Love that. It is important. You don't fight the mountain. It is bigger. It always wins if you fight it.
So....to quote @KingGrump : Dance with it! So much more fun.
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Know anyone who learned to ski after 50? Be honest.
- Thread starter jwtravel
- Start date
Love that. It is important. You don't fight the mountain. It is bigger. It always wins if you fight it.
So....to quote @KingGrump : Dance with it! So much more fun.
QFT
I started to ski after 50. Starting snowboarding in 1983. Perfectly happy snowboarding for 35 years, then tore a hamstring snowboarding just after my 51st birthday. Didn't want to cancel a Whistler trip but snowboarding hurt too much so decided to try skiing.
It was hard for a couple of days, then easy to get better, then kind of leveled off, then got much better. It's been great fun learning something new in middle-age. Although so much from snowboarding translates that it's not exactly new.
54 now and I have 100+ days in, still snowboard occasionally but skiing is a more dignified way to grow old, built in walking sticks and you never have to sit down on the snow.
I thought I'd miss snowboarding powder, but no, skiing powder is as much fun and a new challenge. The part of snowboarding I miss it carving. There's a special feeling laying your whole body through two legs onto one edge railing through the snow. It's like how carving skis feels but heightened in a way that's hard to explain.
It was hard for a couple of days, then easy to get better, then kind of leveled off, then got much better. It's been great fun learning something new in middle-age. Although so much from snowboarding translates that it's not exactly new.
54 now and I have 100+ days in, still snowboard occasionally but skiing is a more dignified way to grow old, built in walking sticks and you never have to sit down on the snow.
I thought I'd miss snowboarding powder, but no, skiing powder is as much fun and a new challenge. The part of snowboarding I miss it carving. There's a special feeling laying your whole body through two legs onto one edge railing through the snow. It's like how carving skis feels but heightened in a way that's hard to explain.
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Loaned a pair of gaiters to my friend who skied his first day ever in shorts. At 80 years old he continues to push the boundaries. He started skiing a few years back when he was 67.
Took up skiing at 54 . I am now 66 ! . What helped me become a better skier : made a habit of going to the gym, got in shape, focused on legs/core endurance and balance!
IMHO the best way to get good at it. Became a certified PSIA instructor , and the number one problem I see with adults and older beginners is that they are not in good physical shape .
Hope this helps.
IMHO the best way to get good at it. Became a certified PSIA instructor , and the number one problem I see with adults and older beginners is that they are not in good physical shape .
Hope this helps.
Lost weight AND picked up ice skating in the off season- didn’t become great, but went from hugging the wall to being able to step onto the ice without using the wall and confidently glide and get up on my own after a fall without using the wall. While this doesn’t sound like a big deal, it was major for this 54 year old man in order to improve balance.
Bravo, It's good to see someone over 50 taking up skating to improve their skiing. At 73 I still inline skate and bike to maintain balance for skiing. I grew up playing hockey so skating and falling was pretty much over by the time I was 4.
Another great thing about the ice-skating is that it helped reduce my hankering to ski - got to do an activity on a slick, cold surface a few times per month and get it out of my system. It made the 8 months off-season go quickly.
+1 to skating some laps around the ice rink on a hot summer day. My kid got interested in hockey around the time he was 12 and the nearby rink had weekend hockey school lessons. He got to the point where we could hit the stick and puck pick up game sessions.. but it was too late for him to actually play any organized hockey... The other kids his age were just to far ahead of him... even in North Carolina.. It was fun though...
It definitely helped his skiing too... I try to get a skate session or two in around October to get psyched up for skiing. But now that the kids are older and one is away at college at that time I've lost that routine.. Maybe this year??
It definitely helped his skiing too... I try to get a skate session or two in around October to get psyched up for skiing. But now that the kids are older and one is away at college at that time I've lost that routine.. Maybe this year??
Yeah my mom started in her late 50s. She managed some blues in 1 season without taking any classes. Get the brand new Head/Tyrolia protector bindings that came out in 2022. They look like a much better Knee binding, and they have side heel release that basically will protect you against backward twisting falls. When you feel safe, you're more willing to attempt bigger lean angles and progress faster. I recommend 90 width free ride skis. I am a firm believer that beginners who aren't trying to become slalom racers shouldn't get on soft and short turning skis, instead they should be on a ski that makes going faster less scary, and is super smeary or drifty so they can easily stop whenever they feel like they're going too fast.
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Never met a beginner over the age of, say 11, “trying to become a slalom racer”. (Probably more like 8)
Beginners, or anyone, going from too fast to zero is just a bad idea. Lots of things can go wrong. Plus it’s missing the whole point of speed control through line which is kind of essential to understand to really progress.
Maybe you’re really talking intermediates? Beginners “going too slow” really is a non problem. Like, “too much space in the lodge” to boot up.
Next up - hand out 8lb anchors tied to a bungee cord for beginners.
I started at age 30, and I went from getting my butt kicked on bunny hill to double blacks in 50 visits. My progression drastically improved when I got on some stiff skis mid season.(Experience 84 AI to Mantra M6). Looking back I think playful, yet stiff skis would've saved me a ton of time through progression since my biggest problem was fear of unable to stop. Carving came very naturally once I mastered hockey stop. Short turns were basically pole plant to shift weight and followed mini hockey stop initiations.
I remember when I was on short, soft rental skis that was supposed to be beginner friendly. They were easy to turn alright, but either I carve sideways run off of the side of the slope unable to stop until I hit a tree or something, or I over turn and end up facing uphill then going backwards or falling. What I needed was actually a pair that I can kick the tail out fairly easily to stop, and doesn't make me hold on to dear life when I go a little fast.
This sounds like it's pretty far from carving, but maybe it's the description.
Yep I meant turning across the fall line and into trees on rental skis. I was trying to describe the arching turn as opposed to a smearing turn. Didn’t want to give the impression I was doing some high edge angle carving on short rentals as a beginner. I was simply turning and unable to stop.
photo pleaseStarted a 61 yrs old last season.
She bought her Ikon pass for the 22/23 season few months back.
or even better, video
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- Oct 30, 2017
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I learned how to ski PROPERLY after 50...correct stance with proper fore aft was paramount!! The right boots facilitated this