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Old 02-07-2020, 08:33 AM
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Default It's Been 28 Years....

Since I last went downhill skiing.

That changed yesterday.

The backstory...

After my last ski outing in January of 1992, I was diagnosed with "cold induced asthma". Basically, doing anything physically exerting caused me great difficulties. I suffered with this for several years and as a result sold all my ski gear.

In the late 90's, I was diagnosed with diabetes, lost 75 pounds and my "cold induced asthma" went away. By this time, my wife was no longer interested in skiing, so I just didn't try doing it again at that time.

Over the last 15 years, I've gone through 4 major surgeries, that have somewhat limited what I can do at times.

Well, I've had the "itch" to see if I still could ski. I've been somewhat nervous about it and wanted "perfect" conditions - sunny day, reasonable temps and adequate snow. Well, all boxes were checked yesterday, so...

Yesterday I drove over to Wabasha, MN ("home" of the movie "Grumpy Old Men" - feel free to consider me one of the grumpy old men) to Coffee Mill Ski Area - the ski area with the most vertical (425') south of Duluth, MN (250 miles north of me) and rented some ski gear.

I'm happy to report that things went well. The first 2 runs I needed to stop multiple times to rest my legs and gain confidence. After that, I made 2 more runs on the Chippewa run before spending the rest of my time on the more difficult Nellie's Pass and Barnstomer runs.

I decided to quit after 2 hours because I was getting tempted to try the Black Diamond (most difficult) runs - Fall Line and Auggies Chute. I used to ski those runs back in the 80's and early 90's, but thought the better part of valor was to go home, see how my body feels in the morning and save something for my next time.

I'm happy to report that I never fell yesterday and that my body is fine this morning. I'm going shopping today to look at purchasing ski equipment because I just had a blast and am looking forward to skiing

Back in the day, I used to be on skis 7 days a week. I raced cross country in HS, so I trained M-F, raced on Saturday and Sunday was my day off from cross country skiing, so I went downhill skiing. I used to own 7 pairs of skis.

I turn 66 in 11 days and look forward to skiing for years to come!

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Old 02-07-2020, 08:55 AM
66sprint6 66sprint6 is offline
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Nice. Glad to hear that you got your ski legs back under you. I haven't ski'd much since I left Alberta. When I lived there I would ski plenty, but I after skiing in the mountains all those years, I can't bring myself to go to these "hills" that they have around here. I sure miss those days, racing down the mountainside on a beautiful day in Banff. There's nothing like it.

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Old 02-07-2020, 10:31 AM
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Well, that made me smile. Very happy for you. It must have been a really triumphant kind of feeling. The 60's are not the end, we just need to approach with caution and smarts what we do that is physically challenging.

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Old 02-07-2020, 10:33 AM
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Banff is beautiful.

My mountain skiing was done in Europe when I was in the service. Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

I grew up in MN, so skiing "hills" is what I grew up with.

Wabasha is on the banks of the Mississippi River and the ski area is on the bluffs overlooking the city and river.

This is a shot of the bluffs near the area:


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Old 02-07-2020, 10:40 AM
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I work at a ski slope and try to ski about 4 or 5 times a week. You may know this already but just thought I would suggest to get the best fitting boots. Ask the ski instructors where they buy their boots. Good boot fitters will shape the inner liner to your foot. Ski technology has changed so much in the years you have owned your equipment. Call christys, evo, Peter Glenn, etc these are just some of the vendors that can help you with what kind of ski both width and length. Also if there are ski shops in your area that you can demo skis this is a great way to find the skis you like. Have fun in returning to skiing, it’s like such a fun thing to do in the winter.

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Old 02-07-2020, 10:41 AM
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That's some mighty pretty country Champ!

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Old 02-07-2020, 11:01 AM
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I learned to ski on the bunny hill at The Coffee Mill. Small world. Good for you. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'!

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Old 02-07-2020, 11:09 AM
1965gp 1965gp is offline
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This is a great story!! Glad it worked out and you can get back into it!

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Old 02-07-2020, 03:34 PM
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Great story! You are blessed to have your health and to be able to pursue your dreams. I last skied in 1974.....I really injured my left ankle in 1994, and that ended all my running, jumping, etc. Especially skiing. I'm only 59 but I can still do 'most' stuff.....but strapping a long lever onto my damaged ankle ain't one of them!

