Late season melancholy...

[Greg]

Maybe if you took the mountain biking up to the Highland mountain bike area where you could ride the lift up and shoot down the mountain trails it would be kind of like the skiing experience.

My first mountain biking experience was just this at Mount Snow, probably about 12 years ago, right when mountain biking was just getting popular. This was the first time I was on a bicycle since my Huffy BMX days as a kid and if it's possible to be a gaper on a mountain bike, that was definitely me that day...

 

[MRGisevil]

Now, I know it's not the end of the season yet but I am getting seriously bummed that it's winding down to a stop. Even though we got a late start this year, this is probably one of the best seasons I've ever had from a personal growth standpoint; I'll tell you why:

I'm a self-taught skiier, and the way I taught myself to ski had two main principles: 1.) Get down the mountain as fast as you can without hitting anyone, and 2.) when you need to stop, fall. Insane, ignorant, just-plain-old-dumb, I know, but these basic principles were my mantra for a few years until I met my husband and he painstakingly trained the stupid out of me. I went from an uncomfortable mess to an organized, comfortable skiier in the years to follow.

The past few seasons I have been sick to the point where sports like skiing were out of the question; therefore, my skis collected a lot of unwanted dust and my a-- collected a lot of unwanted fat. It was just this year that I was able to brush away the cobwebs (and some a-- fat) and get back into the sport... and man, was that an unlucky time.

I felt just like I did as my old, ignorant, know-it-all self: wreckless, uncomfortable and messy. I reverted to my original "go down the mountain as fast as you can and fall when you get to the bottom" mantra and almost took my husband, and a few unhappy ski patrollers, out in the process. On my first trip out I was so frustrated with my digression that I was ready to pop a ski off, throw it in the woods, move out to Kentucky somewhere and cultivate a sand farm where nothing was ever slippery and you could lay a level on any part of my property and the bubble wouldn't move. But instead of banishing myself to some vertically challenged dirt hole, I went out a few more times and began to feel more and more comfortable. I even joined a racing team to help build up my confidence again.

And it worked! A few months later and I'm still no expert, but I'm hitting bumps again, taking the glades instead of the greens and rocketing myself off (almost) every jump and cliff I can find. Not only that, but I feel more confident in my boots than I ever have and am ready and roaring to take trails I might previously had been afraid of.

This season has been an enlightening and enriching experience for me, and I'm sorry to see it go, but thanks to this season I'm now confident that there will be many more just like it!

 

[JimG.]

It ain't over till it's over...and I don't get bummed until it's really over.

Feeling great today!

 

[Greg]

Now, I know it's not the end of the season yet but I am getting seriously bummed that it's winding down to a stop. Even though we got a late start this year, this is probably one of the best seasons I've ever had from a personal growth standpoint; I'll tell you why:

I'm a self-taught skiier, and the way I taught myself to ski had two main principles: 1.) Get down the mountain as fast as you can without hitting anyone, and 2.) when you need to stop, fall. Insane, ignorant, just-plain-old-dumb, I know, but these basic principles were my mantra for a few years until I met my husband and he painstakingly trained the stupid out of me. I went from an uncomfortable mess to an organized, comfortable skiier in the years to follow.

The past few seasons I have been sick to the point where sports like skiing were out of the question; therefore, my skis collected a lot of unwanted dust and my a-- collected a lot of unwanted fat. It was just this year that I was able to brush away the cobwebs (and some a-- fat) and get back into the sport... and man, was that an unlucky time.

I felt just like I did as my old, ignorant, know-it-all self: wreckless, uncomfortable and messy. I reverted to my original "go down the mountain as fast as you can and fall when you get to the bottom" mantra and almost took my husband, and a few unhappy ski patrollers, out in the process. On my first trip out I was so frustrated with my digression that I was ready to pop a ski off, throw it in the woods, move out to Kentucky somewhere and cultivate a sand farm where nothing was ever slippery and you could lay a level on any part of my property and the bubble wouldn't move. But instead of banishing myself to some vertically challenged dirt hole, I went out a few more times and began to feel more and more comfortable. I even joined a racing team to help build up my confidence again.

And it worked! A few months later and I'm still no expert, but I'm hitting bumps again, taking the glades instead of the greens and rocketing myself off (almost) every jump and cliff I can find. Not only that, but I feel more confident in my boots than I ever have and am ready and roaring to take trails I might previously had been afraid of.

This season has been an enlightening and enriching experience for me, and I'm sorry to see it go, but thanks to this season I'm now confident that there will be many more just like it!

What a great post! :lol: Good stuff.

I seriously get sad at the end of each season and I see that inevitable despression looming. It takes a few weeks to shake that off. Skiing truly defines part of who I am and being without it for a few months sucks. It's always on the brain though...

