The Square Life

As is the case with most sports, skiing has a long history. It dates back hundreds of years, and has had many different pioneers updating the techniques and practices. Yet the last two decades have seen more advances and changes than perhaps the last century.

To illustrate the journey and evolution of the ski industry, and to see how much it has changed over the last two decades, think only of ski clothing. Think of the tight overall bib front outfits that were worn in the ’70s and ’80s. Bright, neon colors, uncomfortable and tight. Imagine having a hard fall in one of those get ups. Imagine the wedgies. Not fun. Now fast forward 20 years and think of the loose, comfortable separates. Think of the fashionable colors and all the great accessories that can go with your outfit: goggles with earphones built in, polarized sunglasses to reduce glare, and all sorts of fabrics made to be lightweight, warm, breathable, and comfortable. The sport itself has morphed just as much, if not more, than the fashion.
The Ski industry has an unlikely group to thank, in part, for the renaissance that they are enjoying now. Skiers and snowboarders are perceived as forever enemies, arguing the finer points of each sport and why their choice is better. However, it was the Snowboarders, the sworn enemy of the avid skier, that had a part in giving skiing a much needed boost. In the early ’80s ski resorts and the industry as a whole were seeing quite a slump. Skiing was a declining sport. It was perceived as a preppy, stuffy past time not for everyone, and not necessarily something worth spending time, effort, or money on. But then Snowboarding emerged on the snow scene. Evolving from the rowdy , young surf and skate crowd, snowboarding took the mountain by storm, and all of a sudden, snow was cool again (no pun intended). It brought a young, fresh group up the mountain and revitalized the ski industry. Not just for yuppies, the slopes now had a much more diverse group.
Besides the snowboarding surge, the main factor that has made skiing the giant that it is today is the strides made in technology for the sport. Evolving from the ski rope on a pulley taking you halfway up the mountain, to the high speed quad or gondola whisking you up over and around to the next valley, the ingenuity of the technology is endless. Incredible innovations have been, and continue to be made in how skis are constructed, giving skiers new ways to traverse down the slopes. The first skis were just flat, straight, long wood planks. The word ski actually derives from a Norse word, “skio,” which translates to “a stick of wood.” Over the centuries those evolved into composite materials, but were still very long, and hard to turn. Someone skiing just 15 years ago would have used skis that would reach taller than their up stretched finger tips. Now with materials that are stronger and better quality, the same person would have skis that went to their chin, making the skis much more maneuverable. The skis also used to be straight edged, but are now a curved shape on the edge, called parabolic, making turns easier to cut.
There are as many different types of skis today as there are words for snow in Eskimo—that is to say, a lot. There are alpine skis, where the bindings attach securely at the toe and heel; there are twin tip skis where the tips on both ends curve up a bit, making it easier to ski backwards for those that want to do reverse take offs or landings on jumps; there are telemark skis, where the toe is the only part of the binding that is attached to the ski, making the heel able to lift to give a different turning technique; there are monoskis that are thicker and wider, making it easier to glide through thick powder; there are cross country skis made for flat terrain; the list goes on and on. A different kind of ski is made for every different type of snow condition and for anything you would want to do to ride across it.
And the innovations keep on coming. Bronson Christensen, a 20-year-old sponsored skier from Orem, believes that “technology has opened up so many doors for every type of skiing; if it is shorter, softer twin tips for the park, or the fatty/more stiff skis for the powder, the possibilities are endless. Watching ski movies now, you can’t help but think what skiing will be like in just 5 more years.”
Skiing has turned from a safe and stuffy sport, to one of the more hardcore and extreme sports, also attributing to its rise in popularity. Olympic Events used to only include downhill skiing, and now they include freestyle jumping, mogul courses, aerial jumps, and in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, they will include ski cross for the first time as an Olympic event. Another popular method is heli ski, where you’re taken by helicopter to a high, secluded point of the mountain to have your own personal off-trail ski adventure. This is so popular, some Web sites are already booking for winter 2010 packages.
Jean Roush, a certified ski instructor who has been teaching at Deer Valley for the last 20 years believes that living in Utah and not taking advantage of the unique and perfect ski conditions here is like living in Hawaii and never going to the beach or ocean. Despite the many changes that the sport of skiing has seen, most people ski, not because of the technological advances, but because it is fun and invigorating. So go try it. Because no matter the gadgets and gear, it is about the feeling. Former editor-in-chief of SKI magazine John Fry said it best: “The pleasurable sensation of the twenty-first century skier—conveyed up the mountain in a heated gondola, dressed in high-tech clothing and gear—doesn’t seem to me to surpass the adventure of scotting up the hill clinging to a rope tow in 1950. . . . The joy of sliding on snow is immune to progress.”