To the blue Salomon X Screams
Thank you for being free at that yardsale when I was ten.
Thank you for coming with matching boots that I could fit my feet into.
You were my first skis, you werent great, but neither was I. I tried so hard.
I thought snowboarding was so much cooler than skiing.
Id hike up the highest hill in town and then straightline down with my Sorrells strapped into your bindings.
Thanks for delivering my first bad ankle sprain, an injury that haunts me to this day.
Snowboarding is cool, but I am not, and thanks to you, I understand that.
Those blades made me feel comfortable making turns on groomers, and jumping off cat tracks.
I got called a lot of names because I rode those blades.
And most of those names turned out to be accurate, but thats a different story.
Thank you for starting my lifelong infatuation with tiny skis.
To the Volkl Expression Vs I got off Craigslist
Thanks for being my first twin tips.
I was convinced I wanted to be a park skier, and these were park skis.
The second day I ever rode them a foot long section of edge came out underfoot.
I hadnt even hit a rail yet.
That lack of edge might contribute to me still not knowing quite what to do with my edges.
To the K2 Silencers
These were the first brand new skis I ever bought.
To the Atomic Blog
You were the ski that made it all click for me.
The Blog was perfect, wide, light, rockered, poppy.
I still miss this ski.
They were chewed up but still skiable, so I rode them for another two years.
But even though they met a tragic fate, this is the ski I think about the most.
Atomic, bring back the Blog!
I bought Guardians off NS, and had my first touring setup.
I still remember how it felt like my hips were dislocating every time I tried to shifty though.
Not really a touring ski
Those skis took me to some incredible places.
Every time I ski the new Reckoner 112, I remember how great its ancestor was.
I didnt have money for new skis, so I toured all winter on them with that broken tip.
It would flop alarmingly at high speeds, but I wasnt ever really skiing fast.
I tomahawked down a few couloirs because it would catch at weird times though.
The Steeple was a good ski, but not a good ski for me.
But it was my first flirtation with tech bindings, which were a revelation.
Some of you were awesome, skis that taught me about myself and how I want to ski.
Some of you really sucked (looking at you G3 Synapse).
Most of these skis are just footnotes in my history as a skier.
Reviews I did for work.
Sometimes a boy just needs to sow some wild oats, and these skis all let me do that.
The Deathwish ruined me.
It still feels like a perfect extension of my body.
They did it all so well.
To Segos Skiblades
Thanks for fueling a bad idea.
Thanks for helping me get weird instead of jaded.
To Full Sends Skiblades
I got to shape you in my image, and for that I apologize.
You make me feel so natural, so comfortable, so capable.
I cant wait to get weird!
To whatevers next
I havent met you yet, I have no idea what youll be.
Regardless, I cant wait to meet you, hopefully youll shape who I am as a skier.
To all the skis Ive loved before: Thank you.
Thanks for the turns, the good ones and the bad.
You shaped how I see the mountains, and Ill always be grateful for that.