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

my issue is i have too much going on in the warmer months, between surfing/windsurfing/sailing/waterskiing/road riding/hanging with the fam on the beach every weekend....I mtn bike in the spring and fall, too many insects/bugs/ticks in the woods in the summer for my liking...

 

[cbcbd]

My winter and summer both have too much going on... but I agree that summer just have much more that I want to get accomplished - between hiking, mtb, road biking, rock climbing, kayaking - doesn't leave too much time for any one activity.
Winter time is better, but I still have to choose between skiing, hiking, ice climbing... Those are usually easier to connect into one activity, though.

 

[The Sneak]

I plan on skiing through april...and by may it is kayaking, bicycling, baseball, hiking etc time.
I won't start thinking about skiing again til september or early october.

 

[Greg]

I won't start thinking about skiing again til september or early october.

That's amazing to me. A day doesn't go by that I don't think about skiing, even when it's 95*F and humid; actually I think about skiing especially when it's 95*F and humid... :lol:

 

[bvibert]

That's amazing to me. A day doesn't go by that I don't think about skiing, even when it's 95*F and humid; actually I think about skiing especially when it's 95*F and humid... :lol:

I don't know if there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about skiing. There certainly aren't too many, that's for sure... OK, maybe there isn't any...

 

[reefer]

Per Jim G. - It ain't over til' it's over...............I never think of skiing in the summer.....................
the racks were on my old blazer also that day, don't know what happened to that pic. The looks I get when I back my "ski mobile" up to a sand dune..................I now have a dozen or so ski decals on my Xterra's back window. Whoever said skiing is a way a life is correct........it never ends, just goes on vacation.

 

[snoseek]

@#$%# summer, you can have it. Summer to me means 75+ hour workweeks. I actually mark the days till nov. on a calendar. Someday i'll enjoy summer because i know there's lot's of fun stuff to do, but until then may is doomsday.

 

[Bumpsis]

Bumpsis...was hoping to get out Sunday surfing, but the swell never made it in...I'm here on LI, but we have a house up in Eastham on the Cape..I get up there a few times a summer and surf CG, NLight etc....i lived up there durning the summers in college and knew all the breaks like the back of my hand...love it up there.

Good to know that there is a fellow waterman on this board. I think that for waves, LI tends to be a bit less fickle than Mass or even RI. But bewteen now and the June, there we're still in line of a few "noreasters".
I love the Cape in the summer too, despite the crowds. Quite often, a decent south wind swell wraps around the Cape and the sandbars are firing. In the past couple of season Marconi seemed to have some nice bottom architecture, so it worked even at low tide, where CG and NLight were just straight shore breaks. Not much fun for surfers or spongers, unless you like riding the whitewash.

 

[Bumpsis]

I think I need a warm-weather hobby that I can be equally passionate about as skiing. I've hiked quite a bit in my life which is the only thing that comes close. Mountain biking is fun too, but neither are quite as addictive as skiing.

I suggest that you give surfing or bodyboarding a try. Once you take couple of decent drops and actually mange to ride an unbroken wave, you'll be hooked. Before you know it, you'll be combing through marine weather reports fevereshly, looking for the next swell.
It's powerfully addictive and a real blast.

 

[Greg]

I suggest that you give surfing or bodyboarding a try. Once you take couple of decent drops and actually mange to ride an unbroken wave, you'll be hooked. Before you know it, you'll be combing through marine weather reports fevereshly, looking for the next swell.
It's powerfully addictive and a real blast.

I can see the appeal, definitely. I'm probably at least a 2 hour drive from any place with good waves though.

 

[cbcbd]

I can see the appeal, definitely. I'm probably at least a 2 hour drive from any place with good waves though.

I'm at least a 2 hour drive from any place with decent skiing terrain
And at least 4 hours from the big mountains

The drive don't bother me

 

[Grassi21]

No melancholy here. I have 18 days in and will get at least 2 - 4 more. I'm happy with my number of days out and progress this season. I'm not looking forward to the season's impending end. But with a baby due in July, and both playing and coaching lacrosse this Spring, I'm looking forward to the change in seasons. I don't think I would have said that at the beginning of the season.

 

[MRGisevil]

Western Mass = snoresville. I ride my bike into the hills in April and don't come back out until November

 

[Newpylong]

The end of ski season is def. a big downer for me. I love outdoor activities but there isnt anything quite like skiing in my eyes. Perhaps I will try to hike a few ski areas this summer.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

Bumpsis...shot you a PM

 

[mattchuck2]

http://forums.alpinezone.com/10417-what-do-we-seek.html