MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Winter Spring 2019

94 MLCM WINTER/SPRING 2019 “Check out this double-deck ski with split tips and tails,” he says, pointing to what does appear to be two skis stacked under a single top sheet, with some sort of opaque plastic insert dissecting each end. “The split was supposed to get you more torque and turn radius when you set the edge… it didn’t work.” Paxton also has the first Atomic fat skis from 1990. “These were test skis they sent me—115 underfoot. I gave them to Jim McConkey and he shredded Goat’s Gully. He was 70 years old, and when he gave them back he said, ‘These are going to change things.’ ” Paxton has an engraved plaque for best crash at the 1991 Savage Beagle Cup (“A GS on Gandy Dancer. I hit the third gate, lost a ski and went tumbling into the forest.”), an 84.06 mph speed certificate from the first-ever Speed Skiing Trials in Whistler, and 19 consecutive start numbers from Squamish’s legendary Test of Metal mountain bike race. Paxton’s also run a dozen marathons (and four ultras) but admits nothing brings him happiness like skiing. “Back when my daughter was first learning I always told her, ‘if you’re not having fun then we’re going down because skiing is supposed to be fun… We never went down,” Paxton says. “And today the sun was out and we were up early and I got 22,000 feet of vert before noon. I’m still as stoked to ski today and tomorrow as when I first got here.” As he tells this story he points to a section of garage wall covered in photos of his daughter skiing, or artwork she’s done, hung in amongst his old race bibs and vintage trail maps—one showing mid-station on Peak Chair and the infamous Quicksilver express. “Of course, I bring everything with me every time I move,” Paxton says. “I have to. I’ve been collecting this stuff since day one, all these memories. One good thing is—the older I get, the bigger the garage gets. Because there’s no way I can keep any of this stuff in the house.” On those season's passes, you’ll notice I was unable to grow a moustache in 1978 but I had one by 1981 and I kept it until I was 30. Then the porn ‘stache had to go.” TOP Fingerwalking through history. ABOVE Scooby's treasures, and a classic Conte hat. MARK GRIBBON