I started skiing at Mt. Brighton in '79. It was all ice, all the time then.Lace up boots at Mt. Brighton Mi.
Being a scared 12 year old having to ski “The Wall” at Pine Knob Mi with linked carved turns to earn my black diamond patch, which I earned and was enormously proud of then.
Being 5-5 or 5-6 and maybe 120 Pounds on 190cm race skis and having to “stand on the outside ski” with all my might by lifting the inside ski to get it to arc on the nearly solid ice ruts of what passed for a race course at night while the snow machines blew snow across the hill during practice and meets. No helmets or speed suits or much in the way of protection but we did have stretch pants that tucked inside your boot with bright colored stripes on the side.
Skiing deep powder in NM & Colo in slalom skis and not thinking twice about it. Float was not in our vocabulary lol.