Skiing the Wong Way
The start of the 23/24 ski season is starting off slow, but then again, slow is okay for me entering my 62nd year as a skier… Reflecting over the years of the thrill of gathering with friends to go to the mountains to enjoy the passion of skiing… Yes, back in the day, we wanted first and last chair, getting a full day on the slopes… counting the days, numbers of runs and mostly calculating how much vertical feet of skiing one can get… It was a badge of glory for most of us, “Back in the Day”. Over the past 5 years, for me, the number of days and rides up a chair lift have been less and less important and who cares about getting 20-30K feet in a day… For me, just getting out with friends or on my own and enjoying cruising down groomed runs and having fun has taken over my motivation in skiing… just enjoy rolling the ski over and letting it carve, feel the G forces and rolling over the next edge… The True Love of Skiing! This past first weekend in December was a prime example of starting my season with my Brother from another Mother, Wayne Wong and friends… I took an early season road trip to Park City and met up with the gang at Deer Valley to ski opening weekend. Deer Valley’s snowmaking made it possible to open several lifts and runs and it didn’t hurt to have 20” of real snow fall over the weekend… Robert Hutchins, Monica Young, Wayne Wong, Vanessa Wong & Me I have always been mistaken for being Wayne while skiing around the West and in Canada and it’s fun to ski with him as it always comes up, “Who is the Real Wayne Wong?”… And, there are questions, when we stand next to each other, of Who is the Real Wayne Wong! Yes, to many of my era, Wayne is the icon of the Freestyle Hot Dog Skiing movement of the late 60’s and early 70’s and it is hoot to ski with him and other notable friends and family members… Wayne, Alicia Lauria, Pizza Guy, Monica Young, Karl Lund And, he hasn’t lost a beat and continues to arc turns with beauty and grace… The good thing is, not only challenging me to keep up in carving turns, but also frequent stops on the...
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