Ah, as we drudge through the heat and it is too early to start the countdown, I thought we could start a thread about what bright line separates a Ski Enthusiast from a Ski Obsession.  You can measure it any way you want, you know # of D.O.S., how many pairs of boards you have, how many Spyder outfits... or whatever.  For example, a Ski Enthusiast cuts work and gets up early to drive to the  mountain on a powder day, where as an Obsessed Skier watches weather channel 24/7 and buys a plane ticket when a low pressure region threatens the Rockies with a dumping!!!

Have some fun with it, and is it November already?

SWOOP

ski enthusiast:  plans to ski next season, but hasn't thought much about it just yet.

ski obsessed:  has next ski season planned out in considerable detail by mid-July :-)

Obsession is when you buy new skis in high summer when what you really need is snow.

I know the obsession part - thru observation. I am thinking of the two people I remember from Master's ski racing camp at Mt. Hood way back in the day.

1) Harold, actually the fastest guy that should have been on the U.S. Ski Team, was some sort of big-time New York City finacial guy that had heavy inventments in the NYC Airport development project. I remember he had about a sub 4  NASTAR handicap and became so obsessed wtih ski racing he moved to Park City (I saw him there once in a restaurant) and accordinng to my old ski race coach because of it all his wife devorced him and he  then apparently lost all his money after bailing out of his NYC job to live in PC.

2) Burgess was also in our training group and sold his place in Tempe Arizona and gave up his job to move next to a "to be revived" ski hill somewhere I can't remember. It was never built/restored and apparently he's quite a bit poorer now.

My race coach commented he felt very badly runing so many lived lol, eh I came out ok!

enthusiast: checking ski blogs during the summer

obsessed: tuning your skis in July for an August ski trip to South America

Haha, I like these so far.  Hmmm, upon review of the comments so far and a little self analysis, I may be a borderline candidate.  Anyone know of a good Ski obsession shrink?

Here's one that definitely is in the "O" camp. https://snowbrains.com/colorado-man-skied-312-consecutive-months/

Ok, anyone seen lows in the 40's yet?

Wow 340 months is beyond obsessive. Add his volunteering to adaptive sports.....mucho respect. Friend of mine is at 140 months but at 60 yo I don't see him catching this guy.

This 65 yr old guy from Killington stands out as one of the more ski-obsessed persons I've heard about (6.4 million vertical feet last winter):   https://www.powder.com/stories/interviews/vermont-skier-aims-for-world-record-after-skiing-6-4-million-vertical-feet/

swoop wrote:

Haha, I like these so far.  Hmmm, upon review of the comments so far and a little self analysis, I may be a borderline candidate.  Anyone know of a good Ski obsession shrink?

Here's one that definitely is in the "O" camp. https://snowbrains.com/colorado-man-skied-312-consecutive-months/

Ok, anyone seen lows in the 40's yet?

hmmm.  I’m beginning to see a resemblance here.  One year, while still working, I did 12 months, all in the lower 48.  Two of them were in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, an August run on Isabel Glacier and sept. on Rollins pass.  The picture in the above article is of the Skywalker Couloir, furthermore the most difficult line, the “Princess Leia” entrance.  (I kid you not.)  that line is beyond me.  Getting to Rollins pass requires a 20 mile dirt road drive beginning on US40 near Winter Park.  It is long but not steep, with many possibilities to bottom out.  I washed it before returning.  Who washes a rental car, you may ask, well I didn’t want them to ask where I had taken it.

ive also skied St. Mary’s Glacier, several trips.  It gets very dirty with wind blown dust and has little pitch, but skiable all summer.

JimK wrote:

This 65 yr old guy from Killington stands out as one of the more ski-obsessed persons I've heard about (6.4 million vertical feet last winter):   https://www.powder.com/stories/interviews/vermont-skier-aims-for-world-record-after-skiing-6-4-million-vertical-feet/

More resemblance.  I am pretty sure that this guy’s picture is at the top of the right gully, Tuckerman Ravine, Mt. Washington, NH.  Been there many times.

obsession has its price of course.  Happily, mine has not been at the price of losing my wonderful partner.  I am paying the piper for adventures with damage to my body.  Right now I can only walk up and down stairs like a 2 year old and with considerable pain.  The first total knee replacement is scheduled one month from now.  I’m planning a spectacular rehab and recovery and skiing in late spring 2019, or sooner.

Good luck with the TKR Denis.  I know you've been talking about bone on bone discomfort for some time.  First things first.  You have to get rid of pain and get your knees right so you can enjoy every day life, then think about skiing after that.  Lots of TKR success stories on the slopes these days.

