My home mountain is Alpental at Snoqualmie pass which can be pretty steep. I picked up a pair of K2 Mind Bender skis a couple seasons ago and have loved them. Certainly feels like they have made me a better skiier.

Lange-Bang!!! Yes. My old yellow Tii's are still out in the barn. So many good memories:D

Helmet? I play in the trees a lot still. No helmet for me. Knowing you die if you make a mistake is a good thing. It prevents one from being careless. Slim belted body bag with a hood, and goggles, and I'm always toasty, if less than "stylish"

I think what you described, the changes, is somewhat analogous to the cars we love so much. Playing at 9 1/2 tenths on a twisty mountain road in a 356 or swb 911 requires technique, skill, practice, and confidence. But its incredibly rewarding when done right. And mistakes can be very painful. So don't make them! Compared to these new kajillion hp things with suspension, rubber, and "active" systems that can all but make you forget you're in an ass-engined contraption that physics says should fly off the road at half the speed you are at. Any idiot can go faster in one of those things than I could ever dream of with an old car. And they are completely boring. Except perhaps for the "look at me" factor which seems to have infected our modern culture.

If I'm doing the mathright this marks my 56th season skiing. Taos was home turf for me, until they let the boarders in. Rarely go anymore. You can ride a chair to the top of the ridge now ferchrisake! I saw this fall the St Bernard is boarded up and scheduled for "remodeling", which of course means a modern steel/glass thing with zero charm but that will make a pile of money. The world has lost so much of what used to make life special!

Prices are insane now. Really can't enjoy myself paying 200 bucks for a day. But occasionally find some fun stashes at funky little places that time forgot. Epic day at Sipapu last year, after a sudden freak dump.

Your friend gave you good advice. :D Good description!

You beat me to it. :cool: A man after my own heart.

^ we started skiing the same year, 1967. A lift ticket at Squaw Valley was 6 bucks and now it's $200. and you must be 70 before you get a senior break in price!
I still love my long boards but get some strange looks. I have modern cut skis but like my long skis better for stability at speed and just feel more graceful carving. Besides, anyone can turn todays short skis. I'm older now and stay out of the bumps and chutes but still like to cruise fast. Last year I had a young guy ski up to me and asked where I learned to ski like that. I said back in the day everyone skiid like that!

Agree with 95% of what you have said. Helmet didn't help Schumi, did it? Be smart and don't crash.

Have not been to TSV since 2012. My pal, Ron, worked for USFS and ran a third of Carson, and lived in Taos for 25 years. Cheap sleep for me and a great mountain for a lot of years. In fact, my favorite mountain. He lives in CO now but gets to Taos a couple times a season to ski with his grandkids and says the changes are huge, diminishing the flavor of the area. Because of him, I had the [pleasure of meeting Ernie and Mickey Blake a few times. Kachina in the morning and West Basin after lunch. Perhaps I will return one of these days.

From 79 through 89 I lived in Mammoth and skiied 100 days each year. Dave McCoy the owner of the mountain could usually be found in the single line waiting for a chair lift.

One of my friends was on the B squad of the US Olympic team and we skiied together often. I even tried the sprint series of speed skiing when it came to town.
Like the rest of you I still have my old Atomic 203 salom skis and 215 GS skis. Haven't been recently due to a hip problem but did try the new type skis and my thoughts are no thanks I'll stay with my skinny boards. :)

Loved Taos.

Mammoth has 15' at the summit right now. Chair 23 up and running? Yikes!

At 56, I have skied for 50 years. In the late 80's while in college, I had a part time job mounting bindings and tuning skis at the local ski shop. I am 5'8" and have varied between 150 and 165lbs. Back in the late 80's I skied moguls when I could find them and typically skied pretty aggressively in Michigan on man made hard packed slopes. I skied for many of those college years on 200cm slalom race skis (could buy Elan Comprex S skis through shop for cheap as an employee).

Early 90's after getting married I bought some mid grade Rossis in a bit shorter 193 length.... OK but not really remarkable in any way.

Fast forward a bit and I finally caved and bought what were considered more modern shorter K2 AXIS skis in about 167 length. I REALLY still like these skis as they are fairly light and work fine for me in my short jaunts through the bumps I still enjoy.

I do also have some slightly newer short Atomic 159 Supercross skis and a pair of Atomic GS12 175 cm GS skis. These Atomics are super heavy and leave my knees hurting while hanging from ski lifts after a weekend of skiing. I only use the GS skis if I am doing Nastar races now.

I feel kind of stupid using my old K2's, but only skiing a couple trips a year on mainly Michigan snow, they serve me well. On my annual college buddy trip, we end up in the terrain park doing big table tops and doubles and also spend time in the moguls. The old lightweight K2 just works for me.

I tried some new fat "performance" rental skis out west a few years ago and HATED them skiing in crud conditions. I swapped them right away for some other fat ski for the rest of the day and I hated it also. For that reason, I am hesitant to to spend serious coin on any of the new stuff. If I skied more often and had the time to go to demo days I am sure I could find something new that I liked.

