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Farmer Dave Profile by William Deleo - added September 20, 2006
Page 2 of 2. Go to Page 1
He moves in his chair a little bit, takes a sip of water and says, "I used to keep track of the number of days I skied on a calendar, but I have not done that for a couple of years. Some years I"ll start the first week of October and I'll ski until the first week in May. It's always over a hundred, but not over a hundred and fifty. If there's snow, we're up here skiing and getting in shape and after everybody leaves, we're back up here again.
He says, "I don't get tired of skiing when the skiing is good. Most of whether you have fun or not is your own internal attitude. I could be riding up the lift on a day I am not personally pumped up about, but I'll be sitting next to some tourist and he'll say, 'Isn't this the greatest day of skiing you've ever had?' And just before this I was about ready to get on the bus and go home and I'll say, 'No, but I can work on that.' At this he leans back a little in his chair and laughs.
"There did not used to be as many people skiing pre-season as there is now. I liked it better then, but on a good storm day I like to ski on the lifts and on a sunny day I'd just as soon be out in the backcountry skiing."
He continues, "There's a lot more people skiing in the backcountry and you look at the workers up here and they go through fads, each new group that comes in, and one of the newer ones is tele (telemark) gear and that gives people better access to the backcountry. It used to be when people left the area they were post-holing to get back out and it slowed them down quite a bit and after I skied on downhill gear and surplus army skins, and I got tired of lugging all that weight around and I came up with a hybrid approach for the gear that I use. I've had that for about twenty years. It allows me to out on skis without using skins."
I almost have to pry his method for getting back up the hill after his run out of him as if it were the secret ingredient to Coca-Cola or an upcoming IPO of a hot, new Internet company. Hearsay on the mountain indicates he uses a half-skin or three-quarter skin, but Van Dame dismisses these methods and reluctantly admits he cuts fish scales into the bottom of his bases.
He skied Miller skis for years and he's got a pair of Nordica Astral Slalom boots that he bought in 1972. Talk about old school, this guy is walking, talking old school. Virtually all conversation and eating stopped recently in the Goldminer's cafeteria when Van Dame walked by sporting a brand new pair of blue stretch pants instead of his regular faded pair.
Van Dame still uses safety straps last seen in the 1970's and following his, 'If it works, don't fix it' ethic he states flatly that safety straps, "Don't work. The first thing I do when I get skis with brakes is take them off," he says. "I've seen too many skis going downhill without riders and I've seen too many people looking for their skis and have found so many skis in the spring that had brakes on them. I use older equipment and it worked for me years ago and it works for me now."
Our conversation flows from skiing to skiing politics, because in the Wasatch the two are inseparable and Alta locals tend to hold very strong opinions.
He clearly is at home at Alta, enjoys talking about the area and says matter of factly, "I don't ski Snowbird because politically I don't agree with Snowbird. I think it's a great mountain, but I don't like their management and the way they do business.
On helicopters in the Wasatch, Van Dame echoes the sentiments of many Alta locals, "I think there is a place for helicopter skiing, but I don't think it is in these canyons. All they places they (Wasatch Powderbird Guides) ski, you can ski to and back in one day under your own power.
"I'm somewhat of an environmentalist," he says. "That's why I ride the bus to the ski area and do a lot of things by bicycle in the valley. I think using a helicopter to get places you can easily walk to is not a proper use of the canyons.
"If they were flying in the Uintas or some other mountains that did not have road access, I would not feel the same way about it." He pauses and adds, "If I was raised differently and ended up being a helicopter guide, I'd probably have different feelings about it. (Laughs) People think they should be able to buy anything and get instant satisfaction out of it and I do not agree with that.
"Alta is a unique place in the world as most people who ski here know, the way the climate is and the amount of snow Alta gets. Over and above that, the owners, the management, and the people who work here all have unique views on life and Alta. Alta is just different.
"The whole idea about keeping the experience on the mountain the best it can be-not putting in high speed quads, not mixing snowboards with skiers (is good.) I write them (Alta Ski Lifts) a letter just about every year and tell them what I agree with and what I don't and most of it, I agree with. Alta is my favorite place in the world and I've done a fair amount of traveling. I hope it stays the way it is now for as long as possible."
William DeLeo skis Alta, UT in the faddish telemark style and can be reached with email: wdeleo at hotmail dot com
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