How'd you start skiing?

[Ski Diva]

While replying to another thread ("Ski Films"), I posted that a friend of mine was inspired to start skiing after seeing the movie "The Young Lions" in the early '60's. There's literally about 20 seconds of skiing in the beginning, and that's it. But it was enough.

Which got me to wondering: How do people start skiing? I was 13 and on a family trip to some hotel in the Catskills. (I think my Dad was inspired by that year's Winter Olympics -- I won't say which one). The resort had a bunny hill with a rope tow, and I HATED it -- mostly because I kept falling on that #*!#* tow. Somehow, I kept at it -- I think initially because I wanted to do better than my sister. And because my Dad wanted someone to ski with.

What about you?

 

[skibum1321]

It was a birthday present from my aunt when I was 12. She got me lessons at the mighty Yawgoo Valley in RI. I had played hockey, which helped me to learn on a very low level, I think. I would log 8-10 days a year at Wa-Wa and day trips up north until college. At this point, I gave up hockey and was 45 minutes from the mountains. That is when it turned into an obsession and I logged 40+ per season.

 

[bvibert]

I started in an after school program when I was in 4th grade. My parents always encouraged us to try new sports and activities. I liked skiing more than any of the other sports I tried, I never was too good at 'team' sports anyway.. :roll:

 

[SkiDork]

My parents took us to a resort in the Poconos called Buck Hills Inn and Falls ~1966. They knew nothing of skiing. We were checking out the grounds and discovered that they had set up a poma lift on their golf course. We decided to try it out, and the rest is history. So you might say we stumbled upon it by accident.

 

[ALLSKIING]

First time I tried skiing was in Minnesota on this very small hill. I think I was around 6 years old....After that I knew I wanted to ski as much as I could. I did take 4 years off when I lived in Miami...but I am trying to make up for that now.

 

[Greg]

Back in college, my roommate Joe had been constantly trying to get me to try skiing. One snowy morning, I woke up and said to him, "let's go skiing today". We went to Mount Southington later that morning. He sent me down one of the black diamonds there which was obviously a mellow run, but it looked like a clifff to me. I survived it with only one fall and recall looking back up being very proud that I didn't kill myself. The trial by fire approach! That was March of 1994 and I was 20 years old. We went to Southington one other time that season and that summer we both bought a set of the cheapest Elan skis we could find. The next few years consisted of many trips to Mount Snow, Haytack, Killington, Ascutney, Okemo and Sundown. I kept at it after college going maybe 6-9 days per season. I started AZ in December of 1998 and the rest is history. Joe is still one of my favorite people to ski with.

 

[wintersyndrome]

Learning to ski

A school trip in like 6th or 7th grade...took lessons at Jiminy Peak, my older brother who had about three years under hs belt at the time took me up to upper Fox...I walked down from about the mid-way point-made me better though...6 years later I rented a snowboard at Brodie...been single planking it since...funny how theose two little hills in mass cultivated my love of the sport today

 

[hammer]

A few years ago, my family tried out XC skiing because we were tired of being cooped up in the house all winter. My son was "bored" with the XC skiing so we went on some trips to Pats Peak to try downhill skiing. By the start of the next season I was hooked...:smile:

 

[2knees]

2nd grade at Mt. Southington in Ct. I loved it. My brother cried about the cold like the little baby that he was and my mom took us home early. I convinced her to take me back by myself and off i went.

 

[kcyanks1]

My dad loved skiing, so he took my family when I was about 3 1/2.. I started at Gore.

 

[tekweezle]

i tried it in college back in 92. went with a 80 people renting 2 houses to the poconos. most of the people didn;t go there for the skiing.

skied at camelback wearing dockers and a puffy ski jacket. those were the days. just did the bunnyhill but i was hooked. i did take a nasty fall when my skis hit a patch of dry dirt and flipped me over.

 

[ozzy]

my parents first took me when i was four. they both wanted to ski and neither of them wanted to stay home or find a sitter. the rest is history. that's why i always tell people that i've been skiing since i was four, not very well, but skiing since i was four
my sister hated it from day one and still does even though her kids love it. it's cool now that her eldest son is now capable of driving and come up here for weekends a few times a winter.

 

[andyzee]

My friend purchased a town house near Mountain Creek, NJ and tried skiing. One day he invited me and my wife up to give it a try. We went twice, in both case we just rented skis, we did not take lessons, nor did we have anyone to give us pointers. This was back in 2000. Well we didn't do very well on the bunny hill, everytime we skied down we just fell. After that we didn't try again for two years. This time some friends talked us into going and told us we should take a lesson. We went to Shawnee in PA, took a lesson, and that day skied down from the peak. Have been hooked ever since.

 

[skiadikt]

twas 1974, my best friends went on their honeymoon in poconos and tried skiing. came back and said we had to try it. took us to craigmeur in nj. only way i could stop was by falling ... some things never change. loved it immediately. worked our way through many of the little local places like big vanilla, vernon valley etc and then went huntah ... remember starting out in hunter one and looking up at the peak and thinking it looked like everest and wondering if someday i'd be good enough to go up THERE. and then i discovered the belt pkwy ;-)

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

My parents where in their early 30's when they caught the bug. They started me when I was 6 yrs. old and my sister was 4. 46 years later I'm still going strong. My sister stopped when she got to high school. She's a sicko.

 

[JimG.]

My parents were (are) avid skiers. My mom is Swiss. It was destiny.

My first turns were at the Concord Hotel ski area in the Catskills at the age of 4. I loved it. My parents had a hard time getting me off the hill; I finally left kicking and screaming.

I have never looked back since

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

My parents were (are) avid skiers. My mom is Swiss. It was destiny.

My parents where avid skiers for 30 + years, but when they retired they moved to Florida and took up tennis. :roll: When I retire I'm headed to the mountains.

 

[andyzee]

remember starting out in hunter one and looking up at the peak and thinking it looked like everest and wondering if someday i'd be good enough to go up THERE. and then i discovered the belt pkwy ;-)

Hehe me and my wife used to think that was just for people with a deathwish

 

[loafer89]

My brother got me started skiing in February 1982 at Vernon Valley on a rope tow that serviced a really flat trail, but being 10 years old the trail looked difficult to me and I hated the rope tow even more. I progressed fairly rapidly from there, and took my first trip out west to Colorado in March 1983.

 

[2knees]

Hehe me and my wife used to think that was just for people with a deathwish

lol i went to hunter years ago on thanksgiving weekend. trust me, belt parkway IS for someone with a death wish under those circumstances. 800 people crammed onto one very icy trail.