone else who shares this bizarre hobby, and sadly they don’t seem to publish ski guidebooks anymore (I can’t even find old used ones on Amazon).

After college, I lived in tropical climates for over a decade and basically forgot about skiing.

Somehow, a couple years ago, I saw that James Neuhaus was publishing a book of all his trail maps. He was a hero of mine. I immediately ordered a copy. It arrived about a year later - I read it cover to cover, and this rekindled my interest in skiing.

This past winter I introduced my 6 year old son to the sport and we notched 10 days together, mostly at Belleayre.

Reading this site and others’ experiences is inspiring, and gives me hope that one day I will be good enough to ski Rumor on spring snow, Plunge on a powder day, or the Slides any day they’re open...

Like!

As far as the last paragraph...

Rocker.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I have a sense of deja vu answering this question, as I am certain that there was a similar discussion on the old forum. Oh well, start afresh.

I felt the same way while typing my account -- "didn't I already do this?"

I wasn't aware (or forgot) that you grew up in Montreal like Mad Pat. LOL: "NYBSers" -- tell us how you really feel!

 

[Sick Bird Rider]

. LOL: "NYBSers" -- tell us how you really feel!

A Freudian slip, I assure you.

One of the best parts of that first event was informing my wife that I was going on a ski weekend with a bunch of guys that I had met on the Internet. Good times.

 

[Warp daddy]

I started skiing around 7th grade, at a place called Yawgoo Valley. It’s Rhode Island’s only lift-served ski hill. I remember taking one lesson, deciding I was ready for the lift, and tucking straight down a blue square and crashing into a fence at the bottom.

My parents weren’t really skiers, but because I was into it and it was a chance to do something together, we’d go skiing a handful of times each winter.

After tiring of Yawgoo, we did night skiing at Wachusetts, then a few weekend trips to NH and Maine. My father has family in Italy, so we even went skiing a few times in the Dolomites, which was spectacular.

I loved studying trail maps almost as much as I loved skiing. During my teens, I would literally read ski guidebooks cover to cover. I’ve never met anyone else who shares this bizarre hobby, and sadly they don’t seem to publish ski guidebooks anymore (I can’t even find old used ones on Amazon).

After college, I lived in tropical climates for over a decade and basically forgot about skiing.

Somehow, a couple years ago, I saw that James Neuhaus was publishing a book of all his trail maps. He was a hero of mine. I immediately ordered a copy. It arrived about a year later - I read it cover to cover, and this rekindled my interest in skiing.

This past winter I introduced my 6 year old son to the sport and we notched 10 days together, mostly at Belleayre.

Reading this site and others’ experiences is inspiring, and gives me hope that one day I will be good enough to ski Rumor on spring snow, Plunge on a powder day, or the Slides any day they’re open...

Ah The Mighty Yawgoo !!! We have one an hr away i call the The Mighty Dry Hill all 300 vert , but i ski it WHENEVER the Queen shops at the regional Big Mall there , it beats shopping and get about 40 runs in a little over 2 hrs hahahahaha

 

[idratherbskiing]

Put on skis by my parents at 4 years old...the addiction was instant. Skied throughout high school with friends, we all pushed each others limits and made us the nuts we are today.

 

[tirolski]

I started skiing around 7th grade, ... straight down a blue square and crashing into a fence at the bottom. Check, if ya substitute cars in parking lot

My parents weren’t really skiers, ... Check

My father has family in Italy, Check so we even went skiing a few times in the Dolomites, which was spectacular. Almost check, been there a couple times but work had priority at the time and it was during a period when I kinda forgot about skiing and fished in the winter. It’s on the bucket list though.

After college, I lived in tropical climates for over a decade and basically forgot about skiing. Check. If ya count 5 years in Oxford Mississippi tropical.

Reading this site and others’ experiences is inspiring, and gives me hope that one day I will be good enough to ski Rumor on spring snow, Plunge on a powder day, or the Slides any day they’re open... Check, but changed to good enough to ski the Dolomites and enjoy winter life in the old country. It’s why I had a M-F pass at Gore to practice up. Reading this stuff helps the stoke.

We may be some type of twin-cousins.

 

[Harvey]

I'm surprised by all of the later-in-lifers. I thought it would be more started-before-I-was-10ers.