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Thread: Ski bum to ski dad transition
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12-23-2016, 01:26 AM #1
Ski bum to ski dad transition
Okay, so in all honesty I wasn't really much of a ski bum. I spent a few years in Vail and logged a couple of 100-day seasons before I joined the semi-corporate machine, and then later the corporate machine. However, after Vail, I moved to LA so my time in the corporate machine was at least interrupted by every-weekend trips up to Mammoth to feed my fire. I've been an official member of this derelict community since 2005, though I was lurking for several years before that.
Times have changed. Now I spend my days on the green and blue runs with my two mini-groms who are 4 and 6. And tonight I was in the garage, stoked out of my mind as I re-mounted a new-to-him pair of Craigslist skis for the older boy. Not that I don't get stoked for a powder day (and I'd honestly give my left nut for one, as it's been a longer than I care to admit), but I was just thinking about how much mounting bindings to get my kids skiing makes my stoke factor go to 11. Puts a hell of a smile on my face.
How times change.
/end sweet blog
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12-23-2016, 08:23 AM #2
I hear you. I was up at the hill yesterday morning with the 5 and 7 year old grommettes and had a hell of a time. Met buddies in the parking lot and proceeded to just rip around the hill. Granted, this time of year is Texas beaterville but we didn't get passed once. Made non stop laps on blues and blacks.
It'll come faster than you know...better stay in shape if you want to keep up!I rip the groomed on tele gear
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12-23-2016, 09:55 AM #3
Nice! May I suggest something for you when you get a little bored of skiing the greens and blues. I took up tele when my kid was 4ish and needed little assistance getting around. I still had good mobility to get him if I needed to but it gave me a great workout and allowed me to develop a new skill. Kid's 20 now and I don't tele that often any more, but it's still fun to free the heel and get humbled once in a while.
“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
www.mymountaincoop.ca
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12-23-2016, 10:09 AM #4Registered User
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Excellent - and it only gets better. Soon you will learn the three most dangerous words in skiing - "Follow me, Dad!"
+1 on tele recommendation.
BTW I'm hoping to play out your story in reverse. I was a flatlander with some XC as a kid but zero alpine; when I put kids in lessons at age 7 or so, I took one myself and got hooked. Kids are now mid-20's and it's been and remains a major bond and a great equalizer. Teenage years especially, we left all the BS behind at the hill. Ski bum is my retirement plan.
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12-23-2016, 10:18 AM #5guy who skis
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I'm excited to start this phase. Have a 1 yr. o., so we'll probably try and get her out in ski boots next year.
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12-23-2016, 10:47 AM #6Registered User
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Being a ski family is the best way. I never had the full bum experience as I was married young, but I have been skiing with my 5 kids for around 7 years. It's something we love doing together. Nothing better than hearing "Can we get one more run in before the lift closes?".
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12-23-2016, 11:19 AM #7Registered User
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One of the hardest things for me when my boys were little was the poor drive time to ski time ratio. An hour drive to Loveland, 2 hours of skiing followed by an hour drive home made me cranky. We bought the ski adapter for the Burley bike trailer and I was able to put them in there with a down bag and some snacks for nap time. This let me get a 2 hour nordic tour in after the boys were worn out from down hill skiing and made the drive home much more tolerable.
It also made me feel like I was climbing with rocket propelled skins when I toured without the Burley!
Now, my oldest is 8 and has his first pair of Mantras. He can't wait for The Ridge to open. He doesn't understand why it won't be until March.
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12-23-2016, 11:30 AM #8
I'm in the somewhat-difficult intermediate stage. Another year or two and I'll be golden.
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12-23-2016, 11:41 AM #9
Treasure these times lads. Not to suggest that you don't.....
It will be less than the blink of an eye until you suddenly find yourself able to dash off for pow days unencumbered cuz your groms is growed up, and you will pine for those days on the greens and blues, or as you [proudly] watch your young adults disappear over a cliff in a puff of cold smoke with radiant smiles saying, "see you later dad!"
Also, take them on pow days with you, school or no. A couple of days a year of school missed, no matter what age, are well worth the times and memories you will have.
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12-23-2016, 11:45 AM #10Registered User
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Yep, it's a lot of fun. But it also requires a significant input of energy, patience and scaling back of expectations.
Last edited by The Tortoise; 12-23-2016 at 11:57 AM.
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12-23-2016, 11:56 AM #11
Yes it does, to a truly extraordinary degree. Some days you will want to kill people. All worth it.
Early on I took a 4, 6 and 10 year old (all of them started at 3 or 4, and for years after that - now they're 16, 18 and 22 and don't need me to dress them any more) skiing at least once a week by myself. Had to load the car, dress them, put on their boots, carry their skis and they weren't always stoked to be there. In those days there were quite a few times where I was simply too exhausted to put my shit on and ski by the time I was finished getting them out on the hill, so I sat in the bar.
Did I mention it was all worth it?
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12-23-2016, 12:10 PM #12
OK, here is my $.02
Was never a ski bum, and actually came back to the snow at 30, after 12 years of only surfing. Once back on the snow, I spent 40-80 days a season boarding and then skiing. My son was born when I was 39.
I still get out on my own from time to time, but I get just as many days skiing with him, or with my son and wife. I only get about 30-40 days a season now.
There are two things that make skiing with my son even more fun than just seeing him grow. One is on fair weather days we never go inside the lodge. When it comes time for a break, we cut off into the glades and find a nice tree to set up camp next to. We make a bench out of my skis and a back out of his. We break out snacks and hot beverages, build a fort and toss snow balls. It is 100% better than being in a crowded lodge fighting to find a seat.