JimK wrote:

ski enthusiast:  plans to ski next season, but hasn't thought much about it just yet.

ski obsessed:  has next ski season planned out in considerable detail by mid-July :-)

ski enthusiast: knows a boot fitter, makes do with a one-ski-quiver and some demo rentals

ski obsessed: has custom footbeds and liners, owns at least three pairs of current skis plus a pair of rock skis

marzNC wrote:

JimK wrote:

ski enthusiast:  plans to ski next season, but hasn't thought much about it just yet.

ski obsessed:  has next ski season planned out in considerable detail by mid-July :-)

ski enthusiast: knows a boot fitter, makes do with a one-ski-quiver and some demo rentals

ski obsessed: has custom footbeds and liners, owns at least three pairs of current skis plus a pair of rock skis

Shotmaker wrote:

marzNC wrote:

JimK wrote:

ski enthusiast:  plans to ski next season, but hasn't thought much about it just yet.

ski obsessed:  has next ski season planned out in considerable detail by mid-July :-)

ski enthusiast: knows a boot fitter, makes do with a one-ski-quiver and some demo rentals

ski obsessed: has custom footbeds and liners, owns at least three pairs of current skis plus a pair of rock skis

 

Oops!  Guess I've fallen into the obsessed category.

Shotmaker wrote:

Shotmaker wrote:

marzNC wrote:

ski enthusiast: knows a boot fitter, makes do with a one-ski-quiver and some demo rentals

ski obsessed: has custom footbeds and liners, owns at least three pairs of current skis plus a pair of rock skis

 

Oops!  Guess I've fallen into the obsessed category.

Which happened first?  The boots or the full quiver of skis? :-)

Without online ski forums, would've taken me a lot longer to learn about custom footbeds and liners.

marzNC wrote:

Shotmaker wrote:

Shotmaker wrote:

marzNC wrote:

ski enthusiast: knows a boot fitter, makes do with a one-ski-quiver and some demo rentals

ski obsessed: has custom footbeds and liners, owns at least three pairs of current skis plus a pair of rock skis

 

Oops!  Guess I've fallen into the obsessed category.

Which happened first?  The boots or the full quiver of skis? :-)

Without online ski forums, would've taken me a lot longer to learn about custom footbeds and liners.

The boots.  I have owned a few pair of skis over my 40 years of skiing but it all starts with performance & comfort in your boots.  How you treat your feet dictate how you ski in general.  The skis are your tools by which type of skiing you prefer to do on any given day.  In my quiver I mostly ski on my "rock skies" as these are my oldest and most versatile.  Still plenty of camber in them which I use to instruct with.  Topsheet gets abused by others but edges & base are fine to ski on.   I have a pair of newer race skies: SL/GS & a couple year old hybrid all mountain/powder ski.

A few years ago I developed the 6th toe on both feet which required me to visit the podiatrist & invest much more in modifications to my boots than I initially paid for them.  As you get older and your feet start to change it becomes the most important thing to be aware of.  After 14 days of teaching without a day off the podiatrist and Brian @ ProFit were back to back appointments.

BTW I've always skied on 130 flex Lange boot so comfort has taken a back seat to performance.  This is the tradeoff but a race boot will alway deliver when you need it!    

Shotmaker wrote:

marzNC wrote:

Which happened first?  The boots or the full quiver of skis? :-)

Without online ski forums, would've taken me a lot longer to learn about custom footbeds and liners.

The boots.  I have owned a few pair of skis over my 40 years of skiing but it all starts with performance & comfort in your boots.  How you treat your feet dictate how you ski in general.  The skis are your tools by which type of skiing you prefer to do on any given day.  In my quiver I mostly ski on my "rock skies" as these are my oldest and most versatile.  Still plenty of camber in them which I use to instruct with.  Topsheet gets abused by others but edges & base are fine to ski on.   I have a pair of newer race skies: SL/GS & a couple year old hybrid all mountain/powder ski.

A few years ago I developed the 6th toe on both feet which required me to visit the podiatrist & invest much more in modifications to my boots than I initially paid for them.  As you get older and your feet start to change it becomes the most important thing to be aware of.  After 14 days of teaching without a day off the podiatrist and Brian @ ProFit were back to back appointments.

BTW I've always skied on 130 flex Lange boot so comfort has taken a back seat to performance.  This is the tradeoff but a race boot will alway deliver when you need it!    

Makes sense to me.  Even when I was only skiing a few days every few years when I was too busy working, I owned boots.

Your experience leads to another question . . . can a ski instructor only be a "ski enthusiast" or are instructors always obsessed?  Thinking mostly about instructors who teach for more than a few seasons in the Mid-Atlantic.

