2017/18 -- HEARD IN THE LIFT LINE -- Conversation Starter Thread

[Wookie]

Nothing serious here, with snow falling everywhere (in the Northern Hemisphere) and resorts coming back to life, this one is just a conversation starter post for some fun throughout the season. So .....

What goofy comments have your heard on the hill or in the lift line? Funny, weird, stupid, mean ... anything goes.


This weekend there were two good ones for me.

1)A teenage liftie looks look at my boards and loudly asks "What the FUCK are those?" Before I could respond the older liftie working with him hauls off and slaps him in the back of the head yelling "LANGUAGE!" I was laughing so I did not respond and just boarded the lift but then my wife leans over and suggests the only appropriate response would have been "Fucking skiboards, dude!)

2)A older skier (about my age 40-50) chases me down at the lift line to ask where I bought my skiboards so he can get a pair. After I refer him to this forum and SBOL he tells me he's been trying to connect with me for three runs to ask but could not catch me. Then he says "You would figure those things would be slower than long skis but I guess not."

So what good one's have your heard? Add them here throughout the season for a good laugh (or emotional support if they are cruel). As I have mentioned before on the forum, being 6'4" and 215lbs, I rarely get mean comments or insults and if anyone needs a skiboard bodyguard I am available for hire (a few beers apres ski is my normal fee)

[Steeps]

(Hi! First post.... if there's an intro thread around here, please point me to it. I couldn't find one)

Waiting in line for the start of a major powder day last year at Kicking Horse, with the avalanche control crew dropping explosives from choppers all around, I commented to some guys next to me that the nice thing about being Canadian is that when you hear bombs going off, you're not thinking drone strike or terrorist attack, you're thinking "Powder Day!".

I guess they were from south of the border, because the one replied "The nice thing about being American is WE'RE the ones doing the drone strikes."

That was kind of the end of the conversation...

[noties]

Spent Thanksgiving in Park City this year. Snow was crap (unfortunately), but at least 6 times I heard the lifties say "yeah! rockin' the snowblades!!"

me: "ummm.. it says skiboards right on them. they're skiboards."

My first season on skiboards so I'm not surprised. Had a ski teacher stop me and actually knew what they were. "Don't see those too much in the west", he says, "mostly see them on the east coast." --- Ha! OK.

Was able to hand business cards to a few of the puzzled - just had to laugh.

[Steeps]

Yeah, that all the time... Aussies seem to call them skiblades a lot (closer, but...). I hear 'skate skis' fairly often, too, and little kids want to know if they are trick skis.

I get cheered (jeered?) at a lot when riding under the lift, too.

[noties]

Yes! trick skis --- I heard that a few times.

I just responded, "you obviously haven't seen me ride them yet..."

[valmorel]

They get called Snowblades all the time in Europe, which is fine. I happen to think it's a much more evocative name than skiboards, but of course Snowblades is a trade mark so . . . .

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[Steeps]

It's not so much that Snowblades is a trade name, it's that the product isn't a good representation of the category at large. I'm trying to think of another genericized trademark where the original product is inferior to most of what's being called by that name.

[Wookie]

It's not so much that Snowblades is a trade name, it's that the product isn't a good representation of the category at large.

Don't get hung on the name. It's much more fun just to have a conversation about why you like you skiboards than a debate about the name. Also while Solomon Snowblades are the lower end of skiboard products our sport doesn't get more riders by alienating people that are riding a board that may have just fit their budget or allowed them to test the sport. Embrace Snowblades be a "Snowlerblader"

I'm trying to think of another genericized trademark where the original product is inferior to most of what's being called by that name.

There are literally dozens of trademarked names that are used generically. Many of which have been used so much that the trademarks are not longer enforceable. Some examples:

Aspirin
Cellophane
Escalator
Teleprompter
Trampoline
Zipper
Thermos
App (originally a trademark of Apple now cancelled)

The list goes on and these are just some that are fully genericized there are plenty that are active trademarks that we use generically in regular conversation like crock-pot or q-tip.

For many of the above there are plenty of products that fall under the names but the generic is better than the original. Go shopping for a "Crock-pot" and you'll find plenty of fancy high end slow cookers that perform better than the Sunbeam original

[Bad Wolf]

I’m proud to be a snowblader.

