(Photo: Brad Paris)

You have skis upstairs and snowboards downstairs. Which are most popular?
A lot of baby-boomers have started to ride [snowboard] because the technique isn’t as intricate as skiing.

Where do your customers ski?
If you want to leave New York for another New York, go to Vail in March. I was living there last year. The year before, I lived in Utah. Everyone was skiing in bikini tops in May.

You too?
No way. I’d feel like a moron.

What’s the best mountain nearby?
My favorite on the East Coast is Bromley, in Vermont. That’s my home mountain.

Have you ever broken a bone?
No, and please don’t curse me. I have two torn ACLs, though. I complain all the time about them. But I complain for attention. I ride with all boys.

What’s the best helmet?
Boeri, Salomon, and Giro are very lightweight and super-breathable.

What about skis?
Rossignol and K2. The ski I’m holding in this photo is the Lotta Luv, one of the first fat skis for women.

A fat ski?
Wide ski—easy to turn, which is easier on the knees, on the body. I see 70-year-olds still skiing and really enjoying it because of that. I have family friends whose grandchildren are riding, so they’re learning how to ride too.

But you can so easily break your hip at 70.
You can, but no pain, no gain.

Related:

• Archive: “Ask Shop Clerk”
• Articles by Denise Penny
• Table of Contents: Jan 9, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!