I feel old

pat-rickdaigle

Active member
since feb. 03 i've been a member of this site. I'm 21 now and started skiing when i was 7 years old. I'm not even sure how i came across newschoolers but i remember getting into freeskiing when I first saw PBP Propaganda. From there on out i got some salomon 720s and a few other buddies got twins as well. When we first started filming i was a freshman in highschool using pinnacle studio 8 and my dads high 8 cam(which sadly i still sometimes use). We didn't have terrain parks only a couple rails our local hill lonesome pine trails made. We didn't have much but still tried to do the best w/ what we had and we made some decent edits. When Neil Sotirakopolous came out w/ wicked that's when I really got addicted haha. I was working at a grocery store and doing all i could to get a sony vx2100. I finally got one and started filming alot more downstate and took a couple trips to vermont for a rail jam, ygo, and a meathead premiere. I filmed at all events but the rail jam which stephan thomas was at(one of my all time favorite riders). Of course like all skiers i dealt w/ injury along the way.(broken hand, concusions, broke left and right ankle.) I also had girl issues straight out of highschool because i wanted to go to colorado(got accepted to CMC in steamboat) but my highschool sweetheart wanted me around so i ended up making the worst decision of my life and going to school in eastern maine. I went to school and worked which didn't leave much time for skiing. My gf broke up w/ me so i quit school got an all east ski pass and worked and skiied all winter. I was alone alot which was a bummer but it was still rad. After a while i couldn't afford to live down there on my own and headed back north where i worked and made some bad choices. I got a couple duis and have since sold my camera. I work shitty jobs and ski as much as possible but i have no insurance or license so it's rough. I haven't had good equiptment since highschool and suffer because of it. My feet are to wide for my boots and i have the most painful bunions(NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU) I broke my ankle at dumont cup last season which was my fault because i didn't wax and still suffer alot because i couldn't afford physical therapy. through all of these struggles skiing is still my life and always will be. I am happy with what i have but i know what's out there and want to experience it before i'm really to beat up. I'm sorry to rant i just wanted to get that off my chest and kind of thank newschoolers for being there through it all. hopefully in another 7 years i will have a post like this with a much more exciting ending. and hopefully i can get some good skis by dumont cup so i can redeem myself. last year man that was some shit. got there on the 11th because i didn't have cash to ski the day before(it was a 2 day pass and i didnt know becuase i'm dumb). so i hit the course a few times opting to hit the small jumps and then they start the qualifying so i decide to go for the big jumps which scared the living piss out of me. I'm used to jumps i build by hand not ones you see in joss videos. anywho i man up and go for it..i wanted a rodeo 5 on the first hit but had so much airtime i did a 7 and landed clean at the top of the landing. i cruised into the second jump which was even bigger and go for a cork 7 but through it way to hard for the size of the jump and do almost a cork 10 and came up a little short..breaking my right ankle and knocking me da fuck out.see video:Courtesy of Newschoolers.com
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funny thing was at ygo back in the day at stratton i broke my left ankle on the last jump in qualifying. but that was dope i met jlev and mike nick..along w/ joe shuster and some other ppl i looked up to at the time. anyways NS i love u..just wanted to let u know.
 
Skiing is hedonistic man, keep your chin up :-) thanks for pouring out your heart. Hope things get better for you soon!
 
You'll get there someday man. All this shit is almost certainly just making you a better skier.

And no matter how much kids moan about posting edits in SG, you always drop consistently good stuff. Props.
 
haha thanks guys. i'm not quite sure i'm over the hill just yet still got some juice. what i really need r some good boots that fit and skis and a week or 2 skiing sunday river to crank out some shots. ahh that'd be so nice right about now. will accept donations
 
lol if u feel old at 21 then somethings wrong with you. wait about 10 years and then you can start using the old excuse.
 
I've realized recently that like snowboarding, the average age of skiers will inevitably get older.But as for now, skiing as it is, has only been around for about 10 years. So by sheer fact that there weren't very many people doing it 10 years ago, we have very few good "older" (25+) park skiers.Instead freeskiing is dominated by 16 to 18 year olds (who are getting older). Sure, you may not be able to throw dub 14's like it's nothing but no one can really do that, and I hope that people will soon get over that craze. It's all about how you ride. If you're good, it doesn't matter how old you are. But if you're really that stressed out about it, switch to snowboarding, they have tons of older riders who kill it.
 
scratch that if i had skis and boots i'd hop in w/ some trucker and head out to CO. go live w/ that dude that just got outta jail..shred errday.
 