All my skis from about 1988 on.
The red K2 Axis are the middle below.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1673036914.jpg

We look silly compared to the youngsters doing their flips and whatnot but every year we are the ONLY 50+ guys farting around hitting these jumps at this particular place. Lol

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These are my Salomon Exendo 6's that I did use on MI slopes.:)


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1673039245.jpg

Skier's mountain. Don't like steeps, go to Red River or Angelfire. So much great terrain, including some I would never ski unless chased by gangbangers with Uzis. Think I would just stop, insult them and let them kill me quickly rather than embarrass myself on my way out. Did a great job of that on Reforma one morning:D

Lots of days banging Valkries, Longhorn & Hunzicker in the morning. Then shifting to Fireflanz and Stauffenberg after lunch for an easy afternoon. The last run down Whitefeather on the way to the deck of The Dog was always interesting. Tired legs, marginal skiers and mayhem.Always lots of groaning and crashes.

Never hiked the ridge. Too lazy to walk a mile for maybe a minute run.

May have to extend my trip a few days and sneak a day in there with my buddy and his grandkids.

I'd like to ask about boots. I gather that using my >20 year old boots is not recommended.

I used to like boots that had a significant forward lean, cant adjustment (important), narrow foot, flattish arch, hold my heels down, pretty stiff. My feet aren't fussy, meaning that they tend to be comfortable and warm enough in any boot, and I don't have undue problems walking in ski boots. Calves fairly slim. I'll get measured but think my size is around 29.5.

Let's assume I'll get a ski that is mostly meant for medium turns, carving, and hard/icy snow. No intention of doing tricks.

Any boots I should definitely try on? Do the different brands have distinct "characters"?

John,

I bought new boots at Evo last year. They promised the sun, moon, and stars. In the end, they are about the same as what I had prior (not the orange Lange torture devises - something newer).

I may be VERY wrong here but I don't see the big wiggle with new boots. If they fit, and the bindings work with them. Good to go. I have never seen a plastic fatigue on boots. The liners get padded down. Buckles break off. Ends wear down from walking. All good reasons to replace.
Other than that? No idea.

To the OP - splurge on a lesson, regardless how proficient you were in the old days. Ski tech has, unless you did endless racing-focused drills back then, shifted the actions dramatically from what you're used to. A little investment will pay off very quickly.

Now it's a solid two-footed turn with hopefully as much pressure on the inside ski as the outside one. Nobody's picking up that inside ski to initiate a turn unless it's a single-digit-mph "survival start" in dodgy snow or terrain. As said earlier, no working the shovel through the tail for every turn - done right and you should ski as solidly on groomers with your (newer and softer) boots unbuckled.

Dunno - the last old fashioned alpine boots that I had were the successors to the "pink panther" Langes. At the time I had a classic Lange foot, medium up front, really skinny heel.

Then for a decade (or 2.5 decades) in the Dark Side of Telemark.

Dabbling back into alpine (fix the heel, fix the problem) and the three-buckle Salomon works great for me. I don't know if there are still brand "types" but with things softer and more relaxed perhaps it just doesn't matter that much as long as that they're comfortable.

And that you have custom molded footbeds. I cannot reinforce that enough...

I ski 30-40 days per season (both of my kids ski race).

The type of skis you get really depends on the snow you plan to ski in. If you ski powder, you need different boards than if you ski icy groomers.

I ski a lot of powder but enjoy mixed conditions as well. I, on Kore 105s. My suggestion is to try everything at a demo day and then buy what you like best.

It’s demo day at our hill today and while I love my Kores, I’m going to go experiment…

Also - buy the ski best suited to the skiing you do 90% of the time, not the ski you think will that impress people in the lift line… a powder ski that’s mainly used on icy groomers is frustrating. A slalom ski in powder sucks too. A GS style ski sucks everywhere unless you know how to use it (my son rocks these everywhere).

My 12 year old son has 4 sets of skis depending on the training they are doing and conditions, 160 cm Blackops powder skis, 161 cm GS skis, 143 cm SL skis, and 139 cm SL skis.

My 9 year old daughter has 3 sets. She doesn’t have GS skis yet.

The point is that the skis are a tool specific to the conditions. You don’t use a hacksaw as a wrench.

A decent all mountain ski will work in all conditions and my Kore 105s are a pretty good compromise everywhere including in waist deep pow.

I love my old boards, 205’s, still get looks in line. I’ve been skiing for 53 years and raced quite a bit when I was younger. I am happy with the long boards, can do full flat out or but the bumps, it’s all in the technique.

I’ll stick to my skis ��

I have a colleague, just now retired engineer but back-then a racer and ski-teacher - he'd rock out for our little "sikesta" with a 1980s one-piece and 223 DH boards.

Good engineer, hella good skier!