The Double Chair Podcast

Brownski
  • 4.8 (8)
  • Wilderness

This is a podcast about skiing, being obsessed with skiing, working at a ski area, writing about skiing, ski patrol, ski instruction, ski gear, old school ski areas, feeder hills, giant ski resorts, fixed grip chairlifts, rope tows, gondolas, trams and maybe beer. It's about upstate New York, Vermont, New England, other maybe parts of the northeast. When summer comes, we'll talk swimming, hiking, paddling, kayaks, canoes, mountain biking, road biking and maybe something else. Or maybe we’ll take a break and come back for season 2 next November. Time will tell. You can read Robert’s posts on NYSkiblog here https://nyskiblog.com/author/robert/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keukaboi?igsh=Z3EwOGVqMmxpNDE4. For Brownski’s past blog posts https://nyskiblog.com/author/brownski/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brownskii?igsh=MXdjd2M3aGx3eWk0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

  1. 6d ago

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 51 Season 3-1

    We talk with Steve Aaron link to buy Steve's calendar: Catskill & Shawangunk Scenes 2027 Calendar - Steve Aaron Photosquare.link Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedoublechairpodcast/ Email us at doublechairpodcast@gmail.com You can read Robert’s post on NYSkiblog here https://nyskiblog.com/author/robert/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keukaboi?igsh=Z3EwOGVqMmxpNDE4. For Brownski’s past blog posts  https://nyskiblog.com/author/brownski/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brownskii?igsh=MXdjd2M3aGx3eWk0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Thanks to Beat Mekanik for our intro and outro music, you can find him at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/beat-mekanik/

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 51 Season 3-1

  2. Oct 1

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 50

    We interview Brian Eberhard who is a volunteer race coach at Winter4kids in New Jersey. He is helping to raise money for them and for the Hession Foundation by hosting a stop on TGR’s film tour. This years TGR film is called “Actually It Is Rocket Science”. The showing is on November 4 at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, NJ. You can find them on Instagram at FriendsofWinter4kids or https://winterkickoffnj.com/ or https://www.tetongravity.com/movies/actually-it-is-rocket-science/ This is a fun episode Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedoublechairpodcast/ Email us at doublechairpodcast@gmail.com You can read Robert’s post on NYSkiblog here https://nyskiblog.com/author/robert/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keukaboi?igsh=Z3EwOGVqMmxpNDE4. For Brownski’s past blog posts  https://nyskiblog.com/author/brownski/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brownskii?igsh=MXdjd2M3aGx3eWk0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Thanks to Beat Mekanik for our intro and outro music, you can find him at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/beat-mekanik/

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 50

  3. Sep 24

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 49

    Skiing will be back kind of soon but we aren't really there yet Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedoublechairpodcast/ Email us at doublechairpodcast@gmail.com You can read Robert’s post on NYSkiblog here https://nyskiblog.com/author/robert/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keukaboi?igsh=Z3EwOGVqMmxpNDE4. For Brownski’s past blog posts  https://nyskiblog.com/author/brownski/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brownskii?igsh=MXdjd2M3aGx3eWk0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Thanks to Beat Mekanik for our intro and outro music, you can find him at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/beat-mekanik/

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 49

  4. Sep 4

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 48

    CORRECTION; In this episode I mistated the price ofThe Snow Pass. It is $339, not $400. I also failed to mention that Holiday Mountain in Sullivan County is on it. In this episode we provide a low effort rundown of the various multi passes available and discuss which ones make the most sense for New Yorkers. In ski news, World Cup juniors are coming to Whiteface this March, a snowboarder is sentenced to 45 days for leaving the scene of a collision in Colorado and Netflix is filming a new ski mountain drama in New Zealand. Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedoublechairpodcast/ Email us at doublechairpodcast@gmail.com You can read Robert’s post on NYSkiblog here https://nyskiblog.com/author/robert/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keukaboi?igsh=Z3EwOGVqMmxpNDE4. For Brownski’s past blog posts  https://nyskiblog.com/author/brownski/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brownskii?igsh=MXdjd2M3aGx3eWk0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Thanks to Beat Mekanik for our intro and outro music, you can find him at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/beat-mekanik/

