Skiing is one of the great passions of Ira Riklis’ life. That may seem surprising considering since, in his words, he’s “a fat, middle aged, non-athletic, New York Jew,” but even more surprising is how good he is at the sport. He credits his skill to his determination and to his ski-instructor turned close friend, Mike Bartasuis. Mike is one of only a handful of people to hold the dual record of skiing over 100 miles per hour and jumping over 200 feet.
Mike’s a pretty determined person as well. His ski gear once consisted of heavily weighted, fifteen-foot long speed skis and skin-tight Teflon ski suit. Realizing that the skis had no provision for turning and the suit would provide no traction on the snow, Ira Riklis asked Mike what would happen if he fell. Mike’s response was that they’d find “pieces of him two or three counties away.” Ira then asked him how he planned to insure his safety. Mike told Ira he had a simple, but most effective plan: “I don’t intend to fall.”