Ski – (1) Practical tips

This year’s ski season is almost over. So it is a good time to wrap up with some tips, thoughts and feelings 🙂

Ski is definitely much of the trouble—- clumsy boots, expensive lift tickets, cold and wind chill, hauling heavy equipments at a high altitude 😉 but as long as you started running on the slopes, all these pains are gone, it just feels good (very similar to bearing a kid in this regard :D). Then you feel wow, my core is so much improved over a week.

Ski tip number one, own your gears! I definitely love to ski more after I bought my own gears. It saved much time of fitting and renting equipments each time. It is overall a cheaper option if you ski often. We bought our favorite boots, ski, poles, helmet, goggles, socks, gloves and balaclava, as well as a bag that can ship the gears over the planes, a total less than $1000 a person. Shipping ski on the plane includes a regular checked-in luggage fee ($35) plus extra charge for oversize/over weight limit > 50lb ($100) one way. Rentals at places will cost probably $40-100 a day per person. Sometimes you can rent equipments at a local store, which is cheaper than you rent them at a ski resort, with long lines.

Hoigaard’s is my favorite ski shop. They have many choices of skis and boots, and have professional staffs to help you measure and fit, and have a repair shop. For kids, there is a program that you can go back to change to a bigger size for free every year. It’s funny that one time, the break of one of my skis is broken, and I took them to the rental shop and said “this is not from your shop but will you fix it still?” The staff said “yeah, I know it is not from here, we don’t carry Nordica :D” Then they fixed it for me for free. At the ski places, you often met many nice people. For example, when you fell on the slope, there often will be people coming to ask if you need help. Love those moments when you feel the sports bring goodness from people to people.

Ski tip number two, buy a season pass. Ski skills can improve only if you go out often. Season passes make you access to ski much easier. Often you don’t need to wait in line and it will be cheaper overall. The earliest season pass starts selling on August and September. Each resort has their own season passes, for example, in a midwest small ski resort, it may cost $200+. Copper can cost $400-700 per season?! The famous ones must be Ikon and Epic passes—-depending on the package you choose, you can spend $1000+ per year, but be able to access worldwide locations, including Japan and Switzerland. My friends at NYC sometimes invite me to ski in Europe for a week during Christmas or January. I met a pass holder in Tokyo one time when he was up to Hokkaido. Considering each day pass can cost $250-400 at the fancy places like Copper, Vail and Breckenridge, seasonable passes are a great choice.

At a big resort, Ski is more fun and safer if you can go with your buddies or a private instructor. Those resorts can have very complicated trails, and then there are invisible tree wells you may fall in silently. Private ski instructors are super expensive. I have just checked at Copper, it is close to $1000 for three hours. I have interacted with different instructors. Some are really helpful but some are not able to tailor to your situation, so it is dependent on your luck :). One thing is for sure, working with a private ski instructor makes you feel super rich :D.

Ski makes you feel young and healthy. I met someone on slope who was over 80 years. Some resorts ofter very cheap passes to encourage elderly and young kids to join in this sport. The food at ski places typically is not great. I saw people bring in food and snacks by their own, this might be a good option!