Finally getting around to this
Hey, I've been hanging around here a while, and decided that I should post here before I hit 100 postings elsewhere on the board.
As my profile says, I live in San Francisco. I grew up in Southern California skiing Mt. Baldy, Snow Valley, Big Bear and Mammoth. Moved north to N. CA in the early 70s and started skiing Tahoe, primarily Squaw, Alpine, Heavenly, Sugar Bowl, and Kirkweed.
Once the drive from San Francisco to Tahoe got to over five or six hours on a regular basis (Highway 80 sucks), I started skiing Utah instead. Now, I try to get to Alta for at least four or five weeks per winter and at least a couple of weeks up at Jackson Hole. Alta and Jackson are absolutely my favorite mountains, although I do like Taos and the steeps in Switzerland.
Over the years I've moved further and further from the groomed slopes, and now only really ski them when I'm with friends who are limited to that sort of snow, either for medical or skill reasons. I'm happy to say that in four weeks skiing this year I've managed to avoid all but eight groomed runs! This, of course, lead me to back-country skiing, and I've been loving my AT rig.
At 56 I'm now skiing better than I ever have, proving that this is not a "age limited" sport, and I expect to work into hut touring and other back country trips over the coming years. I have no doubt that I'll be one of those great old guys who skis Alta and tortures everyone well into my 80s.
I'm almost always at Alta the first week of April - really one of the best weeks there - so if you see an "old guy" in the Nest say "hi".