Know anyone who learned to ski after 50? Be honest.

[noobski]

No reason you shouldn't be able to enjoy skiing even starting late in life.
On the other hand, i never met anyone who started after 20 and is a very good skier.

Depending on definition of very good, I personally think that's probably right. It's very difficult for the body muscle memory to be evolve with skiing after early 20's just due to the biology of the body. But still possible. One of the Alta guys I skied with a couple years ago started around 40 and he's beyond very good in all ways, form, technique, style, speed, knowledge.

But I would not rely on this for someone to say they'll advance. "Very good" is subjective. I would lean toward basic definitions and judge by that. beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert.

With the awesome advice here, she can definitely make it to Intermediate in the next 12-24 months and that alone could be enough to positively change her life and become a "very good" intermediate. After that it will be up to her.

 

[noobski]

Well, I guess that feeble attempt to create a reason to quit didn’t work.

Hah! come on, you knew you don't want to!

 

[noobski]

I forgot to mention in my original advice:

Make sure your boots are the right boots.

 

[scott43]

I can't really say about skiing. However, I've done some coaching/instructional and reffing in adult hockey leagues where there are many beginners at later stages. Just my observation but..it's tough. You have to really work at it and be prepared to fail. I read a few posts and yeah, don't expect to be Ted Ligety...but so what? Have fun. Some of those older rec players have a lot of fun despite their relatively poor skills. I play with higher level players who can't crack a smile and regularly feel the need to take cheap shots. Is that fun? Nope... Work on the basics and remember, it's better than sitting inside all winter hating the cold!

 

[LiquidFeet]

Paging @LiquidFeet

Yeah, me. I started at 53.

And I affirm what @noobski said: Make sure your boots are the right boots. @Seldomski also mentioned important things about boots. Think of boots as a prosthetic with aftermarket attachments (skis). Boots need to match your foot's anatomy in all three dimensions so you can control your skis. Boots are a tool, not a shoe. Getting the right fit is tricky; it's not obvious how to do this. But it sure is important.

@jwtravel, are you skiing in rental boots? If you are in rentals, or if you own boots that you bought without a proper bootfitting with a real professional, that could be a big reason why your skis are stuck in a wedge. You need to hear from people on this forum a lot of as-yet-unknown stuff about how to get the right boots.

Your exhaustion can be coming from normal stuff that happens to many adult beginners: being in the "back seat," which is like doing wall-sits all day, falling down and having to get up frequently, and from holding your body rigid as you ski because you don't yet know which movements cause you to fall or make your skis take off in unexpected directions. These things get better if you take lessons and if you make sure your boots fit snuggg.

 

[James]

I might quit rather than accepting shallow green runs as my limit.

You need to learn on those shallow green runs. Going into too difficult terrain will make you worse.
Fact is, if you obtain solid intermediate status, even low intermediate, you can go many places in the world.

Eat outside with a view.

Not all green runs are the same.

For this you’d have to be solid green to get there or preferably blue. But gliding along on a snow covered planet is amazing.

There’s more to skiing than just the level you’re at.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Frightened is the key word here. In skiing lingo that translates to “back seat” and until you make progress on getting centered on your skis you will continue to struggle. I would suggest a private lesson. Preferably with an older instructor who also started skiing later in life. No one who started skiing as a kid can relate to the fear factor you are experiencing, which is perfectly normal for someone starting at your age. A good experienced instructor will be able to help with getting you more centered. ....

Quoted for truth. Worth reading and re-reading.

 

[LiquidFeet]

No reason you shouldn't be able to enjoy skiing even starting late in life.
On the other hand, i never met anyone who started after 20 and is a very good skier.

Do not listen to that second sentence. @Rod9301 may not have met such people, but they are out there.

 

[Jilly]

Years ago I taught a lady that to me was a lot older than our usual Mom's. She had decided that every decade she was going to learn a new sport. If I remember rightly she was 50, and the Mom of someone I knew in school. Not sure if she went on to sky diving or not, but...

Right now you need confidence. Is it possible for next season to take a ladies multi-week program? Many of the resorts offer this, but maybe not this year with Covid. You get a group lesson at your level, some comradery with other ladies at your level of ability and usually a lot of laughs. All of sudden you'll be skiing stuff you didn't think you could.

At my mountain this is called Elle Ski and it's 8 Saturday mornings with the same instructor. I know somewhere in the East there is Women of Wednesday. So check out where you're skiing and see if such a program exists.

 

[KevinF]

Others have mentioned boots; this point can't be stressed enough. If your boots don't match your anatomy (and there are endless ways the plastic can be modified to match your feet and legs) then it can be virtually impossible for you to ever get into balance.

As @LiquidFeet mentioned above, ski boots are not merely shoes. Ski boots restrict ankle motion and your ankles are absolutely critical to effective balance. Ideally your boots hold your feet flat (very few of us are naturally "flat" -- your walking shoes are probably more worn on one side than the other) and hold your ankles in a neutral position where you are balanced over your foot. Great fitting boots make it hard to move out of balance; poor fitting boots make it hard to ever get into balance.

If standing "relaxed" in boots doesn't produce flat balanced feet than skiing becomes an exhausting exercise in fighting your equipment just to get balanced. And that's before you even start moving!

The adjustments between "awful fitting" and "awesome fitting" boots are extremely subtle. For me, there's a 3mm thick plate screwed to the base of one of my boots to accomodate a leg-length discrepancy. Without that, I can't ski without resorting to contortions. 3mm of plastic is my difference between efficiency and struggle. Three. Millimeters.

 

[MarkP]

No reason you shouldn't be able to enjoy skiing even starting late in life.
On the other hand, i never met anyone who started after 20 and is a very good skier.

I started at 19, so there's hope for me still!

