Member of the Month

theabortionator
April, 2025

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Get Started

profile picture
oldmanski
Posts: 3595 - Karma: 26,854
How old were you when you started skiing and who got you interested in it? Were you influenced by an older sibling, friend, parent or did you watch a video and think you could do that?

For myself, I was 4 when I started skiing, the winter of 80'/81' in eastern Idaho. My mom was my big influence that guided me into the 2 stick world.

**This thread was edited on Apr 23rd 2019 at 12:53:30am
6 years ago
11 0
profile picture
MoneyMakerMike
Posts: 1254 - Karma: 5,764
2 years old, my papa started me at Tamarak resort, idaho.
6 years ago
2 0
profile picture
Obie.
Posts: 1741 - Karma: 3,646
Started @ 8 years old through a school bus to ski hill program. It was super fun riding with friends from school under the lights of the local ski hill. Still feel this awesome nostalgia night skiing because all my first ski memories were under the lights.

Park ‘Newschool’ skiing came later @ 15 years old. Saw some cats from the local hill ripping the park, (respect to Zylstra) checked out this site for the first time around that time to get educated on style & terminology. Lurked on here until I got a pair of 2009 Armada El Reys off Getboards.com.
I was addicted from there, skiing was all I ever wanted to do. That first offseason was brutal after I had a taste of the possibilities that wood-core twin tip skis could provide.

Since then I’ve gone through 11 pairs of skis & some injuries but my love for skiing has not diminished in the least.
6 years ago
7 0
profile picture
dwt802
Posts: 3361 - Karma: 33,160
2 years old, my dad put me on snow right when we moved to Vermont where he grew up. Started park at 13, taught by my friend who loved it and now he didn’t ski once this season.
6 years ago
2 0
profile picture
Dlonetti
Posts: 1996 - Karma: 21,413
Started when I was 13 or so with grade school ski club in 8th grade. Didn’t start park until sophomore year of high school when I saw some friends doing it and and am now a sophomore in college trying to balance skiing as much as I can and playing baseball

**This post was edited on Apr 23rd 2019 at 12:48:09am
6 years ago
3 0
profile picture
Biffbarf
Posts: 7387 - Karma: 78,992
2-3, mid 90's, mom taught ski school at breck. We moved to the front range when I was 8 or so and ski days weren't as plenty, got back into it hard in my early 20's
6 years ago
4 0
profile picture
FabseM
Posts: 155 - Karma: 491
14 years old. Started as a x-country skier cause of my parents. But when all of my friends started to go skiing together and I was left behind, I had to change it. Rented some skis, tried it for a day on the kids slope, felt good and started the week after with the others. Got lost in the woods for over an hour but had mad fun. Since that I'm in love with skiing. Park and powder. Best thing that happened in my life.
6 years ago
2 0
profile picture
skiP.E.I.
Posts: 7957 - Karma: 23,179
I was 13 and went on a school trip and really enjoyed it. Before that, I wasn't really athletic but did casual nordic skiing and generally loved winter. Started skiing park around age 16, influenced by peers and the fact I was at a tiny hill without much in the way of natural terrain. In a sense, it ruined my life.
6 years ago
1 0
profile picture
HaydenB
Posts: 1074 - Karma: 8,190
2 seasons ago, started because of friends and because snowboarding sucked
6 years ago
5 0
profile picture
CalumSKI
Posts: 4379 - Karma: 26,123
2 years old when my parents took me to Jay Peak for the first time
started park when i was 12
6 years ago
4 0
profile picture
WI_skier
Posts: 174 - Karma: 302
Started when I was six at a shitty midwest hill called Mt. La Crosse, was lucky enough to have my parents introduce me to skiing and encourage it. Still skiing here 15 years later but planning to move west after college.
6 years ago
4 0
profile picture
LukeTheWaffle
Posts: 1847 - Karma: 8,889
Started at 3 years old. Most of my beginner life from 4-6 years old I was skiing in new york, which as shitty as the ice coast is, as a racer it made me a damn good skier. Moved to Europe and lived in Switzerland , England, and back to switzerland. I knew of park for a long time, but up until about 2 years ago I was a Freerider and Racer, I hot my first rail 2 years ago and have been hooked ever since. Now I'm just Skiing pow and on the bad days skiin park and bein happy
6 years ago
6 0
profile picture
Jezza
Posts: 155 - Karma: 592
Started at 2 in Sun Valley Idaho. My aunt then moved to Park City so I’d ski there twice a year, living in the Midwest the rest of the time. Started park skiing a couple years ago and really only do that here in the Midwest since rails are easy to learn when that’s all we’ve got.
6 years ago
1 0
profile picture
HaydenB
Posts: 1074 - Karma: 8,190
WI_skierStarted when I was six at a shitty midwest hill called Mt. La Crosse, was lucky enough to have my parents introduce me to skiing and encourage it. Still skiing here 15 years later but planning to move west after college.


