This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Feb. 28)
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What Is It With February? Trapp Family XC Tour And Beer, XC Clothing That Works, Funny Keep-Warm Tips, Safety Survey, Mystery Celeb, Doing The Chutes At DV, Weather Next Week.
“The most serious charge which can be brought against New England is not Puritanism, but February. Spring is too far away to comfort even by anticipation, and winter long ago lost the charm of novelty. This is the very three a.m. of the calendar.” Joseph Wood Krutch
“Why does February feel like one big Tuesday?”
“While it is February one can taste the full joys of anticipation. Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch. ” Patience Strong
“February is the border between winter and spring.” Terri Guillemets
“Good morrow, Benedick. Why, what’s the matter,
That you have such a February face,
So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?” William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing
“Late February, and the air’s so balmy
snowdrops and crocuses might be fooled
into early blooming. Then, the inevitable blizzard
will come, blighting our harbingers of spring,
and the numbed yards will go back undercover.” Gail Mazur, “The Idea of Florida During a Winter Thaw,” The Common, 1995
“Late February days; and now, at last,
Might you have thought that winter’s woe was past;
So fair the sky was, and so soft the air.” William Morris, “February: Bellerophon in Lycia,” The Earthly Paradise: A Poem, 1870
February is the bridge we cross over into spring. It’s the month that hosts the mid-point of winter. You can feel the change happening in the longer hours of sunshine and the odd day that reaches far above average temperatures. To some, February’s end brings spring in the mountains, enjoying the snowpack with suntan lotion on nose and your extra layer tied around your waist or balled up in your pocket. To others, the burning need to get in some more swings and turns gets amped up: Gotta do it now because it’s all on a downhill calendar. Take that trip out West; it’s high season. To still others, the season’s end is just a couple of weekends away.
So, what is it with February? We’re halfway done, but there’s a whole other half ahead. Fifty percent of the season is about to unfold. And, in completely different ways than the first half. More sun, longer days, changing snow conditions. According to this season’s winter weather predictions, the forecasts were more or less on target. The West (minus California) has hit snow base records; the East continues to a be a swirl of snowy days, rain, warm temps, freezes, and repeat, exactly the “mixed, wet and wild” prediction that NOAA forecast.
The end of February signals one more big vacation week ahead to look forward to for the season. Spring Break brings the last waltz for a lot folks who don’t live close to resorts, who live near resorts whose snow bases are thin, who have boats to uncover, tennis leagues to form, bike rides to plan.
But wait.
February might be the middle, but March, ah, March, is the impish one, the spoiler with more days to work with, more volatility in the air, more history of being mischievous. Hope for a sudden, out of nowhere and strong Nor’easter to cover every ski hill from West Virginia to Maine, and you might get your wish. Yes, we can see Spring on the horizon in February, but no one can tell what March is up to, and that’s coming up next.
This Week
Nose cone fashion statement? Credit: Harriet Wallis
We rejoin our Incidents & Accidents series with the recounting of yet another hit-from-behind story. The lessons learned, however, might be a little more nuanced than the ones we’ve seen previously. Thanks to Arlene Condon Maginn for the report.
SeniorsSkiing.com is asking its readers to complete a survey provided by the Snowsports Safety Foundation, a non-profit that is seeking input on safety matters at ski resorts. Please offer your perspectives and opinions; this is a good cause. The survey is quite short, the questions are clear; shouldn’t take more than five minutes.
George and Jon at Alta.
Of all people, co-publisher Jon Weisberg bumped into the 103-year-old George Jedenoff, the legendary skier who is the senior-most senior skier of all. Check out Jon’s story about skiing with George at Alta this week.
Correspondent Pat McCloskey rips up the notion that Deer Valley is overly intermediate. Check out his story about handling the Daly Chutes at DV. The video is pretty cool, too.
New England-based correspondent Tamsin Venn visited the Trapp Family Lodge, toured up to a remote cabin, and returned to the Trapp Bierhall, all in one day. If you love Nordic skiing, or you want a break from Alpine, consider a cross-country vacation at either Trapp Family Lodge, or any other resort that caters to xc. For a listing of those, check out XCSkiResorts.com.
Northern VT mountain-scape on the way to the Slayton Lodge. Credit: Tamsin Venn
This week’s Mystery Glimpse is another relatively easy one. Name the famous television celeb on a visit with her family to the Mittersill Alpine Resort, Franconia, NH. We also reveal the name of the artist whose watercolor adorns the walls of the New England Ski Museum’s North Conway Branch. Not a Wyeth, but sorta close.
