# Too Old To Learn Tricks?



## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

At the risk of destroying my cred on the Forum, I am 53, first learned to snowboard (never learned to ski) when we moved to Denver a couple of years ago, and I progressed mightily this year, finally actually getting air. Next year I will spin.

You are never too old as long as you are serious about your conditioning, and do your conditioning hard all year round.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

Nah I think you are never too old. This season I meet this guy, he was probably around 75yo and he was a great rider. We talked for a few minutes and he said he went riding almost every day at Loveland and that he improved each time he gets out. I just think you have to be aware of your limitations and thats it. I say do it, just note that he wont hold you liable for any damages that might arise from it, lol, you never know.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

I agree with everyone else. I don't think you can be too old, but you can definitely be in not good enough shape to progress. For instance, if you're 35 and you have a bad knee from a sports injury,it might not be a goodidea. If you're a 60 year old well conditioned healthy individual though, go for it.


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## tboooe (Mar 16, 2008)

Whew I feel better now. I just turned 36 this year and if I was too old to learn tricks on a snowboard, I might as well have just shot myself!


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## Gnarly (Mar 12, 2008)

I just turned 31 and learned to do some ground tricks & spin a FS/BS 180 & BS 3 this year...Ok, so I can only land the 3 maybe 25% of the time, but it's still better than 0%.

I guess I have no reason not to show him how to trick it up then.


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

*Age is a number*

If you only do things that you're "supposed" to do at any given age, then you'll really be old.

My mom is 83 and plays 3-4 hours of good tennis every day she can. She's good enough that I've never beaten her....like playing a wall, it just keeps coming back. Volunteers at a retirement home helping the "old" folks (they're all younger than her)

I took up boarding in my 40's (now 47) and still play sports that I'm not "supposed" to be doing at my age. My boarding instructor is 53 and pretty good in the park, better than his 25 year daughter who instructs with him.

How old is too old? You like it, you want it, try it. While others might list a ton of potential injuries, the *WORST* thing that could happen is you sitting in your rocking chair wishing you had. 

Besides, it's sweeter to pull off things when you're older. I never appreciated new skills when I was "young", everything was new.

Although, stretching is a good idea


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

snowboarders get all the chicks in the retirement home.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

Augie09 said:


> snowboarders get all the chicks in the retirement home.


I agree! lol But seriously, I agree mainly with the others, but I think that when it comes to actually setting goals for tricks and such as you get older you need to be more wise about it. Because whether you believe it or not, I think it is easier for a teenager to pick up on tricks than it is for those who are old enough to be grandparents. No offense, I just want to say be careful and set goals carefully! Just my $0.02.


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## sedition (Feb 8, 2007)

On Thursday I'll be 34. I've been skateboarding since I was 11. What I have found over the years is that you always progress and regress at the same time. I don't do 13-stair handrails or ollie down huge gaps anymore. The truth is that when you get older you don't heal as fast. In that sense, I have regressed. With snowboarding, I don't hit huge kickers anymore either. Same reason. However, with both skating and snowboarding my flatland, curb, bench, box ability is better now that it ever was (and I used to be a sponsored amature skateboarder) b/c I spend more time on it than hitting huge-ass stuff. Tony Hawk is pushing 40 now. Danny Way is exact same age I am (well, he is a day older), and they still rock the party harder than anyone else. The key is just do what your comfortable with. One day that might taking mellow runs down blues, the next it could be working 540's in the park. The mountain is your canvass, paint it the way you want to, and you'll always have a smile.


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## SpAcEmAn SpLiFF (Dec 18, 2007)

sedition said:


> On Thursday I'll be 34. I've been skateboarding since I was 11. What I have found over the years is that you always progress and regress at the same time. I don't do 13-stair handrails or ollie down huge gaps anymore. The truth is that when you get older you don't heal as fast. In that sense, I have regressed. With snowboarding, I don't hit huge kickers anymore either. Same reason. However, with both skating and snowboarding my flatland, curb, bench, box ability is better now that it ever was (and I used to be a sponsored amature skateboarder) b/c I spend more time on it than hitting huge-ass stuff. Tony Hawk is pushing 40 now. Danny Way is exact same age I am (well, he is a day older), and they still rock the party harder than anyone else. The key is just do what your comfortable with. One day that might taking mellow runs down blues, the next it could be working 540's in the park. The mountain is your canvass, paint it the way you want to, and you'll always have a smile.


dude i always thought you were like 26


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## sedition (Feb 8, 2007)

SpAcEmAn SpLiFF said:


> dude i always thought you were like 26


I was. 8 years ago.


