Ski Safety Starts With Looking in the Mirror
Credit:ultramarinfoto
Let’s face it. The older we get, the more fragile our bodies become. Yet, if you are like me, the older I get – I’m 79 at the time this this piece is published – the more I cherish my days on the snow. Gone are my days as someone who would ski non-stop from the top of almost any mountain to the bottom at GS speeds in any conditions.
Now, my goal is ski more and avoid injury. If that’s yours as well, where does the process start. It starts with each of us at home, long before we head toward the mountain to ski.
If you are not in decent physical condition, don’t go skiing. If you do, you’re an injury waiting to happen.
Skiing is a strenuous sport, and fatigue is a major causal factor of injuries. When your legs are tired, you can’t control your skis as well as you did when you first put them on in the morning.
Next, you need to realize that you will never be in as good a shape this year as you were last year, unless of course you were totally out of shape. Mother Nature has ensured that via the aging process. Understand we all age differently and at different rates. I often tell people I work harder each year to get in less good shape as I was last year.
Also note that as we age, our bodies’ ability to deal with temperature extremes decreases. Two years ago, at age 77, I found myself shivering in conditions that would never have bothered me before. It led to a change in what I wear on colder days.
I also believe in the Boy Scout motto, be prepared. Bring your own medical kit with stuff like Voltaren, OTC anti-inflammatories, sandwich/snack bags for ice packs, and other first aid stuff. Trust me, because when you need it, the drug stores are either closed or far away.
For those of us who ski outside the U.S., remember Medicare doesn’t cover you. I have Tricare for Life and still buy a supplemental health insurance policy that also provides for air-ambulance transportation back to the U.S.
Take care of your skis. If you are driving to/from a ski area and if they are on a rack outside the car, put them in a bag or inside a rooftop carrier. This keeps the dirt and grit out of your bindings which could affect their performance. You might also consider having them checked and adjusted every year.
And my last rant is that booze, recreational drugs, and skiing are a toxic mix. Altitudes above 5,000 feet where 50% of the earth’s atmosphere and oxygen content is below you adds to the effect alcohol and drugs have on the body.
Hangovers affect your ability to function mentally so unless you have access to 100% oxygen to breathe for 10 – 15 minutes or more before you go skiing, then think twice about skiing with a bad hangover. SWI – skiing while intoxicated/stoned – is simply dumb because you are a danger to yourself and everyone else on the mountain.
Take Care of your Customers
Alpin Haus founder Bud Heck with wife Kay Heck
For Bud Heck, the journey had an unexpected beginning. Stopping in for some after ski refreshment after a day on the slopes at Whiteface, Heck and friend Bob Moore struck up a conversation with a fellow patron. It turned out to be the launch of a 60 year long career in the ski business.
Heck was a young college graduate with a new job as an auditor with New York State. On the side during the holidays, he with then partner John Daly sold crushed ice snow cones and Christmas trees in his hometown of Amsterdam NY. The man in the chance conversation that day turned out to be a ski equipment representative who pointed out there was not a ski shop in Bud’s hometown.
“Why not start one?” the man asked.
Heck listened. Sixty years later, his Alpin Haus ski shop is one of the largest in the Northeast with three locations in New York’s Capital District including a recently expanded 40,000 square foot showroom less than a mile away from the location of the original shop that opened in 1964.
At the start, the shop sold inventory Heck had bought from a nearby ski hill that had closed the year before. Heck would work his regular job in Albany then come to the store afterwards and stay on until closing at 9 pm. Weekends it was all day. Kay, then his girlfriend, was a teacher in town. She came in to work in the shop after school.
“We had no money to go out on dates then.”
Total sales that first year? $1500.
Sixty years later, the bottom line is a lot different and Bud no longer turns the light on and off daily. But Alpin Haus patrons can still catch up with him at the store when he drops in for a cup coffee in the lounge area of the showroom. He loves chatting with customers, especially those he has known for more than half a century, and their kids, and now their kids too
Kay is still there, Mrs Heck since 1965, and now too is son Andy as company President, and co-owner with his brother Greg and sister Katie Osborn. Grandchildren Nicole, Ryan, and Danielle are the third generation of leadership in the business.
“Its easy to run into a Heck at Alpin Haus these days.” said Bud recently.
While the ski business has continued to grow significantly over the years, Alpin Haus has expanded too. Recreational vehicles were added to the mix in the late 1960s, swimming pools in the 1970s and boats in the 1980s.
“We don’t sell anything that’s essential.” says Heck. ” We are a feel good business.”
While Alpin Haus has spread – there are seven locations currently – in the Adirondacks, the Hudson Valley, and now in northern New Jersey, “We are still based in Amsterdam.”
With 275 full and part time employees, it is a major local employer. And involved too. In addition to the usual community activities, Alpin Haus has underwritten a summer splash pad and an ice skating rink in the city in recent years.
Today, in an era where people can buy what they want, wherever they want, why has Alpin Haus succeeded for more than half a century?
Bud Heck believes he knows the answer: “Have a passion for the business; provide a good store experience; and take care of the customers.” he says.
Sixty years in the business suggests that Heck knows what he is talking about.
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