Did You Pay For Your Skiing When You Were Younger?

snoloco wrote

If you are saying that if I am paying for my own skiing that I will settle for crappy conditions, no snowmaking, outdated, slow, uncomfortable lifts, etc. you are wrong.  Mountain Creek actually does a great job of making skiing more affordable.  You can get a pass there for under $500 a year.  You can do a similar thing at Stratton, Okemo, and many other mountains when you are in the 18-26 range where you might have a hard time making much money.  I said I plan to be a lifeguard at Action Park this summer.  It will be my first job and I will see what I will do with the money from it.

How about you get some experience too.  Go to Hunter, Windham, Mountain Creek or Killington on a weekend.  You will see plenty of people in their 20's there.  People who pay for their own skiing CAN afford the best in snowmaking, they can afford high speed lifts.  Gore has hardly anyone I'm this age range because most of those people snowboard and Gore has little in terrain parks, and tons of flat spots to keep em away.  If you are looking to see younger people who pay for their own skiing, then Gore ain't really the place for you.  I'm sure that the reason so many of you go there is because there are fewer "20 year old yahoos" there.

That's great that you've got something lined up.  Pull some tail in at the pool... I like the way you think.

I can't speak for everyone in the forum, but I would have to assume that most have skied many/all of the mountains you suggested people visit, and more- plus out "west".  I wouldn't say Gore doesn't re-grade slopes to purposely keep snowboarders away- We're fighting geography here, I'll let MattChuck explain the geography of the region..

I also wouldn't say they have a lack of terrain parks to keep young people away... I think that when you see these topics come up year... after year... after year... after year... you get tired of beating a dead horse (insert emoticon here).  We all know terrain parks attrack kids.  When kids go to the mountain so do their families $$.  and they take lessons $$, eat food $$, buy hotel rooms $$- it makes economic sense, just baffles me that Gore doesn't capitalize on this.  Ah well.

'Knowledge is knowing these improvements would make great sense to Gore mountain... Wisdom is knowing it's state run and likely wont happen'

I think most people here go to Gore because they found out about this forum FROM going to Gore/WF.  Or because these two mountains are the only heaver hitters in the Park..  Dude... the terrain!  It's just a bonus that you don't have to deal with Tall T's.

Nothing gets the day started like a NYSB reply

snoloco wrote

If you are saying that if I am paying for my own skiing that I will settle for crappy conditions, no snowmaking, outdated, slow, uncomfortable lifts, etc. you are wrong.  Mountain Creek actually does a great job of making skiing more affordable.  You can get a pass there for under $500 a year.  You can do a similar thing at Stratton, Okemo, and many other mountains when you are in the 18-26 range where you might have a hard time making much money.  I said I plan to be a lifeguard at Action Park this summer.  It will be my first job and I will see what I will do with the money from it.

How about you get some experience too.  Go to Hunter, Windham, Mountain Creek or Killington on a weekend.  You will see plenty of people in their 20's there.  People who pay for their own skiing CAN afford the best in snowmaking, they can afford high speed lifts.  Gore has hardly anyone I'm this age range because most of those people snowboard and Gore has little in terrain parks, and tons of flat spots to keep em away.  If you are looking to see younger people who pay for their own skiing, then Gore ain't really the place for you.  I'm sure that the reason so many of you go there is because there are fewer "20 year old yahoos" there.

How does mountain creek do it?  Like I said I have no experience there so I am speculating but from the pictures you've posted it looks like they make it up in volume.  Make sure every square inch is occupied.

That 18-26 pass is a subsidy.  They know many kids that age can't easily afford to ski and they are hoping to bring them in for the long term.

I started skiing Gore because it was close to an area I loved to visit.  I loved it so much I built a cabin and now I'm tied to the area.  When I made the decision to invest there snowboarding was barely a "thing."

The reason I ski there twenty days a year is the tree skiing, the size of the mountain, the lack of crowds, the wilderness views.  Snowboarders don't figure into my thinking.  I have no idea how the demos of Gore compare to any other mountain.

snoloco wrote

I'm sure

That's the rub

snoloco wrote

How about you get some experience too.  Go to Hunter, Windham, Mountain Creek or Killington on a weekend.  

