Who's the oldest park rat?

yup.

 
I'm 30...I skied park before we had parks. I skied parks when it was exclusively for boarders.

I am not as flexible as I used to be and grabs are getting harder, but I Can still spin and flow clean...

When I see the park mice doing doubles and corks I just enjoy it and convince myself that flow is the most important thing....damn I wish I had these features and facilities when I started out
 
i'm 22 and would consider myself a dedicated park rat. Is there honestly anything wrong with sticking with something you love? I mean i've been riding park since i was 12, and i'm still not bored of it!
 
Some of these perspectives on being old on NS are really screwed up. If you think someone riding park in their mid-twenties to thirties is old then you'll probably be the dudes who quit skiing at that age and get super out of shape, become workaholics and just straight lame.
Look at any of the top pro athletes in mainstream sports. Their prime years are in their late twenties through mid thirties. Your best skiing is still ahead of you! Yes you might have a slower learning curve and sure you might be a little less flexible and less inclined to take insane risks, but if you put the work in you'll be smarter, more creative, and better skilled skiers.
I've been riding park since before skiers where allowed in "snowboard parks". I'm now 28 and skiing park better then ever and having the most fun I've ever had.
Everyone on this site has soooooooooo much time left to ski park; don't worry.
 
I guess it goes beyond losing flexibility and learning curve. In the back of my mind I am thinking: I have to go to work tommorrow I can't afford to get hurt doing this shit because I have a responsibility to my family. Furthermore I want to ski till I am 100 (at least) I can't damage my body any more than I already have.

Proffessional athletes continue to progress, well because they get paid to. They can't afford not to. They also have access to medical care a recovery facilities that I don't.

I guess I am trying to say I would rather tone it down in hopes of enjoying skiing for longer rather than blowin up on a gap to rail that could potentially destroy my career and hurt my family.

Old park rats survive because they have good risk assessment strategies.
 
UNIMPRESSED WITH LACK OF SKIING HISTORY in this thread:

plake grabs saftey in blizzard of ahhhs in 1988. others might have effed around with it around this time too. he also had some rodeo type rotation that he was almost bringing around, but there wasn't anyone else to push him.

JF Cusson stuck mute 3's in comps in 1997. He was doing them in parks before this, but don't think any claim was ever before '96.

Hasn't anyone seen fistful of moguls?

and props to everyone for keepin on as you get older. my grandfather skied until he was 83... I've got a serious challege ahead of me to keep up with that.
 
I'm 22 and a ski park a lot only because I ski in NJ, and it's not like we have pow to shred. I have two pairs of pow skis, but I can only use them out west.

I feel so old now a days, we have this group of 15 and 16 year olds that we call the minnies that fucking destroy the park. They rodeo off shit all the time, makes me feel fucking old.
 
last week at my mountain i saw this 48 year old guy with xlt firstdrop and hellbents in the park. he was sliding some boxes and doing little 1's of the small and medium jumps. it was funny because ive never seen someone over the age of 21 with clothes down to their knee's.
 
No way you skied that out Mary. Wider stance or you will be fast tracking yourself to a hip replacement. Props for getting on. Also, I got my mom to slide a box a few years ago when she was 70. She just 50/50'd it but it was still pretty sick. If I had more time to work with her I think I could get her to 90 on and slide it.
 
My response to this would be that at this age I'm pretty confident in my calculations skiing park. I know when I'm ready to try something new and I don't try and progress super fast because yes I have responsibilities like my job and my wife and don't want to get hurt. I'm not going to risk my career skiing on sketchy setups and if I'm not feeling it I'm not going to ride park. I also have come to embrace more tech tricks and mini shred.
I think it's cheating yourself as a skier to think you're much safer out cruising around on some groomers and toning it down outside of the park. People get hurt doing the dumbest crap and just skiing easy trails. This includes good skiers. Skiing in general is risky. We're the first generation that know how to ski park. We'll be like the old dudes you see ripping through moguls now. I absolutely envision people cruising the park in their 40s as commonplace in 15 or 20 years. Go look at how old all the dudes are ripping pow days and gnarly lines out west.
All I'm saying to everyone is keep skiing park and stay stoked on skiing for as long as you humanly can!
 
Hahahahaha

My dad is 50 something and I have him hitting boxes sideways and landing switch. He's like good at it too.

And I just started skiing park last season and I'm 16. I'm not planning on stopping until I'm too old to do it or I get hurt really bad. Haha.
 
im 25 an i shred the park all day . I feel the same as i did when i was 18 just more matured an confident. Your skiing skills only get better with age as long as you stick with it. I'll always ride park as long as my body lets me . An im gonna wear tall tees too if want !
 
Oh Benbenjamin!
What a witty comment, very enlightened.
Do you feel good contributing to a big person discussion?
Oh wait I hear your parents calling you better get back to your building blocks...thanks for coming!
Kids these days.....rapscallion!
 
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