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

Marker

Making fresh tracks
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Oct 16, 2017
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2,351
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Kennett Square, PA & Killington, VT
Skied with a 79 year old today that got started 12 years ago. He skied the morning then took a lunch break making it back out to hit the soft spring corn on Superstar. The simple answer to this silly question is yes. @Marker will confirm as he was hanging at out with us on this spring perfect tailgate day.
A nice day for skiing and tailgating! We had a good conversation before you guys headed out for the afternoon. We did discuss the issues with both learning to ski after 50. Hope to ski with him next year!
 

jt10000

步步高升
Skier
Joined
Apr 21, 2019
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1,128
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New York City
I'm learning to downhill ski in my early 50s now. I did it perhaps 4 times as a teen, and once 15 or 20 years ago.

Then took it up for real a few years ago in my early 50s.

BUT I've cross country skied since college, with some racing over the years. So gliding on snow is not new to me. Standing on alpine skis and doing wedge turns on easy terrain, etc is trivial to me - so simple. Hockey stops at low speed no problem from the start. I can skate around base areas really easily too....

But really skiing right - really using the edges and shape of the ski - is not so easy. There's nothing like that on race-width XC skis, which are about 44mm underfoot. Even the speed is disconcerting at times. I'm trying to learn to carve and that's only slowly coming. I can do OK brushed turns, but not good carving....yet.

My wife is similar but from a less athletic background, learning to XC ski at age 30. No racing. She's got the alpine bug too.
 

jt10000

步步高升
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Also, I've only had one lesson and want more, but cost is an issue. The wife has had more - she's the budget holder and wants us to save money. BUT when she's thought of taking lessons I've said "Do it!" because I wanted her to get hooked on the sport. And now she's hooked.

We put our boy in ski school for two full days last season at Killington and that hooked him (he's under 10 so I guess off-topic for this thread LOL).

Next year I'll get more lessons. In the meantime, it's a ton of time on YouTube.

Actually - we did take lessons that one time we skiied 15 years ago, but that was a group lesson for first-time skiers that was an add-on to our rentals. So much of it was pre-skiing basics and the wedge turn: "This is how to put on your skis. This is how to stand. Let's stand with our toes together. This is a pizza. You can use it to turn if you are not in a flat place like we are now." Good for never-evers but after XC ski competence it was useless to us. So the instructor told us we could go after 15 minutes.....
 
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Tony Storaro

Glorified Tobogganer
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Mar 2, 2020
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7,806
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Europe
I'm learning to downhill ski in my early 50s now. I did it perhaps 4 times as a teen, and once 15 or 20 years ago.

A man in his prime, you will master it pretty quickly when you give it enough time on the slopes.;)

But really skiing right


Ahhh, that might take some time. I can‘t think of a single user around here who would come forward and say: I ski right, I ski great, I ski perfectly.:ogbiggrin::ogbiggrin:
 

jt10000

步步高升
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New York City
And I should not have used the word "right" - I mean really using the skis edges and shape to turn and not just skid or slow down. It's a journey.

Among other things, the offseason is going to involve thinking a lot about the article Deceleration Lives in the Future.
 

Tony Storaro

Glorified Tobogganer
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Après Skier

Amateur Skier & Professional Curmudgeon
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Mar 22, 2020
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182
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PACA
Also, I've only had one lesson and want more, but cost is an issue.

Ski lessons in the US can be very expensive. My sister in CT has found good deals flying her family to Europe for a week of ski school. She swears that when all was added up: flight-lodging-food-tickets-lessons the pricing was more affordable than some domestic trips she’s taken. I mention this because your profile says you live in NYC and I know from growing up in the tri-state area that airfare from JFK and EWR to Europe is sometimes a great value.

Of course, this year is not the best time for travel to Europe but if enough people in the US and Europe follow the advice of epidemiologists, the pandemic will hopefully be stymied in time for some lovely skiing in the Alps & Pyrenees.
 

WynnDuffy

Putting on skis
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Jan 10, 2019
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72
I just read today that Jimmy Carter learned to ski in his 60's.

Just be careful because it might have turned him into a midget:

E0gkdddXIAE6nV5
 

Racetiger

Getting on the lift
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Joined
Jan 18, 2021
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31
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Canada
I don’t know anybody who has fully and completely learned anything. If someone can describe what this person looks like, I will keep an eye out for them and take them out once and for all so we can all enjoy being evaluated on a more reasonable scale of performance. Now, shifting closer to the harsh realities of life, I have to say that, having crunched all the numbers myself, I have fully and unequivocally determined that, if one expects to become an expert skier before they die, they must start skiing no later than 14 years, four months and two days old. Thankfully, I happen to have started the day before that, so I am all set.

I have always known there is a special place in heaven for expert skiers. Though, I just found out it is being a shop rat ski tuner in the dirt floor basement of a dilapidated ski shop on an eternal shift that never ends. Oh, and the owner is a raging alcoholic, the floor staff knows nothing about hard goods, the cashier is stealing money, every ski that comes for a tune has, apparently, been skied through the parking lot on its way over and there is a large plastic bong duct taped to the control panel on the Wintersteiger that is uselessly programmed in German. There may even be a snowboarder or two working there. On second thought, that all sounds like it kind of sucks. Makes me wonder what the purgatorial plateau of Hell may be but I probably won’t have the opportunity to find out having started skiing so young. Ha!