yea i guess its just the injuries that make me feel that way. and peter u r also correct. i have thought about going to boarding for the sheer comfort bonus but i don't want to start from scratch. it could come to that though
 
I turned 25 this year. I remember being in awe when I saw the original 1080's. I got a poster advertising the 1080 that had J.P., J.F., Vinnie, and Mike Douglas on it. Sick Sense was the sickest movie I had ever seen. I watched the segmet with the New Canadian Air Force over and over again. I bought the original 1080's that year (the first year on the market). There really was an excitement about skiing and the possibilities that you could feel. Those were the days when you'd have 10 guys in a big air comp throwing 10 different tricks. It was sick!
 
fuck man, come down to sugarloaf and stay with the emc crew! T shores doesn't have insurance and he's always dislocating shoulders, getting concussions, etc. You're welcome to bum some couch space im sure. And you really shouldn't feel old, maybe to the 16 year olds who kill it yes, but not to the hundreds of kids who grew up getting super stoked watching propaganda.
 
bro im with you , even though i only read the first line of your post i feel like an old man too
 
+vibes to you man, youll get there. hopefully things look up for you but hey, youre living life for something you love. Isnt that what we're all looking for on some level?
 
didnt you make that thread about contemplating moving out west against your parents' will or sth? anyway i wish you all the best and i hope everything works out for you
 
My grandad dropped an 8-10ft rock/pillow drop two years ago in Beaver Creak whilst skiing with me. He was 77 at the time. You have a few more years yet.
 
nice story dude, i liked it

Im sure things will get way better, i dont know why but it seems like your going to get a good opprotunity for something. Lol, i have no idea why i think this but it seems like that

no im not high
 
And to Maineman.

To you my young friend; may the force forever be with you! You just got tons of respect in my book for trying to hold on to your dreams. Life is hard and it kicks you around some times. But this also gives you character and inner strength. You made it so far – be proud. You made it on your own – stand tall. And you didn’t get a ton of sponsor dough from dad (like so many of the young spoiled kids who is on NS (it’s just astonishing how much gear some of these kids have)) so stand up and say it out loud I’m a true skier and I’m proud.

 
skiing is about having fun. worrying about things like the dumont cup and filming is pretty silly.
 
x2

maineman...I think you're super motivated and are doing what you love...but skiing's not always about getting sponsored and doing competitions. It's about shredding with your boys, being on the mountain all day. When I ski, I don't think about jack-shit other than skiing - no school, no girls, no worrying about preparing for interviews, etc.

I don't know...I guess I've always gotten the vibe from you that you're desperately looking to build a name for yourself in the ski industry. Just ski for fun man - it sounds cliche, but its so true.
 
this, 100%. I feel like every month there is a new thread from this you trying to self promote yourself and telling stories trying to get sponsored. Seriously... I've seen this kind of post out of you many times over the last few years. Just go shred and have fun, I'm not sure why you have always been on the quest for sponsorship.
 
Chin up Mainer, you're skiing still and you've got a lot of support from NS. Yours is quite a story and I really feel for you, I know too, how women can mess up the best laid plans. That was a super sick misty 10 at Dumont Cup, you've got skills for sure. I am 30, and am slowly learning the importance of preparation. I am no role model for pre season fitness but I definitely tout the benefits of stretching and warm up laps. My advice - not sure you are asking for it though - is keep your eye on your priorities and live your life when them in sight. I am a park skier to the core, but I can't compete with someone almost half my age I just don't have the rebound ability anymore, but thats okay with me. So I don't mind conceding someones rad-ed out 12whatever is cooler then my tail5, its my tail5 that to me is the coolest thing out there. I wanna ski for another 27 years and more. Skiing is far better when you can share the stoke with somebody then spending it trying to out do everyone around you, it will leave you lonely. Good luck with the recovery, you'll be back out carving turns in the sun before you know it and the rest of this will be part of your growth that makes a wise old skier. Big Plus K to you and thanks for sharing.
 
Ya for real, skiing is such a good escape from your worries.

Someone wrote a poem on hear a while ago that went something like,

You put on your boots, click into your bindings and dust the snow off of your skis and it doesn't matter that you failed the test, didn't get the girl, or that your life is on a one way trip down the shitter. The world is yours for the next couple of hours.

Whoever wrote that please say something in this thread because I know that I did not write it down correctly and it's awesome.
 
good for you, keep at it. its weird being at an age where you start to get old. I'm 24 and I catch myself doing old person things like eating dry toast for breakfast, watching the weather channel, or getting up to pee in the middle of the night.
 
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