Snow skiing

Ed Haywood

Ed Haywood

Final Approach
Joined
Jul 12, 2020
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Tampa FL
Display Name
Ed
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FD77
How many other enthusiasts do we have here? What variants: Alpine, Nordic, Backcountry? How many days on snow do you log in a typical season? Where are your favorite mountains?

I love it. Second only to flying, and it's a close second. I relocated to Colorado this winter, at the base of Beaver Creek. I did 50 days last year, and am shooting for the magic 100 this year. Unfortunately, the snow in the Rockies so far is terrible.

Mostly alpine last year, but am going for at least 50/50 backcountry this year. I like my AT gear so much that I might not even touch my alpine gear, except perhaps for a few big mountain days.

Most of my lift served days are at Beaver Creek, which I am partial to because of the lack of crowds and lift lines, and also because I live 5 minutes away. But I've skied most mountains in Colorado and love 'em all. Personal favorites are A Basin, Ski Cooper, and Bridger Bowl in MT.

My goal for this year is to bag my first winter 14'er. I am fortunate to be healthy and strong at age 61, so I'm gonna use it while I've got it.
 
I started skiing in 1964 when I was 5. Back then it was wood skis, laced leather boots, and cable bindings. All over the northeast, Vermont and local bumps. Favorites are Gore Mt. (NY), Stowe (VT), and Mont Tremblant (Quebec). Skied a lot until my 20s when it got too expensive. Went a few times since when my daughter was a teenager but the cost is even more absurd and the old time vibe is gone. I still have a set of Head 360 metal skis with Look-Nevada bindings somewhere.

But I also started XC skiing in my teens and never stopped that. No groomed trails, more backcountry (with edged skis). I go on the hiking trails and off trail around our house and cabin whenever there's snow. I see XC as more a winter hiking alternative than skiing.

Not sure my knees could handle downhill any more, and I'll probably miss this year completely as I have rotator cuff surgery scheduled for January.
 
It has been WAY too long since I've been skiing. My intro to it was in elementary school, when we took a vacation to Utah to ski with my ski-patroller uncle and his family - He took us to Alta on day 1. My first chairlift ride was about an hour long, I got off the lift and listened to what my cross-country-skiing mom had tried to tell me about downhill (which she knew nothing about) and went splat after about 10 seconds. Took the rest of the day to get back down. Day 2 was at Snowbird on their bunny hill, got it figured out and started having fun, and on day 3 we went back to Alta and I loved it.

There was a ski club right down the road from my parents' house, and I joined there and spent several years skiing about 5 days a week all winter long. They had 5 runs and 4 ski jumps, so I tried that a bit too, though with my proclivity for trying new and different activities all the time, my parents refused to buy me any more equipment, which killed the dream of being the next Eddie the Eagle. :rofl: But, the downhill was great. The runs weren't long, but they had rope tows to get back up and especially on weeknights there was no line so you could just ski right up, grab the rope and go up the hill almost as fast as you went down. After a while, it was enough exercise that you could take your coat off!

High school activities took up more of my time so I skied less as I got older, and after graduation I wasn't in close proximity to anything, so it just became the occasional expensive trip to a public ski hill, which was always farther away.

I do miss it and I've had fun on those occasions when I do it but it's probably been 20+ years now since the last time I went, and I don't know if my knees would take it any more! :(
 
Ed Haywood said:
How many other enthusiasts do we have here? What variants: Alpine, Nordic, Backcountry? How many days on snow do you log in a typical season? Where are your favorite mountains?

I love it. Second only to flying, and it's a close second. I relocated to Colorado this winter, at the base of Beaver Creek. I did 50 days last year, and am shooting for the magic 100 this year. Unfortunately, the snow in the Rockies so far is terrible.

Mostly alpine last year, but am going for at least 50/50 backcountry this year. I like my AT gear so much that I might not even touch my alpine gear, except perhaps for a few big mountain days.

Most of my lift served days are at Beaver Creek, which I am partial to because of the lack of crowds and lift lines, and also because I live 5 minutes away. But I've skied most mountains in Colorado and love 'em all. Personal favorites are A Basin, Ski Cooper, and Bridger Bowl in MT.

My goal for this year is to bag my first winter 14'er. I am fortunate to be healthy and strong at age 61, so I'm gonna use it while I've got it.
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Between 2009 and 2020 I went every religiously every year for 6-10 days. Usually as a group, but in years where logistics didn't work out I would go with my best friend who is just as into it. 2020 put a stop to things because COVID and then everyone had kids at the same time... Lame.
The fact that lift tickets skyrocketed in price and now EPIC passes are the only way to go also hurt demand from our group.

