First time skiing?

[bbinder]

Do you remember your first time getting on skis. In the picture below, I was 7,8, or 9. I am second from the right and my sister is on my right. I don’t remember much about the day - we were in a lesson and I do remember that I skied into (and I mean into) the lift line. It was a good reminder that I needed to learn how to stop. My parents springing for this was an outlier - I didn’t get back on skis until college. For gym class. Oh, and this is in the Catskills, not Switzerland. Phil can probably ID the equipment.

 

[Philpug]

Yes, I remember it. 12/25/75 at Camelback. A friend of my sister who was an instructor at Camelback brought us up for the "Free Christmas Night Ski". I was hooked ever since. The sad part is that she is now wheelchair bound and cannot walk. We do stay in touch through Facebook and I let her know that she was the inspiration for my life's journey.

 

[Ken_R]

Do you remember your first time getting on skis. In the picture below, I was 7,8, or 9. I am second from the right and my sister is on my right. I don’t remember much about the day - we were in a lesson and I do remember that I skied into (and I mean into) the lift line. It was a good reminder that I needed to learn how to stop. My parents springing for this was an outlier - I didn’t get back on skis until college. For gym class. Oh, and this is in the Catskills, not Switzerland. Phil can probably ID the equipment. View attachment 114539

I do. 1984, Killington VT. (xmas vacation). There was a good bit of snow on the ground (maybe 18") around the condo I was staying at. I was 11. I remember getting into some well used rental Salomon boots. Walking in those boots was a pain. They felt heavy, like I had to concrete blocks strapped to my feet. I dont recall the skis. I remember goin to an area called snowshed which was the neebie zone. My dad booked me into a group class. I remember it was cold and really icy. I was dressed properly but the boots were just cold. I learned how to slide and stop. I also learned how to "turn" (slide) over the next day or 2. I then spent a few days exploring the mountain with my sister and cousins. I remember clearly seeing patches of rock hard ice (I have never seen ice like that EVER in Colorado) that had a green or even blue tinge. I also remember seeing Bear Mtn. Scary steep top to bottom with huge moguls that looked taller than I was. I also remember getting stuck on a lift just freezing for 15 min until it got going again. My parents took me to Killington a few years straight after that. It sometimes snowed, sometimes rained, it was icy AF most times.

 

[ADKmel]

Yes! I was 5- Royal Mt- Dad was ski patrol and helped build the mountain, he taught me how to ski. Was the fast track to learning how to snow plow-
once we could slow and stop the whole Mt was ours. The slope beginner had a rope tow, the main Mt a T-bar, it was more of a chair lift for us we were too light to have our feet touch the ground. The rope tow was a nightmare- we'd get dragged- laughing up the hill, sure we let go but then what fun is that? I swear my torn Rotator Cuff happened way back then. I've been skiing ever since, don't think I ever took a year off (and I hope I don't ever)

 

[Bad Bob]

1955 Mount Rainier 5 years old. White rubber boots red skis, beartrap toes and cable bindings. Dad taught me, he had never skied before either. We all lived.

1956. I was much better then (probably better than I am today).

 

[Jilly]

1962 - Snow Valley, Barrie, Ontario. Friends of my parents were skiers and we decided to try it. I remember going up the rope tow, grabbing the tree that was beside the top and turned myself around. Sat down on the back of the skis and went down. Now this was the baby hill not much slope. Did it again and again till "uncle Bob" insisted that I stand up. In 1984 he was more excited than I was when I got my L2 CSIA.

Your wore you snow boots, over your shoes, girls wore leotards and snow pants. Wool mittens, toques etc. Safety straps that were either leather straps or those lovely elastic snap back one!!

50+ years later....still doing it!!

 

[slowrider]

1972 Ft.Greely,Ak. Mickey mouse boots & White rockets. I didn't pick skiing, it picked me.

 

[irishnc]

December, 1988. Eielson AFB, Alaska (http://www.alsap.org/Ravenwood/Ravenwood.htm). They had a small ski hill on base that was served by a two poma lifts. The lower poma lift was replaced the following year with a T-bar lift. Either the Artic Survival School or Det. 460 would groom the hill (They had the only track vehicles on base). I was 18 at the time and home on Christmas break. Skiing would shutdown if the temperature was below -20F.

Roger Krigsvold (retired Master Sgt) ran outdoor recreation on the base, may he rest in peace.