Utah-based correspondent Harriet Wallis has some fun with her “recipes” for handling cold noses and feet. Practical advice from some inventive senior skiers.
SeniorsSkiing.com’s cross-country editor and publisher of XCSkiResorts.com Roger Lohr offers his advice on the latest xc clothing to wear. As in, don’t wear your parka. There’s more.
Finally, Herb Stevens checks in with his view of what’s happening in the atmosphere. As we mentioned above, you can never tell what will happen in March, and Herb has a nascent Nor’easter on his scope for the end of the first week. Stay tuned. Click here for the outlook.
Thanks for reading SeniorsSkiing.com. Thanks for contributing to our February Fundraiser; premiums will be going out soon.
Tell your friends about us and remember, there are more of us every day and we aren’t going away.
Short Swings!
We get to the mountain, put on our boots, click into our skis and…you know the rest.
But how often do we stop to think about the people we rarely see; those who get the mountain ready for us and who keep it going?
Some will read this and tell themselves, “We pay for these services.”
My response is, “Yes, but take a moment to appreciate the people whose job it is to assure that you have a good experience.”
There are electricians who keep the lifts going and the lights on, and technicians who keep the snow guns running, That’s just to name a few.
We see some who prepare and serve food. But we rarely see the men and women plowing and maintaining the parking lots.
Patrol proactively stakes poles to warn us of hazards, control avalanches, and perform other dangerous tasks, all on our behalf.
Look up the hill at night, and you’ll see headlights from the grooming crew getting slopes and trails ready for the next day. Larger areas have late afternoon and graveyard shifts. Skill is required to operate those 10-ton mechanical behemoths. They groom in the dead of night in blizzard conditions when it’s impossible to see the trail’s edge. They groom steep slopes winching their cats around stanchions and groups of trees.
Last season, I spent an hour in a highly computerized mega-cat in the Dolomites. There, the entire trail network – which, end-to-end would extend from New York City to Chicago – is groomed every night by an armada of cats. The driver exhibited a quiet, professional pride as he explained his complicated nightly chores.
I left the cab with a new appreciation of what these unseen people do to make our skiing experience more pleasant.
The next time you go skiing, take a moment and look around. All the organization, safety measures, snow making, grooming, food prep, lift operators, reservations personnel – everything that makes up and maintains the infrastructure of what you’re about to enjoy – deserves our attention and our appreciation.
What would we do without them?
Alta Patrol Featured in New Short Video
Apropos of my thoughts on appreciating the people behind the scenes, click here to view a wonderful and informative video about Alta’s Ski Patrol. The area’s patrol has more than 80 men and women, with 20-30 working most days.
Helicopters Deliver Snow To French Resort
That’s just one piece of discouraging news about the impact of warming on the ski industry. Among other things, this CNN article reports on a study showing that by 2050, about one-half of the past Winter Olympics venues will be too warm to host the event.
Bumps in the Road Scholar Ski Offerings?
People tell me that they loved the Road Scholar alpine skiing trips. Good prices, convenient lodging, great camaraderie. A look at their current offerings shows one trip to Steamboat (CO) and another to Sunday River (ME). That’s much reduced from the days when Road Scholar had trips to numerous other areas. When I emailed the organization’s PR person to ask why these popular programs had been eliminated, she responded saying they currently offer 18 different ski programs and advised that I consult the Road Scholar website. There, I found a total of four skiing activities: the two aforementioned alpine trips and two X-C trips (VT and NY). She also said that Road Scholar is exploring new downhill destinations for 2021. We’ll see.
Vermont Adaptive To Build New Sugarbush Facility
Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports plans to build a new $2 million adaptive sports facility at Sugarbush Resort’s Mt. Ellen. The non-profit hopes to break ground in the spring. Friends and participants of Vermont Adaptive’s programs at Sugarbush have pledged a generous challenge to match every dollar up to $1 million for the facility. Donations may be made on Vermont Adaptive’s website.
PhotoEssay on Killington Snowmaking
Last weekend, The New York Times ran this informative photoessay about snowmaking at Killington in Vermont.