No thanks. I'd rather get stitches.

campgottagopee wrote

snoloco wrote

How about you get some experience too.  Go to Hunter, Windham, Mountain Creek or Killington on a weekend.  

No thanks. I'd rather get stitches.

I think he is saying we need more experience waiting in lift lines.

I want to hear more about how, after a 24" powder dump (and a freak electrical storm/diesel shortage that knocks out all lifts), he'd rather go bowling than hike a little bit to earn some awesome turns and have an actual life experience.

snoloco wrote

I'm planning for my first job to be an Action Park lifeguard this summer.

Not sure I'd brag about that, champ. Not exactly a spotless track record.

From the age of 12 or 13 on I had a paper route and then a job to be able to pay for my skiing.  My family was middle class but in the late 70's and early 80's the economy really sucked and skiing was a luxury that I had to fund myself.  It also was less expensive than it is today.  I think i get frustrated with Loco because he represents this generation that is growing up in affluence in the suburbs with the entitled attitude.  He is so used to having everyone his way it translates into wanting all experiences to be like a Disney perfectly run amusement park where every detail is over done and every whim is catered to.  Thus cushy fast chairs, 100% snow making coverage before Xmas, fleets of high tech grooming manicuring every inch of the ski area.

Part of what we all love about skiing is its complexity with ma nature not always compiling providing the challenge of different conditions, difficult non groomed terrain, tree skiing, slides etc.  the fear is his generation could totally f up skiing at some point.  I make sure my son is skiing the natural challenging terrain and staying the heck out of the park.  He loves tree skiing, Bubba's at WF, The slides, Jay Peak, and Alta.  It's up to kids like him to be the anti Locos and save the sport.

It's like the Direct TV commercial don't raise your kid to be Loco!

Coach Z wrote

Part of what the rest of love about skiing is its complexity with ma nature not always compiling providing the challenge of different conditions, difficult non groomed terrain, tree skiing, slides etc.

This.

I have a buddy who lives in Europe.  On the whole he's done really well financially.  Loves to ski and could afford the best, staying at some sweet five star places to ski the Alps.  Like some of us he's older but with little kids.

Times got tough after 2008 for many of us and he was no different. He continued to ski but toned down the spending.  One time one of his kids said... "Dad we really like the five star hotels better." He thought WTF kid we are SKIING IN THE ALPS.

Times are better for him now but he's still going modest to keep things in line. One advantage of having kids when you are younger is that modest beginnings and appreciation for things comes naturally as many young parents don't have much money to start.

When I started skiing at the age of 12 or 13, I had a paper route.  My first skis were bought for $12 at a neighbor's garage sale with paper route proceeds.  I skied at the local county-owned ski area (Campgaw, NJ), with maybe once or twice per season excursions with my Scout troop or the high school ski club to places like West Mountain, Hunter, Shawnee or Camelback, all paid for by me.  Nobody else in my family skied, so I wasn't taken on family ski trips to "destination" resorts.

God damnit when I was your age we had to ski up hill and take the lift DOWN

Coach Z wrote

Part of what we all love about skiing is its complexity with ma nature not always compiling providing the challenge of different conditions, difficult non groomed terrain, tree skiing, slides etc.  the fear is his generation could totally f up skiing at some point.  I make sure my son is skiing the natural challenging terrain and staying the heck out of the park.  He loves tree skiing, Bubba's at WF, The slides, Jay Peak, and Alta.  It's up to kids like him to be the anti Locos and save the sport.

Indeed, it's whether or not you paid for your lift ticket, it's what you get from the sport. Skiing naturally is an interaction with the mountain, a study of nature and physics. This is what I am teaching my grand daughter. She too loves the trees, Alta, Snowbird and the occasional long hike up. I'm teaching her mountaineer skills, survival skills and how to judge a snow pack, the race team is teaching her how to ski.