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Old 02-07-2020, 04:01 PM
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That's pretty cool, I am glad for you. Only skiing I have ever done is on water. Did the snow thing once when I was about 14 or 15. Not the right gear, kept falling down, got wet then got cold. I was not impressed and never went back. Its good that you will be able to enjoy something that was such an important part of your life at one time. Not everyone can do that.

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Old 02-07-2020, 05:12 PM
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Spent the morning looking at ski equipment at the 3 stores in Rochester, MN that have complete lines.

I think I found a late winter clearance package for about $600 that has Salomon skis, binding, poles and K2 boots.

The store manager didn't have the K2's in my size, but found the last pair in the company at another store and is having them shipped in for me to try on. If they fit, I'm ready to pull the trigger. If not, there I'll decide between a pair of Tecnica's that I tried on that I know fit well. The more expensive Tecnica's are $55.00 more than the K2's and the less expensive one's are $85.00 less. The difference is (by price - lowest to highest) the flex, 70, 90 or 100. I'm hoping the K2's fit as well as the Tecnica's...

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Old 02-07-2020, 06:56 PM
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A couple of my friends are on the Ski Patrol at Coffee Mill, so if you fall down and wreck yourself they'll probably be the ones that bring you back down the hill.

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Old 02-08-2020, 11:53 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart View Post
A couple of my friends are on the Ski Patrol at Coffee Mill, so if you fall down and wreck yourself they'll probably be the ones that bring you back down the hill.
No offense, but I don't want to meet them under those terms...

My worst crash and burn while skiing was while racing cross country in Hoyt Lakes my junior year. I lost it on the steepest down hill on the big 2 mile loop of a 3.5 mile race. Bounced off 3 trees on the way to the bottom and the corn snow tore up my bare right fore arm. Gathered myself back up and finished the last 1.75 miles of the race.

Didn't have time to realize my forearm was bleeding (damn corn snow) until after I finished the race. It was already starting to scab by that time....

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Old 02-08-2020, 05:26 PM
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Right on Champ!

I love skiing, or should I say "loved." It is the one sport I can confidently say I am (or was) really good at. My dad put me on skis when I was 3 but it's now been 5 years since I've skied. I tore up my left knee and shoulder when I got caught in an avalanche while backcountry skiing in February '13. Recovery was slow and that knee still bothers me some but by '14 I felt I was ready to go again. Went five times in the '14/'15 season and then in January '15 I tore my right knee all up. I'd been skiing in fairly deep, heavy snow all day and was getting tired. Decided to call it a day. A little voice in my head was saying "take the cat track back down" but I was standing at the top of the double-diamond run looking at some untracked snow and the lodge directly below me so I went for it. Big mistake.

I earn a living on my feet. Those injuries collectively cost me almost a year of income. I simply can't afford to get hurt like that again so I've hung up the skis for now. I may give it a try again, and stick to the easy groomed runs, but I've always been an aggressive, steep skier and the idea of just cruising along with all the "gapers" as we used to call them when there are steep faces and chutes all around is a little more than I can stomach right now.

Glad to hear you have rekindled your love of the sport. Have you ever skied in Colorado or Utah? I love the ski areas just outside of SLC (Snowbird, Alta, and Solitude being my favorites). I'd love to give a small local hill like yours a go one of these days, too.

Here is my favorite picture of me and my dog Jack in the Stevens Pass backcountry on one of the best ski days of my life.

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Old 02-09-2020, 08:48 AM
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Will

I grew up in MN and have only skied in MN and WI here in the states. I did enjoy mountain skiing in Europe while stationed in Germany from 1974 - 1977. My wife and daughter had never skied, so our first trip I booked a ski week at one of the Armed Forces Recreation Areas near Chiemsee, Germany. My wife enjoyed herself and our daughter (3 at the time) had fun too. Ultimately we skied in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Neither my mom or dad skied. But I started skiing on skis that my grandfather made at the age of 4 (simple wood skis with a leather strap to hold your winter boots in place). We had a "hill" in our front yard (about 3' vertical) and I had fun skiing it...

As I grew older, I started skiing the hill behind the clinic 2 blocks from our house - bigger hill without about a 30' vertical drop. Still using the skis my grandfather made. I got a pair of "real" skis for Christmas a few years later (the kind with the metal cable to go around the back of your winter boots) and would then walk to the old mining dumps about a half mile from our home and walk to the top and try and make it all the way down without wiping out...

