"Luckily, a small community ski area called East Hill was just five minutes from my house. Nestled beside an elementary school of the same name, it had about 100 feet of vertical drop, a rope tow without handles, and a perpetually idle T-bar. The hill was open nights and weekends and staffed entirely by volunteers from the Camillus Winter Sports Association."
"In the fall of 1975, East Hill hosted a used equipment sale to raise funds. I showed up with $35 from my summer job and left with an inexpensive ski setup-215 cm skis, Salomon 505 bindings, safety straps, a painful pair of early Henke plastic boots, and poles. The gear looked more at home on the wall of a ski cabin than on the slopes, but I was ready to go skiing."
"Once, while resetting my bindings after a spill, the heel snapped shut on my ring finger. It hurt, but I didn't notice the blood dripping from my glove until a lift attendant pointed it out. Another time, during a fall, one ski whipped around (still attached by the strap) and caught my forehead, leaving a nice cut and bruise. But none of that stopped me."
A high school student in Camillus, NY decided to learn to ski and practiced at East Hill, a small community hill five minutes from home. East Hill had about 100 feet of vertical, a rope tow without handles, an idle T-bar, and volunteer staff. The student bought used gear for $35, including long 215 cm skis, Salomon 505 bindings, Henke plastic boots, and poles. Even without lessons, the student learned by copying younger skiers, enduring frequent falls, bruises, and injuries. After roughly fifteen days of practice the student progressed to smooth turns and signed up for a high school ski club trip to Song Mountain.
Read at SnowBrains
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]