PSIA Podcast: Not Just for Pros
The Fall Line with Chaos and Company is a podcast hosted by PSIA Alpine Education staff members, Dave Capron and Angelo Ross. Now in Season 2, the podcast is usually about an hour long and features conversations with ski industry leaders with something to say. You don’t have to be a ski instructor to reap the podcast’s benefits. Angelo happens to be a friend with whom I’ve skied for a long time.
A recent one features PSIA Alpine Team Coach Michael Rogan. His knowledge of skiing is extensive. When asked about his thoughts on the World Cup, Michael says that watching the races with a discerning eye can be informing, even for amateurs. The winners have good connection to the snow, a keen sense of where the fall line is, and when the turn should happen. He goes on to say that any turn after the fall line or outside of the fall line with poor connection to the snow will lead to “the wrong side of the clock.”
He mentions that Penn State was contracted to develop a standardized certification process for ski instruction that hopefully will eliminate the variance of expectations that exists between divisions of PSIA. In other words, no matter where a candidate would take an exam to be certified in ski instruction, the same protocol would be followed, thus eliminating nuanced legacy behavior among examiners in PSIA that sometimes can lead to biases impacting how candidates succeed.
Click on the image above to listen to The Fall Line with Chaos and Company. Or click here to connect with the entire catalog of podcasts.
It’s interesting dialog that will ready you for the season and, in general, make you better informed.
This Week
Even though senior skiers ski more and spend more per capita on skiing than younger generations, there’s a perception throughout the industry that the older cohort is made up of tight wads taking up otherwise valuable space in the day lodge. Jon touches on the issue in this week’s Short Swings! column.
In his typical light and informative style, Skiing Weatherman, Herb Stevens, presents a clear picture of the forecast for snow country.
Henry David Thoreau wasn’t a skier, but, as Mike Maginn writes, Winter presents an excellent opportunity to visit Walden Pond on XC skis and contemplate how the naturalist/philosopher/poet spent his time there.
Staying on the topic of XC skiing, Roger Lohr explains the basics for newcomers to select a functional XC package. Very good advice.
Also in the Department of Good Advice, Bob Trueman offers guidance for coping with the dreaded Day 3 slump.
Harriet Wallis reports on Brighton’s tree nursery and it’s Ski With an Arborist program.
And Jackson Hogen explains what to do and what not to do to keep your binding functioning effectively.
Finally, check out this issue’s Test Your Skiing Knowledge feature. The winner will receive a one-year subscriiption to Outside+, will full access to the new Warren Miller film, magazine subscriptions, and lots of other goodies.
Note that the next issue of SeniorsSkiing.com will be issued Friday, December 3. In the interim, my wife and I will be moving permanently from East Coast to Salt Lake City, where the condo that’s been under renovation since June, won’t be ready for yet a few more months. Chalking this up to the challenges of managing contractors from a 2250 mile distance.
Short Swings!
Many in the ski resort industry harbor an image of older skiers taking up otherwise profitable space in day lodges while consuming their bag lunches and lingering over a cup of coffee. I take offense at that stereotype. I prefer a cup of hot tea to coffee and I take my own teabag from home.
Clearly, the facility makes more selling beers than charging $0.25 for a cup of hot water. And, like it one not, a few lunchtime drafts are more likely to produce on-hill crashes than coffee or tea.
On a recent trip to the skateboard park with my grandson, I realized that good pre-season safety training might involve dodging boarders while wandering through the half-pipe.
Most areas have well-known secret places where skiers and boarders go for a bowl. Some claim it gives them greater awareness and control. I can see it working that way in mature minds and bodies. But teenage boarder boys and girls? Those are accidents waiting to happen.
Which brings me back to what we quote most from that American patriot, Spiro Agnew. I don’t intend to be a nattering nabob of negativism but looking at the hypocrisy in the industry (what industry, government, institution doesn’t have its fair share of hypocrisy?), all I’m asking is that the people in charge recognize that older skiers are a good thing. We keep their lifts occupied mid-week. We ski more. We make more skiing-related purchases for ourselves, our kids and our grandkids. We tend to ski in control and show consideration for others on the lift, in the lodge, and on the hill.
Rodney Dangerfield
Most of us have supported the industry through bad and good times. Yet, they keep taking away the discounts and other privileges. The majority of those still offering discounts have upped the age threshold…most now at 80; some as high as 90. It’s not that we need the discounts, but it would be nice to have greater respect. Rodney Dangerfield was right.
Killington Now Skiing
Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard destination in Eastern North America launched its 2021-22 winter season last Friday. It was the first Eastern resort to open for skiing and boarding.
Steamboat’s $269 Lift Ticket
Steamboat Ski Resort (CO), announced that a holiday/weekend day ticket will cost $269 when purchased at the window that day. Last season, Steamboat upped its day pass to $225 from $199. Most skiers will purchase in advance at a lower rate or ski Steamboat on their Ikon pass.
What a Run!
Markus Eder is an Italian freestyle skier of great nerve and grace. This 10 minute video shows him negotiating some remarkable terrain. Enjoy the show.
Ski Maps Galore
Remember the area ski maps of your youth? Skimap.org is a site with 16779 images of ski area maps. For example, listings for Mount Snow in southern Vermont shows more than 50 maps from 1957 to 2021. The Americas shows 8849 maps; Europe, 5100; Asia, 1633. There’s even 232 maps for fantasy ski areas shown. Viewers can upload maps after registering.
Reality TV at Mount Baldy
Given the ski area labor shortage, it made sense that the CBS reality TV series, Tough As Nails, would have its two teams race to fix chairs at Southern California’s Mount Baldy ski area. It broadcasts as Episode 2 of the show’s third season. Click here to preview.
Snowbird Patrol
Safety Keepers, produced with support from Mammut, documents a day in the life of two Snowbird patrol people. It’s short and worth watching.
Ski Area Map Making Made Easy
Here’s a fun time-lapse video of ski trail map artist, Kevin Mastin, painting Tennesee Creek Basin at Ski Cooper (CO).
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