Midwest gang😤
6 years ago
6 0
profile picture
SoggyOatmeal420
Posts: 296 - Karma: 1,530
I learned how to ski last year at age 13 after I moved from Washington to Wisconsin. (yeah makes no sense) I had other sports I did when I was in washington, and never was that interested in skiing. I didn't have anything to do in Wisconsin so I learned how to ski. Year two and I started to learn to park ski because thats what you do in the midwest. Now I am obsessed withs skiing. Midwest gang

**This post was edited on Apr 30th 2019 at 12:18:56am
6 years ago
4 0
profile picture
elcheapo
Posts: 3449 - Karma: 13,983
My mom skied and one day rented me some gear
and left me at the tope tow when I was six then a few years later joined ski school at school with the bus transportation and skied ever since.
6 years ago
4 0
profile picture
evanball
Posts: 259 - Karma: 1,392
4 years old on a hill in my grandmas backyard
6 years ago
5 0
profile picture
D.Zook
Posts: 11 - Karma: 53
31 years young, February of last season. My fiancee talked me into trying skiing after one miserable snowboarding trip in 2015. Since then i've bought a trampoline, built a drop-in and a couple rail hits in my back yard, and did ~40 days this past season. To say i'm addicted might be an understatement.

I envy all of you for starting so young!

**This post was edited on Apr 30th 2019 at 11:46:51pm
6 years ago
8 0
profile picture
Obie.
Posts: 1741 - Karma: 3,646
DZook4131 years young, February of last season. My fiancee talked me into trying skiing after one miserable snowboarding trip in 2015. Since then i've bought a trampoline, built a drop-in and a couple rail hits in my back yard, and did ~40 days this past season. To say i'm addicted might be an understatement.

I envy all of you for starting so young!

**This post was edited on Apr 30th 2019 at 11:46:51pm


So sick man good for you. Passion for something shouldn’t be restricted by age
6 years ago
8 0
profile picture
oldmanski
Posts: 3595 - Karma: 26,854
DZook4131 years young, February of last season. My fiancee talked me into trying skiing after one miserable snowboarding trip in 2015. Since then i've bought a trampoline, built a drop-in and a couple rail hits in my back yard, and did ~40 days this past season. To say i'm addicted might be an understatement.

I envy all of you for starting so young!

**This post was edited on Apr 30th 2019 at 11:46:51pm


Yeah dude! Good on you and sounds like you may have a small addiction like the rest of us, hahaha!!
6 years ago
5 0
profile picture
theabortionator
Posts: 52560 - Karma: 173,824
Mom gave me some red plastic skis at 4 or 5. Idk if I really skied them much, but remember sliding on one on my stomach. Both my parents lost their jobs and we moved 4 hours upstate to the bumfuck mountains. Started skiing right away in the normal school programs in first grade. Got a plastic snowboard at 7 or 8 that I used to rip around the yard, then got a real bored I could ride at the mountain when I was 10.

Dad got back into skiing after like 20 years because of me and my sister. Mom was pretty hopeless, parking lot flat terrain terrified her. Sister and I rode together a bunch, she got into snowboarding a few years after me. We taught lessons together for 2 seasons. She stopped skiing in college and her fam doesn't ski either.

Dad still goes out to the local hill for a few laps after work or on the weekends.

I was 16 when I started riding park regularly though. Before that it was all handbuilt jumps at the local hill. Stoked that basically every hill even some tiny ones has at least a couple rails or boxes.

Obviously where you live and your surroundings dictates some thing, but I've always thought it was wild how much that move changed everything. Idk that I ever would have touched the ski slopes if I grew up down there. 19 seasons working in the ski industry, and hopefully a ton more to come.

