Poll How has the age you started skiing affected your skills?

[jseeski]

I must apologize.

My post no. 101 is not appropriate for this thread. It should be withdrawn, but I've waited too long.

Back to the original question, I skied some when I was a kid, but never often and never well. It took a lot of instruction and training as an adult to get me to my present level of incompetence. Count me among those who believe that instruction does at least some good.

As I said earlier (post 53), I will never ski as well as I would like.

 

[Tricia]

Think of all the people who are firmly convinced that you have to push the tails up the hill to initiate a turn down the hill. That's what they think they're seeing when they watch someone ski, even someone who doesn't actually ski that way.

Then there are those (often the same people) who believe you have to pick up the inside ski in order to ski parallel.

What people think they're seeing, and what is actually going on are often two different things. Also, consider the Dunning-Kruger effect.

It is said that practice makes perfect. No. Perfect practice makes perfect.

I can't remember if it was @Bob Barnes or @Weems Westfeldt who said...
Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent.

I must apologize.

My post no. 101 is not appropriate for this thread. It should be withdrawn, but I've waited too long.

Back to the original question, I skied some when I was a kid, but never often and never well. It took a lot of instruction and training as an adult to get me to my present level of incompetence. Count me among those who believe that instruction does at least some good.

As I said earlier (post 53), I will never ski as well as I would like.

No apologies. This thread is about the different views on how the longevity of someone skiing may or may not influence how well they ski.

Nothing inappropriate about your post in this thread.

 

[jseeski]

No apologies. This thread is about the different views on how the longevity of someone skiing may or may not influence how well they ski.

And that's what's wrong with my post #101. It does not address the OP. It is off-topic.

 

[Tom K.]

Started at 5, and I feel far more coordinated on skis than on foot.

Dunno if that speaks well to the skiing, or poorly to the walking......

 

[markojp]

I started at 4 at a hill @Kneale Brownson knows well and was hooked from moment one no matter how cold, tired, or cranky I got. In the local community, skiing was pretty much the only thing to do in the winter other than ice fishing or freezing waiting for your hockey shift... nope, not for me. It really was a 'village' effort hauling kids to and fro to the hill(s) and back, Sat was a grand adventure with friends, Sunday was race day, and after school we often skied until 8pm.

Many years later, this is what I know. I still clearly remember days at these very small hills...who I skied with, what we skied on, who had a crush on who, etc.... I think of them all this time of year. Skiing has always been and will always be a continuum of adventure and friendship. I feel completely 'at home' on skis. I'm not the best, I'm not the worst. Somedays I even suck at a pretty respectable level. I still always manage to learn something new every single season even if I've had no idea what that 'something' was going to be. I'm glad I started as a wee guy, but I also know that we were raised in a time, place, and community that was pretty magical. That last bit. That was the key.

 

[Tony S]

I started at 4 at a hill @Kneale Brownson knows well and was hooked from moment one no matter how cold, tired, or cranky I got. In the local community, skiing was pretty much the only thing to do in the winter other than ice fishing or freezing waiting for your hockey shift... nope, not for me. It really was a 'village' effort hauling kids to and fro to the hill(s) and back, Sat was a grand adventure with friends, Sunday was race day, and after school we often skied until 8pm.

Many years later, this is what I know. I still clearly remember days at these very small hills...who I skied with, what we skied on, who had a crush on who, etc.... I think of them all this time of year. Skiing has always been and will always be a continuum of adventure and friendship. I feel completely 'at home' on skis. I'm not the best, I'm not the worst. Somedays I even suck at a pretty respectable level. I still always manage to learn something new every single season even if I've had no idea what that 'something' was going to be. I'm glad I started as a wee guy, but I also know that we were raised in a time, place, and community that was pretty magical. That last bit. That was the key.

When is your book coming out?

 

[Uncle-A]

I started at 4 at a hill @Kneale Brownson knows well and was hooked from moment one no matter how cold, tired, or cranky I got. In the local community, skiing was pretty much the only thing to do in the winter other than ice fishing or freezing waiting for your hockey shift... nope, not for me. It really was a 'village' effort hauling kids to and fro to the hill(s) and back, Sat was a grand adventure with friends, Sunday was race day, and after school we often skied until 8pm.

