Whoa! you are bringing back some memories for me. I owned a pair of K2's for years when I was a teenager.

My parents, bless 'em, got the idea that the whole family should learn how to ski. Not just my mom and dad and my younger brother and me, but my mom's sisters and their husbands and kids also. In those days, the late '60's and early '70's, skiing was booming in popularity for everyone -- with the advent of the local ski resorts, it wasn't just for rich and famous anymore. Our local paper, the Detroit Free Press, sponsored a ski school at several local ski areas, and we all went to the Mt. Brighton ski area, near Brighton, Michigan, about an hour's drive away.

We rented skis for the lessons, which were weekly for about six to eight weeks, I think. I was still in grade school, about eleven or twelve years old, and mostly I remember being very cold, and one night my hands hurting so much I cried. Looking back, I realize the clothing we wore was just so inadequate compared to today's skiwear.

The year following, my dad determined to quit renting skis and buy us our own equipment. Somehow he "knew a guy" who sold new equipment from his basement. I remember it set up just like a store with displays, posters, and pamphlets. My skis were white with a black stripe up the middle, with Salomon bindings. My dad's were blue, which I inherited after I grew taller and my dad quit skiing. In those days, your skis standing upright were supposed to be as tall as you could reach over your head.

I used those skis all through college and the first few years of marriage. I believe the fiberglass begain chipping off the top layer, and we got rid of them ages ago.

Now my sons ski and they have their own high-tech modern trick skis. To them, it isn't skiing unless they're flying off something. And they assure me that I can't go skiing with them because "you can't keep up with us, Dad." As if!