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hi_vis360
November, 2024

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Were you ever a gaper?

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*steeze_is_good
Posts: 2886 - Karma: 721
Haha I know I was. When I first started freestyle (180's) I thought doing starfish off the sides of jumps for rails were cool. I told all my friends that I could do a "half misty" off a wall ride lol. I would always say that I got 6 feet of air and stuff like that. Keep in mind we only had one jump that was about 5 feet before we got the snowmaking upgrade but it's still really sad. Who else was a gaper?
Jul 11 2009 4:24PM
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prontocuts.com
Posts: 5244 - Karma: 42
We were all gapers
Jul 11 2009 4:26PM
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zagfan5
Posts: 2608 - Karma: 144
first time on the mountin i had the following

- washington state university beanie
- red framed smith goggles (persimmon lens of course) from the 90's
- columbia jacket that was a size too small


the only thing i had going for me was that my pants were at least baggy since i bought em the day before at a legit shop since i had none. the downside? they were 5000 waterproof. soaked ass after the first fall i think, they were ridiculous 
Jul 11 2009 4:28PM
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smooticus
Posts: 1798 - Karma: 27
Click for larger imageIm on the right, and the answer is no never.
Jul 11 2009 4:29PM
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Italian.Stallion
Posts: 564 - Karma: 101
nah i was the steeziest 8 year old on the planet /claim
Jul 11 2009 4:31PM
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Microcosm
Posts: 4765 - Karma: 153
Kinda hard to say because I definitely sucked but I was also really little when I started and my parents clothed me. I was pretty much your typical little kid in a ton of layers.
Jul 11 2009 4:40PM
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no_steeze
Posts: 23992 - Karma: 4,273
i started skiing when i was younger than 2, so i guess if you wanna call a 2 year old a gaper then go ahead, but i was skiing well enough a few years later that i never went through the deliberate gaper phase
Jul 11 2009 4:49PM
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Funnel
Posts: 7816 - Karma: 1,534
Got to start somewhere man.
Jul 11 2009 4:51PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
GO COUGS!!!


But my parents used to go to the goodwill and other free/donated clothes shops to dress me and my sister for skiing.  We would only go once a year and we live in the bay area sooo we had no warm clothes.  But good quality baggy outerwear is
SOOO much more comfortable.
Jul 11 2009 5:10PM
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skiP.E.I.
Posts: 7841 - Karma: 22,153

Back in 2003, my first year I was a tall and skinny 13, had a pair of 5 year old black Sears pants that were tighter in the bottom half than the top, a random hoodie most of the time, or a sweet purple Toronto Raptors puffy jacket if it was cold, rental helmet, skis, boots and poles. I would look in the park and wonder why anyone would want to hit metal things and ramps, because it looked dangerous. It took probably 3 or 4 years until i was no longer immediately recognizable as a gaper.

This is the first photo I uploaded to NS, from 2007, probably my last truly gaper year (I went to the hill after it closed and built this jump):Click for larger image

Jul 11 2009 5:20PM
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mattytru
Posts: 2788 - Karma: 5,618
were you holding both poles in one hand so you could grab?
Jul 11 2009 5:24PM
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*steeze_is_good
Posts: 2886 - Karma: 721
Its hard to believe you could be like that though, I make fun of gapers now but I guess I was one
Jul 11 2009 5:58PM
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grifftang
Posts: 1277 - Karma: 14
yes
Jul 11 2009 6:08PM
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Casey
Posts: 7875 - Karma: 24,674
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Jul 11 2009 6:33PM
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jibbass
Posts: 95 - Karma: 10
is that the kink i did the same on that rail
Jul 11 2009 6:36PM
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EL_FINRE
Posts: 2486 - Karma: 52
haha oh the potential
Jul 11 2009 6:40PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
no way bitch i've always been straight gangst. my sista too.
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Jul 11 2009 6:42PM
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inactive
Posts: 4772 - Karma: 97
yes, one of the best there ever was
Jul 11 2009 6:46PM
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jibbass
Posts: 95 - Karma: 10
do they still have that rial ive dont think ive seen it
Jul 11 2009 6:53PM
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kenzieann
Posts: 1535 - Karma: 391
i started skiing when i was like 2 and a half or 3 because my mums a ski instructor and i was definitely one of those little kids that straight lined every run in a stance that resembled a starfish... with the jacket undone flapping everywhere. i then stopped skiing when i was 10 and started snowboarding and was a total gaper while learning how to snowboard. then a season and a half ago i got back on skis but skipped gaper phase.
Jul 11 2009 6:59PM
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Uncle.Badness
Posts: 2545 - Karma: 55
I think I skipped the ignorant gaper phase but when I started to get interested in freestyle(last year, but I didn't actually start riding park until the 08/09 season) I thought rodeos were the most amazing thing in the world.
Jul 11 2009 7:10PM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
When I was ten and eleven, I was obsessed with park. I wasn't the gaper that went too slow over the jumps, but instead I was the gaper who went through too fast with no concern for others. I overshot the first jump in the big line so much that I landed super flat, after the landing had leveled off. Split my ski.

I also used to love snowlerblades. I even own a pair. /claim.