Many years later, this is what I know. I still clearly remember days at these very small hills...who I skied with, what we skied on, who had a crush on who, etc.... I think of them all this time of year. Skiing has always been and will always be a continuum of adventure and friendship. I feel completely 'at home' on skis. I'm not the best, I'm not the worst. Somedays I even suck at a pretty respectable level. I still always manage to learn something new every single season even if I've had no idea what that 'something' was going to be. I'm glad I started as a wee guy, but I also know that we were raised in a time, place, and community that was pretty magical. That last bit. That was the key.

Great writing and I thought that I was a bit nostalgic because I think of many of the same things. It is something I do at times when riding a slow chair over trails that I have skied for years, or driving to the mountain past winter rentals from years ago.

 

[DoryBreaux]

I started at 4 at a hill @Kneale Brownson knows well and was hooked from moment one no matter how cold, tired, or cranky I got. In the local community, skiing was pretty much the only thing to do in the winter other than ice fishing or freezing waiting for your hockey shift... nope, not for me. It really was a 'village' effort hauling kids to and fro to the hill(s) and back, Sat was a grand adventure with friends, Sunday was race day, and after school we often skied until 8pm.

Many years later, this is what I know. I still clearly remember days at these very small hills...who I skied with, what we skied on, who had a crush on who, etc.... I think of them all this time of year. Skiing has always been and will always be a continuum of adventure and friendship. I feel completely 'at home' on skis. I'm not the best, I'm not the worst. Somedays I even suck at a pretty respectable level. I still always manage to learn something new every single season even if I've had no idea what that 'something' was going to be. I'm glad I started as a wee guy, but I also know that we were raised in a time, place, and community that was pretty magical. That last bit. That was the key.

This was something I longed for as a child.

But seriously. When is your book coming out?

 

[frontfive]

I started skiing at age 12 & consider myself a high intermediate skier (r/t lack of great technical skills) but can safety ski most all conditions. I am comfortable on skies, I find skiing fun & enjoyable, and totally feel this comes from starting at a younger age. A few years back I decided to try snowboarding & It was HARD! I fell first run on bunny hill & broke my tailbone. Rode a school bus home sitting backwards in a bench seat and pretty much couldn't sit straight in a chair for the next year. So huge kudos to all skiers/boarders who took up the sport later in life, because if this had been my first experience it would have most definitely also been my last.

 

[Rod9301]

I think it's extremely rare to see a good skier that started skiing after his teen years.

 

[Rod9301]

I am way more positive about starting as an adult (started at 46). Being a kid is not the most athletic time for everyone, especially with respect to strength and coordination. Everyone seems to be comparing their development with the most athletic kids, not the average kid or the kid who quit because they sucked. You do well athletically as a kid if your abilities fit an expected baseline, your long term potential is less of a factor. As an adult I can direct my efforts according to my strengths and weaknesses.

Best part is seeing ones athletic ability improving with age (albeit slowly) instead of just managing decline.

A few years ago a NYT article mentioned that a lot of masters records tend to be set by late starters. When one sees the "Eighty year old woman sets age record with 250lb deadlift." type stories, it is usually an unathletic very late starter who initially got dragged into the gym by one of their kids or friends, not someone who grew up lifting.

True, but only for non skill sports like lifting, running etc

 

[bbinder]

I started skiing in college in the early seventies. I took some lessons initially and then occasionally through the years and became fairly competent. Knee issues that developed over the years made me realize that I had to really learn how to use skis in the modern era and learn how to ski more efficiently. I started getting some serious coaching 15 years ago and it was a real chore and challenge (albeit a fun one) to break the bad habits and years of muscle memory. I will always have things to learn, and will always think that my feet are wider apart than they really are...

As a contrast, my daughter Daria learned to ski in the modern era and began when she was 3ish. She took a bunch of lessons early on and then just followed me around the mountain. Fortunately she intuitively emulated the proper things that I was doing on the snow and did not incorporate my bad habits. As an adult she has been asked by several expert skiers whether she raced as a child (she didn’t).

Now: I can talk all day long about technique and what is happening to my feet and what I am doing right or wrong. Daria can’t really describe what she does when she skis. She just skis.

