The Younger Generation is failing skiing.

I think its pretty cool to see every body picking up the sport. They just arn't as good skiers as us. SImple as that.
 
I completely agree with this, while free skiing is a crucial part of the sport, the ability to ski moguls, trees, and back country are also very important. As a kid I started skiing at age four and the people I learned from were skiers in their 50's who had been skiing all of their lives. I feel like we're losing intergenerational bonds with skiers and because of it we're not learning how to ski in the same ways any more. There's this divide between the kids who ski the whole mountain and the kids that only ski the park. I'm not saying that everyone is one kind of skier or the other.. in fact, in order to be an advanced skier you have to be able to ski in all kinds of conditions. It's very important to learn proper skiing techniques and have respect for the mountain.
 
Agree with OP 100%. But honestly, who cares what these kids are doing. I could give a fuck because I see thsee kids all the time. I ski at stratton every weekend and see these clowns acting like idiots in the lift line, smoking, talking shit, acting like park douchers. Yea these kids can throw a half decent run in the park down, but in reality, they really arent even that good or will never be that good. Let them stay in the park because I dont watn to see them anywhere else because they just get in the way.

I take pride in my skiing knowing that I am a great "skier", have awsome form, can lay down carves, can shred steeps and pow and pretty solid in the park. As i get older I find myself enjoying the slopes much more than just the park,...yea as a 17 year old kid i loved the park and still do. But I equally if not more love shredding the mountain. Its a lost art and park kids certainly don't have it as a whole. Its a great feeling seeing some clown in oversized clothing with fat twins slipping around the hill and just carving and cutting the shit out of them
 
holy fucking shit i hate when people say these things.

yes sure they can be having fun, but it's dangerous for them and those around them on the mountain (especially in the park) if they have no idea how to control themselves on skis. plus skiing groomers is fun too!

fact is, you should be learning how to actually ski before you try to ski park...what happened to people hating on gapers that go through the park? i guess it's acceptable if they're wearing saga or first drop and having "fun". god, what fucking bullshit.
 
WTF... this threads fucked.. I work at a hill and all I see is little poser snowboarders..

were you going to hit that box? hahah if not let the poor kid suffer

 
enjoy skiing on hard or steep terrain, moguls, trees, or for that matter, ANYWHERE besides the park if you can't make a fucking proper turn. Race "elitist" can ski way better than most park rats, and half of those kids kill it in the park. Kids who taught themselves to ski with no programs while many of them are good skiers, a large part of them are pretty awful.
 
You're bang on point.

The single largest issue facing the ski industry as a whole is retention of skiers. People don't come back en masse, whether for the fact that its too expensive, too cold, their friends aren't doing it - whatever reason. When people don't come back, they don't contribute, and we have a net loss of skiers, and an industry that is struggling just to stay flat vs. grow.

Its ridiculous to hate on people for not going straight to the top of the mountain and shredding pow when they first get into it. I mean to really get into the 'real' parts of skiing successfully, you need a huge amount of lessons or experience. For someone who grew up skiing, was in lessons from 3 years old, and raced for years... you can't expect someone two years in to be able to replace that amount of skill instantly.

YOu would be asking them to quit school / their job, and enroll in specific skiing classes full-time. They'd probably have to do dryland training to build the muscle necessary and follow a strict training protocol.

That is just a ludicrous idea. The level of elitism in skiing is horrifying. Hell that is why within the span of a few years we lost almost half of skiers to snowboarding. I mean if you want to snowboard, you can slay the park all day long and nobody bitches that you aren't a 'real snowboarder.'

This type of attitude is killing skiing. Its what makes parents force kids to race, its what makes beginners not want to come back.

I'd say the single worst epidemic that is 'ruining skiing' is one that has been around for a long time - elitism.

Don't ruin skiing by making newcomers feel unwelcome. If they're hiking a 5' long box on a pow day, instead of going on the internet and hating on them - why don't you go up and say "hey you guys wanna try a sweet pow run?"

Take them and show them a little slash turn, show them that on a pow day they have to lean back a little bit more. If you can get them one face shot, then not only will they discover another part of skiing, but they'll love how friendly people are in this wonderful sport.

