Alta, Utah. 1968. $5 day pass.

Last winter, when my son's scout troop decided that they wanted to try skiing, I got my K2 610-FO's out of the basement and stopped by the local ski/bike shop to have them tuned up. They gave me the same reaction you get when you take an old bike in. "Those are dangerous, you could die, you should buy new skis, etc." So I did what any other C&Ver would and found a binding chart online and did it myself. I had a can of Swix wax that surprisingly still had pressure, and I got a pair of boots from a coworker (my old boots had already desintegrated). Since none of the boys had skied before, I went with them to get them started until it was time for their lesson, which gave me time to awaken all the old muscles. After learning to stay upright on the bunny hill, few of them decided that they were ready to go on the big stuff. As a chaparone, I figured I better tag along to make sure they stayed out of trouble. They hadn't yet mastered the finer points of turning and stopping, so they had a lot of falls. At the end of the day, we all had a blast and the boys had a new respect for the what an old man could do. One of the other dads told me his son had said that I was a "super awsome skier". And I didn't hurt myself on those dangerous old skis.

We were snowed in at Kirkwood one spring in the late 70s.

http://www.kirkwood.com/site/

Had to sleep in the chalet one night, and we woke up to the sound of cannons blowing the ridges of snow off for avalanche protection.

Ended up skiing for free until noon in two foot deep powder.

Too tired to ski anymore that day.

As an aside, that's when they opened the lounge for "adult" beverages. :)

Those were the days, eh? I had a LONG pair of Atomics. I only skied for a couple of years. Crashed too much.

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

As a northern midwest skier back in the 80's we had our own scene very much different for the stuff from the West that we thought were a bit "fluffy". The approach to skiing was kinda like blue collar and no frills and the conditions were usually harsh, temperature, snow and wind-wise.
Yes, we had pimples for mountains in MI and WI, but most of them had enough fall line elevation and steepness for some sets of good fast runs.... It was just a matter of going up and down the hill more often I guess.....
Conditions were almost always very cold and the snow, hard packed and icy. The temps were usually in the single digits most of the season and sometimes below zero.....but dang!, it felt good and very fast we also loved the "corn snow that appears on the slopes late in the season. It's kinda our form of "powder" but so much faster and less "sticky". We always complained how icy the slopes were, but we actually loved skiing on that stuff....
The skiing attire was no-nonsense. long cotton undies with a turtleneck, your favorite, light ski sweater, and a not so heavy jacket preferrably with a hood in case the temps fall below zero and the winds start kicking up on the slopes. Well worn, comfortable Levis straight cut blue jeans nicely faded, folded up at the bottom into tallish cuffs to clear the top of the boots. good leather ski gloves with thin inner liners to bolster up the insulation. a wool hat and good goggles. Most of our money was put into the boots, skis, bindings and gloves and goggles, always the best we can afford......except for maybe the poles. It wasn't too unusual to see a good skier on the hills back then with Olin skis, Dynafit racing boots and.......Barrecrafters aluminum cheapy poles. For some reason, poles just really did not factor in as performance items. Some of the "rich kids" and "snow bunnies" would have fancier, more colorful gear (the latest from Aspen and ski magazines, I guess) they get from their parents evey X-mas. they usually don't ski too well or fast and just want to be seen on the slopes.
No bibs for the experienced skier......you only wear those if you plan on falling/crashing on the hill. Just the Levis I mentioned. It was kind of a badge of honor to have totally dry jeans at the end of the day, with just a little snow at the bottom of the legs from what's thrown up by the ski tips...............Apres ski gear??? What's that??:rolleyes::p

Chombi

Skiing is actually one of the main passions in my life. I have put in 20-100 days a season for the last 35 years or so. I have usually chosen my jobs and living locations based on skiing opportunities (except for 3 years in LA). So I have had many, many pairs of skis from Atomic, Kneissl, Kastle, K2, Dynamic, Olin, Salomon, Volkl, Rossignol, Blizzard. I mostly ski Volkl now. But for me skiing is the main thing, not the equipment. I have always had top of the line equipment but have never geeked out over ski gear the way I do over bikes. I guess ski gear is too static, except for bindings. Not a lot of moving parts. I do currently have 5 or so pairs of skis (including a pair of vintage Dynamic Comp GS in 207cm) though so maybe I am more of a geek than I think.