… and, of course, I’m just kidding. The only thing I know how to crunch is potato chips and we are all free to develop to any level we want badly enough. As soon as our determination and commitment reaches the level of what is a fiercely burning desire for many, we are in the fast lane. A more realistic determination of skill potential rather than age would be, whether one is, upon their first allocation of performance skis and basic training, able to memorize, learn and live the doctrine of the skier’s creed:

These are my skis. There are many like it, but these ones are mine.
My skis are my best friend. They are my life. I must master them as I must master my life.
Without me, my skis are useless. Without my skis, I am useless. I must carve my skis true. I must carve better than my competitor who is trying to beat me. I must beat him before he beats me. I will ...
My skis and I know that what counts in performance is not the snow we spray, the noise of our edges, nor the speed we make. We know that it is the carve that counts. We will carve ...
My skis are human, even as I [am human], because it is my life. Thus, I will learn them as a brother. I will learn their weaknesses, their strengths, their bindings, their flex, their edges and their base. I will keep my skis clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will ...
Before God, I swear this creed. My skis and I are the defenders of my World. We are the masters of our competitors. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is mine and there are no more competitors left to beat!


Note: adaptation from the US Marines Rifleman’s Creed by Maj. Gen. W. Rupertus, Circa 1941-42
 

LiquidFeet

instructor
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Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,697
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New England
....These are my skis. There are many like it, but these ones are mine.
My skis are my best friend. They are my life. I must master them as I must master my life.
Without me, my skis are useless. Without my skis, I am useless. I must carve my skis true. I must carve better than my competitor who is trying to beat me. I must beat him before he beats me. I will ...
My skis and I know that what counts in performance is not the snow we spray, the noise of our edges, nor the speed we make. We know that it is the carve that counts. We will carve ...
My skis are human, even as I [am human], because it is my life. Thus, I will learn them as a brother. I will learn their weaknesses, their strengths, their bindings, their flex, their edges and their base. I will keep my skis clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will ...
Before God, I swear this creed. My skis and I are the defenders of my World. We are the masters of our competitors. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is mine and there are no more competitors left to beat!


Note: adaptation from the US Marines Rifleman’s Creed by Maj. Gen. W. Rupertus, Circa 1941-42
@Racetiger, got any love for your boots? Skis are a mere aftermarket attachment, fun and attention-getting, but ephemeral and fleeting in their hold on a skier's affections .....
 
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dan ross

Making fresh tracks
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Joined
Dec 27, 2016
Posts
1,287
After first 9 times (days) learning to ski, progress is slow enough to make me wonder if my time is being wasted. Staying up more of the time but wedge turns wear me out and transitioning to parallel seems to be my “Waterloo”.
What are your goals?
Are you having fun/ enjoying it despite your frustration?
How many of those 9 days were consecutive?

Plenty of people learn at your age. The fact that you decided to give it a go says enough about you that I would expect improvement based on that alone. Remember, improvement isn’t always linear -there are plateaus which you are in now but these aren’t permanent. Novice to intermediate isn’t a big hill to climb if you are motivated .Intermediate to advanced is a different story but none of this will prevent you from enjoying it, in fact the challenge is the point for many. IMHO, people improve faster at your level when their instruction is concentrated-I.e. four consecutive days of instruction as opposed to four days spread out over a month. It’s about imprinting the instruction and muscle memory. Remember, it’s not “ easy” to learn but it is supposed to be fun . As long as your having enough fun, keep it up -your motivated and you will improve.
 

Racetiger

Getting on the lift
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Joined
Jan 18, 2021
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31
Location
Canada
After checking dictionary.com, I have determined that is a very good point about the boots upthread. Also, apparently, an ephemeral is not a medical procedure. They just didn’t fit the parallel. I do love my ski boots more than anything else in my life and, as long as my wife, children and girlfriend don't find out, I figure no one’ll get jealous. And my dog? He wouldn’t even believe it if I told him. Though, the way he chews on sneakers, he’ll never see them in the first place. I think I may have a creed for ski boots hijacked from a Black Sabbath song that included subjects I also found on Dictionary.com such as debasement, self flagellation and divine punishment that I felt wasn’t appropriate for those just getting started. Also, I think this may be a family site. Some may be familiar with the Full Metal Jacket rendition of the rifleman’s creed:
 

Rod9301

Making fresh tracks
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Joined
Jan 11, 2016
Posts
2,443
I think it's probably more like mountain biking. You remember how to ride, but in technical terrain, you still need practice.
 

LiquidFeet

instructor
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,697
Location
New England
...And the gear has changed. You'll remember the basic moves, but if you ski on new skis (and you should), you will be much happier if you learn the new movement patterns appropriate for those skis. It will be much easier for you to do this compared to a totally new skier because of your previous experience.
 

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