I have noticed the past two weeks an interesting fashion trend on the slopes. Well, phenomena may be a better term, as “fashion” may be a bit of a reach. At Attitash two weeks ago, there was a guy in what could possibly be the best ski pants I have ever seen in my life. They were tight, straight legged, black, stretch ski pants with…drum roll please…the coup d’etat…two inch wide, rainbow stripes down the side of each leg!! I LOVED them. Seriously, I only wish I had the foresight to talk to this man to ask how old the pants were (they looked to be in good condition) and where the heck he bought them. He appeared to be a pretty good skier – you know what I mean, he just had that look. He wasn’t some cheap hack that was wearing dated clothes that were ratty – I know he had to have paid top dollar for those things back in the day and I presume continued to wear them because of: 1) vanity - honestly, the guy was probably in his 60’s and after 30 years he still looked pretty darned good in them. 2) old-school pride – although he no longer had straight 210 K2’s, he had that Warren Miller mystique about him, you know what I mean, crack that guy open and there had to be some great stories to be had…poaching runs at some old NELSAP
http://www.nelsap.org/, days of no helmets, no boot warmers, fleece what??…just the snow and the thrill of it all. I really hope I run into him again and I’ll trade him a few beers for some epic stories.
In a polar opposite direction, I saw a similar type pant at Sunday River last Saturday, although the difference in men was extreme. No doubt, both were probably good skiers, but the second guy had on straight legged, flaming red pants…we’ll more like ketchup red after it’s been sitting in the window of a diner for too long. They just look worn and I fear he was wearing them because he was too cheap to buy new ones. I’m sure they were perfectly fine pants and did the job he wanted them to (stay warm and dry), but his whole appearance wasn’t old school skier, it was more schlumpy, dirty skier…and he was probably a good 15 years younger than the other guy. I may be biased because he was sporting a mullet and a pretty think mustache, but really, the pants were dirty and he just looked disheveled. Not a “I’m a totally cool skier guy who just rolled out of bed to catch first chair” disheveled - because those guys actually spend more time on their appearance than most women I know (Freshies’ girls aren’t high maintenance) – but, “I don’t care if I look like a filthy mess” disheveled. I bet he burps a lot and asks his son to "pull my finger".
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