 

[4ster]

Daria can’t really describe what she does when she skis. She just skis.

conscious competence

 

[Bad Bob]

Folks got the whole family started about 1957 at the rip old age of 6. Dad was assigned to McChord AFB near Tacoma. The sport was a bit different then pretty much all rope tows we learned on our own at 'Paradise' on Mt. Rainier with occasional adventures to Snoqualmie and beyond. The learning curve was pretty steep but we all survived with only one broken leg between us.

(Here is stylin' for a 6 year old circa '57 bamboo poles and bear traps (who needs tongues in ski boots?)

1960 took us all to Southern Japan for 3 years, no skiing! 64 in Madison, WI is when skiing started to define who I was. Early Vietnam era and Madison (or the region we lived in was pretty tough on military and their kids; as in: beat up, bike spokes kicked in, shifter and brake cables ripped off. There was a private ski club a few miles from our house and Dad joined; it was mostly a jumping club but they had a little rope tow hill maybe 150', snow making, lights, and a warming lodge. Would get dropped off there by Mom after school till about 8:00. Left to my own devices and often the only person there. These were my first 100+ day seasons. Toss in a couple of ski weeks and a race camp and I started to actually learn to ski.
Next stop was Anchorage, Alaska for 2 winters while Dad was remote to Korea. 2 small military owned ski areas and getting out of school at noon on split shift fit my schedule quite well. Learned to ski loose snow there. Both of these hills had the same ski school on contract. Would follow a couple of those guys like a puppy dog and started to actually develop some technique and skills. At 13 the old Austrian director cornered me in the lodge and explained he was an instructor short to teach a beginners class, and then I was one. The end of high school sports but the beginning of a long term adventure but those are other tales.

Sorry to run on like this but once the words started I couldn't stop. Being a kid skiing totally changed the direction of my life.

 

[luliski]

I started at age 7. When I was 8 years old, my family moved to Switzerland, and I had three years of frequent lessons and skiing (after school, 2 week long camps, etc.). Then we moved to the Chicago area (when I was 11), and I had 14 years of skiing maybe 5 times a winter.

I think starting skiing as a kid helped me to feel comfortable on skis. It also helped that I did tons of skating in Illinois. I have also always enjoyed activities where balance is important.

When I moved back to California at age 25, I was able to get back on skis and pick up where I left off. I'm very comfortable moving around on skis. But, as some others on here who started young, I have been self-taught as an adult. I started on ski swap leather boots and long wooden skis that my dad "shortened" for me. I just started on "modern" equipment as adult, and have adapted my movement patterns for shaped skis, as felt right to me. I have learned some "bad" habits (so I'm told): like too narrow of a stance, too much weight on inside leg, etc. that developed as I learned to ski parallel on my own. I do fall quite often, so it's probably time for a lesson as an adult.

 

[graham418]

I started when I was young, 7 or 8. Back in the long straight ski era. I never had any lessons, but learned by emulating my dad and his friends, who were all good skiers. I grew to become a pretty good skier myself. All that time on the skis gives me an innate comfort being on skis. But with the new equipment revolution, I have had to relearn everything. When I was 40 , and got my first gen shaped skis, i also joined a ski club and started taking lessons. Trying to unlearn the habits of years of skiing the old style has been a challenge (get those legs apart!!)

 

[Daniel]

In my utopian Ski School everyone would begin I’m Nordic skis.

Totally agree and I would add "become a skilled ice skater."

 

[Jim Kenney]

Folks got the whole family started about 1957 at the rip old age of 6. Dad was assigned to McChord AFB near Tacoma. The sport was a bit different then pretty much all rope tows we learned on our own at 'Paradise' on Mt. Rainier with occasional adventures to Snoqualmie and beyond. The learning curve was pretty steep but we all survived with only one broken leg between us.

View attachment 85771
(Here is stylin' for a 6 year old circa '57 bamboo poles and bear traps (who needs tongues in ski boots?)