 

[Ogg]

1987-88. I was 17. Brodie Mtn ,MA.(“The Irish Alps”). Never got off the bunny hill that first weekend. Went again later that season on a chartered bus trip to Killington with most of my classmates. After the first day I “got it” enough to go out with a group of them. Watching some of them ski moguls felt like watching alien beings defy the laws of physics.

 

[scott43]

I don't remember the first time..I was 4 or 5..I DO remember randomly frozen jeans, frozen feet, frozen face and lots of fun.

 

[tch]

Sometime like 1969 or 70. We lived in northern Indiana and my brother went to Middlebury College. He returned anxious to show us all a new thing. We drove to a ski area built on a trash pile. 250(?) vertical feet. One rope tow, and what I remember most was spending the majority of the time trying to figure out how to catch the moving line without immediately face-planting.

 

[Bill Miles]

1960--Snoqualmie Summit, Wa. in seventh grade.

I was in the PTA ski school and rode their bus up from Mercer Island

My first lesson was not until afternoon, so I spent the morning riding the beginner rope tow without knowing how to turn or stop. Was able to go straight down the modest slope until there was an uphill at the adjacent chairlift bottom station that allowed me to stop.

Also had a binding release problem due to self induced meddling with a toe piece. Figured it out and corrected after an hour or two.

 

[Tominator]

Sometime like 1969 or 70. We lived in northern Indiana and my brother went to Middlebury College...

Hey tch, I went to Middlebury - class of '70 - maybe I knew your brother!

Anyway, my 1st time skiing was in December 1960 at Black Mountain in Jackson, NH.

 

[Scrundy]

Yeah I remember It very well, probably 1970 I was 5 years of age. All I remember is falling down and Being stuck in a bowl at bottom of kiddy hill. Angry wet and cold and pee’d myself and nobody helped me, felt like I was stuck for hours.

Definitely turned me off to skiing till I turned 40, and I gave it another shot. Fell in love and wish I would have stuck with it. It’s been 15 seasons now of 30 plus days, so on bright side I got over a year on the slopes ...... wish I had more

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

I also remember the day well - 1974 - Rod Roy ski club in Montreal. I do not remember which ski mountain we went to. I remember that I spent the day in the lodge because Arlington sports sold my parents round toed binding with my square toed boots so I couldn't even make it up the T-bar which pre-releasing. I still had a good time and continued. The rest of the season was much more fun.

 

[cosmoliu]

March 1984, Breckenridge. My younger brother, who had taken a few ski road trips in college, asked me out of the blue if I wanted to spend a long weekend skiing. The idea of skiing had never crossed my mind, but my mind was fertile ground as the Mahre brothers had just won Gold and Silver at Sarajevo. I got hooked so badly, I bought a pair of boots after coming off the hill that first evening. And I've never looked back.

 

[Marker]

First time was Elk Mountain in PA in 1989 when I was 31. A miserable day with misty rain mostly spent on the bunny hill until my wife took me to the top. I barely got down to the lodge that looked like nirvana in the distance! I still blame the straight skis! Fast forward 20 years to 2009 and I went with my wife and kids to Jack Frost in PA, she wanted to introduce them to skiing. My son really took to it, and my daughter and I had fun, so we kept going with each year leading to more days than before. We left PA mostly behind a few years back and now have Killington as our home mountain.

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

Wood skis with loops to stick your regular boots in... I was 7 or 8 probably... graduated to "cross country" wood skis with a loop to stick your foot in and another rubber/spring loop that went behind the heel and held the foot in

Tried downhill skies when I was 11-12 in mid 80s... For some reason I remember leather boots...

 

[wooglin]

Not a clue, but probably first grade since my school let out early on Wednesdays for lessons. A timely day to remember Ford Sayre.

History of Ford Sayre

Ford K. Sayre Memorial Ski Council: Skiing Since 1936 A Dedication Though born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Ford K. Sayre was a New Englander at heart. He learned to ski at Dartmouth College as an undergraduate, and even then he encouraged friends to take up the infant sport. Ford's love of t

www.fordsayre.org

 

[Uncle-A]

I am pretty sure it was 1967 and I was on a bus trip to Lake Placid NY. Skied at Whiteface Mt. Saturday and Sunday on wood skis with bear trap bindings and lace up leather boots. That is when I got hooked, and in the fall of 1971 is when I got my first job in a ski shop. That also was the first season I went in on a group ski house at Hunter Mt.