I remember when...

[RuleMiHa]

Lace up boots at Mt. Brighton Mi.

Being a scared 12 year old having to ski “The Wall” at Pine Knob Mi with linked carved turns to earn my black diamond patch, which I earned and was enormously proud of then.

Being 5-5 or 5-6 and maybe 120 Pounds on 190cm race skis and having to “stand on the outside ski” with all my might by lifting the inside ski to get it to arc on the nearly solid ice ruts of what passed for a race course at night while the snow machines blew snow across the hill during practice and meets. No helmets or speed suits or much in the way of protection but we did have stretch pants that tucked inside your boot with bright colored stripes on the side.

Skiing deep powder in NM & Colo in slalom skis and not thinking twice about it. Float was not in our vocabulary lol.

I started skiing at Mt. Brighton in '79. It was all ice, all the time then.

 

[Philpug]

So funny you mentioned the all night ski....I was going to bring them up in one of the other threads.....

As an 80’s teen season pass holder at Shawnee, the all night ski nights were the highlight of the winter!......the debauchery...the hookups.....it was a NEPA teenagers Utopia. Thinking back how great they were.....

There is no way in heck that ski areas would ever do them in present day....No way...nightmare.

So funny you mentioned them at Camelback....

Let's have an all night ski, they said. What could possibly go wrong, they said.

 

[x10003q]

I remember when I used:

Lace up boots
Wooden Skis with screw on edges
Bear Trap Bindings
Rope tows
J Bars
T Bars
A ski area called Great Gorge in NJ with a trial called Zero G.
When chair lifts were lettered A, B, C, etc. and some had mid station exists.
Mom made ski sweaters.
Stretch pants for men that went into your boots.

Zero G was at Vernon Valley. Pipeline was the steep trail at Great Gorge North.

 

[Crank]

Jet Stix.

 

[Fuller]

I remember when
I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place
Even your emotions have an echo in so much space…

Sorry, too new to have any retro memories!

 

[cantunamunch]

Jet Stix.

I remember when Jet Stix became a telemark thing.

 

[x10003q]

I remember...
when ski areas provided wool ponchos for long doubles - Stowe, Killington, Gore
lift lines where usually 45 minutes on Saturday and corrals had split rail fences
when I was in 4th grade my parents would drop me and a friends off at Campgaw at 8:30am and return to pick us up at 4pm
skiing in jeans no matter what the weather
racing in jeans
racing GS in college without a helmet
when my powder skis where my 210cm GS skis
when my tree skis where my 205 cm SL skis
skiing on ice so clear that I wished I was on my hockey skates
when skiers wore form fitting ski pants
when ski boots hurt no matter what you did
when goggles fogged up all the time

 

[squill]

I remember when Facebook was a yoga position I made in algebra II class.

I remember smelling a stinky cigar on the chairlift and Unlce Jim called it "wacky tabacky."

 

[James]

"I remember when we could buy flammable liquids cheaper than we could buy water"

Yes, well before we brought in water from Fiji, Iceland, and Norway.

lift lines where usually 45 minutes on Saturday and corrals had split rail fences

Yes! Goodness, liftlines could be long. We forget. I remember the gondola at Stowe being 30min to nearly an hour. But hey, lift tickets were cheap.

 

[cantunamunch]

Yes, well before we brought in water from Fiji, Iceland, and Norway.

Don't forget ships are 10x more load efficient than trucks. Iceland or Norway water is better than Oregon water for most if not all points east of Ohio.

 

[jgiddyup]

I remember when @Lorenzzo posted a pick on the former board of him skiing in jeans and sporting a porn mustache that should be posted here.

I also remember the plastic cable bindings and the joy that first experience gave me then and the joy it has propelled me to now.

 

[Chris Walker]

I remember when the only way I could get the snow report was to call a recorded line.

When you could park for free at the base of Peak 8 in Breckenridge.

When I paid $5.00 for a hamburger at Vail and felt ripped off.

When leashes would come undone and everyone knew to yell SKI!! to warn downhill skiers of runaway equipment.

When bamboo poles weren't retro, they were just old.

 

[Jilly]

I remember "horse blankets" at Mont Orford.

Anyone remember the clamp holder for the rope tow, so you didn't ruin a pair of mitts?

Gluwein!

We had a family friend that was trying to get the price of the lift/run down to 10 cents a run, so that 25 cents was expensive!!

I remember wine skins...still have one actually.

I remember when Warren Miller films came to Canada for showings every fall.

 

[Goose]

I remember these. Oh the memories of younger days
And just for kicks not skiing related by while we are at it

 

[scott43]

I remember falling of this snow machine when I was 3...

 

[dbostedo]

Anyone remember the clamp holder for the rope tow, so you didn't ruin a pair of mitts?

Like this?

 

[Goose]

Like this?

cant say I recall those. I only recall one hand forward and the other arm behind to rest on.

 

[Tony S]

In general, riding the lift took much more nerve and skill than skiing down. Rope tows, T-bars, and Pomas were ubiquitous. The tracks were rarely, if ever, groomed. I remember an absolutely killer surface lift, looker left at Pico, circa 1975. Terrifying.

 

[scott43]

I once was going up a t-bar...and poking my pole in the snow cuz I was bored..and I dropped my pole. So I told my buddy, I'm going to roll off and grab my pole and just skip over to the run beside through the trees and meet ya at the bottom. So I rolled off, grabbed my pole, looked up and WHAM! Got hit square in the forehead with the down t-bar..... True story. I'm an engineer now..be afraid...

 

[dbostedo]

cant say I recall those. I only recall one hand forward and the other arm behind to rest on.

I believe that pic is actually a relatively recent one possibly from New Zealand. I was curious if that's the type @Jilly referenced.