1960 took us all to Southern Japan for 3 years, no skiing! 64 in Madison, WI is when skiing started to define who I was. Early Vietnam era and Madison (or the region we lived in was pretty tough on military and their kids; as in: beat up, bike spokes kicked in, shifter and brake cables ripped off. There was a private ski club a few miles from our house and Dad joined; it was mostly a jumping club but they had a little rope tow hill maybe 150', snow making, lights, and a warming lodge. Would get dropped off there by Mom after school till about 8:00. Left to my own devices and often the only person there. These were my first 100+ day seasons. Toss in a couple of ski weeks and a race camp and I started to actually learn to ski.
Next stop was Anchorage, Alaska for 2 winters while Dad was remote to Korea. 2 small military owned ski areas and getting out of school at noon on split shift fit my schedule quite well. Learned to ski loose snow there. Both of these hills had the same ski school on contract. Would follow a couple of those guys like a puppy dog and started to actually develop some technique and skills. At 13 the old Austrian director cornered me in the lodge and explained he was an instructor short to teach a beginners class, and then I was one. The end of high school sports but the beginning of a long term adventure but those are other tales.

Sorry to run on like this but once the words started I couldn't stop. Being a kid skiing totally changed the direction of my life.

Would like to hear more. I was raised in a Navy family that also skied. Maybe we should start a new thread: My Life In Skiing?

 

[rickg]

I started skiing as a skinny 17 year old HS senior, now 65. I fell in love immediately which eventually led me to the gym to get in better shape for skiing. I was never much of an athlete and skiing allowed me to progress at my own pace, never having to "sit on the bench". I worked hard to become a good skier and have had lessons throughout my life. When I had my daughter, she was started at 3 and became a pretty good skier as well.

Having observed her and other young children who have grown up to be good skiers vs learning as a teenager or adult, the biggest difference is their fluidity and naturalness. Learning to ski at such a young age, by the time they are 5 or 6 , they don't remember learning to ski anymore than they remember how to walk. They just know how and with instruction improve at an incredible rate. Learning later in life, you remember the fear. You remember the falling. You remember the bruises before you learned to stay upright. That can hinder you as you strive to get better. The memories of pain can hold you back. They don't have that.

Damn, I wish I had started at 3!

Rick G

 

[Doug Briggs]

I started about age 5 (1962). I don't recall the earliest instruction but in elementary school we had lessons every week. We'd go to the gym, boot up and get on buses to the ski area (Cranmore) and volunteer instructors would teach us. You earned colored hash marks to show your proficiency. At the end of each season there were races for each proficiency group. I started on wood skis with cable, then Dovre step ins. My first new skis were hart hornets.

Don't ask what the colors stand for other than different levels of proficiency. I don't recall.

The ski area was pretty much our day care on weekends and vacations. I started racing at 13 after bombing around with my buds. I'm guessing my technique was ok. I was naturally pretty good and all the time I spent on the hill supported and strengthed my skiing.

My earliest skiing and racing picture.

I won my first USSA race in my first season of racing and my first ski racing career lasted until I was 19 (1977). I was near the top of the heap at that time.

After that I skied 15 - 20 times a year until the late 90's. In the early 80s, I got into telemark with leather boots and all. I never skied off piste as a kid but grooming was different back then so skiing the trails was pretty challenging. The tele gear helped me get in the backcountry. It wasn't until I started skiing with my brother, 5 years my junior, in the early 90s that I developed solid back-country/off-piste skills. I just followed him and emulated him. He has been called Elvis by his friends because wherever he skis is Graceland. He's really a pleasure to watch.

My brother in Sluice on Mt Washington; photo by Brooks Dodge III

Dropping a knee in Cervinia.

When I moved to Colorado in 2000 I was still pinning. At that time shaped skis were fairly new and I had transitioned to early shaped skis (Olin Sierras (low 70 under foot) and Karhu something or others that were really narrow but still shaped. I soon switched to alpine when I resumed racing in my second racing career. I've been racing ever since. It took about a month on the new race gear to get proficient and natural at it.

My first race about 25 years to the day following my last one in '77.

Starting early was a huge advantage and the miles I put on with my buddies made a world of difference. I've been an enthusiastic skier all along. A good solid skill set made transition to shape skis pretty easy and I really enjoyed moving forward with the technology. I do still remember trying to apply old school counter to the new skis and flailing in the gates. Race training really accelerated my adoption and proficiency on shape skis. I think that even for people that don't care to race, training gates will help immensely.

Having grown up in New England, skiing the firm, really enhanced the need for good technique. Skiing CO snow has spoiled me a bit, but as I still race and try to get out early in the season, I am exposed to the harder snow. Hard snow will really show you your mistakes quickly and without mercy.

Nowadays I really love free skiing and race a lot less.