Similar to you, it is my favorite thing in the world second only to flying (but snowboarding, haven't learned to ski yet). I have a great routine there. I'll be up super early every day sipping coffee, suiting up and in the lift line to take the first chair up. I'll go all day (minus an overpriced lunch break) and be among the last people down. Then head back to the lodge, hot-tub, shower, get dinner + beers. I imagine it's a lot like what heaven is like.

I don't know what kind of actual "style" this would be, but my favorite thing to do is take the lift as high up as I can go (then maybe T-Bars to get a little higher if the terrain is within my personal limits). Put some space between me and the throngs of people clogging lift lines. Then put my headphones in, turn on some Tycho and cruise fast, oscillating between toe-edge/heel-edge to keep my speed in check and working my way down. I'm a solid blue/black guy. No double blacks, nothing insane, no tricks, jumps, etc. Just get some speed and feel one with the mountain :cool:. Occasionally I'll do a shortcut through a small patch of moguls for enjoyment (impossible for me to navigate on a snowboard, so I crash, but it's fun).

Favorite spots: Whistler BC (been 3x) and Steamboat.

And GOD... just writing this and I can't wait to go again. Maybe I'll book a trip this season... (Gotta lose about 30lbs before I do it again, though!)

Enjoy your time out there and let us live vicariously through you!
 
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I’m big on goin straight to the Apres Ski…that other stuff is for the wannabes
 
First ski trip was in high school. Fell in love immediately. 24 years later moved to Colorado. 20 years there. Even skied once when I could barely walk. I really miss skiing. Couple of trips back and a few to other western resorts since then. I just can’t see doing it locally.
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Alpine for the last 50 years, the kids do the backcountry. We are also 5 minutes away, so we are pretty boring, line up for first-ish chair and stick to our favorite side of our mountain, for 3-4 hours. We have been making the effort to at least hit the other Epic Pass resorts in the greater Tahoe area once or twice a year. Me 30 days a year, M'lady's bad knees and work keep her at 15 or so.
 
Despite growing up in Southern Idaho (75 minutes from Sun Valley!) I didn't experience downhill skiing until grad school in upstate NY. I've been at it ever since. Less often during the many years I was working in NJ; mostly one weekend a month in Vermont, and an occasional day in the Poconos. Now that I'm retired to North Idaho, with 5 local hills (anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours away), I'm skiing a lot more; still just 20 days last year but we were still unpacking from the move. I'll have better numbers this year. I'm almost exclusively a downhill skier now, though occasionally I'll get out the cross-country gear. I tried snowboarding for a year awhile back, but it didn't take. I did telemark for a few years, but eventually my knees took a vote and insisted I stop.

Of the local mountains, the ones I mostly ski include Schweitzer, by far the largest of the hills in these parts. They're fond of pointing out that they have more skiable acreage than Sun Valley, though they do also have 600 fewer vertical feet. I've got a season pass to Silver Mountain, interesting in that getting to it requires a 3.2 mile, 25 minute gondola ride from the mining town of Kellogg. You can't even see the actual ski area from town. Another favorite is Lookout Pass, which straddles the continental divide, and so also the Idaho/Montana border and the Mountain and Pacific Time zone boundary. Under the main lift, you can link turns in Idaho/Montana/Idaho/Montana/Idaho...

It's been a bad snow year thus far; I pre-bought two Schweitzer tickets back in mid-November. This year they only opened on Dec 3, just one day before my first ticket had to be used. They opened with just one lift, and one run (of 98) in operation. I'd hoped it would improve before I had to use my other ticket yesterday. It did not. Just the one run. So my ski tracker app now shows 46,000 vertical feet for the year, consisting of 44 laps on the same trail. At least it is a scenic one, overlooking Lake Pend Oreille.

One of the most delightful realizations upon my retirement was that I never have to ski on a weekend again. I've met a lot of really impressive older skiers here on the weekdays...rode the lift with a guy last year who told me he had achieved the 'ski your age' goal that day. He was 80, and it was his 80th ski day that season (with a few weeks yet to go). Yesterday at Schweitzer I met a guy who was one of only two people to earn their 'ironman' award last year. He skied all 142 days that the mountain was open. He was in his mid-70s.
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If you fly to ski... BE SURE YOUR SKIES ARE SECURE!!! Not just sort of tied down, but SECURE!!! Even just sliding on runway ice that sends you into a burm could send those skies flying into the back of someone's head.
 
