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 runs as everyone stops to meet him and tell him how his accomplishment have inspired them to continue skiing…. When one skis the Wong Way with him, expect historic conversation riding up the lifts and skiing down the runs… And, for me on my first day of the season, was welcomed as my ski legs kept saying, “Shut Up Legs”…
Todd R Bennett, President Deer Valley Resort & Wayne Wong
I too, have been influenced as well as many others, with him, being the first Asian skier breaking the tradition demographics of a euro based white skiing community… We both broke the color barrier and the skiing community have accepted him for his accomplishments with no regards to ethnicity… He continues to inspire me and motivate me to be the best skier that I can be…
We did a night out in Park City and met up at Flannigan’s on Mainstreet… John & his staff welcomed us and there many stories relived as we enjoyed dinner…
Last year he re-created his iconic wheelie poster, almost 50 years to the day and still sports his signature white sunglasses… (Jeez, wonder where I got that?)
Iconic Poster and ReCreated 50 years later…
Wayne’s primary residence will continue to be in Reno this season, so look for him at Palisades and Mammoth this year and he will be frequenting Deer Valley in Park City much more in the future… There will be days to Ski the Wong Way this winter, so keep a look out on the slopes…
But for now, where is this big winter… Got to hand it to the crews at our Lake Tahoe and surrounding resorts for their efforts in snow making and farming snow for holiday skiing & riding, and what is open has been just okay, but nothing like having 6 foot snow base with all lifts and terrain open. Think Snow… Pray for Snow… Do your Snow Dance… Wash your Car… Start that Roofing Job… Keeping the faith that winter will return…
Looking forward to a great 23/24 ski season as we all pray for snow… watch the weather, tune our skis and wait for El Nino’s Return… Get Out-Get Up and Slide Down… Looking forward to see everyone on the slopes…