Its New Years Eve and Im skinning uphill in the dark on a dead mans skis.
Ive always loved used skis.
First, it was out of necessity, and then later out of nostalgia.
I feel the same way when I sell skis too.
Im always tempted to tell the buyers more of their history than they want.
Ill never sell my current touring skis, even once theyre well past their prime and are fully retired.
Every ski has secrets to tell, stories stacked in its core with every turn past owners have made.
But these skis, this owner…hes gone now, passed away in the summer.
I met him once, briefly.
His skis were listed on Facebook a week later.
I bought them because of the bindings.
And you could ski them with alpine boots or AT boots or mountaineering boots or ice climbing boots.
There was an old nordic setup, a pair of too-long poles, and an ancient skill saw.
Monuments to a life apparently.
Those pioneers climbed and skied so many peaks on gear that made my Silvrettas look state of the art.
This usec to be a great touring setup, as capable as anything on the market.
I cant stop wondering why he owned these skis.
Was he once a young man hungry to notch up big descents in the Tetons?
Have these skis hop turned down lines Ill never even lay eyes on?
Maybe theyre just skis, a sandwich of wood and metal and resin and plastic.
