Replying to Quick note from an old newschooler

Hello,

My name is Jack and I live in Utah by way of Vermont. I've been skiing for 25 years and from ages 13 - probably 24 I was a pretty regular newschoolers user/ contributor. While I haven't used NS in the last 5ish, I have been skiing a lot and following the sport closely. Over the years I have transitioned from primarily park (competition, fun, filming) to all mountain freeride and ski touring. It has been a great adventure! I've been inspired by the generations before me as well as those that have come up in the last few years. It's awesome to see the multitude of different styles, forms, progressions of skiing out there.

So, I want to give some of you an unsolicited piece of advice/ cautionary tale to some of you younger fellows out there. It is one I wish I had heeded earlier. From banging myself on rails and hardpacked snow for a decade, several of my major joints (ankles, knees, hips, elbows, and shoulders) do not function as they are supposed to. I am 29 and have arthritis. I often wake up unable to do normal tasks, having to creep into my day slowly warming my body up to just put my socks on. My back is fucked up, deep pain that comes and goes randomly sometimes dormant for months, only to come back and floor me for a week.

I went park skiing for the first time this season two days ago and while it was really fuckin fun, and I didn't even really slam... I was unable to even walk the dog on my return home. Fuckin hobbled.

So basically my conclusion and advice is two fold: first... get into a training pattern now while you're young and carry on with it as you age. Strengthen your core and your back. If I had learned this when I was 14 I am sure I would be in a lot better shape. Get into a flow where you make it as important as skiing is to you. The second part is don't get tunnel vision. There is more to life than skiing park, shit there is more to skiing than skiing park. Learn other styles so you can make skiing a sustainable life-long endeavor. I am back-peddling now, spending 80+ days on the skintrack, which has be awesome and less intensive but perhaps starting younger I would have saved my joints.

Anyway, I'm sure a lot of you know this already but I also know there are some kids on here that do not. So please, take my advice and don't fuck your body up.

Keep those tips pointed down the hill and hope to see ya out there.