Skiing. Do you ski? Why does it seem so popular these days?

Hobbies of rich white people are bad?

Skip the slopes and head straight to the hot tub.

Still skiing in my fifties, though my knees hate me for it. It's exhilarating, like riding a bike too fast in traffic. You either love it, or don't get it I suppose.

[quote] Hobbies of rich white people are bad?

Yes. They can be DEADLY.

It's terrifying.

And you can break a leg.

And break your ankles.

I’ve skied every year for about the past half century. There’s nothing like it. The constant movement of my body as I maintain my balance and speed is exhilarating and the sensation must be like that of flying. It’s challenging to adjust my technique to the differences between untracked powder and icy hardpack. When I was younger, I also surfed, and the physical sensation is very similar in both sports. I gave up surfing about 20 years ago, but I hope to be able to continue to ski for a good more years.

It’s a fun sport. The scenery is beautiful and by that I mean the mountains. There are also some very attractive snow bunnies. And it’s possible to do very naughty things in the gondola with the right person.

Grew up on skis. No better way to clear your head than a day on the mountain with your ski buddies. Make sure you get that last run n at sunset before the liftee calls last run. Beer never tastes better than after that last run. Out to dinner, fall in to bed, wake up sore here and there, don't even contemplate not doing it all over again today.

R8 I started young too, about four years-old. The sheer exhaustion afterward is unbeatable as well. Best sleep ever.

It seemed more popular in the 1970's

Started at 8 and still skiing 50 years later. I too hope to ski for many, many years. Some of the best times of my life have been on the slopes.

There is nothing like screaming down a mountain first thing in the morning after an overnight snow dump.

The only people I know who do winter sports avidly are either 20-something jock Brahs who also surf and skate (acceptable), or grasping aspirant upper-middle class apres-ski douches who just want an excuse to flaunt and waste their money on some kind of sterile chocolate-box fantasy they can brag about at work (unacceptable).

I grew up poor playing soccer and herding sheep in the fields, though, so what do I know.

I stopped in my 40s because of arthritis. Some of my favorite memories are of the incredible views from the tops of the slopes.

I loved to downhill ski and did it every winter for about 40 years, despite the fact that I broke my femur the first time I went skiing (I didn't manage to turn and ended up on a black diamond run instead of a green circle run). The comradery that develops during a week long stay at a ski resort can be really fun. The lodge is the best part of the vacation!

But Nordic skiing is shit. I'd rather take a snowmobile.

What R10 said. It was WAY more popular back then, especially among the middle class.

R12 The douche bros don't ski; they snowboard.

A lot of people who aren't white snort coke OP!

I après-ski, which is the slippery slope where the real fun lies.

I used to do downhill out of teen peer pressure but never enjoyed it. The whole trying not to crash into a tree and die thing is kind of a turnoff, as is hitting a patch of ice or being sideswiped by a douchebro. I know someone who got paralyzed skiing, so that didn’t help. I love Nordic skiing, though. Used to do it in NYC after storms or away in the mountains.

I like it, I'm less brave as I approach 40- something has changed in me. Less exhilaration, more fear. I've suddenly learned of my mortality.

But I love the entire experience. I used to surf as a teen. But I never do anymore.

I have a friend who has been a ski instructor since the 70's. Last time I saw him his skin was so wrinkly he looked like he came in from living and working out in the desert. The only recognizable part about him was his voice.

I skied for a few decades mostly above the tree line in the alps. However since my mid 50s my vertigo is worse, there is more glare in my eyes, and I won't go up there if there's any snow falling. I was never an ace skier and relied somewhat on my strength for years to correct errors in technique but the strength his gone. I feel I need lessons again at 60 to refine my technique if I'm going to continue safely.

It is not a hassle to ski and one does not need to be rich but certainly not poor.

I skied for 10 years with the very rich and that was a glamorous and relaxing experience. For example staying in the luxury hotels in Courchevel right on the slopes, and being coddled every waking moment by professional staff. This month 20 years ago I had two weeks on a super yacht from Antibes and we anchored off Monte Carlo and my clients took me several days Heli skiing to Chamonix and Val d'Isère. Ski day in the Alps, then back on the sea for late dinner.

The Courchevel plane runway on the mountain is horrifying. Much better by helicopter.

[quote] When I was younger, I also surfed, and the physical sensation is very similar in both sports.

R6, that's interesting. Are you talking about downhill skiing with two skis or snowboarding?

Snowboarding seems to have taken over skiing with 2 skis.

I can't snowboard, but I did learn how to ski & I found it enjoyable.

There are all kinds of little places to ski. Places you haven't heard of. I don't think it has to be expensive. Also, you don't have to ski down the most advanced hill. You can stick to the beginner's or intermediate. I went with a friend and he was making fun of me for going back and forth (Z motion, forgot what it's called) so much, rather than going straight down the hill.

Dont assume anything by pictures. But it helps the sports popularity that it is seen as a rich person's activity. So anyone who goes near a ski slope is going to photograph themselves and post online.

[quote]Why does it seem so popular these days?

Poor choices in friends.

