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First time skiing?

teejaywhy

Retired Eccentric
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Feb 19, 2019
Posts
1,245
Location
AZ
January or February of 1979. I was 23 years old and at the urging of my brother who had been skiing for several years, I signed up for a company Ski Club trip to Purgatory.

The story of this trip is an epic one, revolving around a very old bus, breakdowns, delays, the appearance of a "newer" old bus, a visit from the Highway Patrol, the need to obtain another charter bus to get us home, leaving the tour operator and his impounded old bus behind in Durango. Despite it all, the time I had skiing overrode all the crazy other stuff, and I was hooked.

The first day, I showed up in freshly Scotch Guarded blue jeans and a giant puffy jacket from J.C. Penney. A colleague gathered all the first timers to the bunny hill. "We will learn to snowplow, then ride the lift and ski down "Walks-a-Lot." After a few trips up the rope tow and down the bunny hill, I realized that my fellow beginner co-workers had abandoned me. No problem, I watched and listened to an instructor giving a group lesson and within a couple of runs, mastered the wedge turn. Off I went to the top of the mountain, trail map in hand, seeking the trail named Walks-A-Lot. Turned out, the trail was appropriately named, and after a couple zigs and zags, I bailed onto a run that actually went down the hill and I was off! Of course, by the third day, some co-workers persuaded me follow them for an ill-advised trip down the black bump run under the chairlift. Too young and stupid to know better, I made it!
 

KevinF

Gathermeister-New England
Team Gathermeister
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
3,345
Location
New England
My first day was in December 1992.

A friend of mine from college and I wound up in the Washington DC area. He called me up earlier that week and asked what I was doing that weekend and I said something about "no clue", so he said "you're learning to ski". So we drove out to Wisp (western Maryland). He attempted to teach me the basics, but -- as my other instructors were to learn -- I am most decidedly not a natural at any sort of athletic activity, so he eventually gave up and dumped me off on the ski school instead.

I remember crashing countless times, but I had heard skiing was "fun" and I refused to believe that I was that awful at something, so I went a second time. And a third. And a fourth. And... Eventually something must have clicked. Still here today!
 

Marker

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Oct 16, 2017
Posts
2,351
Location
Kennett Square, PA & Killington, VT
My first day was in December 1992.

A friend of mine from college and I wound up in the Washington DC area. He called me up earlier that week and asked what I was doing that weekend and I said something about "no clue", so he said "you're learning to ski". So we drove out to Wisp (western Maryland). He attempted to teach me the basics, but -- as my other instructors were to learn -- I am most decidedly not a natural at any sort of athletic activity, so he eventually gave up and dumped me off on the ski school instead.

I remember crashing countless times, but I had heard skiing was "fun" and I refused to believe that I was that awful at something, so I went a second time. And a third. And a fourth. And... Eventually something must have clicked. Still here today!
My wife feared for my life for the first few years of my skiing, can't say things have changed all that much. But I like skiing and I'm stubborn, so now my skiing sucks slightly less at better resorts...
 

bananyan

Booting up
Skier
Joined
Oct 31, 2020
Posts
32
Location
Toronto
Blue mountain near Toronto in 99. I was 10 and I just moved to Canada. It was my first time seeing snow too. I knew how to skate so skiing felt pretty natural to me. I only got a sticker to go on green runs but I didn't know I was restricted to green (my English was still so so at the time). I went on blue runs (without issues) and a classmate threatened to tell on me. F him. He was a worse skier than me.
 

David Orr

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Posts
148
Location
North Carolina
Age 4 with my Dad...Snow Ridge Turin, NY. I remember the "rope tow" on the Bunny Slope, Skiing between my Dad's Legs, Getting hit in the head from the T-Bar on South Slope, and Ski School. Also, thankful for ski school in my early years, Jim Morris, Ski School Director, was one of my Dad's good friends. Lucky that I had great role models that I could "learn by imitation"... after 30 years I still have many of those idiosyncrasies and traits...good and bad...LOL
 

Noodler

Sir Turn-a-lot
Skier
Joined
Oct 4, 2017
Posts
6,314
Location
Denver, CO
Skiing was a birthday gift from my parents when I was 8 (I think it was '76). Unfortunately my b-day is in the Summer, so even as an 8 year I was like WTF; what am I going to do with skiing in June? When the Fall rolled around, my mom brought me to a shop and asked me what color skis I like. I chose the Head Yahoos because I liked the name. I think they were mounted with Salomon 444 bindings. I also got some beautiful Dolomite ski boots too.