I'm never gonna have kids, but if I ever did, yur god damn right they're gonna be out on the ski slopes.
6 years ago
3 0
profile picture
Diento
Posts: 194 - Karma: 619
Started when i was 3 years old skiing on the dryslope not too far from my house.
Went on skiing holidays with my parent from 5-16 y/o for a week a year every year.
Then stopped skiing from 16-20 y/o and started working at the dryslope where it all started, which has now turned into an indoor ski dome with a chairlift and a park. Because i worked there i got a free year pass to the slope so for those 2 years that i worked there i pretty much lived at that dome.. either working there or skiing.
So started skiing park just 3 years ago when i worked at the dome and been hooked like never before since :)
6 years ago
2 0
profile picture
nmwninjart
Posts: 3090 - Karma: 15,857
D.Zook31 years young, February of last season. My fiancee talked me into trying skiing after one miserable snowboarding trip in 2015. Since then i've bought a trampoline, built a drop-in and a couple rail hits in my back yard, and did ~40 days this past season. To say i'm addicted might be an understatement.

I envy all of you for starting so young!

**This post was edited on Apr 30th 2019 at 11:46:51pm

Awesome!
I also learned late-- couple seasons ago a bf taught me skiing from the racers prospective. I picked it up quickly and started park last season. I am terrible at it but I love playing around and welcome the challenge. got 50 some days in both seasons.
6 years ago
1 0
profile picture
JoeF2661
Posts: 1627 - Karma: 6,302
Ive never skied. I'm just here for life advice.
6 years ago
4 0
profile picture
michigang
Posts: 521 - Karma: 1,206
started when i was 8, my best friend at the time’s dad taught me and she convinced me to try it
6 years ago
2 0
profile picture
SkiaNZ
Posts: 125 - Karma: 301
13. Went with friends and got hooked. Brought some $46 thrashed twins, watched some YouTube and ns vids on park skiing and went from there.
6 years ago
1 0
profile picture
WhiteShepherd
Posts: 85 - Karma: 474
Started when I was 30 (2 years ago). Yeah i was pretty old when I started, but i don't care.
I used to snowboard from 2006-2017 (with a lot of breaks. Northern Germany has nearly no snow).
2017 i was watching some snowboard vids on YouTube, but the last video was the Vars Battle between Gagnier and Fovstedt. From then i was so fascinated from Park Skiing. Summer 2017 i bought some used Scott Jibs and some old Full tilt Tom Wallisch.
I was heavy into Rollerblading from 1995-2010 so I thought i can translate Rollerblading into Skiing (personally I was wrong).
That's nearly the story...
6 years ago
3 0
profile picture
kalle.
Posts: 771 - Karma: 4,931
i was 7 when i first tried it. after my first day i swore i'd never go skiing again. the next year my parents told that there's this freeskiing thing starting at the ski club, wanna join? i was like maybe i'll gove it a shot since i felt like the teacher would be more mellow in the park scene. i was right about that. this last season was the first one without a season pass to any place cause i started studying, still got plentt of days and sweet trip to norway/sweden. but skiing less has had some downfalls, knee is not feeling great after getting used to a lot of use these last years and now it kinda starts to ache after a few hours on the hill. still worth it tho!
6 years ago
1 0
profile picture
JmckR
Posts: 1332 - Karma: 6,085
Started as a kid when my parents took me to France every other year or so, and I gotta say I hated skiing and skiing lessons more than anything in the world. Hated being the only English kid in a group of 8 or so french kids who I couldn't understand and were always much better than me.

Only when I became good enough to ski independently was where it started to become fun and I knew I'd be doing it for the rest of my life.
6 years ago
1 0
profile picture
Thegenericskier
Posts: 2902 - Karma: 34,000
started skiing when i was 6
6 years ago
1 0
profile picture
GrandThings
Posts: 3293 - Karma: 33,949
Technically started at 18. I snowboarded a handful of times through high school because I skated but wasnt very good/into it. Then my freshman year of college the kid that lived next to me was a racer but had a ton of PBP and TGR movies. He showed me Revolver and I sold my snowboard over Christmas break to buy my first pair of skis. Havent looked back since and for only having skied for 7 years, I cant believe how much it's impacted my life.
6 years ago
2 0
profile picture
weastcoat
Posts: 6499 - Karma: 75,277
I always wanted to go at a younger age but my dad never took me until I was 7. Before then I loved sled riding and would always build jumps and shit and hit them. My dad took me when I was 7 and I think that was probably the best day of my life because I still remember my little brain thinking “I wanna do this as much as I can for the rest of my life.” Started sliding rails when I was like 11-12 and I’m proud of my past 2 years of progression even though it’s nothing crazy.

Forever grateful my dad brought this wonderful “sport” into my life. It is my greatest love in life and has brought me an unmeasureable amount of happiness over the years and even drowns out every single problem in my life.

Skiing is what keeps me alive.
6 years ago
6 0
All times are Eastern (-4); Currently it's 4:05AM