The chair lift, the groomer, the cleared wide boulevard of a trail ruins the experience of the mountain to a large degree. IMHO man made snow, groomers, and chair lifts should be looked upon as tools to help intermediates to more quickly obtain a skill level that will empower them to enjoy the whole experience. Many people (I dare say most people) will never make the progression, whether it's lack of time, not having a mentor, or laziness. You don't have to jump into Corbett's blind folded or pull a straight line down the headwall of Tucks to enjoy the experience.

Now that you have reached an intermediates perspective on skiing and snow boarding, learn your craft, earn some turns. Harden your body and your mind, prepare yourself with the knowledge and develop the skills to face the challenge of hiking up 2 or 3K of vertical to find what is really special, and that special place could be a tame low angle bowl or gentle stretch of trees. It may have champagne powder with stretches of wind blown boiler plate with a run out through a stand of trees, an expert can negotiate all that with the proper respect and skill, and not necessarily at warp speed. It took me years of sitting in a chair lift and looking at those tracks off in the distance to realize that I had to break out of the resort managed rut - like looking at the mountains through a fish bowl.

Getting a job as a lifeguard is good experience and will teach the responsibility of getting to a job every day on time - I won't make light of that. I delivered papers and I flipped burgers as soon as I could get a work permit. I didn't spend my money on lift tickets and ski gear, at that point I didn't ski, as a family we had to give that up after the military industrial complex contracted. I did save my money for college which at this point allows me to live and ski where and when I want and the most important thing - work when I want and doing only those things I enjoy and find personally rewarding.

Chris wrote

God damnit when I was your age we had to ski up hill and take the lift DOWN

You forgot to mention that the chair had broken glass.

Harvey wrote

I started skiing Gore because it was close to an area I loved to visit.  I loved it so much I built a cabin and now I'm tied to the area.  When I made the decision to invest there snowboarding was barely a "thing."

Have you ever posted about your experience building the Cabin? This is something I want to do and have no experience, and don't even know where I would start...

My parents don't ski as well so it was a totally elected spend on my part.  My initial 5 weeks lift lesson rental package was funded by a pleaded for Christmas gift.  I wanted to learn to ski after watching Franz Klammer win the DH Gold in the Olympics.

snoloco wrote

People are often poking fun at me for not paying for my own skiing at the age of close to 16.  Let me ask this question.  When you were my age, did you pay for your own skiing, or did your parents pay for it?

I grew up where sometimes the only thing left in the fridge was government cheese and powdered milk . . . I went skiing only twice as a kid, both times with my Scout troop at Big Birch (now Thunder Ridge).   I believe the troop covered the cost of skiing for we poorer scouts . . . I wore jeans, cotton thermals and tube socks.  I didn't ski again until I was a parent in the mid-Hudson Valley looking for a winter activity given the proximity of mountains.

Petronio

skunkape wrote

Have you ever posted about your experience building the Cabin? This is something I want to do and have no experience, and don't even know where I would start...

skunkape... I was asked that question via email in November of 2009 by Adironrider.  He was living out west but wanted to relocate to the SoAdk.  I wrote a response that I published as a blog post:

http://nyskiblog.com/building-ski-cabin/

Most of it rings true 5 years later. There is also this:

http://nyskiblog.com/headquarters/

Hope it helps.

You say that in skiing we should let nature dictate what happens and not screw with it.  It is easy to say this when you get 2 feet of fresh pow, but what if you get r*in, warm weather, and no powder, but some cold weather to make snow.  Would you be saying "let nature do its thing" when you are going bowling instead of skiing, or would you be saying "F YOU NATURE, WE ARE MAKING WINTER OURSELVES!!!" While you are skiing man made snow and groomers.

I grew up a child of relative wealth and privilege.  My parents kept me in gear and season passes/lift tickets from birth to age 18.  Skiing was a major priority, particularly for my dad.I now do the same for my kids.  I consider it sort of a duty.I didn't have the internet though...so my opinions, and other's opinions of me, were not so easily broadcast.  If I came across as an entitled, spoiled punk with regards to skiing and riding, adults could just ski away from me at the top of the lift.  Everything follows us home from work/school/play these days with message boards and social media.