2nd is a good hearty beer. Around the holidays I enjoy a 21st Amendment Fireside Chat. I rarely drink when I am skiing hard, but a nice thick brew makes those mellow runs a little more fun.
Oh, and jibbing. I don't jib, except when I am hanging with my son. Then I jib everything I can find.
Working on filming is fun too. Particularly skiing backwards, with a steady helmet cam on him. Harder than is sounds, and you need to rely on him to let you know if there are any people down slope. You can't really turn your head to look, otherwise the footage is to disorienting.
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12-23-2016, 12:11 PM #13Registered User
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Kids often don't know anything about the drive, it's all one big nap to them. Punctuated by pop-tarts or whatever other crap food they're not allowed to eat at home but will burn off during a ski day so who cares.
One of the highlights was closing day at some little hill up at the Catskills when the kids were all roughly middle school age. Lots of mud and slush but beautiful sunny spring skiing. We had it mostly to ourselves but nevertheless the four of us split up in the afternoon for whatever reasons. At 4 p.m., totally unplanned, we all converged at the main chair and filled up a quad for the last chair of the last day of that season.
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12-23-2016, 12:20 PM #14Registered User
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Angle parking is killing it as a new dad with the 2 young toddlers, a real job and a happy wife
Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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12-23-2016, 12:40 PM #15
This
Mine are grown and living in a different state, so things change all to quick. Benn mentoring my nephew on the rock, and the little fuck is almost, but not quite out climbing me. He will be in no time at all...and that is a good thing, but a little tough on the aging ego.
I agree it is a constitutional right for Americans to be assholes...its just too bad that so many take the opportunity...iscariot
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12-23-2016, 02:14 PM #16
Just put in 5 hours on the (empty) hill with my 8 and 6 year old rippers - best day I've had in a while. And +1 to the jibbing.
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12-23-2016, 02:35 PM #17
I was able to ski with my oldest more when I lived in Minneapolis than I do now - I would complain about the lack of mountains for me, but I quickly realized that a $13 early-bird midweek half-day ticket (where a kid skis free) was the best thing ever. He and I would ski once every few weeks, about as often as I could risk showing up to the office at 1. And Buck Hill was a perfect place for a dude who's only 2'9"
Living in the Bay Area is a bit trickier, but we manage the 2 1/2 hour drive up to Dodge Ridge with some regularity. I dig the last of the remaining mom-and-pop ski areas as I can get a sub-$60 lift ticket and up until last year both kids skied for free. Tahoe is a bit too far to do the 1-day turn, not to mention the the lift ticket prices. I could complain about the cost of skiing now, but that's an entirely different thread.
And yes, this goes without saying. My kid already reads at a higher level than I do, so a handful of days out of school to go ski midweek when the crowds are absent or the snow is good is a no brainer. Those memories are awesome already. The required donut stop on the way to the hill... them getting nutty in the car when we're 15 minutes away... and the 3.2 seconds it takes them to pass out on the way home.
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12-23-2016, 04:44 PM #18
Where in the Bay Area. Had no idea DR was that close.
We have passes at KW. We generally easily get our money's worth, but the best thing about having the pass is not worrying about getting full days. It helps that friends of ours have a place nearby we can occasionally crash at.
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12-23-2016, 05:37 PM #19Registered User
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The little man gives this thread a thumbs up.
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12-23-2016, 07:40 PM #20Registered User
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Won't be long before he will be switching to the middle Finger!
Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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12-23-2016, 08:20 PM #21Registered User
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Ski bum to ski dad transition
Big day - my girls (7 and 4) first ride up the t together without assistance.
My back is so happy.
I am lovin these ski days.Last edited by LHutz Esq; 12-23-2016 at 08:53 PM.
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12-24-2016, 12:25 AM #22Registered User
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We are heading up to the hill for a little skiing and poutine tomorrow. I'm building the outing up for my daughter, telling her how much fun we are going to have and she looks at me and asks if Al will be there. "Yeah, there's a good chance he will be there" I responded. Thanks for the compliments by the way. And LHutz, all I can say is that I am jealous. Congrats. That's a serious milestone.
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12-24-2016, 08:49 AM #23
The whole family sled has taken me on an unexpected ride.
Lots of work, but lots of sunrise surprise.
Skiing has been one part of it. I've always been a ski fiend and all the magic of a new puppy hit exponentially with kids for me. I'd never been the focus and locus of so much attention and adjusting to that was weird. But the skiing part has been awesome, from the days of snowsuits and farting around for 20 minutes before a hot chocolate break and then a nap in the car on the way home to now skiing steep stuff and having the little guy wait for me at the lift line.
Time goes too fast and keeps accelerating. I know I can't hold on, so I do what I can to experience it while it's here.
Turn, turn, turn, little one.Merde De Glace On the Freak When Ski
>>>200 cm Black Bamboo Sidewalled DPS Lotus 120 : Best Skis Ever <<<
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12-24-2016, 09:14 AM #24Registered User
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12-24-2016, 01:28 PM #25Registered User
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Took my kid resort from age 4 and back country from age 7. To this day I still have memories of low trees and brush tunnels that I should have known better than to follow on. Fifteen years later I am old enough and wise enough to not follow some of his lines, and do not have the skills for his other lines. Just spent the day skiing back country with him and it just gets better. Get all the days you can, but watch out for "Follow me, Dad!"
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