[Steeps]

Also while Solomon Snowblades are the lower end of skiboard products our sport doesn't get more riders by alienating people that are riding a board that may have just fit their budget or allowed them to test the sport. Embrace Snowblades be a "Snowlerblader"

Yeah, I hear you there, man. I'll tell people they are skiboards if they ask, but don't get pedantic if someone calls them something else. Salomon hasn't even made the bedeviled things in a decade, but like valmoral says, there's something evocative about the term (I saw a pair at a ski swap this year, and probably would have bought them as a collection piece if they hadn't been trashed out with rusty edges). Pretty much the same deal with inline skates, eh?

With the Spliffs, they get referred to as 'powder blades' a lot, and people are pretty stoked to see them. Handed out a couple of cards on a good powder day today.

I did have one guy refer to them as skiboards today; he was from Quebec and made a similar comment to what the ski teacher said to noties.

[Wookie]

..... I'll tell people they are skiboards if they ask,....

I can usually tell if people are genuinely curious or have pre-judged and are looking to make a wise ass comment. If there is genuine interest I try to educate them and have a real discussion. If it’s a wise ass I look at them like they are idiots and say “They’re skis. You put them on your feet and slide on the snow with them.” This is usually followed by stunned silence or a comment of how small they are. If the response is the later I usually say “They just look small because I’m really big.”

.... Pretty much the same deal with inline skates.....

Nope. Inline skates are alive and well. How else do you stay in shape for hockey during the summer? There are four pairs of inline skates in my arsenal right now: hockey player, hockey goalie, rec skates, and old school park skates. They’re mixed in with a mess of ice skates too numerous to list.

[Steeps]

I can usually tell if people are genuinely curious or have pre-judged and are looking to make a wise ass comment. If there is genuine interest I try to educate them and have a real discussion. If it’s a wise ass I look at them like they are idiots and say “They’re skis. You put them on your feet and slide on the snow with them.” This is usually followed by stunned silence or a comment of how small they are. If the response is the later I usually say “They just look small because I’m really big.”

Yep, when people get insistent about why those? I usually say it's just another way to ride snow.
My smart ass response is more likely to be "I'm compensating". Same reason some guys drive big sports cars or jacked-up trucks. Same reason I drove a Pontiac Firefly for 8 years.

The jeers usually drop off once people actually see me ride. I'm 6 days in at a new resort and I'm already hearing "that guy's crazy" from behind me in the lift line. Nah, not crazy, but without having to haul around all that extra length, it's easy to let 'er rip down fall lines and through the trees. That's what I love about skiboarding... you can just instantly react to what's directly under foot. Whatever happens in the lift lines, it's the chair rides where you get the chance to spread the word and open some minds.

Nope. Inline skates are alive and well. How else do you stay in shape for hockey during the summer? There are four pairs of inline skates in my arsenal right now: hockey player, hockey goalie, rec skates, and old school park skates. They’re mixed in with a mess of ice skates too numerous to list.

Ah, I didn't mean that inlines weren't around, just that the name 'rollerblade' is going to stick to them forever with the masses. Train of thought was jumping around the tracks a bit.

[Wookie]

...My smart ass response is more likely to be "I'm compensating". Same reason some guys drive big sports cars or jacked-up trucks. Same reason I drove a Pontiac Firefly for 8 years. ...

LOL, I’m stealing that one.

... Whatever happens in the lift lines, it's the chair rides where you get the chance to spread the word and open some minds.

Yup, on the lifts, gondolas, and skier shuttles is where the best conversations happen. The funny thing is I typically get just as many questions about riding without poles as I do about my skiboards.

Ah, I didn't mean that inlines weren't around, just that the name 'rollerblade' is going to stick to them forever with the masses. Train of thought was jumping around the tracks a bit.

Ah, yep all inline skates will forever be “rollerblades”

[valmorel]

I get powder blades a bit as well, depending what I am on at the time, usually with a big grin like the guy just made up the term on the spot. If only they knew.
Seems like Blades is the evocative word. I quite like it . . .

Revelblades?

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[valmorel]

Got in a lift once, 3 skiboarders, and a couple of drunks (Brits) got in, pointed at our 120s, laughed and said 'where are the kids'. My reply was 'seems like we are talking to them'. Sketchy moment actually.

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