Skiing - most expensive sport?

I learned to ski in junior high with the town ski club. All day trips by bus, a bargain. Nothing like that today in my town. I personally haven't skied in decades but I did play ice hockey for 25 years after college, which as a goalie isn't cheap at first.

 

Fortunate to live near enough mountains so a day trip is the norm not the exception. We’ve always bought a season pass to the hill in our city but the kids are outgrowing it a little. Relative bargain at an early bird price of $800 for a family pass.

Skiing/boarding not cheap but because so many people do it there are usually deals to be had buying and selling gear on local Facebook buy and sell groups, picked up a North Face Jacket and Pants barely worn for $80. Also every Fall there is a huge equipment sale at one of the little arenas here. Called off due to Covid but 2 years in a row we got deeply discounted coats and pants for our kids.

 

We took the kids skiing for the first time a couple weeks ago. They took to it pretty quick. 90 minute lesson and my daughter made it the rest if the day without falling, except when getting off the lift. My son needed the 90 minute lesson and a subsequent five-fall green slope run, but did pretty well thereafter. And never once fell off the lift!

We live close enough now that I can think about a midweek day trip, which is what my dad did with us as kids. Wake up at the crack of dawn and hit the Poconos on a random Tuesday.

 

A friend of mine's cousin was a first-round pick in the NHL, taken by a team that was the reigning Stanley Cup champion. In his first exhibition game he was placed on a line with two of the team's stars, who would eventually go to the Hall of Fame. After his first shift he went back to the bench and thought, "I can't play in this league." He was traded in his rookie season, played a handful of NHL games and spent the rest of his career in the AHL, where he was captain and one of the most popular players in the history of his team, and Europe.

 

We had a local guy drafted by the Braves and sent to spring training.
He was playing right field, caught a fly ball and threw out a runner breaking from second for a tag at third to turn a double play.
He trotted off the field thinking adulation and his Major League contract would be waiting for him in the dugout.
Instead, he got chewed out because the third baseman had to catch the direct throw at his belt instead of the stirrups.
Thus ended his professional baseball career.

 

I did a story once on one of our local jack-of-all trades coaches at a small private school. He did make the majors, and was kind of a real life Moonlight Graham. He pitched one inning, in one game for the Astros. He'd been called up, got his one inning of middle relief in a long-forgotten midseason game against the Pirates, and gave up a couple of runs. The coaching staff fiddled with his mechanics and he never got in another game before being sent down.
He ended up playing a few more years in the minors and in independent ball before giving it up and going into coaching. Now he's coaching softball at a local junior college.
Somehow, getting in one inning of one major league game seems so much cooler than if he'd hung around for a season or two.

As an aside, working on the story I was trying to do some internet research on him and the game and stumbled across some memorabilia dealer in New York that had one of his game-worn jerseys. I passed the info along to him and he bought it. Said it still had a resin stain from where he brushed the baseball against his side. I thought it was really cool that I was able to play a small part in helping him relive that moment.

 

I've been watching the live streaming cam from Ober Gatlinburg on YouTube and thinking that'd be fun, post-COVID.

But 90 percent of the people out there have no clue what they're doing and I have no interest in getting seriously injured by some dude who never took lessons and has no idea how to stop without falling down. At least at Boreal or Squaw or Northstar, the majority of beginner skiers are at the bottom of the hill.

And yes, skiing is like any other sport. You really need to have your own stuff to be decent, and that costs money. Lift ticket prices are crazy-go-nuts now. I can't imagine how you'd scrape together enough money as a young adult to know if you really enjoyed it.

 

Cataloochee would be a closer drive from your area.

 

You're dead on, I went down the black diamond runs because there would be no clowns up there and the risk of getting clipped by a knucklehead or someone out of their league was very low (of course I loved the challenge of bombing down the fall line and hoping the moguls; unfortunately my knees are shot now). I soon only went to Squaw because they had the best, most challenging runs (K2).

 

The American Dream Mall just opened in East Rutherford, it's got an indoor ski hill.

Which was just what East Rutherford needed.

 

That's what I assumed. They had a bunch of random game-worn jerseys for sale. The list looked like the jersey equivalent of a box of baseball card commons. There might have been a couple of recognizable names, but guys like Bagwell and Biggio were nowhere to be found. These were jerseys selling for around $100, more because they were game-worn and top quality products than memorabilia vital to the history of the game.
So I figure the Astros and other teams probably do something with their used jerseys where they are sold in bulk, and there's a market for game-worn memorabilia even if it's a scrub you've never heard of.