It wasn't until I started racing cross country skiing that I ever made it to an actual ski area with my ski team. The slalom team raced in the morning and the cross country team in the afternoon. As ski team members we could use the lifts on the expert slope - so I was skiing the expert slopes in my cross country gear at the ripe old age of 14.

At 16 I bought my first REAL downhill gear. Having my heal totally locked down for the first time was a new experience, but I adapted quickly.

So glad I finally sucked up the courage to see if I could ski again.

BTW, that shot of you in the powder reminds me of my last time skiing in Austria. Our local military ski club did a weekend trip to Austria. Saturday was really not good skiing. Really flat light, windy, very poor visibility, blowing snow and my wife really wasn't enjoying herself. I stayed with her all day which restricted my ability to really enjoy myself.

Overnight we had about 12" of fresh snow and the sun was out like in your photo. My wife went out with a group of similar level skiers while I went out with 4 other guys that were experienced skiers. We skipped the freshly groomed trail and took off in the untracked powder under the chair lift to start. Then we heading into the woods to continue skiing in all that fresh powder. Had a great time. It was one of the best days skiing in my life, but we had to leave early as we had a 5 hour drive home and had to work on Monday. Sure wish that Saturday had been the "good" day instead of Sunday.

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Old 02-09-2020, 06:22 PM
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Talking Love this thread

I'm off the snow in Japan on Thursday. Skiing??? Not for me though.

I last skied about 1974 so about 56 years ago and I don't think I'll be trying it again in my life. But my kids all ski as do my grandchildren.

This year, I turned 70 and my wife turns 70 in July. My 3 daughters, their husbands and partners and our 4 grandchildren are all meeting in Tokyo on Thursday and from there we are travelling to Nozawa for a 6 night stay. We will celebrate our 70th birthdays up there with all the family together.

Considering I have 2 daughters living in London along with husbands and one grandchild plus my Melbourne based daughter, her husband and their 3 kids are all flying in, its going to be quite a different birthday party for us.

But skiing again after 56 years and life time of old bone injuries??? I think I'll at best take my chances on a toboggan if the kids want to give me a push..

Ian

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Old 02-10-2020, 06:47 AM
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The old toboggan.... To be honest, I think the risks are nearly as bad of getting hurt on one of those. When I was much, much younger, we had an 8 place toboggan and I remember some spectacular results with mom dad and 6 kids being scattered in all directions (when my younger 2 brothers were born later, I don't remember trying to squeeze 10 on the toboggan).

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Old 02-10-2020, 05:43 PM
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A toboggan? Jeez, you can't even steer those things... LOL!

Great story Champ! Glad you're able to get back out there.

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Old 03-10-2023, 05:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Heybuck View Post
I'm off the snow in Japan on Thursday. Skiing??? Not for me though.

I last skied about 1974 so about 56 years ago and I don't think I'll be trying it again in my life. But my kids all ski as do my grandchildren.

This year, I turned 70 and my wife turns 70 in July. My 3 daughters, their husbands and partners and our 4 grandchildren are all meeting in Tokyo on Thursday and from there we are travelling to Nozawa for a 6 night stay. We will celebrate our 70th birthdays up there with all the family together.

Considering I have 2 daughters living in London along with husbands and one grandchild plus my Melbourne based daughter, her husband and their 3 kids are all flying in, its going to be quite a different birthday party for us.

But skiing again after 56 years and life time of old bone injuries??? I think I'll at best take my chances on a toboggan if the kids want to give me a push..

Ian
Same reason Heybuck, I do not jump out of Airplanes anymore.

BUT I HAVE TO ADMIRE George Bush 1 for the Parachute Jumps he made late it life.

Tom V.

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Old 03-10-2023, 06:19 PM
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Wow....

Holy thread resurrection...

FWIW - Just got back from skiing a little while ago. Took a long hot soaking bath - we had heavy wet snow yesterday and it was more work than I'm used to. Last Friday was perfect skiing weather and the slopes were great. Spent 90% of my time on the expert slopes - not bad for a 69 year old...

I knew the snow would be heavy today, but this might be my last time until next year. If we hadn't had snow yesterday, the slopes would not have been open.

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