With all the misadventures, discomforts and near misses on his first skiing trip, Ira Riklis was lucky to escape uninjured and without injuring others. Through it all, he persevered and managed to make a short downhill run that left him wanting more. After that rather inauspicious start, he went many times on daily and weekend ski trips. He enrolled in classes and learned how to turn and stop. And he used some of the money he got from my bar mitzvah to buy himself a comfortable pair of boots without laces (early buckle closures), high quality skis and (perhaps best of all!) step-in bindings.
It wasn’t an easy start, and it was sometimes a slow, hard process to learn proper technique and to improve over time. But for Ira Riklis, the thrill of skiing has provided him with one of his greatest pleasures in life. He can tell as he ages that his reflexes are slowing, that his body is less forgiving of the stress and strains caused by skiing and that he’s becoming more cautious. And he knows that one day he will have to give up skiing for good. He only hopes that day won’t come for many years.