The Long Goodbye

[highpeaksdrifter]

What ski related thing did you know you should move on from, but it took you awhile to bring yourself to do it.

For me it was skiing the majority of my days at Hunter Mt. That sounds like Hunter bashing, but not so. I have great memories skiing there. I have the utmost respect for the Slutskys and the way they run their mountain. It’s just that I skied there since I was 6 years old until I was 47, that’s a long time.

 

[tree_skier]

For me it was straight skis. I skied straight sticks until I broke my 205 cm Fischer world cup SL supers spring bump skiing on bear trap and I finished out the 2000 season on the older K2 VO Slaloms. In the off season I went to a new but about 5 year old pair of Elan Parabolic SL race skis, 188 cm and finally went to the true shaped ski in 2004 with a pair of 161 cm Fischer World cup SL.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Saying goodbye to my skibum life in Montana. I spend two ski seasons as a skibum living in Bozeman Montana in my early-mid 20s. I was making $9 an hour with a college degree and living with a bunch of roommates...I loved skiing deep cold smoke powder but it was the first time in my life that I was broke and I hated being broke..so I moved back here to PA after 18 months in Montana..it was so tough to say goodbye to the mountains and the carefree lifestyle. I miss partying till 3:00AM on a Wednesday night..but I don't miss being broke and living with a bunch of smelly roommates..

 

[deadheadskier]

Similar response as Steeze

Dropped out of college after freshman year and spent two years ski/beach bumming - winters in Stowe, summers on the Cape .....couldn't handle the broke lifestyle and being laid off with no income coming in in the spring and fall. Went back to school

Got a degree and spent one last season ski bumming as a bartender 00-01 - best decision I've ever made due to how great a season it was.

Then tried to put my degree to use at being a 'professional ski bum' working in management at ski resorts. At this I found myself working 65-90+ hours a week, occasionally eclipsing 100 hours; still not making all that much dough and skiing only about ten days a season. Combining that and looking at real estate I could never even dream of affording.....I moved on.

There are very few people who can live in ski country and have a decent quality of life; granted this being my definition. Most of my friends that still do it are stuck doing multiple dead end jobs, no benefits, living with room mates in lousy apartments; only now they're 12 years older. While they still call and boast about the incredible days they have on the hill, the enthusiasm decreases each year and they contemplate moving on, but feel unemployable in the 'real world'.

For those that have made it in ski towns and enjoy a good work/economic/recreation/family life balance, I commend them and think they are a rare group.

For me....moving on was the right choice. I look forward to moving back someday....when I'm retired

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

There are very few people who can live in ski country and have a decent quality of life; granted this being my definition. Most of my friends that still do it are stuck doing multiple dead end jobs, no benefits, living with room mates in lousy apartments; only now they're 12 years older.

I agree it's a hard place to make an easy living, but disagree you have to live in poverty. I have several friends that live and work in the Lake Placid area who do quite well for themselves. They have careers here. Some do there jobs from home on computer.

TJF moved up here 2 years ago and works in the same type of position he did in the Albany, NY area. I hope he sees this and gives us his take.

 

[deadheadskier]

I agree it's a hard place to make an easy living, but disagree you have to live in poverty. I have several friends that live and work in the Lake Placid area who do quite well for themselves. They have careers here. Some do there jobs from home on computer.

TJF moved up here 2 years ago and works in the same type of position he did in the Albany, NY area. I hope he sees this and gives us his take.

Not saying that it can't be done and that there aren't opportunities, just that there are far fewer opportunities and a much greater percentage of the jobs that exist are of the low wage service sector variety.

I do have some friends who do quite well for themselves through work, know of a number that are fine because of trust funds, but a great percentage of them struggle financially and often have to live quite a distance from the mountain and/or work to find affordable housing.

 

[Mapnut]

Another lingerer on long straight skis. I got my last pair of 205cm Kastles 5 years ago at a ski swap for $100; I thought the Salomon bindings alone were worth the price. But when I took them to a ski shop 3 years ago, they told me that was the last year they'd be allowed to work on them; estimated they were 12 years old. I kept on skiing on them until this March. My main reason for updating is that I couldn't ski moguls or glades at all. Sure enjoyed my first two days on the new 178cm Rossi Bandits.

