So Many Mountains, So Little Time

[Fluffy Kitty]

help me get my boots on and (especially) off

"How to raise money for your ski pass": #2, a boot buckler.

 

[Jenny]

I dunno where to find them but if we all start looking now . . . And the ones in my mind are young and good looking, too. No point in having something that's not pretty to look at. Of course, he also has a good mind and personality - we're not totally shallow. Just a little bit. As long a he doesn't call me ma'am.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I've been saying all season I'd like a ski valet (aka boot guy). He could do lots - carry my stuff from the car, help me get my boots on and (especially) off, be at the bottom of the hill with change of mitts or whatever might be needed... Sadly, (and in my mind, he's young and rather good looking) he hasn't appeared.

Speaking of older folks skiing, I often ski with a fellow who's pushing 80. He's had numerous health issues (cancer, serious concussion, bad back) over the past years and now wears a back brace and knee brace - and has trouble getting his boots on etc. But get him on the hill and you'd never know there was a problem. Last week I went him down a double black bump run (Zig Zag) which he skied beautifully. His wife is almost his age and doesn't ski quite as fast as she used to - but is still out there often. So... there's hope...

I would like this, sorta like a cabana boy but at the slopes with me. DH wouldn't mind. I'd even offer to get him a boot girl; that's fair.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I dunno where to find them but if we all start looking now . . . And the ones in my mind are young and good looking, too. No point in having something that's not pretty to look at. Of course, he also has a good mind and personality - we're not totally shallow. Just a little bit. As long a he doesn't call me ma'am.

OMG Maam sends me over the roof. There's one candidate who's one of the lift operators at my home mountain. He's a snowboarder but oh so cool, he'll do.

 

[Jenny]

Well, I know I'm no longer a "miss" but there has to be something that doesn't sound as doddering as "ma'am." "M'lady" might be acceptable.

I was at the Veterans Home visiting my uncle yesterday and one of the guys there bought me a pop. He can't really speak but the guy with him told me that's what he wanted. So, I still got it!

 

[Fluffy Kitty]

"M'lady" might be acceptable.

I've completely stopped using words like "sir", "ma'am", "miss"... so easy to get it wrong and hurt someone's feelings. If you think about how often people apologize for getting it wrong, and how awkward it is to correct someone... As for "dude", "hon", "man", and "guys", in my mind, they are more universal in terms of gender/age, but still a bit of a minefield because of generational and regional variations. These words are supposed to show respect, but I find it easier to show it other ways.

 

[Mary Tee]

If Ma'am makes you crazy wait till you get to ...for a woman of your age... as in, "do you really think a woman of your age should still be skiing?" or doctors who continually say "well that is to be expected in a woman of your age". The last doctor who used that line was told "I REFUSE to BE a woman of my age, and if you continue to use that condescending line, I will show you how hard a woman of my age can hit!"

 

[just jane]

OMG, that reminds me of the PA in the doctor's office when they diagnosed the arthritis in my knees, who told me, "It's a birthday problem..." I wanted to punch him. Also I'm only 40-something, A**hole.

I'd take a boot boy, though. He doesn't even have to be intelligent, if he keeps quiet...

 

[ski diva]

If Ma'am makes you crazy wait till you get to ...for a woman of your age... as in, "do you really think a woman of your age should still be skiing?" or doctors who continually say "well that is to be expected in a woman of your age". The last doctor who used that line was told "I REFUSE to BE a woman of my age, and if you continue to use that condescending line, I will show you how hard a woman of my age can hit!"

Just curious: was this a male or female doctor? Whichever they were, what the heck were they thinking?

Ohhh, THIS is what my problem is! Lol, I'm 61, and though my technique continues to improve each year, my energy levels and coordination skills generally decrease. I'm wondering where this trend may end up leveling out... will I be hobbling to the lift, but slide down the slopes with good form for a few runs?

I'm 61, too, and haven't yet noticed any diminishment in coordination skills. My energy levels aren't as high as when I was younger, but I can still ski 5 days in a row without a problem. Granted, I don't go first chair to last, but so what.

 

[bounceswoosh]

OMG, that reminds me of the PA in the doctor's office when they diagnosed the arthritis in my knees, who told me, "It's a birthday problem..." I wanted to punch him. Also I'm only 40-something, A**hole.

In my case, I had arthritis in my knees from about the age of 20. Don't really see it as a birthday problem at al.

 

[just jane]

Yeah, that's the other thing. Not a bday problem, in my case, most likely a gene problem.

 

[maggie198]

I'm 61, too, and haven't yet noticed any diminishment in coordination skills. My energy levels aren't as high as when I was younger, but I can still ski 5 days in a row without a problem. Granted, I don't go first chair to last, but so what.

