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Getting back into it from the South Jersey Shore

BaysideSkier

mike
Skier
Joined
Jan 14, 2023
Posts
39
Location
South NJ Shore
Hey all wanted to shout out from the South NJ Shore (born and raised in South Philly)

Learned how to ski at Camelback in PA as a mid-teen. Skied the Poconos pretty regularly until my early to mid 20’s. Got married with kids, one a son who played travel ice hockey from 6 until college at 21. Basically putting a screeching halt to skiing, fishing and hunting. In 2017 took the family to Park City to ski for a rare week off of hockey. This past December 30, 2022 went with the family to ski Camelback at 59 years old for the first time in decades. We had a blast! Can’t believe how much I missed it. The wife and I got our own gear and plan to ski as much as we can since the kids are now 21 and 23 with no more sports etc… My wife is new to skiing.

I got Salomon s/force ti.76 177 cm skis which I know are a little over my head right now. I skied them for the first time on 1/12/23 which were far from ideal conditions-very foggy with limited visibility and icy as usual for PA lol. Settled in with them fairly quickly and got to parallel skiing and turning faster than I expected. The rentals I used before were 165cm and of course much softer. Did well with the skis and am happy with them so far. They’re a far cry from the straight 184 skis I skied decades ago. I plan to learn how to carve with these skis. Guessing it will be a big learning curve which I’m looking forward to.

Looking forward to interacting on the forum
Thanks!
 

dbostedo

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Philpug

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Learned how to ski at Camelback in PA as a mid-teen. Skied the Poconos pretty regularly until my early to mid 20’s. Got married with kids, one a son who played travel ice hockey from 6 until college at 21. Basically putting a screeching halt to skiing, fishing and hunting. In 2017 took the family to Park City to ski for a rare week off of hockey. This past December 30, 2022 went with the family to ski Camelback at 59 years old for the first time in decades.
I imagine we might have shared a lift ride or two at Camelback then. We are the same age and we skied there at the same time.
 

Living Proof

We All Have The Truth
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Nov 9, 2015
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943
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Avalon - On The Way to Cape May
@BaysideSkier welcome to Pugski. I'm in Avalon now, a mere 3 hr drive to the Poconos. I miss the 1.5 hr drive I had living in Philly. Have a Blue Mt, pass that has been unused this year due to the lack of snow. Typically just day trip, I'm retired and only do weekdays. I'm hoping the upcoming cold snap can restore some good winter snow. I'm not a fan of pushing crud around on the lower part of the mountain. If you ever do a midweek day, let me know, I usually get there early and done by 1pm for the drive home.
Camelback was my first ski area back in the days when I was a member of a winter rental home. Spent many good days there. I met Philpug while he was still in the Philly area, did some local demo days with him plus some week trips out west. If you ever need ski info, he is the walking encyclopedia of gear.
Your new skis should serve well in the Pocono area, first get you legs and cardio in the best shape you can. I'm a believer in mid-70, and below, waist skis for our area.
 
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BaysideSkier

BaysideSkier

mike
Skier
Joined
Jan 14, 2023
Posts
39
Location
South NJ Shore
I imagine we might have shared a lift ride or two at Camelback then. We are the same age and we skied there at the same time.
We probably did share a lift or two or more I’m sure I’ll be picking your brain more than once in the near future
Thanks in advance lol
 
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BaysideSkier

BaysideSkier

mike
Skier
Joined
Jan 14, 2023
Posts
39
Location
South NJ Shore
@BaysideSkier welcome to Pugski. I'm in Avalon now, a mere 3 hr drive to the Poconos. I miss the 1.5 hr drive I had living in Philly. Have a Blue Mt, pass that has been unused this year due to the lack of snow. Typically just day trip, I'm retired and only do weekdays. I'm hoping the upcoming cold snap can restore some good winter snow. I'm not a fan of pushing crud around on the lower part of the mountain. If you ever do a midweek day, let me know, I usually get there early and done by 1pm for the drive home.
Camelback was my first ski area back in the days when I was a member of a winter rental home. Spent many good days there. I met Philpug while he was still in the Philly area, did some local demo days with him plus some week trips out west. If you ever need ski info, he is the walking encyclopedia of gear.
Your new skis should serve well in the Pocono area, first get you legs and cardio in the best shape you can. I'm a believer in mid-70, and below, waist skis for our area.
Thanks I really like the skis with my very limited time on them so far. Born and raised in South Philly, my uncle bought a house in Margate in 1976 and I fished and stayed down there with my cousin for years until we got our own house and moved there full time in 2010. Then when COVID hit in 2020 people were offering ridiculous money to buy in Margate. We sold our house in August 2020 and bought a lot on the bay in Brigantine and built a home with a dock. I now have my boat out my back door-worked out perfectl. Hence the screen name BaysideSkier

I’m currently nursing an MCL sprain. I plan to try to ski mid week as much as I can. As soon I fully recover and my legs are under me I’ll hit you up to make a mid week run
 
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BaysideSkier

BaysideSkier

mike
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Joined
Jan 14, 2023
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39
Location
South NJ Shore
Man, I wish the Poconos lived up to its icy reputation. This year it's been soft snow and pushing around crud piles almost every single day. Check out the Poconos thread here where we post trip reports, talk about ski area news and conditions, etc.
Yeah it was soft snow and pushing crud when we skied on December 30. On January 12 it was light rain, heavy fog with icy patches. First time on my new skies. Was going too fast for the time and caught an edge and did a pretty hard header. Grade 1 right MCL sprain. Not my first rodeo with an MCL sprain/tear, had from ice hockey in the past. In a DonJoy playmaker brace, NSAIDs, exercises I’ve had from before etc.. I’m with you right there. Hope you heal up well and very quick.