I've been wondering what the influence of forums and ski data sharing apps has on our overall stoke, obsession, and enthusiasm.  Looking back I can fully admit that activity on ski forums definitely increased my motivation to log a couple more ski days per season and post photos of those exploits.. as well as trying harder to hook up and make turns with complete strangers who have become pretty damned good friends.

Cutting back my forum and ski tracking app usage makes me more picky and selective about go or no go 6am decisions on Saturday morning.

swoop wrote:

Here's one that definitely is in the "O" camp. https://snowbrains.com/colorado-man-skied-312-consecutive-months/

My spouse thinks I'm in the obsessed category. Looks like I have a lot of growth yet in the enthusiast category.  ”‹I'll be sure to correct her vernacular next time it comes up

Ski Obsessed: you spend the family savings to buy a ski house so you can be in snow country and ski every weekend. 

crgildart wrote:

I've been wondering what the influence of forums and ski data sharing apps has on our overall stoke, obsession, and enthusiasm.  Looking back I can fully admit that activity on ski forums definitely increased my motivation to log a couple more ski days per season and post photos of those exploits.. as well as trying harder to hook up and make turns with complete strangers who have become pretty damned good friends.

Cutting back my forum and ski tracking app usage makes me more picky and selective about go or no go 6am decisions on Saturday morning.

In recent years, I've talked to plenty of enthusiasts and obsessed skiers who haven't got the foggiest idea that online ski forums exist.  For example, when I was at Jiminy Peak in January I made friends with a group of local women who met at a multi-week Ladies clinic a few years ago.  They ski together midweek mornings, especially when conditions are good.  When I was there on a powder day in early March with 22 inches of fresh snow, many of them and other locals braved the snowy roads to get in a few hours of turns before going to work.  In general, folks who ski midweek on a reguar bases are at least enthusiasts whether they are using a season pass for a local mountain or traveling.

Can't quite decide if retired couples who live in the midwest but spend 2-3 months in SLC during ski season are enthusiasts or obsessed.  One couple I talked to were mixed.  Husband skied essentially every day during the week.  Wife was more of a snow snob and only kept him company when conditions meant skiing off-piste and in the trees was going to be fun.  In general, most of the Wild Olde Bunch at Alta are probably obsessed to be skiing as much as they do over 70 or 80 years old.

I spent my kids college fund on ski vacations.   I guess that puts me in the obsessed category. 

marzNC wrote:

crgildart wrote:

I've been wondering what the influence of forums and ski data sharing apps has on our overall stoke, obsession, and enthusiasm.  Looking back I can fully admit that activity on ski forums definitely increased my motivation to log a couple more ski days per season and post photos of those exploits.. as well as trying harder to hook up and make turns with complete strangers who have become pretty damned good friends.

Cutting back my forum and ski tracking app usage makes me more picky and selective about go or no go 6am decisions on Saturday morning.

In recent years, I've talked to plenty of enthusiasts and obsessed skiers who haven't got the foggiest idea that online ski forums exist.  For example, when I was at Jiminy Peak in January I made friends with a group of local women who met at a multi-week Ladies clinic a few years ago.  They ski together midweek mornings, especially when conditions are good.  When I was there on a powder day in early March with 22 inches of fresh snow, many of them and other locals braved the snowy roads to get in a few hours of turns before going to work.  In general, folks who ski midweek on a reguar bases are at least enthusiasts whether they are using a season pass for a local mountain or traveling.

 

I skied a couple 100 day seasons and owned a quiver before forums existed...  There have always been obsessed.  All I'm saying is that forum and other activity sharing platforms stoke the stoke and add more peer pressure to get out even more..

crgildart wrote:

I skied a couple 100 day seasons and owned a quiver before forums existed...  There have always been obsessed.  All I'm saying is that forum and other activity sharing platforms stoke the stoke and add more peer pressure to get out even more..

Agree that online forums and social media are good for stoke, especially for the obsessed folks who read/post during the off-season.

As for peer pressure pushing people to get in more days, I think that may only apply to the relatively small percentage who are active posters during the season and are already in the obsessed category.  While there are undoubtedly enthusiasts who wish they could ski more, most likely they can't cross the line for assorted reasons that won't change regardless of online ski forums or what their skiing friends are doing.

marzNC wrote:

crgildart wrote:

I skied a couple 100 day seasons and owned a quiver before forums existed...  There have always been obsessed.  All I'm saying is that forum and other activity sharing platforms stoke the stoke and add more peer pressure to get out even more..

Agree that online forums and social media are good for stoke, especially for the obsessed folks who read/post during the off-season.

As for peer pressure pushing people to get in more days, I think that may only apply to the relatively small percentage who are active posters during the season and are already in the obsessed category.  While there are undoubtedly enthusiasts who wish they could ski more, most likely they can't cross the line for assorted reasons that won't change regardless of online ski forums or what their skiing friends are doing.

