Planetskier: Skiing in San Francisco... in a garage... on a treadmill

Wow. I did not plan for this. But when I learned that this was possible, I just had to go. One hour of my Sunday.... spent skiing in downtown San Francisco. In what looks like a garage. And a sloping treadmill. But, make no mistake. Contrary to my usual style, this is not a crackpot hobbyist scheme, but a commercial operation, the Adventurous Sports. And a place to spot and correct your technique, for the treadmill gives you no room to be sloppy with your form.

Just wow.

With all this, my July skiing turned out to be quite good, actually. It started out bad, with problems in my feet and knees, then too many things to do and too little time. And while I am in California now, I have no time visit the still open Mammoth mountain. That visit would be great... but instead I got to build and ski a three-turn real snow slope in Leppävaara (article) and then do this turn-practice in San Francisco. Actually, this is the way it should have been. Very nice, I'm so glad I found out about this place!

I do recommend visiting Adventurous Sports; they are nice and it can really help your technique, plus it is a ton of fun to ski. And very safe! The little kid that was in the shop before me seemed to enjoy it too, tremendously, so it is for all ages.

The prices for an hour-long session are a bit over hundred dollars. But it is well worth it!

Here's the video:

(Original source video is also available here.)

And here's where it starts, the garage in a suburban district:

Here's one of my rare ok-ish turns:

And this is THE machine:

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko.

This article was originally published in the Planetskier Blogspot article series.