 

[tjf67]

My ski bag and it contents are still on the floor in the study. I have not put it away yet. May be next summer

 

[abc]

Waxible x-c skis. Not just any waxables, they have their places. But my particular one has passed its prime. Still, I wasn't skiing it enough to worry about the hassle of fussy with kick wax and such... Although it's work, I pride myself for being able to use it even in trackless bc snow, which is the kind of xc skiing I do more often lately.

Finally got a pair of bc metal edge xc skis. It definitely doesn't glide nearly as well as the lightweight waxable in track. But not having gummy kick wax all over my ski bag (and even getting on my downhill skis!)? Priceless!

 

[ski_resort_observer]

After living many years in a ski town out west and working at the resort I moved back to Vermont cause the average price of a home was over 1m and as I was getting close to 50 I pined to own my own home. Also summers out there were total chaos with all the crowds.

Like many of you it was tough to leave a place after living there for many years. The crazy thing is within a couple of months of being back in Vermont I wished I had left 10 years before I did.

It's now been 12 years since I returned and I still feel the same way. I love the small villages, the many rivers and lakes, the greenery and I feel the skiing is pretty damn good here in the northeast.

 

[campgottagopee]

For me this is easy. I've never skied with a helmet but will be this coming year. Been 40 years without so we'll see how it goes. Just makes sense to me, well, now that is.

 

[mattchuck2]

I didn't switch to shaped skis until 2003.

I still use Marker bindings, but that's probably going to change . . .

 

[kingslug]

No regrets here...continuing to move foreward for the better.

 

[JimG.]

What ski related thing did you know you should move on from, but it took you awhile to bring yourself to do it.

For me it was skiing the majority of my days at Hunter Mt. That sounds like Hunter bashing, but not so. I have great memories skiing there. I have the utmost respect for the Slutskys and the way they run their mountain. It’s just that I skied there since I was 6 years old until I was 47, that’s a long time.

It really does not sound like bashing to me.

For me it was giving up a seasonal rental at Hunter when I moved to Dutchess County...although with current fuel prices and my job change I would move to Hunter if it weren't for my kid's schooling.

I'm very happy with the Arlington school district.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

I didn't switch to shaped skis until................ oh wait................. I never did! Unless you call 92/66/82 shaped, that is :wink:

 

[snoseek]

I just threw out some ski pants that I had for four seasons and over four hundred days. They were comfy but gross and big cause I dropped some weight. I have stitched them up a few times but they held together pretty well considering I paid 60 dollars. I will miss them.

 

[Geoff]

I held out on wearing a helmet until December 2007. It really changed my world in the trees. I ski completely different lines.

I'm usually really slow to cycle through ski clothing. I skied with a Mountain Equipment Co-op Gore-Tex XCR pullover shell for 6 years. I skied with two identical pairs of Helle Hansen pants for 8 years.

 

[mondeo]

For me this is easy. I've never skied with a helmet but will be this coming year. Been 40 years without so we'll see how it goes. Just makes sense to me, well, now that is.

Same here. Got mine late last year.

I didn't switch to shaped skis until................ oh wait................. I never did! Unless you call 92/66/82 shaped, that is :wink:

Same here, right down to the sidecut.

Another one might be poles. Always just stocked up on $20 poles, we'll see how my new 7075-T6 alloy poles do this year.

 

[deadheadskier]

I held out on wearing a helmet until December 2007. It really changed my world in the trees. I ski completely different lines.
.

Guess I also said goodbye this past season to skiing without a helmet. I picked up one in February. I wouldn't say it changed my skiing in the trees or other terrain in the slightest; just finally said you know, this is the right thing to do. Actually I take that back, it was a powder day at Black Mountain that I bought it and over the course of that day I dropped about a ten foot cliff, first time doing something like that since 2001.

What I didn't think was that I'd wear it in the spring, but I did at Sunapee on a 65 degree day. I sweat like crazy doing so, but it felt weird skiing the one run I did without, almost like not wearing a seatbelt.