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Is 60 too old to learn to ski? Nik Kershaw says not

nik kershaw - lorne thomson
nik kershaw - lorne thomson

I managed to get to the age of 60 without strapping on a pair of skis.

For most of my life, I suffered the ignominy of having to bail out of conversations when someone mentioned their ski trip, leaving me feeling rather inadequate. Skiing just seemed like a completely different world – one far out of my comfort zone with my rubbish balance and dodgy knees. More to the point, I’m a complete coward when it comes to doing things I think I’m going to fail at, so I have always managed to find a way to avoid the slopes.

But in April 2018, a month after my 60th birthday, some friends booked a chalet in Champagny-en-Vanoise, France, and invited us along. There were four other families going with their kids, and my wife, a keen skier, persuaded me to go. I was dragged along, kicking and screaming, placated with the promise of being able to hang out by the pool while they skied. I thought it would be a good chance to hang out with the kids, play some games, and read a book.
It didn’t quite work out that way though.

As a surprise, my wife booked me two skiing lessons. I was totally dreading them because I’m a bit of a control freak and get very nervous when I don’t know what I’m doing. Of course, I’d never so much as been in a ski shop before, and I remember wrangling my feet into uncomfortable boots and thinking, “This is just awful”. Then there was the gondola to go up the hill: I didn’t know you were supposed to leave your skis on the outside, so I crammed in with them, earning me some funny looks.

Things got worse when I arrived at the lesson to find that the other guy learning with me was a fit-looking 30-year-old from Portugal. I thought he was going to be amazing, flying about all over the place while I spent the whole time on my backside.

But within half an hour, I had both skis on and I hadn’t fallen over for a few minutes. I had a sudden moment where I thought, “OK, I can do this.” It was exhilarating, and the rest of the two-hour lesson flew by. From that moment, I was hooked and couldn’t believe I’d wasted so many years avoiding skiing. When it’s going well, there’s no feeling like it – it’s almost like flying.

By the end of the week, we hadn’t seen much of my 10-year-old son, Theo, except for his ski school snaking its way down the mountain. On the last day, we had the chance to ski together, and I was a bit full of it after a week on the slopes. At the top of the mountain, I said: ‘“Theo, when we get to the top, you follow Daddy, and Mummy will be right behind you.” I just remember seeing a blur as he shot past me, completely fearless. He went straight down, with no turns at all and I knew there was no way I could catch up with him without breaking my neck.

Since then, we’ve been skiing every February to Zauchensee in Austria. Theo has become an amazing little skier, zooming around the mountain like a maniac. I’ve gone from strength to strength – I’m doing blues, reds and the occasional accidental black, though never very speedily. But I feel like I’ve discovered a world I didn’t know existed.

I find my stress just melts away on the slopes. I’ve tried mindfulness before but I get too easily distracted. With skiing, it takes you out of yourself and you forget the other stuff. I’m not on the phone, I’m not thinking about the trials and tribulations of what’s going on at home, or my next gig. All there really is to think about is being in the moment, getting down this little bit of slope or around the next bend.

Next year we have three ski trips planned, virus permitting. It’s good for me to get outdoors because I spend far too much time in front of a computer or sitting in a room on my own and thinking of a rhyme for “banana”. It’s not the standard thing to learn to ski at 60, and I’m quite proud of myself. It’s corny, but it’s true: apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks after all. I obviously didn’t know what I was missing and I really do wish that I’d started this about 40 years ago.

Learning to ski has improved my confidence enormously and made me think about the things I used to say no to. Previously, I was a glass-half-empty kind of guy, but that’s changed now. I used to shy away from things that looked too hard and avoid taking on anything with too many obstacles in the way. But now I just get stuck in, and often I discover that things look harder from the outside than they actually are. Next on my list? It might even be a skydive.

As told to Rosie Hopegood: These Little Things by Nik Kershaw is out now