  5. Aug 21

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 47

    Learning how to ski as an adult https://brownski.substack.com/p/yes-you-can-learn-to-ski-as-an-adult?r=4pv8om&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web https://nyskiblog.com/tips-for-adults-learning-to-ski/#more-83282 We are pretty obsessed with skiing and, for the most part, our listeners are too. This is for the people who did not learn to ski or snowboard as children and want to learn but think they might be too old. If you know somebody like that, please share this episode with them. “Can I still learn to ski even though I’m (insert your age here)?” I hear/see this question repeatedly, both in real life and on social media. Of course the answer is usually yes. You can learn to ski at any age and continue skiing as far into your dotage as nature allows. It is true that everyone is different. There are some unique challenges to overcome for some individuals but, for most reasonably fit people, learning to ski as an adult is possible once you get past the initial fear. It’s possible that it presents more mental and emotional challenges than it does physical. Learning anything new as an adult can be difficult. It’s obvious that picking up skiing at age 30 or 40 is going to be more difficult than learning to ski at age 5, 10 or 18 or even 25 years old. As we get older and set in our ways, we lose the peak physical fitness that comes so easily during our high school years. Most people’s sense of self preservation increases. There are a lot of things that make learning to ski in middle-age a more daunting project than it is for a younger person. Amongst the things that make it difficult for an adult to learn:  You don’t necessarily live near a ski hill. Proximity always makes it easier to find the time for any leisure activity. On the other hand, non-skiers might think they have to drive to Vermont or the Adirondacks to learn on a “real mountain”. This is not true- in fact going to one of the bigger hills, no matter where, is one of the things I am going to advise against. You will have to drive a bit even for the smaller hills but it’s worth it. 2. Skiing is expensive. Not everybody has the resources or disposable income to add this kind of a hobby to the budget. It can be expensive. It’s true. But it’s not as bad as you might think and there are some things you can do to save money as a newbie. 3. You may belong to a cultural group that doesn’t typically ski. This can make you worry that you might not be welcome in the ski hill environment. Again, this is understandable but I am here to assure you that skiers are mostly nice people who will be thrilled to welcome you into the sport regardless of where you are coming from. We are a cult that is always recruiting. Once you take the leap of faith to show up at the hill and give it a try, you are family. This is especially true at the smaller independent hills that you should be starting out on. Social media can make it seem like experienced skiers spend half the day mocking beginners but this isn’t true. Much more frequently you will find that the veterans will take the time to help a total stranger having trouble with their gear or some other difficulty. Personally I specialize in showing people who have fallen how to stand back up without taking their skis off.  4. You may have a low level of physical fitness or you think you do and you’re not sure if you’re physically capable of skiing. This is probably not true. If you are capable of taking a one or two mile walk around your neighborhood, you can probably handle the physical exertion of skiing. You may enjoy it so much that you are inspired to get in better shape so you can ski faster or attack more challenging terrain but that is something to work on down the road. In this respect, skiing is more like pickleball or golf than it is hockey or baseball. It is a multigenerational sport that can be enjoyed at whatever level you are at. 5. You may have a fear of injury. It’s natural as you get older and I can’t tell you for sure that you won’t get a little banged up at some point in your skiing career but most skier days for the majority of skiers do not result in injury or death. I mean, it’s possible something horrific will go down but this is not the norm. None of us are promised tomorrow- driving your car to work every day involves risk too.  6. Indoor cat syndrome. Modern society gives us lots of different ways to distract and entertain ourselves at home. It’s very easy to slip into a sedentary lifestyle and to just veg out, even on the weekends. Don’t be an indoor cat. 7. You may just have a fear of being bad at it, or fear the embarrassment- of looking like you’re bad at it as you learn. This is kiddie shit- nothing to worry about. Everybody at the hill was a beginner once. Just put it out of your mind. We all have funny stories to tell about mistakes we made along the way. And now, we are all rooting for you to learn to ski successfully and come back for ski day number two and three and as many after that as possible. Exercise and fresh air are important for physical and mental health whether it’s summertime or winter. Skiing, wether as a beginner, intermediate or an expert, has a thrilling element to it. The dopamine and adrenaline release is not only a lot of fun to experience, but it also has health benefits for most people. And as you get a little better and you achieve what people call the “flow state” you’ll find that skiing can be a sort of transcendent experience. Flow state is not unique to skiing. Some people experience it from running long distances or from other sports and outdoor hobbies. For me, skiing is the most transcendent outdoor experience. You may or may not feel the flow state but you’ll never know until you try. There is a statistic floating around that 80% of people who try skiing don’t come back for a second or third day. There are a lot of reasons for this. There are a lot of things that can disrupt persons enjoyment of that first day of skiing being cold may be first and foremost amongst them. If you go to a big resort, you’re going to be in a big crowd of people trying to learn something new in a challenging environment. That’s not good. A lot of well-meaning skiers will give their friends trying to learn some bad advice, getting instruction from friends significant others. Even your parents or children can go any of a number of different ways that suffice to say that getting instruction from a qualified ski instructor is your best bet and success. A lot of people will try out skiing on borrowed gear so they end up with skis that are maybe two long or too short that are tuned improperly they end up with boots that don’t fit correctly and all of these things can ruin in the first day. Sometimes people will go at the wrong time of the Ski season for that first day. Showing up in a medium sized or large resort during Christmas week or on Presidents’ Day or Martin Luther King Day is a recipe for disaster, showing up early in the season when there is limited terrain open as similarly problematic – the WROD is no place for a never ever. Now, I am not the first person to notice this problem. Lots of people in the industry have recognized how difficult it can be to get past all of these intimidating and daunting problems to get somebody from being a non-skier to becoming a skier. Snow operating, Joe Hassan‘s company which operates big snow and Mountain Creek and provides software solutions and other management systems for other Ski areas as well is doing a pretty good job of working the problem. They have put a lot of time and effort into removing pain points from the rental and lesson process at the Ski areas they work At. Terrain based learning has made the instruction more effective. I’m not sure that Mount Creek is a good environment to learn to ski, especially if you’re going there on a weekend. It’s one of the more crowded resorts in the east but no operating is doing a good job. Big snow which operates the United States is only indoor ski area at the American dream mall in New Jersey is at least addressing the problem you can go there and get outfitted and ski gear get fitted with skis and boots that are appropriate for your first day and get a lesson in a very controlled environment for a reasonable amount of money. Indy pass, perhaps in response to snow operating triple play lift ticket created something called a learn to turn past last year, which will get you three days at some of their resorts – not all independence Hills participate – and it will include rentals and a lesson which is a big added value. I haven’t seen the details of the 26/27 Learn- to- turn pass but last year it cost $189 for 3 days at participating resorts, including gear rentals and a lesson. For NYC skiers, Shawnee in PA is probably the closet participating ski area. Berkshire East in MA and Greek Peak are also day- trippable from NYC. There are plenty of other options around the northeast, including Titus for people in the North Country Orr Hunt Hollow in WNY. So, this is not a how- to- ski tutorial. That is a big subject- beyond the scope of this essay. There are books out there about ski instruction- most of them aimed at intermediates and experts though. A never ever that wants to cram before their first day might be better off watching some of the many, videos put out on the subject. Some are good and some are bad so it’s important not to let anything from YouTube or Instagram get too firmly implanted in your brain. Better to listen to your instructor. What I can offer is a few tips to increase the chances of a new skier having a successful first couple of days. So here are my tips; Choose a smaller, family friendly hill. Look for a beginners’ package deal that includes rentals and a lesson as well as a lift ticket. If you are near one of the Indy Pass hills that offer the Learn to Turn, go to that plac

