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I've been skiing for 40 years. I've only been on NS for a few months. NS has really changed my view of the sport. The long and the short of it is that I love where the sport is now and I absolutely love NS.
The teens are what make the sport truly great. If it were dominated by athletes in their 20's, it would be more like the other pro sports. How often do you have a chance to go play three on three with Lebron James or play a round of golf with Tiger? In skiing you can go to Hood in the summer and be throwing down right next to Wallisch, Olsson, Dumont, West. The pros our hitting up the same parks and the same runs that the rest of us are on.
I find all the shit slinging on NS, really entertaining now, and a few years back I was hyper-sensitive to all the kids at my area trashing each other. There are two competing teams on the same mountain and the stuff going back and forth gets pretty thick, but now I don't mind it. If the drama in the sport completely went away, we'd all probably lose interest.
As a kid I gew up idolizing Andy Mahre's Dad and Uncle. Those guys might as well have been on another planet from me as far as how much access i had to them. Skiing has gotten so much more layed back since then. The day that a guy like Bobby Brown becomes as uptight and one dimensional as a pro tennis player for instance, then we've got problems. As long as the sport keeps attracting so much young talent, I can't see that happening.
There is a great mix of the old and the new right now kind of like skateboarding. You could probably still skate with Paul Rodriguez or Ryan Sheckler and Tony Hawk probably wouldn't brush you off. There is definetely more money in Skateboarding and BMX than there was back in the 70's but it's still got a pretty chill vibe.
Much respect for the other vets on NS and their concerns, but I think skiing's going to be just fine. I say just laugh off the drama, toss out an occasional well deserved fail and enjoy the ride. "
