亲爱的朋友们，亲爱的雪友们，你们有没有设想过自己80岁的时候在做什么？坐在摇椅上打瞌睡?和老友们聚会聊天，说，“老了老了，走不动了。。”在美国加州太浩湖边，有一位滑雪爱好者，他今年也80岁了，他在做什么呢？
·他依然每年滑雪四五十天
·他依然热情洋溢地教学生滑雪
·他是滑雪场年龄最大的教练（非官方记录）
·雪季末，他得了滑雪学校的一个大奖，奖励他对这项运动几十年如一日的专注热爱
80岁，他把自己的人生活成了一个传奇！
你可知道，60岁的时候，在他退休以后，他才拿了美国滑雪教练协会的一级教练证书，67岁的时候，他拿了三级教练证书（注：三级是美国最高级的教练证书）。如果你热爱什么，任何时候开始都不晚！
他就是Joseph Hayes,约瑟夫.海恩斯,我所敬爱的朋友和导师。在雪季结束前的一个傍晚，我约了他聊聊滑雪，聊聊人生（想练习英文的朋友，文末有访谈的英文全文J）。
(图片：Joe Hayes，摄影：Brad Coman）
我们在南太浩湖的一家星巴克见面。阳光懒洋洋地照着，话题很自然地从夏天开始。
Sue:夏天快来啦，我听说你喜欢骑山地车，多久骑一次呢？夏天还做哪些其他的运动呢？
Joe:骑山地车大约一周两次，还去爬一次山。今年我还打算玩一下立桨冲浪。（画外音：永远充满好奇，勇于尝试新鲜事物，是不是保持一颗年轻的心的秘诀呢？)
(图片：太浩湖立桨冲浪，来自网络）
Sue:我的父母一直试图让我别滑雪了，因为他们担心我受伤。如果我让你去和他们谈谈，你会告诉他们什么呢？
Joe:生活本身就很危险啊！你就算下楼梯还可能摔断脚踝呢。经常锻炼总比不活动好啊。
Sue:我完全同意！但是他们觉得我可以试试那些危险性更低的运动，比如游泳和打太极拳啥的。我游泳啊，但是那和滑雪没法比。
Joe:我理解你父母。我有个孙子，自由式滑雪和踢足球都很棒。他有希望通过踢足球拿到大学奖学金。我也有点希望他踢足球多一点，滑雪少一点，因为踢足球危险性更低。不过，我也看到了滑雪如何点亮了一个人的生命。我教过一个学生，她因为癌症差点死了。能够帮助她通过滑雪体验下户外运动的乐趣，我觉得很有成就感。我同时也学会了更加有耐心。
Sue:太对了！我记得咱们一起教过的那位70岁的女士。你能想象有人在那个年龄还敢于第一次尝试滑雪吗？真是很激励人！不过，滑雪确实还是有风险的。你是怎么控制风险来避免受伤呢？
Joe:对我来说，最重要的风险控制策略就是保持良好的身体状况。我每周锻炼6天。除了前面提到的骑车和爬山，我还去三天健身房。在健身房里我做有氧，拉伸和力量练习。每天早上起床后我也在家里进行拉伸：这套拉伸的动作包含一些瑜伽动作，还有一些我之前从Robin Barnes (注:国家演示队队员)和Greg Lyons（注：美国滑雪教练协会西部区总监）那里学到的一些动作。我还用一个泡棉滚筒帮助放松腿部和后背的肌肉。(画外音：想滑雪到80岁吗，锻炼起来吧！）
(图片：泡棉滚筒，来自网络）
Sue:你是如何发现自己热爱滑雪的呢？
Joe:我开始滑雪是在23岁。那时候我在学校教书，参与了一个教小朋友滑雪的项目。我自己学会了滑雪，并且开始教10到11岁的小朋友滑雪。我一开始就喜欢上了滑雪，从那以后再也没有停过。（画外音：快60年了啊！）
Sue:大家都和我说三级教练证书非常难拿，对你来说有哪些挑战，你是如何克服的呢？
Joe:我其实三次都没过，决定放弃了。但是我继续不停练习。我经常跟着一些三级教练滑。有一天，我在滑蘑菇的时候遇到了Tim Rankins（注：三级教练，美国滑雪教练协会考官），他问我为啥不考三级，我说，我放弃了，他说，你这次去一定能过。于是我就去考了并且考过了。。（画外音：坚持不懈，是任何成功的法宝！）挑战嘛，对我来说，在蘑菇道上的中回转是个很大的挑战。
Sue:你喜欢怎么滑呢？每个雪季大约滑多少天？
Joe:我喜欢滑道外（注：道外指未经机压的野雪），现在还经常滑道外。但是，到了一定年龄，你就往回缩缩。过去我是啥道都滑，现在我不那么做了，因为随着年龄增长，你变得更明智了嘛。每年大约滑40到50天吧，包括教课的日子在内。
(图片：Joe Hayes，摄影：Brad Coman）
Sue:我知道你在退休前是学校老师，后来当了校长。你当时在学校教什么课呢？在学校教书和滑雪学校教滑雪有什么相同之处呢？
Joe:我教5到8年级的很多课，比如数学和科学等。你在课堂上和滑雪学校做的事差不多。最开始，你找出他们想知道什么，想做什么，然后你评估他们能做什么，你和他们对于目标达成共识，然后从那开始，最后，你问，“恩，我们做得怎么样？”
Sue:滑雪似乎是你们家的一个传统。我听说你的女儿是在太浩湖山雪场(Sierra at Tahoe)结婚的，你拉着她从雪道上滑下去，把她交给新郎。这太酷啦！这个主意是谁的呢？你女儿滑雪是你教的吗？
Joe:婚礼的主意是她出的。她还小的时候我确实教她滑雪了。我的女儿和儿子后来都拿了三级教练证书。我儿子19岁就拿了顶级教练证书（那时候，系统和现在有点不一样，一共只有两级，他拿到了第二级，相当于现在的三级）（画外音：牛人都是一家子一家子的！）
(图片：雪场婚礼，来自网络）
Joe的故事就讲到这里。你的故事呢？不要和我说，我年纪大了，开始学什么太晚了，现在就开始吧！我们等着你，来书写属于你的人生传奇！
访谈的英文原文如下：
Sue: Summer is coming. I heard you like mountain biking. How often do you bike? Do you do other sports in summer?
