Get Mammoth News and Ski Updates by E-mail

Enter your e-mail address to be notified when we post the latest Mammoth breaking news and skiing articles.

Your E-mail Address:

subscribe
unsubscribe

Because it's what we do

(Editor's Note: This story first appeared in the February 2007 issue of Mammoth Monthly magazine. Subscribe here.)

One day recently I woke up and I was fifty-five. I didn't feel that different. It seemed like just another day. Heck, fifty-five, that's not so bad. It's better than being dead. But then I went skiing.

Something horrible happened. My body no longer listened to me. I sent it messages. It ignored me. My coordination and timing abandoned me. My knees began to hurt. My back developed a strange, nagging pain.

To top it all off, I can't see squat anymore. Maybe my dad was right—again. This getting older is not such a good deal. I never thought age would catch up to me. Heck, I'm still a kid. I love to ski.

My life has been about skiing. My work, my career, my wife and my friends—it all revolves around skiing, the mountains, the snow, this incredible place. I can't let great skiing go. I want to keep skiing and I want to ski hard. Is it possible to ski well into middle age and beyond?

Yeah, I think so.

There are three types of aging skiers.

TYPE ONE: The first type has never skied before, at least not much. These people are relatively new to the mountains and to the sport. Can they learn? Absolutely. If they commit to lessons, they should be zooming down easy green runs with no pain or strain. After that, practice and dedication are the only limiting factors.

TYPE TWO: The second type is already experienced skiers. They're good skiers, but they've spent their lives working hard in business, industry, engineering, technology, education, medicine or the law. They didn't have much time to ski. They are in excellent shape. They are active and involved in many sports and activities.

Now they've retired or they've made a lifestyle change. They have the time to dedicate to skiing. Can they learn to ski really well?

Yes.

It's not too late. Just about anyone can still become a true expert after age fifty. And what's an expert?
The definition is simple: an expert can ski well in any snow condition, on any slope, at any mountain, anytime.

TYPE THREE: The third type of aging skier is already an expert. These skiers can ski anything, anywhere, ski it well and ski it hard. They don't ski as fast as they used to. They don't throw themselves down the hill with the same reckless abandon. They don't have the endurance they once had. They are former ski racers, instructors, patrollers, coaches, resort real estate sales people, retail sales people, restaurant and bar workers and other ski town denizens.

They found a way to earn a living and live in the place they love. But age has caught them, too. Slowly, inexorably, time has robbed them of quickness, power, and skill.

Type Three skiers want to maintain their skill. They want to keep "the feel" alive, to keep the stoke. For Type Three there is only one solution: "use it or lose it." Find a group of friends about the same age and ability and push each other. Rat-pack it around the mountain; race in the VCs, race USSA, teach skiing or coach part time.

Pretty soon, if all you do is slip around groomed intermediate runs, that's all you'll be able to do.

For Type One and Type Two skiers, anyone over the age of fifty who is in reasonable shape, who is willing to to learn and dedicate some time a can become a great skier.

How?

First of all, let's be honest with each other. As you get older you can't rely on athletic ability anymore. You need strong fundamentals.

I know that almost no one wants to work on fundamentals, but there you have it. Most skiers are faking it. By that I mean they use every part of their body, except their feet and legs, to control the skis. Their legs are stiff. Their ankles are fused. Their upper bodies and hips flail wildly to turn the skis. Each run is a series of acrobatic balance recoveries. As you get older it just doesn't work anymore. It takes too much energy. But skiing is easy if you master the basics.

Second, no matter how much time you have to give, at this stage in the game, you don't have enough time to learn by random experience or from the well-intended—but misinformed—tips of your friends.

If you want to be good and you are committed to reaching your goals, you need a teacher, a pro. You need a plan. You need a concept. You will have to embrace a new idea of what great skiing looks and feels like and you will probably have to give up some long-term beliefs about skiing.

Third, you have to have the right equipment, especially boots. It is a miracle what modern equipment can do, but only if it's right for you. The good news is that help is down the street at your friendly local specialty ski shop. The bad news is that one size doesn't fit all.

Equipment that works for one person may not work for the next. So you have to be disciplined about trying equipment. When you get on the right stuff, you'll know it—it will be like night and day.

Stance and "balance in motion" are the crucial fundamentals.
If you do not stand right on your skis you will always be fighting for balance and you will never be a great skier.

Start from the skis up. The skier is centered in the middle of the ski. Ankles are flexed. Knees are bent. Hips are over the heels. The spine is tipped slightly forward. Hands are forward, at about the same level as the hips. Eyes are up, looking ahead.

You can learn this in your living room. Tear the picture out of Mammoth Monthly and post it on the wall. Put a mirror over to the side of the room. Put your skis and boots on. Check yourself out. Do you look like this or not? Experiment until you look like the model. How about that? A free lesson.

Viewed from the front, weight is evenly distributed between the skis. Knees are over ankles. Hips are square to the skis. Arms are away from the body and about hip height. Upper body is tipped slightly forward, ready for action. Eyes are forward, alert, reading the hill.

You're doing great, but your living room is not a hill. Skiing is about sliding downhill. Go to a beginner run. Try your new stance while you ski straight down the easy run.

Wait a minute! Be careful! Look out for other people. Don't run into anybody.

What should you feel? All of your joints and muscles should be soft, flexible, relaxed: your ankles, your knees, your spine, your arms. If you revert to a rigid position you need more practice on easy slopes. Spend an hour on an easy run. You won't believe the difference.

Perhaps the biggest psychological challenge in skiing is to commit to motion down the hill. This is the second fundamental. Most people resist that motion. They lean back, uphill. It's instinctive. But it's wrong. Not only is it wrong but it is the mother of all skiing errors.

It is impossible to make a turn without going downhill at the start of the turn. The thrill of skiing, the very essence of the sport, is the exhilaration of the motion downhill at the beginning of each turn. You cannot develop a smooth, powerful, effortless style without committing completely to the downhill motion.

It is easy to see the difference between skiers who move effectively downhill and those who don't.

What does the balanced skier do differently?

The balanced skier's ankles are bent. Knees are bent. Spine is tipped forward. Arms and hands are forward. Head is up. Eyes are focused down the hill. In contrast, the other skier's ankles are straight. Knees are bent but the hips are back. Back is straight. Arms and hands are also back.

Have a friend take some digital photos of you while you are skiing. Try to capture your movement at the start of your turns. The pictures will tell the story.

Stance and motion downhill are the start. They are the foundation for great skiing. Do you want to be a great skier? You can be. You can begin the journey now.

If you're interested, contact the ski school at whichever resort you happen to be. They'll fix you up with a pro and program that will transform your life.