Summit County Citizens Voice

Old school! PHOTO COURTESY THE CREATIVE COMMONS.

Every pair of skis has a story …

By Bob Berwyn

Thinking back over more than 40 seasons of downhill sliding, I sometimes wonder what ever happened to all the different skis I used over the years. After all, nearly every pair has a story. I know that some of them were handed down to my brother, two-and-a-half years younger, who has had a complex ever since. Others ended up in sacrificial bonfires.

But what about that set of red wood boards I used when we skied the Taunus Mountains, just outside Frankfurt, back in the 1960s? I was about six or seven, and our skis had front-throw cable bindings. They came in handy, since the lift was about a mile from the parking lot. To ski along the forest road to the base, we freed the cable from the rear guides, creating a touring setup. I don’t remember the make or model, but I know that the metal edges were screwed into the bottom. On warm spring days, I hand-rubbed soft silver wax into the grainy base, smoothing the finish with my gloves. Those skis contributed to an early sense of independence on the mountain, as my parents encouraged me to hike up past the top of the lift to explore the forests and meadows beyond. (more…)

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