- Joined
- Dec 5, 2018
- Posts
- 45
Bob, in Thornton, NH. Hello everyone.
67 yrs old, been skiing sixty years. My friend's mom and dad had skis from WWII so we clamped them to our boots when I was seven, beartrap bindings and coasted down the hill in the backyard.
Grew up in the Boston area and we had a tiny hill, Blue Hills, not ten minutes away. And, it was on the bus line! By the time I was 11 I had a pair of Northland skis (did you know they are coming back) and my mom would give me a dollar for the day. Ten cents each way on the bus, fifty cents for a lift ticket and thirty cents for two hotdogs and a coke for lunch. It only had a rope tow but we had a blast.
At 14 I talked my way onto the National Ski Patrol at Blue Hills (officially you had to be 16, but at 14 I was 6'3") and did that a couple of years. The head of the ski school asked me to become an instructor which I did, and in 1971 got certified at Cannon Mtn. At that time there was only one level of certification.), In 2000, wanting to stay relevant I re-took the Level III skiing and teaching exams and passed. So, this is the 51st anniversary of when I started teaching.
I'm now retired from teaching in the east but for four weeks in Feb and March I head to Vail and teach adults out of Lions Head. It's a good gig taking groups to the back bowls! Locally, I ski with a bunch of guys at Loon, Cannon and occasionally Waterville Valley.
At 67 I can still turn em pretty well and have no trouble keeping up with the younger guys!
In the past I was quite active in EpicSki under the name WVSkier, which stood for Waterville Valley skier, but too many people thought it meant West Virginia skier.
67 yrs old, been skiing sixty years. My friend's mom and dad had skis from WWII so we clamped them to our boots when I was seven, beartrap bindings and coasted down the hill in the backyard.
Grew up in the Boston area and we had a tiny hill, Blue Hills, not ten minutes away. And, it was on the bus line! By the time I was 11 I had a pair of Northland skis (did you know they are coming back) and my mom would give me a dollar for the day. Ten cents each way on the bus, fifty cents for a lift ticket and thirty cents for two hotdogs and a coke for lunch. It only had a rope tow but we had a blast.
At 14 I talked my way onto the National Ski Patrol at Blue Hills (officially you had to be 16, but at 14 I was 6'3") and did that a couple of years. The head of the ski school asked me to become an instructor which I did, and in 1971 got certified at Cannon Mtn. At that time there was only one level of certification.), In 2000, wanting to stay relevant I re-took the Level III skiing and teaching exams and passed. So, this is the 51st anniversary of when I started teaching.
I'm now retired from teaching in the east but for four weeks in Feb and March I head to Vail and teach adults out of Lions Head. It's a good gig taking groups to the back bowls! Locally, I ski with a bunch of guys at Loon, Cannon and occasionally Waterville Valley.
At 67 I can still turn em pretty well and have no trouble keeping up with the younger guys!
In the past I was quite active in EpicSki under the name WVSkier, which stood for Waterville Valley skier, but too many people thought it meant West Virginia skier.
). I had a roommate who'd never raced and only ate meat and potatoes. I was doing pretty well racing at the time. We'd commute to the ski area every day to train. My coaches were Georg Capaul and Fred Turton. That was a wonderful season.