Yup, you are my role model, ski diva! And MSL as well!

Seriously, if you keep up with conditioning throughout your life, and have been an avid skier for most of it, I think you can go into later years quite strong. I didn't return to skiing until around age 49 or 50, after a bad breakup of my marriage. I slowly started to go back to some of the things in life that I used to find joy and pleasure in doing, things that I had put aside for the many years I took care of my young family. Money was tight then, and skiing slid into a thing of the past.

Ironically enough, it was my by-then-adult eldest daughter who accidentally got me back into skiing. She went skiing for the first time with a boyfriend, and signed up for ski lessons. The lesson went so badly she came home in tears and was totally frustrated. I told her skiing was fun, and we could go together some time and I'd help her learn. Though my skills were rusty and equipment had changed, I found a renewed passion for skiing during the time I spent teaching my daughter to ski. We took ski clinics and mountain trips together. Eldest daughter is now 37 and an advanced skier. She was a former gymnast and has continued to work out, and is in excellent physical
condition (she just hiked 8 freakin' mountains in NH's Presidential range in 3 days...). Skiing has become a major part of her life, and I have no doubt she'll be going strong for many more years to come. I sometimes compare my life to hers at age 37 - I had three kids to take care of, running after school to daily practices, working in between, no time for "fun" exercise after a busy, exhausting day. My idea of exercise was yard work, lol. I think in general I'm fairly healthy, but obviously not in the condition that someone who has devoted their life to exercise is in. Physical aging factors do creep in, much to my dismay - osteoporosis, morton's neuroma, bunions, lousy eyesight, arthritis. Most of the time I just ignore these things and keep on the best I can.

But I digress from the original topic. I could really use a boot buckler....

 

[BrookeK]

If Ma'am makes you crazy wait till you get to ...for a woman of your age... as in, "do you really think a woman of your age should still be skiing?" or doctors who continually say "well that is to be expected in a woman of your age". The last doctor who used that line was told "I REFUSE to BE a woman of my age, and if you continue to use that condescending line, I will show you how hard a woman of my age can hit!"

Ha! I don't know you, but I like you! Sounds like exactly what I would have said (I suppose, what I will be saying!)

 

[Pequenita]

I've been thinking for a few years that I really need a soignuer. Technically, they're for cycling, but I could use one for life in general, especially if he also did things like take my car in to the shop.

I used ski valet for the first time in my life in December. While they didn't put my boots on for me, it was still quite nice to walk out and already have my skis and poles set up for me. On a powder day.

 

[santacruz skier]

I've been thinking for a few years that I really need a soignuer. Technically, they're for cycling, but I could use one for life in general, especially if he also did things like take my car in to the shop.

I used ski valet for the first time in my life in December. While they didn't put my boots on for me, it was still quite nice to walk out and already have my skis and poles set up for me. On a powder day.

Deer Valley?

 

[Pequenita]

Deer Valley?

Telluride.

 

[Rainbow Jenny]

Last Wednesday I met an 85 yo gentleman at Alta who just returned from a week long hut-to-hut backcountry trip in BC, completely (hu)man-powered.

I'm setting my goals mighty high, am just warming up!!!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

As one of the senior “senior statesmen” on the forum, I can attest that skiing can and most definitely does carry on, with prudent preparation and a dose of realism. It frankly becomes more of a qualitative than quantitative thing, however, whereby one stops counting days and vertical and skis in the quiver - and focuses more on the sheer enjoyment of a beautiful day - or the camaraderie of enduring a lesser one.

I’m fortunate enough to frequent a resort that is flush with senior skiers, especially weekdays. Most are local or close-in regional. They ski until noon and move on to the rest of the day. They gather en masse at the mid-mountain lodge at 10 a.m., jokingly referred to as the “AARP meeting.” I would absolutely be among the youngest of that crowd.

Barring anything physically cataclysmic (which, sadly, can and does happen), your skiing career will carry on. It will evolve. But there will then be decades of incredible memories, of many trips and adventures/misadventures, most smile-worthy. Some cringe-worthy. Some hilarious.

You’ll certainly not be ready, willing or able to huck a cliff. It won’t matter. You’ll applaud those who do.

Warren Miller said it best: “It’s not what you’ve lost that counts. It’s what you do with what you have left.”

So fear not, fellow divas. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.

 

[Mary Tee]

Just curious: was this a male or female doctor? Whichever they were, what the heck were they thinking?

It was a male, quite young (of course)...my doctor of 20+ years recently retired, so I am doctor shopping.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

4 Tips for Skiing Over 50, from Liftopia. Nothing we all don't already know (and all should do, regardless of age) - but some great comments posted beneath the article:

https://blog.liftopia.com/blog/tips...s_20160315&utm_content=TheGoods_20160315_Art1