Had some Wooden XC skis , one warped enough to have a mind of it's own

+1 That just about nails the whole midwest experience in the late '70's early '80's!!! A big trip would be to Indianhead or the Porkies for the weekend. Except you missed the part where you needed a wineskin with some JD or Korbel and burned one on the lift.

I remember the first time I went out West and skiied powder. It was a whole new world from the ice I was used to!

Wausau, Boyne Mountain, Iron Mountain and all the many smaller ski hills in between.......I kinda miss those places....Never gets cold enough here in CA/Nevada (Lake Tahoe area) So the skiing had been mostly warm, wet slow and sticky for me the last few seasons I went.....:(

Chombi

Did a LOT of skiing at Little Switzerland in Slinger as it was 20 min away. Whopping 200' of vertical and lifts that went up and over the top to service the front and back of the hill. A true C & V ski area. It closed but some guys who grew up skiing there bought it and are renovating it to open next year.

http://www.cbs58.com/features/making...138044048.html

JD?? Korbel?? Lavish!!!....Snoots!...When we were young we would dreeeaam of JD and wineskin! We would share Maddog(MD20/20) and wish that we had a chance to just follow some stoners up the chair lift! Try to tell the young kids that today and would they believe you no! Shaped skies! Ha! Terrain park!? That was the woods the parking lot and a bent tree! Possibly a Toyota or two..tell the young kids this and would they believe you NOOO! (btw try sayin with a British accent.. I was havin a Python..ish flashback) lol

I'm a bit late to this, but we both XC ski with old school wooden skis. My husband is an excellent skiier and has always used his family's finnish skiis and I started off with some fibreglass waxless ones but soon realized that the old school ones has a lot better glide in our conditions (good skiing days -10C, though sometimes -5C). I've acquired a couple of free pairs and free boots as well as thrift store poles. Yes!

"No bibs for the experienced skier......you only wear those if you plan on falling/crashing on the hill. Just the Levis I mentioned. It was kind of a badge of honor to have totally dry jeans at the end of the day, with just a little snow at the bottom of the legs from what's thrown up by the ski tips...............Apres ski gear??? What's that??:rolleyes::p"

A page from my checkered past!! Rossignol Strato 102's with the dreaded Marker explodomatic bindings & Henke foam liner boots. Those were the days. BTW, short skis still suck.

I got started skiing at 'Nor Ski' runs back in Iowa. Rope tows, lots of ice and corn cobs sticking up through the 'snow' but to this day, some of the best skiers I've ever seen came out of there (I'm not one of them...). I remember some guy doing flips off a home-made jump in the mid-70's right after Stein Ericksen started it all.

Now a days, it's nearly all x-country or backcountry for me. I'll occasionally go to an area but I can't manage an entire day anymore on tele skis. My old leather Asolo boots are my favorite for light touring and yes, wool pants are the cat's meow for skiing, although I like lycra on the bike. Wooden x-country skis are great if you ski classic. This event is a lot of fun if you're in the area.

Boulder got about 18" of snow yesterday so tonight it's time for another old tradition. The moon-light ski! :beer:

Somewhere I have:
Dynamic VR17 204 Salomon raceing bindings
Head 200 Salomon 505
Blizzard 204 Look Nevada
Head Master 210(metal skis) Marker Rotomat.

Lange Standard boots
Saloman back open boots.

Scott poles

I learned at Sun Valley Id in the early 60s. NSPS at Sugar Bowl and Alpine Meadows in 1971-1972