When ripping around the resort, you’ll often see little shredders sending it off of features and ripping bump lines. Sometimes a bit better than yourself. That puts the ego in check real quick. For those of us who came to the sport later in life, seeing these pint-sized tots cruising and feeling so comfortable on snow can make us feel a little out of place. But in reality, plenty of people have picked up the sport later. Learning an adventure sport later in life faces its own challenges, but it doesn’t mean you’re any less welcome in the space. We chatted with a few of our staffers at the shop who picked up snow gear in their adulthood, and picked their brain on what it’s like learning how to ski as an adult.
What made you decide to learn how to ski as an adult?
Annabelle: Just always wanted to! People talk about it, you see it in the Olympics, it looked cool.
John: I had friends visiting town who snowboarded. Id never done before, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I did a half day lesson in the morning and met up with them in the afternoon, and it just clicked.
Marco: As a kid I always wanted to learn how to snowboard, but growing up in Ohio didn’t offer up many opportunities for that, so skiing/snowboarding was never a winter hobby that people did. After moving to Colorado, I knew that snowboarding was something that I was going to be able to finally check off of my list.
Did you have any fears when you started?
Annabelle: Do you I look like I belong here? Do I fit in? As an adult, you just have more awareness of how you are perceived. Later, I got over that, and now it’s just my knees.
John: Not being able to keep up with my friends since they were all really good.
Marco: I was afraid of really hurting myself and embracing myself on the mountain. I knew that after a handful of days I would be able to get the hang of it, and that the learning curve was all just part of the process.
Did you take lessons or try to learn on your own? Learn from friends? Was it challenging/intimidating to keep up?
Annabelle: I was hired as an instructor for kids, so the other instructors gave me a crash course. I was the best in my group, so not really.
John: After my first day, I didn’t take any other lessons. I was just winging it on my own, skiing with other people who were really good and taking pointers, and watching Youtube. I was really deliberate in picking one or two skills or technique pieces to work on that day and just focused on that.
Marco: It was more of a mix of learning from my friends and learning on my own, as well as help from YouTube. It was a challenge and intimidating to keep up with my friends anytime I went. I always felt bad that they were waiting up on me as I crawled my way down the mountain, but I also think that this helped me to progress a little quicker and really motivated me to improve my riding.
What was the most challenging thing?
John: Probably putting ego in check. Trying to be cognizant of staying in my lane, but pushing myself some.
Marco: Turning on my toe side! In all seriousness, the most challenging thing was just being able to trust myself and gain the confidence to do more on a board. Once you get that little bit of confidence in your riding, I feel like you immediately get better and have more fun on the mountain.
How was the physical aspect? Do you train, do specific exercises, or do you have any rituals now to help you recover?
Annabelle: Now I definitely have rituals. I do a nightly stretch and abs (sometimes) for 10-20 minutes. At least stretching to help with injury prevention. Being an outdoor guide, I felt like I was in shape, just using different leg muscles fo all the walking with a heavy pack.
John: At the time I had a pretty good base fitness level with doing a lot of Crossfit. But, it’s still a lot of different muscles, and actually getting used to being in ski boots all day. I wear knee braces a bit, since I’ve tweaked my knees a couple of times when I first started learning.
Marco: I try and stay pretty active throughout the year, so while I was on the mountain I felt comfortable from that aspect, but I definitely was more sore than I thought I would be after my first couple of days. For recovery, I found that a hot tub and a massage gun can do wonders for you!
How long did it take you to feel comfortable?
Annabelle: Maybe a month or so?
John: Part way into my second season I started feeling pretty good. I got about a 50 days in my first season. I was also skiing at A-Basin and Taos, so I was exposed to a lot of difficult terrain. Knowing what I can and what I can’t do.
Marco: I would say it took a solid 4-5 days on the mountain for me to get the hang of linking turns together and confidently maneuvering down the mountain without falling. I feel like one morning before riding, I woke up from a dream that I had and for some reason, everything just clicked and made sense.
What kind of gear did you start with? Did you rent or buy?
Annabelle: I went to play it again sports and got everything for $250. I bought some Rossignol skis that were pretty short for me. I updated boots pretty quickly after that, around midseason. Then I got another pair the following year.
John: First few days rented, then got fitted for a piar of boots. Then I bought used skis at first, then a couple more…After that, I got the same pair of boots but just in a stiffer flex after about a year.
Marco: I bought used gear to learn on and figure out how I like to ride so I could then upgrade my gear based on what I like to do/what I want to learn on the mountain. First, getting into this I didn’t really think that there was a big difference in the specific board/gear that you use, but I quickly found out that is not correct.
Any memorable stories?
Annabelle: It was just really fun to learn with other instructors. I remember the first time I hit a jump. I didn’t know you were supposed to keep your tips up, so my tips dove immediately into the snow and caught. Then I learned.
John: Oh yes. The first couple of jumps I hit I just double ejected all the time. Then the first one I landed I was so stoked. I crossed my tips skiing down Kachina, and fully double ejected. I was so worried about having to hike up and get my skis, but someone retrieved them for me.
Marco: My first couple of days on the mountain were miserable, to say the least. The first day I was on the mountain I ended up getting altitude sickness for the first time in my life, and my second day out I caught an edge so hard that I gave myself a minor concussion. After those first two days, I was determined to get my revenge of the mountain and learn how to get from the top to the bottom of the mountain without wiping out every 10 yards.
What advice would you give to someone considering learning as an adult?
Annabelle: Get lessons, it’s just worth it. It’ll help you prevent injuries, and help you keep up with your friends more quickly. It’s just better to have someone who’s patient to teach you, and willing to teach you, because those fundamentals and habits you learn at the beginning are what will carry you through your ski career. The community in skiing is what really made me want to stick around compared to any other sport. They’re just a great group of people who are excited and love to share the stoke around sliding on snow.
John: Get comfortable being uncomfortable, and be prepared to make mistakes.. There’s a lot of different learning curves with getting new skis, new boots, and everything just has a bit of a learning curve and getting used to. Don’t be afraid to push yourself, but recognize your abilities and limitations to smartly push the envelope. You don’t quite recover like you used to. It’s a great community of people, everyone likes to be out on the mountain.
Marco: It’s never too late to learn and/or progress your skills on the mountain. You just need to be willing to look like a fool those first couple of days and really trust in yourself and your equipment. Once you feel even just a little bit of confidence, you will start progressing so much quicker. I will say, after I really got the hang of riding, snowboarding has been some of the most fun I have ever had in my life!! There is really no way to explain how it feels to ride down a mountain and to be able to do something that seemed so hard or even unrealistic at the time. I wish I would have tried to learn earlier in my life, but better late than never!
