I've only been skiing for 30 years (1/2 my life) so don't remember $5 tickets, but I do remember $18 - $20 at Kirkwood and $24 at Alpine Meadows. We considered it a good day if you could ski enough to equal $1 per lift ride, which usually meant lunch on the chairlifts and reasonable liftlines. Still have the Atomic Arc 220s, the Olin Mark IVs, the red Kastle, and K2s - the shortest are 205cm. Today I ski on K2s (174cm) for the alpine slopes and love them. My nordic skis are 15 yo Karhu 10th Mt Div, with a lightweight cable binding mated to Merrill boots.

Skiing like cycling can be a lifelong sport, enjoyed at any level of performance you're comfortable with. That's me tailroping a tobaggon during a training run. Great Fun. Oddly, the wife gave it up and the kids (20 & 22) show no interest. oh well, their loss