Before Tree Skiing, Parks and Backcountry Skiing (freeskiing)

[dlague]

I find it interesting how many require challenging terrain options that were not available prior to 1990. The late eighties started the trend of opening the trees as not being off limits and the 90's parks started to appear. Also in the 90's more steeper faces were opened.

I have skied when skiing was pretty much limited to trails. How many of you who require challenging terrain options of today remember those days when there were not as many options? Were you bored out of your minds or was it all you knew so you "took what the mountain gave you!"?

 

[Scruffy]

Both trials and skis were narrower in the NE, and moguls were made by those that knew how to ski moguls. And the ski area's didn't mow everything down and widen everything for the least common denominator. Also, the tele, backcountry scene was scratching the challenge itch for some.

 

[tree_skier]

I do remember it not that i ever obeyed the rules. As a kid not only were we always hitting the woods at Ascutney but also the old ski Jump that was off of Nine Lives. The patrol spent a lot of time chasing us down. Also when I started working as a coach/instructor I was always one the lookout for the "good stuff" to the point of having one patroller doing everything including lying he could to get me fired(didn't work) but that's another story.

 

[steamboat1]

Mad River hasn't changed in all these years & they have all those things excluding a park. When Killington first opened they didn't have much except tree skiing. I really don't know what you're talking about.

 

[tree_skier]

Mad River hasn't changed in all these years & they have all those things excluding a park. When Killington first opened they didn't have much except tree skiing. I really don't know what you're talking about.

Most areas banned skiing off of a marked trail. in the late 1980's this started to change. they also prohibited any man made jumps and would knock down a lot of good ones if they developed. Passes were pulled, also i was pulled into management's office a number of times as a kid,

 

[JimG.]

Most areas banned skiing off of a marked trail. in the late 1980's this started to change. they also prohibited any man made jumps and would knock down a lot of good ones if they developed. Passes were pulled, also i was pulled into management's office a number of times as a kid,

I was going to add that the skiing experience was marketed differently then than today. It never stopped us, but we're a small % of skiers.

Most skiers never ventured off trail in those days.

 

[4aprice]

Mad River hasn't changed in all these years & they have all those things excluding a park. When Killington first opened they didn't have much except tree skiing. I really don't know what you're talking about.

Skied K several seasons back in the 80's and was shocked at all the good woods terrain that had opened when I returned about 5 years ago. Smugglers always had Doc's (just named Glade in the late 60's/early 70's) and think Stowe had Nose Dive Glades but the advent of tree skiing at most places is fairly recent and probably the best thing that has happened to northeast skiing. Still enjoy traditional trail skiing though, heck make that any skiing.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[dlague]

Mad River hasn't changed in all these years & they have all those things excluding a park. When Killington first opened they didn't have much except tree skiing. I really don't know what you're talking about.

You must have been in a different world.

In the late 70's and early 80's I remember skiing Mt Snow, Killington, Stowe, Jay Peak, Brodie, to name several and tree skiing if it existed were more like open glades (trees far apart), the ski anything mentality of today did not exist not even at Killington! If people were skiing tighter lines in the trees, more often than not they were doing it illegally and those skiers were few and far between.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I find it interesting how many require challenging terrain options that were not available prior to 1990. The late eighties started the trend of opening the trees as not being off limits and the 90's parks started to appear. Also in the 90's more steeper faces were opened.

I guess this depends on the area, but I don't recall the "tree momentum" really engaging until the late nineties. As for opening up "steeper faces", I don't understand this comment.

Most skiers never ventured off trail in those days.

Out of fear, not desire. If you got caught, you got your lift ticket taken.

 

[steamboat1]

You must have been in a different world.

In the late 70's and early 80's I remember skiing Mt Snow, Killington, Stowe, Jay Peak, Brodie, to name several and tree skiing if it existed were more like open glades (trees far apart), the ski anything mentality of today did not exist not even at Killington! If people were skiing tighter lines in the trees, more often than not they were doing it illegally and those skiers were few and far between.

The only trail off K peak when they first opened was Cascade. Downdraft & Big Dipper were marked glades. Why do you think they used to call the North Ridge chair the Glade chair. Because it was all glades.