GaryM said:
It's been a bad snow year thus far; I pre-bought two Schweitzer tickets back in mid-November. This year they only opened on Dec 3, just one day before my first ticket had to be used.
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Do they not give you a "Wx" extension with all the rain and warm temps?

When we lived back east (NYC) we loved going up to stay in the various B&B in upstate NY, VT & NH that were only minutes away from the resorts. Some of the chefs those places had were amazing back in the day.

And did you end up at COE? I'm now over at SFF.
 
M20K said:
Do they not give you a "Wx" extension with all the rain and warm temps?

When we lived back east (NYC) we loved going up to stay in the various B&B in upstate NY, VT & NH that were only minutes away from the resorts. Some of the chefs those places had were amazing back in the day.

And did you end up at COE? I'm now over at SFF.
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I did indeed end up at COE, I found a rental C150 and got checked out just a couple of months ago. We now live about 15 minutes from the field. I haven't yet landed at SFF, but did fly past on a checkout flight to Spokane International.

I don't think Schweitzer offered a Wx extension of any kind. Had they not opened before the date on my ticket(s) they would have refunded, but once the mountain was 'open' I didn't have that option anymore.
 
I first skied when I was in my mid twenties. The Other Person's friend was a ski instructor, and she took us to Alpine Meadows. I went on the bunny slope with no training, crashed and burned each time, and eventually was told I was a danger to myself and others and I should probably find another recreational hobby, preferably one that does not involve sharp knives. But my only exposure to skiing was on TV - the Olympics. Point downhill and go for it.

The second time I actually took a class and learned how to slow down and turn. It became fun after that and I progressed past the bunny slope but not the diamond placarded thingies. I've skied half a dozen times since and enjoyed it fairly well. But not enough to buy equipment and season passes.
 
Late teens to mid-30’s, lots of downhill skiing, both east and west. Since then, very spotty. Went to Steamboat two years ago, I had fun but my left knee was very unhappy.
 
Ed, I literally tried Alpine Touring for the first time last night. I can’t wait to go back and do some more. A season ticket for an uphill pass is only $90! Still trying to get used to clipping into the tech bindings though. Any advice is welcomed!

Oh, and skiing since 1974. I still suck.
 
Kent Wien said:
Ed, I literally tried Alpine Touring for the first time last night. I can’t wait to go back and do some more. A season ticket for an uphill pass is only $90! Still trying to get used to clipping into the tech bindings though. Any advice is welcomed!
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Each one is different, but it can definitely be a circus act, especially in deep powder off piste.
 
skier. Never tried boarding. I’ve been skiing 2 decades longer than being a pilot. Mostly all mountain, tending more to black/double black

Heading for a week of skiing in a month :)
 
Initial Fix said:
skier. Never tried boarding.
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I got good enough to ride the blues, but going back to skiing was a mostly a result of impatience. I wanted to back to the black runs. Having to look over my shoulder to clear a right turn was also a minor annoyance (I ride goofy).
 
Skied for years staring in the 60's. Picked my HS based on it having a ski hill. Tried racing, but wasn't as good as the Maine kids. Tried XC and competed in HS and college. Added nordic jumping to the menu and was mediocre. Our D2 college won the NCAA's and got an automatic bid to the D1 championship. It was at Dartmouth College in VT. On the XC side, no big deal, just better competition. Several competitors were on the olympic team. Jumping was similar, with one exception. D2 mostly did 45 meter jumps, D1 was 70 meter. I had never jumped 70, ever. I was also the only one not speaking a Scandinavian language on top. Scared the crap out of me. Did the jump, was likely scored last and gave that up.

Haven't skied alpine in 20+ years.
 
Grrrrr... got just barely enough snow last night to ski, but with my shoulder issue I reluctantly concluded that hiking (in the woods behind the house) was probably a better decision than skiing today.

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I learned what I call "All Terrain Ice Skating" when I was in College (Charlotte NC). My group of friends would occasionally go up to the slopes around Boone or to Snowshoe WV
That evolved into a regular reunion trip for a few years after graduation, that quickly pivoted to Colorado.
Then that dried up as weddings and babies started happening.

For a number of years I used to try to go at least once or twice a year... would have gone a lot more had I lived close to a slope

It had been a few decades since I went. That's one of several aspects I hate about living in FL

but then last year for spring break I took my kids out to UT for a trip. They all loved it. My bank account didn't, but we had fun
 
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