My parents didn't ski, but most of the kids in our neighborhood did, so that's why they decided to let me get into it. They literally took me up to Doe Mountain (now known as Bear Creek) to meet my friends and just dropped me off to hang with them. No lessons, they didn't stay and just told me what time they would be back to pick me up. What a different time that was. I can't even imagine doing that with my kids.

My friends were really great about trying to teach me to ski though. I remember burning through a few pairs of gloves on the rope tow, but eventually I figured out how to stop and make some turns. I don't remember exactly how, but I never took an official ski lesson until I was in my 30's. To this day I don't know how I never killed myself. I never even had an injury until I started trying to learn to do heli's (360's now) when I was 14. I accidentally hit my eye with my ski pole when it wrapped around my body during the rotation. Good times... ;)
 

Dr. Mark

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Dec 13, 2019
Posts
220
Location
NC High Country
At Christ School in Arden, NC, students had Monday afternoons free unless you had received demerits the week before. Our English master, Reed Finlay ("Big R"), took everyone who wanted to go in a van to Cataloochee Mountain in Maggie Valley. $10 for rental equipment for the afternoon, and IIRC $5 more for an hour lesson in 1972. Big R took us to Killington in the spring. Little R, whom I babysat, went on to become a backcountry guide in Jackson Hole.
 

doc

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Nov 25, 2015
Posts
744
My dad dragged me up to Loveland Valley (not Basin) in 1960 when I was 6. Rented ski gear from Dave Cook's: wooden skis with metal edges and, I think, cable bindings. Most vivid memory is my overly slow mastery of the rope tow and just how hard one's grip should be.
 

DanoT

RVer-Skier
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
4,788
Location
Sun Peaks B.C. in winter, Victoria B.C. in summer
1961 8th grade school trip to Montreal (attended my first NHL game, Habs vs Blackhawks), Quebec City, and an overnight and ski the next day at Mount Saint Anne. It was spring and the beginner run was closed due to lack of snow so it was the intermediate run with leather lace-up boots, wood skis and cable bindings.

Someone showed me a snow plow and said, "Stopping is just like hockey"....Oh. I never made it down once without crashing, twisted both ankles, and had a ball! I remember thinking, "What other sport can you be this rotten and still have so much fun?"

Decades later I found out that Mount Saint Anne was where my parents met.
 

Tex

Yee-haw!
Skier
Joined
Feb 8, 2020
Posts
1,778
Location
Texas
1981 my parents took me and a freind snow sking Winter Park Colorado, Winter Haven Ski Lodge, for a high school graduation present. I never snow skied before, but grew up water skiing. Well I was hooked, and struck up conversation with owner of ski lodge how much I loved it, he said well hell when you finish high school, you got a job here. That started my 4 year degree in international ski bumming.
I got a trip booked for Winter Park, have not been there since early 90's. Tried to look up my good friend Bill Brown, Wild Bill we called him. Owner of Winter Haven Ski Lodge. I was sad to find he past this year in July, link below. It was he who gave me my first ski bum job, great man, treated his staff like family. He wanted all of us to ski every day.... Pic below me and Bill, Bill in middle, I'm on the left, Winter Haven Ski Loge bar. RIP Wild Bill, love you!

wb.png


 

TJ Dutch

TJ Dutch
Skier
Joined
Apr 26, 2017
Posts
7
Location
West Michigan
1976, my girlfriend (now wife) & I obtained permission to skip high school for the day and we drove up to Alpine Valley in WI. At the prodding of one of my teachers, we took a group lesson. (Thank you Mr. Vogalsang). Short Olin Mark 4's if memory serves me with the suicide strap & a hybrid leather type boot (rentals). We had a blast and we still reminisce about that loooong day and trek. So thankful for that experience as we still ski regularly with our 4 daughters, their husbands and grand children.
 

Jack skis

Ex 207cm VR17 Skier
Skier
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Posts
886
Location
Fidalgo Island, WA
1976, my girlfriend (now wife) & I obtained permission to skip high school for the day and we drove up to Alpine Valley in WI. At the prodding of one of my teachers, we took a group lesson. (Thank you Mr. Vogalsang). Short Olin Mark 4's if memory serves me with the suicide strap & a hybrid leather type boot (rentals). We had a blast and we still reminisce about that loooong day and trek. So thankful for that experience as we still ski regularly with our 4 daughters, their husbands and grand children.

A success story if I ever heard one.
 

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