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March, 2024

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Who learned to ski on straight skis?

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JsNeagle
Posts: 1399 - Karma: 1,506
I keep meeting more and more people who have only been skiing for a few years, but still rip the park and are solid overall skiers and it's got me to thinking.  I probably skied on straight skis for the first 8-10 years I skied or so.  Who remembers skiing on straight skis? Think there's a significantly different learning curve?

Did anyone on NS learn to ski in leather boots?!  That'd be sick.

I think my first pair of skis with sidecut were K2 Enemys...  Yours?
Apr 14 2009 10:40AM
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Drail
Posts: 14011 - Karma: 10,001
My first pair of skis were a pair of K2 Ninja Turtle skis. they had the green shell for graphics with a picture of each of the turtles going down the ski. If I had to guess I'd say my parents got them for me in 1989.

First pair of skis with a side cut was the 1080. For the first couple years though I was breaking a lot of skis so I'd spend almost half my season on non-twin straight skis... I remember one day I was in a big air on some old Head's and did a switch 7... people thought I was nuts.
Apr 14 2009 4:00PM
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freezed
Posts: 12973 - Karma: 500
got 'em at a garage sale for 10 bucks!
Apr 14 2009 4:05PM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,221
we took all our old straight skis and made them into a chair

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Apr 14 2009 4:22PM
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SkierX
Posts: 16253 - Karma: 538
I want to make a ADK Ski Chair as well someday for the yard.
Apr 14 2009 4:25PM
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PatSul
Posts: 109 - Karma: 16
i learned how to ski on these bright green ninja turtle skis made by k2 i still got them around some were they were awsome
Apr 14 2009 4:27PM
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Diran
Posts: 67 - Karma: 16
I learned to ski on some old school Elan skis, that was like 15 years ago, i wish i still had em
Apr 14 2009 4:38PM
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gr4
Posts: 1499 - Karma: 945
yeah! i had the ninja turtles k2's
Apr 14 2009 4:55PM
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Shredneck
Posts: 2051 - Karma: -32
lol
Apr 14 2009 5:03PM
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-PowAir-
Posts: 646 - Karma: 30
my first skis were little purple dynastar x7s red salomon bindings and some bad ass red rear entry boots.
This would have been around 91/92 i think. First shaped skis i had were Yellow Salomon X-tremes in 140. First twin tip was 159? Rossignol pow air, then i got the 1080 in 161 the year it came out and the rest is history.
Apr 14 2009 5:22PM
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7-11_Slurpee
Posts: 1142 - Karma: 1,552
I learned to ski on Rossignol STS Juniors or something like that in 1996. Parabolic skis were out then, but i just had some older skis.
Apr 14 2009 5:44PM
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Luc.
Posts: 7540 - Karma: 59
yea i learned on an old pair of straights my neighbour hooked me up for free...they were rossi somethings win a nice big rooster on the tip!
Apr 14 2009 5:47PM
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Drail
Posts: 14011 - Karma: 10,001
ah no shit! read my post above, those were my first skis as well!


I remember I was on a trip to Vermont with my parents way back when I was still on those skis. Some dude offered to buy them off of me (my parents I guess, 'cause I was probably 6 years old) in the lift line. We were like "fuck that!".

Dopest skis ever.
Apr 14 2009 6:22PM
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nickmiles
Posts: 1070 - Karma: 844
hell yea. the first pair of shaped skis i had were the 1st generation bandit when i was like 9. I learned how to ski on a pair of 85 cm white and bright yellow rossis. Then a pair of like 100 K2 Mickey Mouse Skis. After that I had a few pairs of, yes, Olins. The bandit was the first pair of shaped skis made for kids and the rest is history
Apr 14 2009 6:29PM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
I learned to ski on Rossingol DV7L's on some purple Salomon bindings.............


.....this past December motherfucker.

By January I "conquered" Michigan downhill skiing by riding at every hill in the L.P. (from Timber Ridge to Nubs Nob) and was on a pair of Elan Mag's and a new pair of Dalbello boots.

By March I had some twins and I could hit all the kickers at Boyne and not flap my arms in the air like a bird. By April I could land 180 off the lip of a half pipe on to the deck. I still suck at rails and boxes and can only go straight down a box.

