I join the group that says, “Go do it”! Just start off on a bunny slope and work your way up from there, depending on your comfort level. And, quit for the day when you start feeling tired. I suspect that many injuries occur on that last run you shouldn’t have taken (rather than relaxing in the lodge with a hot toddy).
You should be able to find strengthening exercises for downhill skiing online.
The "new" parabolic skis are shorter, easier to turn, create less torque when you fall - and I suspect the bindings are much safer now, too. When you get your rental skis - just tell them you're a "beginner" so they set the bindings to release in a soft fall.
NO WAY! Go for it. When I was a kid the next door neighbor was so old a skier the state gave him a free pass to all the state-operated areas. As I misremember it he skied well into his 90s, was in triple #s when he finally decided to pass on.
dieharder wrote: There are really only two things that will tell you if you are too old to ski. They are usually your knees.
People don't quit skiing because they get old. They get old because they quit skiing!
I'm looking forward to my 12th year of season passes at a major SW Pennsylvania resort, located 2 1/2 hours from my home. We also travel to perhaps as many as 5 or 6 other ski slopes during the season. Even with personal health issues this past summer involving blood clots in my lungs and a life-time treatment of blood-thinning Rx meds, I intend to continue my obsession. I know that I will have to be much more careful and aware of my surroundings and risk factors, but ski I will! This is more than a sport, it becomes a life-style. It is a healtlhy outdoor activity that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and ability levels. Skill levels, caution, and sometmes absolute fear will usually dictate which slopes and trails you will ski. Slow or fast, steep or moderate, no one makes drugs nor alcohol that make you feel as good as this adrenaline rush!
Where you have lived, and what you have/have not been doing for the last umteen years, must have nothing to do with should/shouldn't. If you even think you might enjoy skiing, I would whole-heartedly encourage you to go for it! After all, if someone were to have moved to Hawaii, wouldn't you have recommended surfing to them?
Oh, and by the way, I just turned 54, but what's the big deal in anyone's age???
* This post was
edited 11/11/11 01:40pm by wilcamp *
Wil, Tara, Nakeeta (Alaskan husky 6 yr.-old), and Keeko (Jack Russel/Chihuahua mix 3 yr.-old)
(Joey our 6-yr. old Jack Russel mix, passed over the Rainbow Bridge 12/19/09.)
2008 Jay Flight 24RKS; 2006 Chevy Suburban 1500 4X4 Z71
You are not too old, if you are good enough for what you will try.
The older you get, the more slowly you heal, and the more prone to joint injuries. Your body gets less tolerant of severe trauma, especially to head and torso, and does less well recovering.
At 55 I was still falling off motorcycles. Funny, the arm and shoulder I damaged is not the one that hurts 12 years later. Seeing how I now heal from cuts and burns, and from a surgery, I know a good fall today is not going to be as much fun as the last one.
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