Mikaela Shiffrin Graces Cover of March Sports Illustrated
Skiing’s female rock star is dubbed “the world’s most dominant athlete” by SI. This is her third time on the cover. The first was leading up to the 2014 Olympics; the second, after she won slalom in those games. She is all of 24.
Video: Runaway Truck on Ramp
Drivers in mountainous areas are accustomed to seeing runaway truck ramps. They’re generally located on the right side of long downhill roads. Truckers and bus drivers experiencing brake failure can direct their rigs to these uphill emergency ramps that have sand or gravel beds to help slow them down. This recent video was shot on the west side of Eisenhower Tunnel on the Colorado stretch of I-70.
Ski Area Safety Survey
We know that on-snow safety is an issue for our readers. Please take a minute to weigh-in on the subject by participating in a survey from the SnowSport Safety Foundation. See the article about the survey in this issue or click here to go directly to the survey.
How To Wash Your Hands![]()
The New York Times just issued this video about hand-washing. It shows the technique advised by the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) and the slightly more rigorous and effective technique advised by the World Health Organization (WHO). A skiers’ hotel in Kitzbuhel closed because of coronavirus. Washing your hands correctly is a first line of defense.
Trapp Family Lodge: Some Favorite Nordic Things
[Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com is asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.]
Support SeniorsSkiing.com by clicking here.
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A Ski Tour At The Legendary Resort Winds Up With Craft Beer.
Northern VT mountain-scape on the way to the Slayton Pasture Cabin. Credit: Tamsin Venn
One of our favorite things to do at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT, is to ski up to Slayton Pasture Cabin, a three-mile steady climb.
The rewards are a screaming yippee-inducing downhill and a cozy cabin with a roaring fire, friendly fellow skiers, and hot chocolate, soup, and sandwiches.
The pasture is named after the farming family that once owned this hill-top acreage, a corner of the gorgeous 2,600 acres of rolling hills and meadows owned by the Trapp Family Lodge.
On a recent crisp mid-February day with new snowfall, nature presented a perfect Vermont day, sun shining through the trees, and impeccably groomed tracks. Every senior who likes to Nordic ski should do this trip.
Sam von Trapp, scion of the famous singing family, leads the tour up to Slayton Pasture Cabin. Credit: Tamsin Venn
Our guide was Sam von Trapp, son of Johannes, youngest of the singing family’s siblings. Sam exudes enthusiasm—for the trails, his family’s business, land, guests, Nordic guides, and epic ski races. He actually waited for us to catch up, then told entertaining stories while we caught our breath.
It was Johannes armed with a masters’ degree from the Yale Forestry School and, with the aide of a Norwegian XC director from Oslo who cut the lovely rolling loops through the woods and fields, created the first commercial Nordic center in the country in 1968.
We reached the cabin via Yerrick’s Yodel to the newly named Hissy Fit trail to Chris’ Run. The sign that marks the half way point to the cabin has been removed for motivational reasons. The official record time from the Outdoor Center to the cabin is 17 minutes 11 seconds, according to von Trapp.
On the way down, follow Haul Road, Chute Bypass, Triple Bypass, cross Luce Hill Road, to Luce Trail, to Lager Lane, and you have arrived. At the Bierhall!
Here the spacious setting offers Austrian fare for lunch and dinner. Dishes like the chicken schnitzel and the Johannesburger, made from the Trapps’ own grass-fed beef await. We sampled the new Berliner Weissbier “test batch,” just out of the brewery. It’s going to market later this month.
Sam and Johannes at the brewery. Beer and XC skiing make a natural combo. Credit: Tamsin Venn
Ever the visionary, Johannes started the brewery in 2010, when the craft beer movement was gaining froth. The goal was to brew crisp, clean craft lagers like the ones the family tasted on trips back to Austria. First opened in a retro-fitted bakery on the property, the brand new 36,000-square-foot brewery that you see today followed, so positive was the response.
A shuttle will take you back to the Outdoor Center. Just ask the host at the Bierhall to request the ride. If you still have some energy left snowshoe the red trail up to the Stone Chapel that Werner von Trapp built. Snowshoeing is increasingly popular here with dedicated trails, another favorite thing.
The facts: 100 km of XC, snowshoe, and backcountry trails on more than 2,500 acres. 36 miles are groomed,
Passes: Senior day $20. Senior Ski Season (65 plus) $185. Senior couples $300.
If you energy to spare, snow shoe over to the Stone Chapel, built by Werner von Trapp. Credit: Tamsin Venn
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