People made fun of my 175cm straight DV7L's. They are fast though. Fastest skis I own :)


Apr 14 2009 6:33PM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,221
have u been to alpine?
Apr 14 2009 6:42PM
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summersover
Posts: 5777 - Karma: 233
haha i rode straight skis back in the day i remember having mickey mouse K2s at one point and i thought they were super uncool when i was like 7
Apr 14 2009 6:46PM
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teleTay
Posts: 2320 - Karma: 186
i have leather boots

been meaning to were them torwards the end of the season

they are telles
Apr 14 2009 7:09PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
i learned on straight skis. pink ones.

Apr 14 2009 7:10PM
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RRhighrider
Posts: 2137 - Karma: 1,105
i skied on straight skis until i was 16 or 17.  i got twice as good in one day when i finally got my rossi bandit x's
Apr 14 2009 7:11PM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
Nah

Been to Timber Ridge, Caberfae, Bittersweet, Cannonsburg, Nubs Nob, Boyne Mtn. / Highlands,  Shanty Creek, and Crystal Mountain.

So I haven't been to ALL the hills in the L.P, but most of them at least.
Apr 14 2009 7:40PM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,221
no hate but theres at least 25 more
off the top of my head u missed homestead, mt. brighton, mt. holly, pine knob, otsego, schuss, and treetops. theres a shit ton more too
Apr 14 2009 7:48PM
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3mania
Posts: 2559 - Karma: 9,857
first skis were Pre 1200s w/ Marker MRR turntables. those binders were badass, you had to reach down to pull them on your boots. 200cm skis and skinny as hell. You guys have no idea how easy you got it now. You actually had to lead change, have crazy shin angle and be able to unweight between turns. I def think todays equipment makes it a lot easier to ski, but lets people get away w/ a lot of bad habits, i.e. backseat, shitty pole plants ect.
Apr 14 2009 7:50PM
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Dan-Man
Posts: 7480 - Karma: 3,605
i learned on str8 skis!!! those things were so hard to turn. haha. yup bought umfrom a rental place at the end of one season when i was in middle school, then quickly got some twin tips.
Apr 14 2009 7:57PM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
Shanty Creek includes Summit / Schuss.

I know there is like mt holly and brighton and shit. But honestly dude...I think mt holly is built over a garbage dump.....

They filled in a landfill on the east side of the state and made it a ski hill, and it was around Flint.

The only place worth going in the L.P. from what I can gather is Nubs Nob, second favorite hill is probably Boyne Mountain followed by Schuss.

They are the only hills worth skiing....everything else big is in the U.P. Bohemia, Big Powderhorn, Mount Marquette, and Porcupine Mountain.
http://goskimichigan.com/downhill-ski.html

Caberfae's claim of 485ft is so full of shit I think. Those 2 mounds aren't 485 fuckin feet.

Put it this way also, 3 hours for me is Boyne Mountain territory, would you rather drive 3 hours to Boyne Mountain or Schuss, or drive 3 hours to go to Alpine Valley?


Apr 14 2009 7:58PM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,221
where u live in michigan?
Apr 14 2009 7:59PM
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Dirty.Harry.
Posts: 1779 - Karma: 351
AHAHHHA nice job.

and yes my first couple pairs were straight until i got a friend;s old rossi race skis at 9 or 10 i think. it made me so pumped to have "shaped" skis
Apr 14 2009 8:18PM
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scott23~
Posts: 507 - Karma: 14
i did... back in the day
Apr 14 2009 8:42PM
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s.bishop
Posts: 665 - Karma: 26
the skis i started on were some of the first parabolics according to my stepdad (apparently he was a gnarly trick skier back in the day lol)
Apr 14 2009 8:50PM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,893

That's funny, because I aspire to grow up to be most of you too.  Yeah, I skied in leather, but I never  skied in rear entry.  When I was racing, if you got caught skiing in a pair of rear entry boots it would have been like getting caught humping a sheep. 

A couple of years ago I rattle canned a pair of my old Head TR6's black and tried to convert them into some mogul skis.  I took them out for a day.  It was terrifying.  I think attempting a 10 would have been less scary.  Now I have a pair of Straight K2 Mambas, but I have left them in the closet for the last 2 years.  I actually took them out once on a powder day.  Man was that awful.  I felt like I was having to learn how to ski all over again.  Anyway, if things are getting a little too stale for you, break out a pair of old 205 straight slaloms and take them out for a few runs.  If you survive you will find a whole new appreciation for sidecut.

