As we hit the middle of winter - which isn’t set to end any time soon if we’re to trust Punxsutawney Phil - we’re also hitting peak ski season. For many of us, myself included, winter sports are part of what make the cold, dark days of winter feel a little more tolerable. Quick side note - in this blog post I’ll be calling all winter alpine sports “skiing.” I mean no offense, snowboarders, as most of this is going to apply equally to you - it just feels silly to type out “skiers and snowboarders” every time.

These days, skiing and ski trips are a privilege on so many levels. Long gone are the days of hopping on a pair of tag sale skis while possibly wearing jeans (and a Starter pullover?). These days, we’ve really got to plan it all out. From new ski/board tech, price increases, and additional equipment, the overall culture of winter sports has undergone some big changes over the last few decades. Skiing just isn’t the same as it used to be. Yes, sure, maybe we’re not getting stuck on snowy roads as much because it seems like everyone is driving an SUV, complete with AWD or 4WD. But overall, lots of other changes seem to make the sport feel a whole lot easier, and have even possibly crossed over the line fully into the wimpy zone? After all, if you aren’t suffering at least a little, are you really even skiing?

Starting off pretty obviously here, we’ve got slope style. And I don’t mean the form. In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, we may have just thrown on our warmest clothes. If they happened to be waterproof, that was even better! What was meant specifically for snow sports certainly represented the times well. Puffy, bulky jackets that weighed as much as a ski boot, neon everything, and of course, spandex-style pants. One thing is for sure, if there was an avalanche, our fits would have ensured we were found from a mile off. These days, you can find an outfit for every preference, but overall everything is much more muted. Technology has allowed for warmer clothes to not be quite so heavy, and super tight pants are now optional. The change in ski style tech has made it easier, even if it made us all sorta blend together. The only thing that’s harder now is picking out your people on the mountain, unless you have a friend who only dresses in a Piglet or some other character onesie. The onesie people are usually pretty easy to spot.

Along with fashion updates, our equipment itself has seen huge updates over the last few decades. One day, we were skiing and everyone had long straight skies, and then almost overnight, skis were curved and not so uniform anymore. During the early 90s, the ski shape revolution began, and we never went back, switching out our long narrow skis for shorter, wider skis made for carving and easier control. Around the same time, twin-tip skis made their first appearance, allowing for more “fun” practices and increased maneuverability (Val Thorens). Our boots are also better than they used to be, especially for skiers. While we must still suffer a little bit for our sport, they are way warmer than they used to be. And, is it just me, or does the plastic shell poke you less?

Around the time of the big improvement in skis came the increased concern for safety. I don’t know about you, but the idea of strapping on blades and spiky poles and  bombing down a mountain doesn’t seem like it was ever a very safe idea. But, somehow we only acknowledged this in the early 2000s. Before that, if you saw anyone with a helmet you probably thought to yourself “what a loser”. If one was even around to be found. It was only in the early 2000s that we started to see a bigger shift towards protecting our heads. Now, in the 2020s, if we see someone without a helmet, we probably think to ourselves “ what an idiot”. I mean, it’s now hard to understand why you wouldn't want a helmet. Besides the safety, it keeps your head warmer and some of them even have built-in headphones so you can jam out while you shred. While the shift to helmets is definitely smart, it takes away from the badassness and adrenaline level of the sport just a little bit.

Style and fashion aren’t the only things that have increased our comfort on the slopes. We’ve been hearing of ski lifts with heated seats, wind shields, and even conveyor belts to move you at both ends. Which is good, because lift lines have somehow become even more ridiculous than they were before, which was already very ridiculous. Maybe they’re so bad because we can’t figure out how to get on lifts these days - especially when they’re eight people across and someone isn’t doing the age-old shuffle-shuffle-shuffle at the same speed as everyone else. Back in the day, we had little lifts - doubles mostly, but maybe the occasional “big” triple. And while they were slow and exposed us to all the elements, they were generally more reliable. These high-tech lifts are great for comfort, but they make us lose a bit of the culture that went with skiing. The culture of braving the cold and snowmakers while we made new friends on the lift, learning as much about their life as we could in the time it took us to get back to the top, only to then never see them again.

Lift updates aren’t the only thing that has made our skiing experience generally more comfortable. We also have the big, modern lodges. Less ski areas in the 70s- 90s had such expansive, warm places in which to take refuge for a hot beverage and so many food options. Now, I don’t know that you can find a resort without several. If you get tired of dealing with lift line traffic, just head on into a ski lodge and grab some hot chocolate, or perhaps something a little stronger? Gone are the days when we had to BYO-lunch out of necessity and stow it away in  a random corner of the lodge hoping it won’t be ransacked. Now, if we’re bringing our own lunches it’s so we don’t have to pay the ridiculous prices for grub on the slopes.

That’s another thing that’s changed bigtime over the last 4 decades. Skiing has never been the cheapest sport to get into, but now it’s easily one of the most expensive. Besides renting or owning your own equipment, lift passes are a big testament to added cost. Back in the day, we didn’t have to choose between Ikon and Epic, or pay thousands of dollars to have both to access most of the major ski areas in North America. No, we just showed up and bought a lift ticket for just that ski area. It was cheaper, and it didn't matter if we got access to a whole bunch of other mountains. Because if we wanted to ski any of those, we’d just show up and do the same thing.

Since the early days of skiing, we’ve seen a huge shift away from only snow bunnies and professionals skiing. Because the average recreational skier can’t stand the cold, skiing and its culture has changed a lot in the last 50 years. We’re warmer, our skis are easier to maneuver, and we’re quite a bit safer, too! But of course, these improvements come with a cost, both monetary and in terms of slope traffic. Maybe we should have kept the joys of skiing to ourselves more back in the day. When the worst thing we can complain about is the lines to get on the lifts, it seems like we’ve become a little soft.