I’ll post up soon in the Poconos thread the next time I’m out. My wife and I got season passes to Camelback. I plan to geat back out soon to dilly dally with her as she’s just learning. Believe me I’m getting back slow and easy. I‘ve been through two shoulder surgeries from ice hockey with the last one putting me out of work for 6 weeks. No way can I afford to have knee surgery or miss work at this juncture
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
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@BaysideSkier Welcome to SKITALK from another South Jersey guy, although not as far south as Brigantine. I am about 10 miles east of Trenton and I generally ski Blue Mountain in PA. This season has been poor conditions, I only have one day on snow and that was at the indoor ski place in North Jersey. I am having some family issues and that is keeping me busy so have not been able to get more days on snow. It is good to see you return to skiing after many years, hope you continue this wonderful sport for years to come.
 

mikes781

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Welcome aboard @BaysideSkier from another SJ skier. I also took a long break from skiing and came back to it a few years ago. There’s a wealth of knowledge here and always someone will to help. It looks like we have some better weather in the short-term. Hopefully by the time you’re healed up we’ll have good conditions!
 

BC.

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Thanks I really like the skis with my very limited time on them so far. Born and raised in South Philly, my uncle bought a house in Margate in 1976 and I fished and stayed down there with my cousin for years until we got our own house and moved there full time in 2010. Then when COVID hit in 2020 people were offering ridiculous money to buy in Margate. We sold our house in August 2020 and bought a lot on the bay in Brigantine and built a home with a dock. I now have my boat out my back door-worked out perfectl. Hence the screen name BaysideSkier

I’m currently nursing an MCL sprain. I plan to try to ski mid week as much as I can. As soon I fully recover and my legs are under me I’ll hit you up to make a mid week run
I have a couple of buddies that have properties on the bay in Brigantine....right up the street from the Elks Club...
 

James

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24,419
South Jersey?
That’s like the sunny Twilight Zone of Jersey right?
But Bayside is Long Island. Confused.
 
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BaysideSkier

BaysideSkier

mike
Skier
Joined
Jan 14, 2023
Posts
39
Location
South NJ Shore
@BaysideSkier Welcome to SKITALK from another South Jersey guy, although not as far south as Brigantine. I am about 10 miles east of Trenton and I generally ski Blue Mountain in PA. This season has been poor conditions, I only have one day on snow and that was at the indoor ski place in North Jersey. I am having some family issues and that is keeping me busy so have not been able to get more days on snow. It is good to see you return to skiing after many years, hope you continue this wonderful sport for years to come.

Thanks Al. I hope your issues work out well for you and you get out skiing soon. I hope to get out soon and plan to continue skiing for many years to come.

Mike

Welcome aboard @BaysideSkier from another SJ skier. I also took a long break from skiing and came back to it a few years ago. There’s a wealth of knowledge here and always someone will to help. It looks like we have some better weather in the short-term. Hopefully by the time you’re healed up we’ll have good conditions!

Thanks Mike. My knee is feeling better day by day. Hoping to get back out sooner than later. I‘m going to take it slow at first and will wear hinged knee braces till I’m 100%.

I have a couple of buddies that have properties on the bay in Brigantine....right up the street from the Elks Club...

I‘m a member of the Elks and not far from there at all. Hit me up if you’re down this way

South Jersey?
That’s like the sunny Twilight Zone of Jersey right?
But Bayside is Long Island. Confused.

I live on the bay hence BaysideSkier. There is also a Bayside in Greenwich Twp South Jersey. Maybe I should’ve used BayfrontSkier lol…
 

crgildart

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Nov 12, 2015
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16,321
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The Bull City
Brace yourself... It's a lot more expensive and even more crowded. Weekday mornings aren't too bad as long as school isn't out. It's still worth it whenever you can get some runs in..
 
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BaysideSkier

BaysideSkier

mike
Skier
Joined
Jan 14, 2023
Posts
39
Location
South NJ Shore
Brace yourself... It's a lot more expensive and even more crowded. Weekday mornings aren't too bad as long as school isn't out. It's still worth it whenever you can get some runs in..

Thanks! Not much different than fishing down here beginning Memorial Day weekend, which is a total sh$t show, especially beginning July 4th which is really insane. I plan to do as much skiing as possible during the week
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
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Thanks! Not much different than fishing down here beginning Memorial Day weekend, which is a total sh$t show, especially beginning July 4th which is really insane. I plan to do as much skiing as possible during the week
BTW my summer home is on the water in Toms River, NJ. Still north of you but I know what you mean by the crowds between Memorial Day and Labor Day. It is always nice right after Labor Day the weather is great and we have ski season to look forward to after fishing/boating season ends around Thanksgiving.
 

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