Well this is an old one I wrote way back in 2004. That was a pretty different time for skiing. People had been down on skiing for a decade or so. Snowboarding had been/was the cool thing, but skiing was making somewhat of a resurgence with freeskiing, twin-tips and fat skis. Like with most things in life, I was conflicted by that.

Anyway, this was the first thing I wrote and it was what got me all my other writing gigs so let’s start there:

Obituary Column, 2004

Take a minute to think about why you ski. You ski to get sponsored, right? Maybe you ski because of the new “carving” technology. Or you ski because you heard, “skiing is cool again”. That’s what magazines like this one tell you. And you want to be cool, right? Just buy these new fat skis and these cool baggy clothes. That’s what skiing is about after all. How good you are and how good you look. And make no mistake - you do look good!

Yes, it’s great to be a skier these days, with the X Games showcasing true skiing and the urban jib movement proving that skiing is just as cool as skate or snow boarding. We’re now skiing in a golden age, where headlines claim things like, “Skiing’s not Dead”, “Snowboarding Saves Skiing”, “New Ski Technology will make Anyone a Skier”, or “Freeskiing Saves the Industry”. What a load of crap it all is! Are we seriously supposed to be thinking, “What a relief! What would I have done if skiing wasn’t cool anymore?” The problem is, the people pushing this new media/hype wheel are the same ones responsible for skiing’s near death two decades ago. Regardless of their efforts, catchy captions, or new gadgets, skiing really hasn’t changed that much in the last twenty years, and it never will. It always has and always will progress, because skiers never stop progressing. Regardless of some marketing genius’ plans.

Besides, would it be so bad if skiing had died? Or if it does die? If the whole industry collapses? Let’s imagine snowboarding hadn’t come along and the number of skiers had continued to slowly decline. This may have gone on until most ski areas went bankrupt. To maintain profits, other ski hills would have had to raise prices, as they love to do, until only the ultra-rich could have afforded to ski. Most of these wealthy skiers would have quit as soon as Tom at the Country Club clued them in to the fact that skiing wasn’t cool anymore. And maybe that would have been the end of it. No more ski resorts. No more skiers. No more ski companies.

After all, no one needs new skis or new ski gear if they aren’t skiing. So manufacturers would have gone back to making tennis rackets or whatever the hell they do and everyone would have moved on. If you are one of those that would have moved on at this point: thank you for your time, you can stop reading now. Go check out SKI Magazine. For the rest of you, try to think of this new reality. No mega resorts charging a grand for a season pass. No mega manufactures charging a grand for this years new ski graphic. No ski instructors working on the “new” perfect pole plant to take advantage of the “new” skis. No ski patrollers giving speeding tickets. No Nothing.

I guess a few things are left, though. The mountains are still there. The snow’s still falling. You’re still there. Maybe there are even a few like-minded friends with you. Possibilities! Maybe you could still ski a bit, even without the industry. You could hike for what you ski. Yeah, right! Maybe you could get a sled. Snowcats would be cheap. You and your friends could buy one with all the money you would have spent on season passes. It wouldn’t be easy to find or make skis, but it might be worth the effort and who knows, you might just come up with a ski that lasts; a ski that’s made for longevity, not just a product cycle.

Those of us still skiing at this point would laugh about the days when sponsorship was a concern, or when we stood around on beautiful powder days setting up photos. Of course, we’d also have to find real jobs! Best of all though, in this new skiing world there would be no attitude. Period. No attitude in the lift line, no attitude in the lodge, no ATTITUDE by Holmes. It wouldn’t matter who was better, because no one was going to get any exposure or win any stupid contests anyhow. There wouldn’t even be anyone on the chairlift to impress and no one would even dream of getting laid because of their skiing. Sorry.

Maybe I’m crazy, but this alternate reality doesn’t sound that bad to me. I’m not saying I want the ski industry to crash or skiing to lose popularity. I don’t want to lose my sponsors or my job coaching. I’m just saying that next time the wheel turns that way, maybe we shouldn’t be in such a rush to “Save Skiing”. Because when you save skiing, all the bullshit gets saved with it and nothing I truly value about skiing is ever gonna die.