If you don't, then the same thing will happen to us that happened to all the old crusty ski racers - everyone will just snowboard.

 
seriously who cares it doesn't affect you. and believe it or not, if a kid skis part 3 days a week for a few seasons they are going to pick up the fundamentals. park requires all the basic skills of skiing, edging control, rotational control of the ski, pressure distribution control over the ski, and balance. the route someone takes towards getting good doesn't matter.
 
reality check: the majority of the industry is fueled by so called "gapers"

omg I never knew this before! :P
 
See...I don't get this. Lets use that edit someone posted a page or so back as an example. That kid clearly isn't that good of a skier, but he's having a great time, and most importantly, is good enough that he's definitely not posing any kind of risk by being in the park.

I'm all for keeping people out of the park if they aren't in control, aren't going to hit features, or don't know park etiquette, but this idea that you somehow have the right to say people shouldn't shred the park because they're not as good as you? Fuck right off.
 
sayin that the "younger generation" is ruining skiing is bullshit i Know 12 year olds that charge harder than alot of people. its not the younger generation. i see 25 year old dudes that hike the park and they have rental skis with brand new matching jacket/helmet/gloves/pants. leave them there i say thoughmore mountain for me.

 
Truths-

- Gappers fuel the industry

- We aren't gonna grow the sport if we have hostility towards everyone who starts skiing

- No park or pipe skier will ever go pro if they don't know how to really shred

- Nobody is good enough to justify hating on everyone who's worse than them

- Everyone falls in love with skiing for different reasons, and if they're out on the Mountain in the first place, that's dope.
 
I think what op is trying to say is that it's not the kids with no style or "Technique" it's the kids who can't even stop and are a danger to everyone else, as well as themselves.

For example, this guy:

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Aerials, Nopoles, Tight Pants, Thug Steeze, Doubles, Triples, 1080s, 180s, Jon Olsson's outerwear, X-Games, Dumont double front, text to vote, switch 10s, 1 footers, rollerblading, First Drop, GoPro edits, Olympics, FIS, rockered skis, cambered skis, reverse camber skis, half pipe, rails, global warming, avalanches, rain, Sal Masekala, Target... I think that about covers it.
 
I say let kids ski the way they want to ski. If there getting into skiing solely for the reason of it being considered "cool", it hardly affects me.
 
I've learned to ski in a skiing-school and I really appreciate the shit i was doing there when i was a kid.helps me nowadays a lot
 
GUYS GUYS GUYS

We were all a gaper once to, just calm the fuck down.

I was a skittle kid who bladed, who gives a shit, I am no longer a skittle kid who bladed.

Did I wreck skiing for all of you?

No.

If I did, good. You deserve it. Fuck you and everything you stand for
 
i've actually heard this a pretty decent amount, snowboarders hating on other snowboarders for only being able to snowboard into/out of jumps or rails.

seen it on yobeat and seen it on the mountain.

just because you look at the world through have rose colored glasses doesn't mean you're always right.
 
Yes there are deffinitly kids like this who start skiing in the park and then there are others who ski normally for a couple years before moving to the park, and some don't even go near the park. I feel like there will always be new riders coming at the sport from all angles. It doesn't seem like anything to worry about.
 
Oh my gay. I can't believe you just said all of this. Skiing downhill doesn't need technique? Seriously? Please do us all a favor and quit skiing. I understand you're all about the stole factor. But our sport was founded on a much deeper level of commitment than slapping on the latest pair of Tammy walnut full tilts and meat hucking down the hill
 
The initial post of this thread is spot on. It is always more fun skiing when you are actually getting better. Learning the right way will not only enable better skiing, but allow them to progress much further and faster = more fun ... which is what everyone is seeking when they are going to the hill in the first place.

In my dream world there would be a decently serious mogul run that all skiers have to go through rist no matter what, before they can get to the park at every single mountain. So that every time you get off the lift and cruise to the park, you have to progress as a good all around skier first and foremost. If you can't make it down to the park, you don't belong there. So if some kid really wants to get good enough to ski park effectively, he better master the whole mountain first, 'earning his keep' so to speak.

And to the guy who mentioned trailer park boys earlier . . . frickin awesome. Best show ever.

 
if the park rats (of which i normally am one, coming from new york) want to ski park on a pow day, so be it. less tracked out lines for the rest of us. i could care less what any other skiers are doing on a pow day. all you need is yourself and maybe an ipod. refer to the saying "there's no friends on a pow day."

however, i can't stand it when i'm rolling through the park and get cut off by people who have no park etiquette. i'm not asking people to act like their in court, just call your drop and don't stand on landings or ride over jumps. plus it has been brought up that not only are they annoying, they're extremely dangerous to people that want to shred park.

i think there are two types of skiers that the OP is referring to
 
trailerparkboys_large.jpg
 
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