Is it too late to start learning to freeski?

adzy

adzy

Member
I'm 19 living in Ottawa, ONT. and there's no good skiing near by, it's the east after all. I go to Mont-Tremblant to ski and have been doing this since I was 2. But for the past couple of years I really wanted to get into freestyle. I'm in my 2nd year of electrical engineering, so I've never had the time or money (10 grand tuition a year) to really look in to a camp. But lately I've been so eager to learn real tricks and techniques; I've just been able to practice on a rail in my backyard for the past year or 2 and do 3's off medium kickers in the park. Sorry about this long novel, but I was wondering if you guys could give me advice of how I could really start to learn corks, rodeos, etc. maybe tell me how you started and what training is involved. I'd really appreciate the help!
 
you already got the idea of freeskiing down, its just skiing, in whatever way you want. Hit some rails, keep practicing, you will progress with time.
 
Way too late dude. The Olympics are coming, which (according to this site) are going to completely ruin the sport. Once the Olympics hit our sport like an asteroid, it's going to cause the sport of freeskiing to explode, leaving no mountains for the hood rat, stlyle-focused skiers who hate spinning, to ski on.
 
Just keep on doing what you're doing. If you go skiing with your friends, keep progressing and take it one step at a time, the tricks will come. Just try to go skiing as much as you can, and enjoy it. Don't worry about inverts that will make panties drop just yet.
 
Do you recommend any tramp camps or anything like that could help? Or just stick to the snow for now? Thanks for your replies!
 
Of course they'll help, but they're not essential to learning how to ski park. They'll help you with rotations, but it's totally different on snow, with different momentum and weight on your feet. Again, I wouldn't worry too much if I were you.
 
I've got my season pass at Tremblant. 20 years old, been skiing park a few years now and all I can do is 2's out on rails, switch 3's, and 5's. You can definitely do much better after a season if you ski a decent amount. Don't get hung up on progressing super fast or anything; I say if you are having fun it'll happen naturally. I for one just like to lap the park and shred whatever minimal amounts of snow the east coast has to offer. Never too late to start though. Hit me up if you want to shred this season.
 
Thanks man! It's good to hear from someone near by! I'll be heading to Tremblant when exams are done, so late December! It's be sick to hit the park with someone!
 
I think I did my first 7 when I was like 20, and first 270 on around the same time, just go have fun! I don't have much time to ski park so I'm still at the same place as when I was 20 but that's plenty for me! You get cool points for launching a smooth 7 off a 40 footer.
 
Its never too late to start man!!

just build off your 3's and work your rail game and it will begin to come a lot easier.

for me with rodeos I just watched a ton of how to videos then went and threw my body around until I stuck one (took a few days)

and with cork I did a lot of practice on trampolines to understand how to throw them and what the rotation will feel like. after that I took it to snow and sooner or later I stuck one.

So just keep moving at your own speed with whatever's comfortable. but what I found helped most was 540s, being able to land switch on a spin bigger than a 3 was a huge learning curve for me

Good luck and Happy Skiing!!
 
There's a ton of great hills near Ottawa that are great for park (cascades, camp fortune, edelweiss, tremblant). I'm 19 right now too, and id say I'm not that great at park, but I'm still gonna keep trying, because frankly, I love it.

If you're at OttawaU, or at CarletonU then definitely join one of their ski clubs. I can honestly say from personal experience, you will have the best time ever, meet new people, and progress like crazy! The people there are awesome, and they offer a lot of events and opportunities to practice (weekly rail sessions, weekly tremblant trips at discounted price, and a handful of rail jams). Not to mention that they're really good, and won't hesitate to give you some tips if you ask :)
 
That's true, fortune is nice to go to for some practice and its close. I'm at Carleton, I know they have a ski club, I'm just usually so busy with studying. I'm highly considering joining this year though, thanks for the advice!
 
No such thing as "too late". This summer we had a camper who was 26 and just off his first season freeskiing. He learned flat 3s and shit during the season. The dude who got the FD tattoo is another good example. He go into it at ~50.
 
im from boston and i used to go to tremblant every year. tremblant has a great jumpline but their rails are garbage. If you want to progress at rails I would go somewhere else. Also i loled at the part where your school costs 10000 a year. Down here the cheapest school is 40000 a year but not that it really matters.
 
Do whatever is the most fun for you no matter how old you are. More fun = more progression. Don't rate your day by what you did, rate your day by how much fun you had.
 
one of my biggest pet peeves in skiing is people falling into feeling "old" if they're above 18. "aw man i'm 23 im so washed up" no youre not, you still have like 15 years at least of being in peak physical and mental health as long as you take care of yourself

big mountain pros are usually like 30 or so, take their word for it that you can still ski like a psychopath and take hits well into your 30s

as for the skiing itself, just get some decent gear, go as much as possible, push yourself safely, and ski with someone a little better than you

have fun man, learning anything new is awesome, especially an active rewarding sport like skiing.
 
Practising flip rotations on tramp do help (mainly for your confidence) but they're not necessary to learn freeskiing!! just go have fun on the mountain, nobody's judging you, so learn what you want, and 19 is defo not too late to become "good" at tricks :)
 
In Ontario, that's a high tuition. But when I typed that, I didnt think about the US's tuition, it's unreal the amount you have to pay! I've got a friend who studies there, and his debt is going to be deep. I guess I shouldnt be complaining!
 
I'm 17 and I started skiing 3 years ago, it's never too late man. Just focus in getting the basics of tricks down and don't be afraid to go big and try new tricks. Go for it man
 
my friend swapped from boarding to skiing last year at 18 and within a season he was tossing cork 9, stomping rodeo and switch rodeo, and hitting rails with ease. The key was just skiing a lot, skiing with people that know what they are doing, and having fun and not worrying about progressing too fast. Its never too late to start, just love what you do

 
Us older guys need to invest in protective gear though. I dont go anywhere near the park without my fully protective gear on. Hardplates everywhere.
 
Been trying to find impact shorts for a while...not sure about hardplates though, might be overkill? I mean, I'm not looking to send huge air and will stick with small jump/small rail most of time, so normal impact shorts should be good enough, no?
 
My opinion on the matter, is that if you are considering armor, you should just go for hard plates or dont bother. A small rail to the hip can still end your season.

I wear full hard pads. Head to toe. Ive got an impact shirt with hard spine, shoulders, and elbows, impact shorts with hard plates on the thighs and very very thick pads all around the hips, with a hard plate over the tail bone, wrist guards and knee pads + a mouth guard when I am in the park. Although its a little bit bulky, after a few days in them not only will you not notice them, youll probably love them for their insulating qualities on some of the stuff. I dont have any loss of range of motion at all, and I wear them under my regular gear.

All of my stuff has come from Allsportprotection.com, they are great and will bend over backwards to accommodate you. Just make sure you measure accurately, as an improperly aligned shoulder pad or something could cause more damage than good.

If you have any other questions about it, send me a message, Ill be more than happy to help with any other questions you might have if I can.
 
Didn't start skiing park until I was over 30. I'm not great by any means, but it's a lot of fun. Just go out and have a good time, that's all the matters.
 
camp fortune has an airbag session for about 180,and 6 four hour session on sundays i think, dont quote me on that tho. But if your having fun doing what you're doing, why change?
 
its never too late, but with the olympics coming up... theres gonna be mad new kids trying to try freeskiing. you wont appear as bad, especially as you have a solid skiing background
 
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