Dr. Dennis Maehara, an ophthalmol-ogist who lives in Nu'uanu, has been surfing all his life. Now he's also an alpine ski racer.

What's unusual about that is that the Kalihi-born Farrington High School grad, who attended the John A. Burns School of Medicine and Tulane University, didn't start skiing until he was nearly 50 years old, when he took his three children on a family ski trip.

In spite of his age (he'll be 69 on Dec. 18), Maehara is on the Park City, Utah, Masters Ski Race team, competing in both giant slalom and Super-G, which combine speed, agility and a high level of technical expertise.

In September, Maehara competed for three weeks in Chile with skiers from all over the world. During an average year, he will take about seven ski trips, mainly to Park City.

Although he has won and placed in several races, Maehara said, "Winning is not the thing. You win a medal and you never look at it again. It sits on a shelf. The biggest thrill is being on that slope yourself. The course is set up so nicely. It's a real trip down."

Surfing and skiing are complementary in that both require balance. However, Maehara sees them as different sports. "Skiing is very technical, but surfing isn't," he said.

NUTRITIONALLY SPEAKING

Maehara said he is thin mainly because of genetics. However, he was diagnosed with high cholesterol and high blood pressure, so he eats a low-fat, low-salt diet, with plenty of fish and tofu and vegetables.

"Even if you're thin, you can still have a heart attack if you don't follow a good diet," he said. "Being thin, you may feel overconfident."

TRIP ADVICE

Maehara said Island folks who love to ski should consider the travel time when planning which resort to visit. To ski in Colorado, he said, requires arriving in Denver, then driving for at least a couple of hours. To get to Whistler requires two hours of driving from Vancouver. He is a big fan of Park City because, he said, it allows him the most time on the slopes. He takes the red-eye flight to Salt Lake City, arriving at 7:30 a.m. so he can ski the first day. On the last day, he can ski in the morning and fly home in the afternoon. He also mentioned that Alta Resort opens a ski lift from 3 to 4 p.m. free of charge, "so if you want, you can ski late."

All of Maehara's children still ski and snowboard, and he is chomping at the bit to get his grandson, Maximus Maehara, age 2 1/2, onto the slopes. That might have to wait another year or two.