 

[Smellytele]

In the early 80's I was not skiing at a level that drew me to the woods. Heck didn't even ski bumps. The late 80's early 90's I started venturing into the woods which were expanding every year at all the larger ski areas. Smaller areas started to pick up in the mid 90's on the tree skiing.

 

[deadheadskier]

I skied primarily at Okemo in the 80s and spent most of my time in the bumps. We would go over to Magic a couple of times each winter though. They had a fair amount of glades back then.

 

[crank]

I moved back east in 1984 and after skiing trees out west immediately gravitated into the woods. First time I skied jay Peak was winter of 84/85 and the patrol pointed us towards what is now Beaver Pond Glade, telling us that it was totally cool to ski the woods there and we would come out on an xc trail that would lead us back to the lodge. The next time I skied jay there were several glades.

I do agree with the OP though. Back in the day mountain operations and patrols would eliminate any kickers they found. Glades were a tree or so in the middle of and open trail. Woods skiing was mostly not allowed or not thought possible.

 

[dlague]

Skied K several seasons back in the 80's and was shocked at all the good woods terrain that had opened when I returned about 5 years ago. Smugglers always had Doc's (just named Glade in the late 60's/early 70's) and think Stowe had Nose Dive Glades but the advent of tree skiing at most places is fairly recent and probably the best thing that has happened to northeast skiing. Still enjoy traditional trail skiing though, heck make that any skiing.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

I remember several steep narrow trails at Stowe but it always seemed like a path well traveled. I do not ever recall glade skiing as it is today.

 

[Scruffy]

1) I find it interesting how many require challenging terrain options that were not available prior to 1990. The late eighties started the trend of opening the trees as not being off limits and the 90's parks started to appear. Also in the 90's more steeper faces were opened.

2) I have skied when skiing was pretty much limited to trails. How many of you who require challenging terrain options of today remember those days when there were not as many options? Were you bored out of your minds or was it all you knew so you "took what the mountain gave you!"?

Ok, now that you've all beat to death point 1, the OP wants to know if you were bored?

 

[Puck it]

Yes I was and am at times now. That is why I live for the trees.


And I remember when tree skiing was sapling skiing!!!!

 

[Highway Star]

You must have been in a different world.

In the late 70's and early 80's I remember skiing Mt Snow, Killington, Stowe, Jay Peak, Brodie, to name several and tree skiing if it existed were more like open glades (trees far apart), the ski anything mentality of today did not exist not even at Killington! If people were skiing tighter lines in the trees, more often than not they were doing it illegally and those skiers were few and far between.

Aside from Big Dipper which has been around forever, Killington put about half of it's current marked glades on the map in 1995. These were around for many years prior to that though, with people actively maintaining them.

 

[dlague]

The only trail off K peak when they first opened was Cascade. Downdraft & Big Dipper were marked glades. Why do you think they used to call the North Ridge chair the Glade chair. Because it was all glades.

Maybe I just stuck to the trails and never noticed (it was 1979 - state of mind was totally different)! I also took a hiatus between '86 and '99 due to a non skiing ex-wife. So in 2000, it felt like the rules had changed. People went from having a single pair of long straight skis to a quiver of skis as well as shorter (relatively speaking) deep side cut skis, skis were getting wider, snowboarders everywhere, parks were popping up everywhere and the trees were all valid (which is probably why wider skis became more popular).

 

[Savemeasammy]

I started in the 80's, and my primary interest was bumps within a few years, so I was happy to stay "on trail". I went to college in Lake Tahoe in the early 90's, and when I came back to New England, skiing just wasn't the same for me. Within a few years, I was pretty much out of skiing altogether (although lack of desire was only one of a few factors). When I got back into it a few years ago, I was really happy with how the landscape of skiing had changed since I was away from it. I think the advances in equipment technology has been a driving force. More people than ever can handle "off trail" conditions, and ski areas are much more liberal about what you can ski.

To answer Dlague's question: yes, I guess I was bored.


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[Domeskier]

Seeded bumps is the only innovation in terrain since the late 80s that matters to me. But I am easily amused.