My dad is still a gaper, as well as everyone else I know. I told him he should tuck his airs instead of doing a spread eagle each time he left the ground... his interpretation of that was funny. I have multiple pictures of him doing this...
Click for larger image
Jul 11 2009 7:14PM
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_MNice_
Posts: 558 - Karma: 52

oh yeah! for sure i was a gaper at one point, when i was like 8, but it still counts. haha

Jul 11 2009 7:15PM
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K2skipunk
Posts: 2837 - Karma: 111
I started skiing around the age of 2, so no, I don't really think I was a gaper. I learned to ski old school, as in tight as fuck stance and turn like a mofo, so I did that until I was 15 and bought my first set of twin-tips. Rossi scratch fs's mounted at standard, man, those things turned like no other, lol. Shreded bumps with those beezeys.
Jul 11 2009 7:20PM
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MattMcGinnis
Posts: 2396 - Karma: 73
yea, thats how me and my bud were when we grew up. fuckin tore the place up on ski boards. my friend would hit this spine as if it were a 20 ft table, and just fucking launch roughly 20 feet past the landing. of course we all cheered... those were the days
Jul 11 2009 7:29PM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
Haha yeah... I actually busted a ski doing that, so I guess I was a pretty baddass 10 year old gaper.
Jul 11 2009 7:30PM
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K2theExtreme
Posts: 107 - Karma: 23
I still am a bit of a gaper, but after joining up on NS, all I will wear is tall tee's, ill afterbang the shit out of everything, and fucking cork on everyones dick....well something like that
Jul 11 2009 8:01PM
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doublexl
Posts: 8407 - Karma: 27
no shit huh? bachelor?

you still there?


but anyway, i never really was a gaper, unless you consider a 21 month old baby a gaper.
Jul 11 2009 8:08PM
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Sno.
Posts: 12155 - Karma: 6,152
no, haven't been out there in a while, but this pic was taken in like probly 1993 at the latest, so you can't judge me too harshly, haha.
Jul 11 2009 8:15PM
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Casey
Posts: 7875 - Karma: 24,674
son of a bitch, I keep posting as snobunny.
Jul 11 2009 8:16PM
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family_vacation
Posts: 6200 - Karma: 7,840
I was clearly a gaper looking back at it. For me, nothing was better then spread eagles off the jump ons to rails.
Jul 11 2009 8:26PM
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itswillis21
Posts: 294 - Karma: 66
everyone was a gaper at one point. haha this was my first non gaper year  i learn 3s and 5s this past year so im out of it now. i could care less about gapers if a 9 year old didnt snake my line on a jump to just ride over it
Jul 11 2009 8:53PM
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neutralzombie
Posts: 8629 - Karma: 606

i dont think this counts for anyone who skiied in the 90s

Jul 11 2009 9:52PM
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itswillis21
Posts: 294 - Karma: 66

true unless u were young enough in th 2000s to be one also cuz i was a gaper at like age 11 or 12 haha. just for reference my mountain has like 20 trails so most of us are gapers till we get to be like 14 if you even ski our trash park

Jul 11 2009 9:57PM
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Aaaron.
Posts: 11817 - Karma: 903
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Jul 11 2009 10:28PM
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tBatt
Posts: 9632 - Karma: 580
I snowboarded, then snowbladed. And THEN I learned what a vagina was.
Jul 11 2009 10:36PM
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Aaaron.
Posts: 11817 - Karma: 903
sig worthy.
Jul 11 2009 10:59PM
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Totes_Magotes
Posts: 2259 - Karma: 870
damn, i have the best picture.. but i'm in maine.. my thread. MY THREAD
Jul 11 2009 11:02PM
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Sir.Steezealot
Posts: 1156 - Karma: 677
The first time I was ever on skis i snowplowed threw a salom race and hit orange snow fence at 30 mph flipped skis popped off hit a random lady in the head and got kicked off of ski club.....claim
Jul 11 2009 11:09PM
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TheButterHashira
Posts: 9691 - Karma: 1,702
I actually afterbanged out of the womb.
Jul 11 2009 11:13PM
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TheRadCactus
Posts: 166 - Karma: 10

I used to think I was a real gaper (I'm still no expert) until a guy I work with asked if jeans and a hoodie would be good to wear for his first day on skis...EVER.  I told him that as long as he didn't fall down, that ought to be fine.  He doesn't ask me for advice anymore.

Jul 11 2009 11:46PM
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Mooserz
Posts: 2945 - Karma: 32
I rocked PE's, a red track jacket and a helmet full of a stickers. I thought I was awesome though...
Jul 11 2009 11:52PM
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garrets
Posts: 1447 - Karma: 60
I had my spyder jacket and skinny snowpants I'd do 180s off the side of all the rails and 50-50 boxes everyone was a gaper once in there life.
Jul 12 2009 1:14AM
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Relish_man
Posts: 5386 - Karma: 551
its a scary thought but my days of gaperism just ended 2 seasons ago... i was rockin' a white camo jacket, navy blue pants, a grey Bad Lieutenant helmet and grey o-Frames. the mandatory 180 off rail jumps and sideways boxes(EXTREME) followed until i sacked up and did my first 180 and 360 on the last week.
Jul 12 2009 1:31AM
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Yung_Gnarley
Posts: 9092 - Karma: 3,022
I 50-50'd boxes all day err day.
Jul 12 2009 1:52AM
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*LiNeLover*
Posts: 1224 - Karma: 256
i was a cute little gaper when i started skiing haha. but then i raced for a few yrs too and that wasnt soo cute....
Jul 12 2009 2:38AM
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Pow.yuHdig*
Posts: 1903 - Karma: 146
maybe when i was 3 when the helmet is bigger then your body but after that i was just ballin out tha game
Jul 12 2009 11:01AM
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mike91129
Posts: 777 - Karma: 43
I remember those days of completley ignoring landings, that would be nice if it still worked that way haha
Jul 12 2009 11:32AM
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Jamie_Baril
Posts: 2196 - Karma: 2,513
of course. we all had to start somewhere, and no one knows whats good without experiencing whats gaper.
Jul 12 2009 11:57AM
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