Joe: I bike two days a week and hike one day a week. This year I plan to add paddle-boarding to the routine.
Sue: My parents have been trying to talk me out of skiing as they are afraid I will hurt myself. If I send you to talk to them, what would you tell them?
Joe: Life is dangerous, you may break your ankle even when walking down stairs. It is better to be active than not active.
Sue: I total agree! But they think I may try something less risky such as swimming and Taichi. I do swim but it is just not the same as skiing.
Joe: I understand where your parents came from. My grandson is good at both freestyle skiing and soccer. He has the potential to win scholarship for college through soccer. I kind of wish he does more soccer and less skiing as soccer is less risky. On the other hand, I also saw how skiing can light up a person’s life. I had a student who almost died of cancer. I felt so rewarding when I was able to help her enjoy the outside by skiing. It was also a lesson for me in being patient.
Sue: That’s right! I also remember the 70-year-old lady we taught together. Can you imagine someone at that age has the courage to try skiing the first time? It was so inspiring! Skiing does come with risks though. How do you control risk to avoid injury?
Joe: To me, the most important risk control strategy is to maintain your condition. I exercise 6 days a week. Besides biking and hiking I mentioned before, I also go to gym 3 days a week. In gym I do a combination of cardio, stretch and weight training. I also stretch at home as a morning routine after getting out of bed: the stretch routine combines some yoga movements and some movements I learned from Robin Barnes (Alpine demo team member) and Greg Lyons (PSIA west division director) earlier years. I also use a foam roller to help loosen up the muscles on the leg and back.
Sue: How did you discover the passion about skiing?
Joe: I started at age 23 when I got involved in kids ski program in the school district. I learned to ski and also teach kids of ten eleven years old to ski. I liked it immediately and never stopped since then.
Sue: Everybody is telling me level 3 certificate is very difficult to get. Where were the challenges for you and how did you overcome them?
Joe: I actually failed three times and decided to give up. I continued to practice though. I often followed the level 3 instructors to ski. One day I ran into Tim Rankins (Level 3 ski instructor and PSIA examiner) on the bumps, he asked me why I did not take level 3 exam. I told him I gave up. He said, you will pass this time. I went ahead and passed the exam. To me, medium radius turns on the bumps was a big challenge.
Sue: What kind of skiing do you enjoy the most? How many days do you ski in average each season?
Joe: I love to ski off-piste, and still ski off-piste a lot. However, when you get to a certain age, you back off a little. I used to be able to take any terrain, I choose not to do it anymore because you get older and you get wiser. In terms of number of days, average 40 to 50 days including those days for teaching.
Sue: I know you were a teacher and later a school principal before retirement. What subjects did you teach at school? What’s the similarity between teaching at school and teaching at ski school?
Joe: I taught fifth to eighth grade on many subjects such as math and science. You do the same thing in classroom and at ski school. First, you find out what they'd like to know and what they'd like to do. Then you assess what they can do, and you come to a mutual contract of what they'd like to accomplish in the lesson. You go from there, and then in the end, you say, 'Well, how did we do?'
Sue: Skiing appears to be a family tradition for your family. I heard that your daughter got married at Sierra at Tahoe and you skied down the runs with her to hand her over to the groom. That’s super cool. Who came up with this wedding idea? Were you the one who taught her to ski?
Joe: The wedding idea was hers. I did teach her to ski when she was little. Both my daughter and son are later level 3 certified. My son got full cert at age 19 (At that time, the system was different, there were only two levels, and he got the second level which is equivalent to the current level 3).
