remebering days gone by...

[Phineas]

http://forums.skiadk.com/viewtopic.php?p=7604#7604

[freeheelwilly]

First skis were JC Penny Krystals. Lime green. 160s. Tyrolia 150 bindings, Forgot what the boots were. All circa 1977. Skied at Buck Hill In South Minneapolis! Something like 300 feet of vertical goodness. Ski patrol would knock down our jumps as fast as we could build them. Funny to see the garage size kickers the mountains build now. Times have changed. Never skied more than 10/15 times a year (sometimes not even that) until I got into the whole tele scene right after the equipment got good (~1995). But that's a long story.

Skiing Rocks! And yesterday it really rocked!

[tjf67]

My first day of skiing was at mount snow. I got a pair of skiis and my dad brought home these new bindings. We went down in the basement and screwed them into the skiis and off we went. My first chair I was getting on the binding broke off the skiis. Man was I pissed. Had to go rent a pair. I took off by myself to a lift over on the left hand side of the mountain and taught myself how to ski. I would go straight as long as I could and just fall when I had to. kinda like I do now. From there I would go to rock candy. The tee bar was tricky little thing to learn. I had as much fun trying to make it up the hill as down. It was still staight till I fell. Turning was a beatch but I caught on.
Never took a lesson but have been schooled many times

[freeheelwilly]

Classic! :lol:

[Telemon]

First skis were all wood kids skis painted orange, with plastic toeboxes and metal coil springs that went around your heel. Think "worlds worst tele equipment" and you would be close. Fortunately, I was only about 10 years old and was in love with those skis.....At least until I tried them out!

Later, first "real" skiing was at Kissing Bridge in Western NY. Went on a bus with a gaggle of other kids, and I can still remember having gotten myself somehow to the top of a bump run and had absolutely no idea how I was going to get to the bottom. I could see the bus idling far below me in the parking lot, with people beginning to load for the trip home. I was absolutely unable to ski that trail, and was in a panic over how I would get back to the bus before it left. I did make it, but just barely, and not as a result of any skiing skill, either. No, it was the celebrated and time-tested butt-slide that saved my hide that day.....

[SKIdds]

First time on skis was side stepping up next to the base lodge at Bromley at the age of 12 or so. Some old Dynastars, old look bindings, and the good old Scott boots. My uncle was a great teacher, and big into Scott boots. Good thing, as it meant he had lots 'o spare parts. I cracked three different uppers before I finally bought myself a pair of Raichle boots and started racing at Birch Hill (since renamed Thunder Ridge) in Patterson, NY. All 500 vertical feet of it, but being on the ski team was good for getting me on the hill three or four days a week during my formative skiing years.

Some great Vermont skiing memories growing up, and then the trip with a bunch of high school friends to Mount Snow, on which trip my future wife and I got together. Skiing has been berry, berry good to me.

First time at Whitey? Must have been about 14. My aunt takes us up to Lake Placid. Stayed in a creeeeky old farmhouse where the mice would come out and hang with you when you arrived. Cool old place. So she takes us to the mountain, me and my brothers. All barely out of novice stage, only having been skiing a season or so, and not all that much during that time. Can't recall how, but she inadvertantly, safely somehow, gets us to Wilderness. So, just below 2,200 Road or so my older brother does what I now like to call the turtle. He falls.....and begins to slide. I had to be 50 feet or so below him, and I see him go down on his back. Slow motion at first. Sliding. Now faster, still on his back. Quickly he's little more than a white cloud passing me by, having shed his equipment. All the way to the bottom of Wilderness he slides, spinning on his back like a turtle on it's shell. Let me tell you, I skied Wilderness like I grew up on skis to get down and see if my brother was alive. I promply arrive to find him laughing his arse off. Needless to say, my aunt didn't find it so funny.

[Face4Me]

Self taught starting at age 13 at Sterling Forest Ski Center (also several other victims of modern times including Big Vanilla at Davos, Silver Mine and Stony Point). First equipment was a pair of Roy skis (Italian I think), Americana plate bindings (remember plate bindings anyone? Spademans?), and Trappeur boots (a "soft-toe" boot that I later found out would not work with the modern "step-in" bindings that started to show up in the late 70's!

That was some cool stuff! :D

[Denison]

Self taught starting at age 13 at Sterling Forest Ski Center

Fase4Me, the "Sterling Forest" is back under new name Tuxedo Ridge. They just finished season with 3 weekends of free skiing and free rentals offer: http://www.skituxedoridge.com. Great place to go with a small kid.

[Face4Me]

Self taught starting at age 13 at Sterling Forest Ski Center

Fase4Me, the "Sterling Forest" is back under new name Tuxedo Ridge. They just finished season with 3 weekends of free skiing and free rentals offer: http://www.skituxedoridge.com. Great place to go with a small kid.

I had seen that it reopened. I think that's great for the area. It provides an opportunity for people in the area, especially kids, who might not ever get a chance to ski or ride, a chance to give it a try. Speaking for myself, when I was a kid, no one in my family skied. I started by going on Friday night school trips. Without Sterling Forest, I might never have tried it. Local, small mountain areas may not be too impressive, but they definitely provide a great service to the communities they're in.

[colonel klink]

started when i was 3 with some crappy old wooden skis that were like a foot long and had screwed on edges. still have them in my basement

[jackstraw]

i thought this was going to be about when ghost was still a man before the sex change operation...

carry on... :D