Today’s HomeboySki.Com guest blogger is Jouni Aro, an enthusiastic skier from Finland. As we are both software developers, I met Jouni while I was working in Switzerland. Now Jouni is one of our frequent readers with whom we have lately discussed via comments. Jouni read my yesterday’s article (World of Skiing in 1980’s - The Awesome Monoskiing) and wanted say few words about his experiences with monoskiing. Read below more about Jouni’s experiences with monoskiing in the Alps in 1980’s.

Hey Marko, funny that you now wrote about monoskiing - I seem to have something to say to all your stories.

I tried monoskiing in Kitzbühel, Austria on my first skiing trip to the Alps - in 1988. We rented those with another guy at the same traveling group for one day while the others kept their own skis. The beginning was hard: the binding was set for >100kg while I was <70kg - additionally it was stuck and could not be adjusted. So if I fell the bindings never opened! And I fell - and I fell!!! The first slope took at least half an hour whereas the group just went ahead…

Finally I got the idea and started to enjoy: it was actually very superb. I had not been off-piste really before, but with the monoski it was just fantastic. The hard part was to get to the lift or to ski those narrow connecting slopes. Turning the ski requires a “huge effort” and that requires some speed. Well it is quite similar to snowboarding (I will tell you about my snowboarding experience some other time, but the technique is entirely different, more similar to skiing with two skis.

During those days it was cool to ski with your legs as close to each each other as possible. With the monoski that is the only way you can go. But you cannot use your outer ski for turning, because you have no outer ski! So you have to learn to turn exactly the way you are not allowed with two skis. On the other hand you can only ski on either one of the edges, so it is practically not possible to ski directly ahead. Believe me, I have tried.

I just remember that after that day I was really very tired - but extremely happy. Unfortunately, I never got another chance to try the monoski.

The story has an epilogue as well: after 10 years my traveling companion called me that he had seen a picture of me in Skimbaaja (the Finnish skiing magazine) where I was (trying to) adjusting the bindings of a monoski in Kitzbühel with our travel guide!!! I requested a copy of the magazine from the editors (explaining that they had used the picture without my permission I still have the magazine (3/1998) and in the picture I have a cyan coat with bright yellow lines on shoulders. The Finnmatkat guide has a neon-green/pink suit! The picture is labeled: “Ski travels from Finland to the Alps began already in 1970’s. Skiing guides, on the other hand, started at the beginning of 1980’s. Some of the guides were experienced skiers who introduced their clients to more special skiing types as well”.

Thank you Jouni for sharing your experiences with monoskiing! I feel like I desperately want to find a monoski for this season and go monoskiing again, after 20 years break..