At my prep school in Los Angeles county, we had a ski club.

And that was in the 1970s.

And even before 40 years of accelerating climate change you had to drive pretty far to get to snow in L.A.

(Now, hail on the other hand...)

But, yeah, basically it was mostly the affluent Caucasians in ski club.

Them and the creeper chaperones who Caucasian but not that affluent since they got paid shit.

R23 I think there are similarities between downhill skiing and surfing. In both, you need to shift your body’s weight and lean forward as you’re skiing or surfing. Surfing requires more movement and more frequent physical adjustment than skiing. I’ve never snowboarded, but I think similar skills would be involved.

Is snowboarding safer than downhill skiing?

I'm not white.

I didn't go downhill skiing until my 30s, so I never had that early on skill/technique that people that grew up skiing had. Plus it always seemed like a big, expensive production with the gear and the lift tickets, etc. and I didn't like the feeling of being on a hamster wheel/assembly line (better get to the bottom of the run and make room for others).

Now, cross country skiing--I love it! I live in an area where there are several resorts (within an hours drive) that have miles and miles of groomed trails for all skill levels. Most of the time it's not too crowded (except I don't go on weekends), so I can take my time, enjoy the scenery and not feel like there's a hundred people behind me waiting to get by. I have my own equipment that cost about $350 give or take (and it'll last the rest of my lifetime), so I just have to pay for the daily trail pass or season pass.

Cross country is a lot of cardio, which is another reason I like it. That could be a turn off for some. Anyhoo, just my 2 cents--I would recommend trying it kids.

I learned to ski in the 1940s in LA as a five year old. Skied all the time in Gernany & Austria when I was in the army.

Convinced hubby to go skiing once. Never been since. He hates it. Arrggh!!

Amongst the not obvious to those that haven’t done it is that the mountains covered in snow on a beautiful morning up high in the sky is a magnificent place to be. It’s a lot of trouble and fuss but worth it for that experience. Surprisingly it’s not as white people dominated as one would expect.

I ski. I've skied for 40 years, and I am horrible. I don't ski enough (with COVID I haven't skied in four years). It's a controlled accident, I hurdle myself down slopes and hope for the best. I am a menace - I ski on intermediate slopes, but I shouldn't be allowed.

I am 72, going up to Tahoe next week - will ski. It's likely I'll die. I just hope I don't hurt anyone else.

In Switzerland it is not just for the rich. It's a kind of national winter sport. Public school kids go with their school to rustic "ski camps" every winter. The point made above a few times about the setting is important. A lot of Europe has low cloud cover in winter. It's so very grey, and dark. People go to the mountains because you climb higher than the clouds in the valleys and you have sun for several days. If people go every weekend, they have sun every week in their lives, in winter.

In Switzerland, even in the "big" cities not in the mountains, there are weeks during the winter were you'll see people arrive by public transport to the central train station, where trains whisk them to their preferred resorts. Everything is connected. You can get on a train in Lausanne and, switching to local trains, get out of the train ON the slope at over 2000 meters, at certain resorts. So from your own door to the slope, all public transport, and all running on time.

Of course day trips like this are for the young, mostly, because they have the energy. But one doesn't need a car, and many Swiss have annual passes for all the trains in Switzerland. Its kind of hassle free.

Also lift tickets are cheaper or parallel to USA resorts. But the resorts can be vast, several mountains. And there are lots of deals. For the price of a day at Stowe, you can have a day at a mammoth resort.

In comparison, in the USA - lots of different classes of people play golf. In Switzerland, golf is strictly a rich person sport.

I’m from a family of sports fanatics (it was our mother, not our father, who was the big sports enthusiast). I have an older brother, but it was the family’s gay boy who really excelled in all sports. My favorite sports are swimming, surfing, skiing, and baseball. I still swim and ski. The biggest preponderance of gays was in swimming, with skiing second, followed by surfing and baseball.

R34 You say you’re going to Tahoe for skiing soon. Have you been checking the snow report? They’re actually getting too much snow lately, and it’s causing problems. My brother and I recently had a 10-day ski trip to Mammoth. We drove, to test our new car, and we ended up staying 16 days. Too risky to make the return drive to LA as originally planned because of the heavy snow.

^ Not R34 here but I live in Reno. People go up into the mountains in this type of snow and are often not prepared. We've had all kinds of reports of people in sedans/small cars going up there and having to be resuced--no snow tires or chains, no supplies in their vehicles, etc. And Google maps is often steering them onto back roads/Forest Service roads when 395 or other main roads are shut down. Which boggles my mind--if the main highway is shut down, why would they think the back roads would be cleared? And then of course they have to be resuced by the highway patrol, wasting their time. These people should just stay away until its good to go up in the Sierras.

R34 here. Yes, we're checking reports of the record snowfall. We actually are going up the week of March 27. Last time I was going to ski, we had cabin reservations and lift tickets for March, 2020. Yup. Covid shut it all down. We expect better luck this year.

Simple tastes: I like to ski Mt Rose... or Homewood.

We got out just in time.

Après-ski . . .

Mistakes can be made...

It’s getting worse.