Starting over

A snowHead

For the silly season

Knowing what you know now and what your preferences and interests are which bits of the (wanky phrase aert!) "skiing/boarding journey" would you have skipped and what would you have done in their place? Might be places you went, lessons you took or didn't take, equipment that was a fail, other life decisions etc...

Me. Wish I'd taken up the unsolicited job offer to go work in a Vermont ski resort when I was BUNAC working in Maine post graduation, rather than returning to the UK to secure a "proper" job. Who knows how it would have worked out but would have been interesting.

A snowHead

I wouldn’t have abandoned ski lessons in my early 20s as a waste of money after two or three pointless weeks with the ESF.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Dave of the Marmottes, I'd have skipped my first time on skis, on the scary 'short but steep' dry slope at Haden Hill Park, near Halesowen. The instructor had to rugby tackle us, or else we'd have dropped 8 foot onto the concrete car park below.

I'd have waited a couple of weeks for snow, then gone straight onto the Clent Hills, where an old Land Rover engine on a sledge, ropes and pulleys dragged members of the Midland Ski Club to altitudes of almost 1000ft. Vertical drop must've been 100ft. The Hill Tavern provided the apres.

Fortunately the dry slope didn't put me off and the 33 years since has been a breeze. snowHead

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Dave of the Marmottes, not for nothing are the “Our Instructor” pages of some ski schools known as bait & switch...

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I would have stayed in the french alps 20 years ago, after doing a few seasons, had plenty of work offers, and tried to become an instructor (a few friends at similar levels managed to do it!), there are quite a few people i worked with who have made lives out there.

But at the time, there were not that many British instructors, as it seemed there were far to many obstacles being put in their way, and it was easier to fall back in to my old work in the uk.

I would have also kept hold of the property i owned at the time, and not sold it for a small profit, now similar properties in south west London are going for ridiculous amounts.
Hindsight eh!!!!!!

Though saying that, i have a fantastic family that i probably would not have if i stayed out there.
so silver linings (and a depleted bank account Toofy Grin

) and all that!!!!

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@Dave of the Marmottes, my esf instructor at VT in 1992, was a 25 year old french hottie called Lulu, still remember following behind her over 25 years later, its probably what kept me going, instead of giving up, after a few days of falling over on my derriere several times.
Toofy Grin

After all it is free

I'd've just started earlier. Didn't learn until my mid 40's and I love it. It wasn't something that was on my horizon as a kid growing up in a concrete urban jungle.

I should have sacked off playing rugby earlier, or at least sacrificed large chunks of the rugby season, to go skiing.

I shouldn't have refused to go on a trip when I was 18 on the grounds that skiing was only for rich southerners.

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I should have moved here years ago... Toofy Grin

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Definitely would've started earlier, always thought that skiing was something only the toffs could afford.
Would've actually taken some lessons.
Wouldn't have bought boots for my first week skiing (they're fine, just too soft for me now. Would have been better to be on rentals for the first two or three trips and then bought something stiffer)
Would've sacked off uni for a bit and done a season instead.
I also rushed into buying skis, got a pair that I like but I then skied (and eventually bought) something I liked more, so the first set had 5 weeks on them before being 'superseded'.....anyone want some K2 Shreditor 92s?

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I'd have done a season. My one regret.

You know it makes sense.

@HoneyBunny, is it too late?

my first season, we had 2 retired university lecturers looking after a chalet, he was late 60's she was mid 60's. he would be out all day long "guiding" the guests 5 days a week and they liked an occasional party as well, we all had total respect for them.

to be honest, it what keeps me going is hoping i could get out there again for a season or two when family/financial restrictions are gone Laughing

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Hmmm, recurrent viral infection acquired in my first season? Could live without that.

A snowHead

Never too late to do a season. I took a 'career break' about 14 years ago to do my first season, which was in Val Thorens. Rented an apartment from another snowHead. Did another season the next year as well before realising I really ought to think of the future and go back to work.

Roll on a few years and I took early-ish retirement last year at the age of 58, when work was becoming increasingly stressful and I thought if I stayed doing what I was I might not live to see retirement. First action after that was to find myself a place in the Alps and I'm just coming up to the end of my first season in Les Arcs.

Never say Never!

A snowHead

I'd have skied more often in my mid-20s to early 30s prekids. It would have been a stretch financially but I could have done cheap seasonal let and weekend skiing for some of that period. My mortgage would be a bit bigger now but it would have been worth it. I'd have also started ski touring then.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Wish I heard of KneeSafe Bindings a lot sooner... preferably before rupturing my ACL in Dec 2004.

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Wish I'd known the difference between thinking I could ski and actually being able to ski ten years ago... And done something about it at the time.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Wish we'd purchased a small apartment when we had the money to do so and they were affordable

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Wish I'd got off my back bottom and tried skiing in Tamworth in the early 90's when I first considered it, rather than 20 years later.
Sort of related: I wish that I had spoken to my head of languages at school and tried to get switched from the group assigned to learn Spanish (which I hated) to the German group (Germany at the time was the only european country I had visited and was interested in learning the language of). Rather than starting to learn it 30 years later.

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@Tubaski, I did the opposite, asked to be switched from German group to Spanish group (the only country I'd visited and actually wanted to learn the language). Unfortunatel I was young and didn't put the effort in...same applies for French, really wish I'd made more effort rather than just muddling through.