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 47

  6. Jul 9

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 46

    We talk about the recent proposal to study the possibility of submitting a proposal to bring the 2042 Winter Olympic games to New York State. Our guest is Peter Minde, fellow NYSkiblog writer and a contributor to Nordic Insights https://nordicinsights.news/ Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedoublechairpodcast/ Email us at doublechairpodcast@gmail.com You can read Robert’s post on NYSkiblog here https://nyskiblog.com/author/robert/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keukaboi?igsh=Z3EwOGVqMmxpNDE4. For Brownski’s past blog posts  https://nyskiblog.com/author/brownski/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brownskii?igsh=MXdjd2M3aGx3eWk0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Thanks to Beat Mekanik for our intro and outro music, you can find him at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/beat-mekanik/

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 46

  7. Jun 18

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 45

    We don't have any snow left but we made an episode anyways Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedoublechairpodcast/ Email us at doublechairpodcast@gmail.com You can read Robert’s post on NYSkiblog here https://nyskiblog.com/author/robert/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keukaboi?igsh=Z3EwOGVqMmxpNDE4. For Brownski’s past blog posts  https://nyskiblog.com/author/brownski/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brownskii?igsh=MXdjd2M3aGx3eWk0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Thanks to Beat Mekanik for our intro and outro music, you can find him at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/beat-mekanik/

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 45

  8. May 14

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 44 Season 2-23

    Ski ski ski … Harvey, founder of NYSkiblog returns to wrap up the season, talk about Camelback’s big play for May skiing, his own 108 day ski season, what it’s like to be retired and other stuff…. You can read Robert’s post on NYSkiblog here https://nyskiblog.com/author/robert/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keukaboi?igsh=Z3EwOGVqMmxpNDE4. For Brownski’s past blog posts  https://nyskiblog.com/author/brownski/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brownskii?igsh=MXdjd2M3aGx3eWk0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedoublechairpodcast/ Email us at doublechairpodcast@gmail.com Thanks to Beat Mekanik for our intro and outro music, you can find him at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/beat-mekanik/

    Double Chair Podcast Episode 44 Season 2-23
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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

This is a podcast about skiing, being obsessed with skiing, working at a ski area, writing about skiing, ski patrol, ski instruction, ski gear, old school ski areas, feeder hills, giant ski resorts, fixed grip chairlifts, rope tows, gondolas, trams and maybe beer. It's about upstate New York, Vermont, New England, other maybe parts of the northeast. When summer comes, we'll talk swimming, hiking, paddling, kayaks, canoes, mountain biking, road biking and maybe something else. Or maybe we’ll take a break and come back for season 2 next November. Time will tell. You can read Robert’s posts on NYSkiblog here https://nyskiblog.com/author/robert/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keukaboi?igsh=Z3EwOGVqMmxpNDE4. For Brownski’s past blog posts https://nyskiblog.com/author/brownski/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brownskii?igsh=MXdjd2M3aGx3eWk0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Information

  • Creator
    Brownski
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    52
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Double Chair Podcast

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