 

[Wade]

I started skiing at 40. Grew up in Australia and skiing never came up until I moved to the US and met my wife who likes to ski.

I did a couple of seasons where I did one or two weekends in VT, but in my third season I went to UT for a week and I was hooked. I loved skiing, but I sucked, and I desperately wanted to get better.

I did a ton of lessons, skied as many days as I could, and looked for every opportunity to improve.

I think I really started getting better at the type of skiing I loved when I attended a series of Straightline camps at Snowbird over a few seasons. The coaches were fantastic and there were some things that really resonated with me and helped me progress.

I’m now 50, and I usually figure out a way to get 25 to 35 days in each year. I’m still always looking to get better, but I ski well enough now to ski the steep, technical lines I enjoy the most with good form and good rhythm.

I’m in approx the same physical shape now as I was when I was 40. Who knows what the next 10 years look like physically for me, but I’d like to think if I was starting today, I could make the same progress over the next decade as I did in the 10 years just gone.

 

[Rich McP]

I just need to feel some small improvement each time I go so that I want to do it again.

Again, this argues for lessons, and lessons with someone experienced. You need to tell your instructor very clearly, where you are in your journey, what your journey is, and "I just need to feel some small improvement each time I go so that I want to do it again." A good instructor and this information will give you exactly what you are looking for.

And to another comment you made, not all big places are snooty. Some big places are the opposite of snooty. Find what you love and enjoy it.

 

[VickieH]

I started at age 50, having never before touched a ski. Now 63. I'm still learning, sometimes unlearning, sometimes relearning.

You can read on here people who are bothered that they can't ski as well or as long or as whatever as they did way-back-when. I don't have that history or those regrets. I'm skiing better now than I did 2 or 3 years ago. I'll ski even better next year. And better the next. But that's me. I'm not chasing a goal. I enjoy the learning and my accomplishments along the way.

If you are someone who must be at the top of some pack, learning to ski now may not be for you. You may get frustrated that you can't reach that point, or when you learn there is not really a pack to begin with, that for many people, skiing is a fairly solo activity. So much depends on what you want out of skiing, why you decided to pursue it at all. For me, winter now has a purpose.

@Started at 53 documented on this forum a bit of his experience as he learned to ski. Perusing that may give you some perspective.

 

[Eric@ict]

Took up ice skating a month ago to aid with skiing. Core and balance.

Get a wobble board to work on core and balance and strength. Once you can stand, start with knee bends or squats with no weight. One leg and two.

 

[SSSdave]

People with basic fitness can learn to enjoy skiing at any age though what is potentially possible may be limited by a past that built up a mediocre physical neuromusculoskelectal body that with increasing age becomes less able to change.

Reaching higher levels of skiing skill is much about developing via neural plasticity structure to do so in one's body that requires time and effort. There is a short list of balance sports including skating, running, skateboarding, gymnastics, surfing, hiking, and dancing that taking up skiing can directly benefit from. I did not regularly ski until age 30 because it was too expensive but was already exceptional at balance skills and still am as a senior.

The majority of middle aged people that have not been very active over their adult working years lives, have evolved into such higher BMI, stiff, lumpy forms that I'd be surprised if they had much chance of ever escaping from regardless of effort. Thus there is wisdom in always being active as an adult. Use it or lose it.

 

[jwtravel]

Get a wobble board to work on core and balance and strength. Once you can stand, start with knee bends or squats with no weight. One leg and two.

Bosu ball since August 2020, similar to wobble board, making some improvement but a LONG way off from doing anything with one leg only, unless I like falling more than staying upright. I want to be optimistic but I can’t foresee ever being able to do one legged squats on a wobble board, at least not successfully. This is based on the tiny amount my balance has improved in 12 months.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Bosu ball since August 2020, similar to wobble board, making some improvement but a LONG way off from doing anything with one leg only, unless I like falling more than staying upright. I want to be optimistic but I can’t foresee ever being able to do one legged squats on a wobble board, at least not successfully. This is based on the tiny amount my balance has improved in 12 months.

You do not have to do squats on a bosu or wobble board to ski well. You do not have to do pistol squats either. Nor do you need to work up to 3 minute wall sits. Technique for novices is waaay more important than brute strength. Take lessons. Keep taking them. Find an instructor you like and keep taking lessons from that instructor.

Oh, and boots. Get the right boots, with custom footbeds. This also requires finding the right person to work with. Spend $$$ on those boots, and don't look back. Buyer's regret happens when you spend $$$ on boots and later discover they don't fit.

 

[freeskier1961]

Learned how to ski PROPERLY after 50 started around 14 took 36 years slow learner

 

[Seldomski]

Bosu ball since August 2020, similar to wobble board, making some improvement but a LONG way off from doing anything with one leg only, unless I like falling more than staying upright. I want to be optimistic but I can’t foresee ever being able to do one legged squats on a wobble board, at least not successfully. This is based on the tiny amount my balance has improved in 12 months.

Since you have skates already, I'd suggest working on gliding on one skate as a balance exercise. This will be much more challenging that balancing on a single moving ski. And use wrist guards and helmet for this! At first it will be just picking up one skate briefly, or shifting weight to 90%/10% or something like that.

I have worked on this with inline skates, and balancing on a single ski is very easy for me now after working on this with my skates. Ability to shift balance at will to one or the other ski is very useful (critical) when skiing.

Working on fitness specifically for skiing (ie excessive focus on lots of weights training and leg strength) is not critical to your stage of learning. Some basic aerobic capacity is certainly good, but you should work on fitness more for overall quality of life, not specifically for skiing (IMHO). More fitness certainly has benefits in all aspects of life and resilience vs. injuries and falls (bone density, flexibility, etc). But if skiing is a good motivator for getting in shape, sure, use that as a carrot to keep exercising