After all it is free

@SnoodlesMcFlude, I remember just two lines of Spanish.
"¿Como Te Llama?"
"La Isla Bonita"
Keen fans of the 1980's can probably work out which year I had Spanish lessons from that!

Weirdly, because I thought I would think of something, I don't think I have any real regrets at all.

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I don't have any major regrets, as I've generally skied with better, more advanced skiers and quizzed them on their efforts in order to not repeat their mistakes.

I kind of wish I'd had the opportunity to get into skiing earlier – my first trip was at 25 – but my mother decided that skiing was addictive (my parents had tried it and had friends who skied regularly), and figured it was better to take the ginger child to the Balearics to get sunburnt every summer instead rolling eyes

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed those holidays, and am probably a better swimmer than I would have been through attempting to stay cool by being constantly submerged Laughing

but I do now have to watch meticulously for the merest hint of sunburn.

There was a ski trip at school, but I didn't like the other kids who were going, figured as a non-sporty teenager that I wouldn't be any good at it, and went kayaking instead. It took me a while to be persuaded that I should give it a go.

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I wish I'd taken up skiing years ago and not left until I was 62. Crying or Very sad

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I too wish I'd continued with lessons other than the 2 or three weeks I had early on. Peer pressure and need to maximise fun time put the brakes on. Perhaps I'll pick them up again when I retire but god help the instructor Laughing

A snowHead

Wish I hadnt had a 10 year hiatus from skiing due to lack of opportunity/time/money. Could have found them all. What wasted years. Have to make up for them now before the body fails.

A snowHead

Hmmmm, so many, where do I start? I wouldn't have a 12 year break in my mid twenties to early thirties. I'd do more than the one week (when I was 23) of darksiding; I suspect I could have been far better on a board than I ever will be on skis. But most of all, I would persuade my wife to try skiing as soon as we were an item rather than leaving it fifteen years. She loves skiing and being in the mountains but progressively worse health issues mean she hasn't been able to ski for the past 3 years (and her first year was her best). I hate to think of all the fun we've missed out on as a result.

Oh, and there's the ski instructor from my first ever ski trip...I think she kind of liked me, but I never followed up on the thought Sad

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Monoski in '86..........

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Not of "regrets", but of things "I wish I knew then what I know now"...

BOOTS!!!

It's not that I didn't realize well fitting boots matter massively. I did. But...
1) I didn't know HOW MASSIVELY, i.e. night and day!
2) I didn't find the right boot fitter until many years later, which was actually only a result of being around other very good skiers who ultimately pointed me to the right one.
3) I'm still not sure my boot journey is at its best point yet.

Unlike many here, I took tons of lessons through the years. Some of them helped, others did not. It wasn't until recently that I realized it's because I had foot issue that wasn't corrected, so I wasn't able to execute many of the subtle moves!

I got my own boots in the middle of my first season. That took care of the comfort issue. But it was 1/2 a size too big. A couple seasons later, that was corrected. Right size fit. But...

I had a biomechanical issue with my left arch. It look alright while I'm standing at the fitting room. It's only when I put weight on it and start rolling my foot (as if I'm edging the ski) that the arch disappeared. Sad

Fitter #3 (at year 10'ish of my ski career) spotted that but didn't do anything to fix it. It took another 2 season until fitter #4 corrected that... Suddenly, all the many lessons that didn't seem to help started to make perfect sense! Wish I had the foot/boot issue solved 10 years earlier!!!

Not only my skiing gotten a lot better since the boot issue were solved. I had the "light bulb moment" recently: by putting the same correction in my ski boot into my walking boots/shoes, my knee is now massively happier (when I'm NOT skiing!)!!!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Only regret, not working out that ski-patrol is the best job on the mountain before investing so much time and money into becoming an instructor.

Otherwise, my skiing journey has enriched my life more than I could have ever imagined when I wobbled down that dry-slope at 19 years old! snowHead

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My (then)new wife and I took a near 23 year hiatus from skiing for no apparent reason after Honeymooning in Killington in 1992 . How I wish I'd (we'd) kept going regularly.

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For me...

- Thinking that going fast was a sign of good ability. It wasn't. It was a sign that I was a heavy object falling down the side of a mountain which is bound to travel at speed, and that in fact poor ability was preventing me from going any slower.

- Trusting a generic ski shop with boot fitting. The shop in question had poorly trained staff who'd done a 1-day course then started calling themselves 'boot fitters', and I, as a relatively new and inexperienced skier, just figured that was what I needed; and spent about £400 on a pair of grossly unsuitable boots, with totally unsupportive "custom insoles", that I had to replace less than 12 months down the line because I saw an actual boot fitter who demonstrated to me that I'd been sold some complete crap.

- Trying to get into off-piste too early. I liked the 'character' of off-piste - the freedom, the gnarly ski movies, the funky top sheets etc. But my general technique wasn't nearly ready, powder is not a very good place to learn general ski technique - pistes are much better, and fat powder skis are not ideal for learning general ski technique either. Taking a step back, revisiting my piste skiing for a while and then revisiting off-piste 2 years later, saw a drastic improvement in my off-piste ability despite having not actually skied off piste at all in the time between.

- Finding this forum too late. Honestly not blowing smoke up any bums but this forum has had easily the single biggest impact on my skiing - whether it's knowing where to go, what lessons to have, what kit to buy... or just for going on bashes where I've made good friends and learned so much. I really wish I'd discovered the forum when I started skiing.

After all it is free

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