I always say I’ve never done any alpine but it’s not exactly true. I alpined 2 days in my life, once at Gore in the old Gondi days- early 90s. I rented gear and conditions were really bad – a sheet of ice and frozen dirt. If you skied Gore before they had access to the Hudson…you know.
The second time was actually a fair test. I was at Squaw for the first time. I was definitely still an intermediate on teles. I rented alpine gear and was skiing like an advanced beginner. Tripping on my tails, and frustrated walking in tight boots that were supposed to be excellent.
Back on tele in the afternoon and I was back to being an intermediate. I skied with a client. He was a total bomber, on alpines, on his home mountain. I skied stuff WAY beyond my ability. Anyway he took me up a lift on KT22. It had skull and crossbones on the lift at the bottom. “Expert terrain only.”