I think this guys meets the criteria for obsessed - https://www.outsideonline.com/2329871/watch-first-ski-descent-k2

Unhealthy devotion to something is part of the difference between an obsession and enthusiasm so yeah skiing down K2 i think that qualifies. Think how long it would take to prepare for a run like that.

Would you consider the fact that not a day goes by that i don't think about one of the following-making turns, turns i have already made, how much I liked those skis I demoed at ABasin last May, how that creamy spring snow felt, how cool it was skiing a conga line down the mountain with 10' visibilty, I could go on, obsessive? 

Call me obsessed if you want. I'm not someone who skis I AM a skier.

jimmy wrote:

Unhealthy devotion to something is part of the difference between an obsession and enthusiasm so yeah skiing down K2 i think that qualifies. Think how long it would take to prepare for a run like that.

Would you consider the fact that not a day goes by that i don't think about one of the following-making turns, turns i have already made, how much I liked those skis I demoed at ABasin last May, how that creamy spring snow felt, how cool it was skiing a conga line down the mountain with 10' visibilty, I could go on, obsessive? 

Call me obsessed if you want. I'm not someone who skis I AM a skier.

Having a blast even OCCASIONALLY skiing in the pouring rain=Enthusiast

Trying to ski every single week of the year no matter how horrible or dangerous (rocky, more bare spots than snow) the conditions are=obsessed!

crgildart wrote:

Trying to ski every single week of the year no matter how horrible or dangerous (rocky, more bare spots than snow) the conditions are=obsessed!

I've skied 2-3 times every week of the local season the past several years, but still think I haven't reached obsession, yet. But this season I shall try. 

camp wrote:

crgildart wrote:

Trying to ski every single week of the year no matter how horrible or dangerous (rocky, more bare spots than snow) the conditions are=obsessed!

I've skied 2-3 times every week of the local season the past several years, but still think I haven't reached obsession, yet. But this season I shall try. 

Does that include driving on snowy roads during a named snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic when the governors are trying to get people to stay home?  That could be a sign of obsession in the flatlands. :-)

marzNC wrote:

Does that include driving on snowy roads during a named snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic when the governors are trying to get people to stay home?  That could be a sign of obsession in the flatlands. :-)

Hmm, I'm thinking you know some of my backstory. I thought we were all anonymous here. I have changed that behavior significantly though.

camp wrote:

marzNC wrote:

Does that include driving on snowy roads during a named snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic when the governors are trying to get people to stay home?  That could be a sign of obsession in the flatlands. :-)

Hmm, I'm thinking you know some of my backstory. I thought we were all anonymous here. I have changed that behavior significantly though.

Wasn't really thinking about you in particular.  Have heard plenty of stories of Mid-A ski nuts who don't let snowy roads deter them.

My husband (not a skier at all) will never forget our drive from Raleigh to Massanutten the Dec of Snowmaggedden.  We went via Roanoke to I-81 instead of the usual route via US29 to RT6 just south of Charlottesville because I knew all the roads around Charlottesville were littered with cars.  Delayed the drive for a day for the timeshare unit I booked for the week before Christmas.  Took twice as long as usual, but we made it.  Was not the last time I drove to Mnut just to catch a rare powder storm. :-)

Oh I'll bet we all have a story or four about winter driving.

My trip to Canaan Valley goes west on I68 out of Morgantown, over Coopers Rock through Deep Creek and you get the idea. Started from home and ran into an ice storm on I70, into and out of it through waynesburg pa and not so bad in Morgantown. I get on I68, go over Cheat Lake and start up the hill to Coopers Rock and the higher I go the worse it gets, dark, snowing and one half of a lane kind of clear. I drive a Honda Crosstour AWD with winter tires so no problem going but I wasn't in the mood to pass anyone. I make the top, start down the other side and pull into the ice/snow covered passing lane, change my mind and pull back into the travelling lane. The guy behind me dogged me, tailgating in a Barracuda on big wide tires all the way up. He then sees his chance to pass, stomps the gas pulls almost along side of me and disappears. I watched in the rearview mirror while he spun out and went backwards off the side of the road into the ditch behind me. Guess he didn't have winter tires. 

camp wrote:

crgildart wrote:

Trying to ski every single week of the year no matter how horrible or dangerous (rocky, more bare spots than snow) the conditions are=obsessed!

I've skied 2-3 times every week of the local season the past several years, but still think I haven't reached obsession, yet. But this season I shall try. 

I'm talkikng year round.. hiking for muddy turns in June then heading to Mt Hood or Chile/Australia/New Zealand for the rest of the summer.