Apr 14 2009 9:11PM
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Lenard
Posts: 35 - Karma: 11

just rented any time my friend would take me and thats all i would ever go

Apr 14 2009 9:13PM
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hank.
Posts: 227 - Karma: 38
i did
Apr 14 2009 9:20PM
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PatSul
Posts: 109 - Karma: 16
lol thats funny i read your post and i had the same problem i always broke my good skis and had to switch back to my shitty staight skis for a bit untill i got the good ones back but i never threw down any switch 7's i did no switch tricks on thoughs skis lmao. and it feals so weird switching back to staight skis i donno how u were able to do a switch 7 u r crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Apr 14 2009 10:20PM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
Grand Haven
Apr 15 2009 12:38AM
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El_Barto.
Posts: 11630 - Karma: 24,465
not only were the skis i learned on straight, they were plastic
Apr 15 2009 12:53AM
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Skibumsmith
Posts: 5414 - Karma: 11,608
Even though shape skis were already on the market my dad made me learn on straight skis cause he didn't want to pay more for shape skis. Not that it mattered though until I got older and realized I was using crap. My very first pair of skis were Elan somethings and then I had these weird skis that had a picture of a bumblebee skiing on them.
Apr 15 2009 1:08AM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,221
i live 10 minutes from alpine so thats where i ski, anywhere else worth skiiing is a 4+ hour drive
Apr 15 2009 1:12AM
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Steezy_Street
Posts: 833 - Karma: 161
I started on dads old Olin Mark IV's cause james bond rides them so they must be hectically sick
Apr 15 2009 1:14AM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
Yeah I hope on 96 to 131 and I can get up to Shanty in under 3 hours and Boyne Mtn in 3. This is assuming 5-10mph over at all times.


Nubs is my favorite though.
Apr 15 2009 1:18AM
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alaskakid
Posts: 5540 - Karma: 430
your so BA dude, you don't even know
Apr 15 2009 1:34AM
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tim_ASP
Posts: 249 - Karma: 36
Started skiing when I was like 2, parents put me on a pair of my cousins hand me downs.  I balled like that for like 5 years, then snowboarding became the "cool" thing to do so I did that for 10.  I switched to twin tips last year feburary and I haven't touched a snowboard since.  Cept for when my boss needed me to teach snowboard lessons. haha.
Apr 15 2009 2:12AM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,221
Ya nubs is definitly the best in the lower penninsuila. they thave the best tree skiing and the park is always sickk
Apr 15 2009 9:34AM
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Steezius_Maximus
Posts: 1152 - Karma: 22
i did they were some old atomics my cousins had when he was small i was 4 years old
Apr 15 2009 10:47AM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
Definitely.

I got lucky once and was more than boot deep in snow at Nubs once, and there were tons of trails they don't groom and the place isn't roped off like crazy.

So not only can you do all the normal gladed skiing in the T1-T3 area and like Southern Glades, but you just ski around and find your own untracked gladed areas.

Anyways it was awesome, we basically created moguls under the ski chairs that day.
Apr 15 2009 11:00AM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,221
making ur own trails is the best, we and my buddy made one underneath the yellow lift and at the pond at the bottom was frozen so u could ski over it, it was pretty cool
Apr 15 2009 5:32PM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
If only Bohemia wasn't 11 hours away from me.
Apr 15 2009 5:35PM
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AlexMartini
Posts: 2987 - Karma: 1,886
I skied straight skis for 6 years or so before shaped ones came out, my first year racing we were still on straight skis and our mountain had a park and we had just heard about skiing backwards so we took our waxxing irons and left then on the tails of our old skis for like 10 minutes then bent the tails up, it was fucking epic
Apr 15 2009 5:38PM
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casimiro
Posts: 1350 - Karma: 15
yep, in 1980, there wasn't much else.
Apr 15 2009 6:21PM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,221
its like 18 for me
Apr 15 2009 8:10PM
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jmason
Posts: 1595 - Karma: 136
haha yeah dude!!!
Apr 15 2009 8:39PM
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Felix..TG
Posts: 425 - Karma: 273
I learned on old pink fisher when I was 3
Apr 15 2009 9:25PM
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