“Skiiing: I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of a hill”
“I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of a hill” is a jocular anti-skiing saying that has been printed on many images. The quote was made by American humorist Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) in 1981.
This was printed in the South Bend (IN) Tribune and many other newspapers on March 2, 1981:
“QUOTE OF THE DAY: Syndicated newspaper columnist Erma Bombeck recently sent ‘regrets’ to John Denver, who asked that she participate in his Pro-Am Ski Tournament at Lake Tahoe: ‘I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of a hill!’”
Wikipedia: Erma Bombeck
Erma Louise Bombeck (née Fiste; February 21, 1927 – April 22, 1996) was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper column that described suburban home life from the mid-1960s until the late 1990s. Bombeck also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers. From 1965 to 1996, Erma Bombeck wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns, using broad and sometimes eloquent humor, chronicling the ordinary life of a midwestern suburban housewife. By the 1970s, her columns were read twice-weekly by 30 million readers of the 900 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.
2 March 1981, South Bend (IN) Tribune, “People,” pg. 2, col. 4:
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Syndicated newspaper columnist Erma Bombeck recently sent “regrets” to John Denver, who asked that she participate in his Pro-Am Ski Tournament at Lake Tahoe: “I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of a hill!”
Google Books
The Reader’s Digest
Volume 121
1982
Pg. 144:
Erma Bombeck’s r.s.v.p. to a pro-am ski tournament: “I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of a hill.” — l.iz Smith, Tribune Company Syndicate
Google Books
Tweet This Book:
The 1,400 Greatest Quotes of All Time in 140 Characters Or Less
Compiled and edited by Sayre Van Young and Marin Van Young
Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press
2011
Pg. 150:
Skiing
I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of a hill.
Erma Bombeck.
Google Books
Excuses for All Occasions:
Alibis Apologies and Cop-Outs That Can Get You Out of (or Into) Trouble
By Steven D. Price
New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing
2012
Pg. ?:
“I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of a hill.” —Erma Bombeck on skiing
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QuotesDotNet
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New Quote by Erma Bombeck: “I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of a hill.” - https://www.quotes.net/quote/74685
11:38 PM - 17 May 2019