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## PaoloSmythe (Aug 19, 2007)

you're catching me up sedition!

got a grey beard?


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## sedition (Feb 8, 2007)

PaoloSmythe said:


> you're catching me up sedition!
> 
> got a grey beard?


My friends are threatening to change my nickname from "sedition" to "Sedation." Too funny.


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2008)

PaoloSmythe said:


> you're catching me up sedition!
> 
> got a grey beard?



you know at times I think grey hair is going to hit me early, I am 25 and danmmm I am starting to see some grew traces in my hair. (well maybe a bit more than traces , oh well what are you going to do)


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2008)

i'd much rather be worried about getting gray hair than going bald and im only 20


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2008)

Gustov said:


> i'd much rather be worried about getting gray hair than going bald and im only 20


Holly crap your going bold at 20 , joking, I loose some hair here and there. I heard it follows your mothers family genes, not sure if it's true or not. Although I hope it is, because my father is in the bold side


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## boarderaholic (Aug 13, 2007)

Too old? Never! I've taught 65 year olds how to snowboard, and the father of one of the instructors was learning 360's before he turned 60!


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2008)

Simply^Ride said:


> Holly crap your going bold at 20 , joking, I loose some hair here and there. I heard it follows your mothers family genes, not sure if it's true or not. Although I hope it is, because my father is in the bold side


i hope thats true too, my dad's as bald as they come, so is his dad. and im not really going bald, just a tiny bit. i actually look kinda like the guy in my avatar... interesting topic of conversation we stumbled upon :laugh:


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## SpAcEmAn SpLiFF (Dec 18, 2007)

sedition said:


> My friends are threatening to change my nickname from "sedition" to "Sedation." Too funny.


LOL thats awesome


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## Guest (Apr 16, 2008)

Kudos to you, Snowolf. I'm 30 now and although I look a bit younger than 30 I still feel falls much more than a teenager or even a twenty-something. Plus, there's the job to think about. If we break anything there are still bills to be paid! That all said, I am still keen to learn some of the more basic tricks. I was proud to pull off a manual on Sunday, and begin to get my ollies working. I still miss the freeriding at Heavenly though.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2008)

sedition said:


> My friends are threatening to change my nickname from "sedition" to "Sedation." Too funny.


Happy Birthday Sedation!!!!!! lol Jocking men.


Happy Birthday men. Have many many more, RIDING!!!!!


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## Gnarly (Mar 12, 2008)

Since I'm only 31, I honestly haven't noticed anything different in my recovery ability from when I was in my 20's. I went way bigger this year and tried to learn way more things than I ever had in the past...And I got injured every once in a while, but IMO it was nothing worse than what I'd done in my 20's.

I definitely learned a thing or two about my body this year though. Such as, it's a PITA to snowboard at 230lbs...So I, eventually, dropped down to 220. And 2, I really need to work on endurance next year, instead of just getting my legs as strong as possible.

Next year, I'm going to try to be between 205 & 210 lbs when the season starts, and, even though I hate cardio, I'm going to start hitting the cardio hard to get in really good shape...So that I'm not dead tired after 4 hours on the hill.


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

Gnarly said:


> Since I'm only 31, I honestly haven't noticed anything different in my recovery ability from when I was in my 20's.


31? You don't even qualify for master's age in most of my sports, let alone grandmaster's.

As for recovery ability, just wait.....it'll come and get you too.

One morning there will be that little grunt when getting out of bed, then it's every morning after a hard day of riding, then it's just every morning. Then you mentally start classifying all of your wipe outs by how long you're likely to still be feeling them: rest of the run, rest of the day, next day, rest of the week, rest of the season.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2008)

This thread is really encouraging! I just turned 37 2 weeks ago and just started boarding this March. Next year I really want to start working on freestyle as for me, that is where it's at. Nice to know there are others close to my age that are just getting into this and doing the fun stuff!


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