Short Swings!
I know that some people don’t get attached to ideas, things or each other. But it must be rare.
I was 10 when skiing entered my life, and I’ve been playing in mountains and snow ever since. At first, Mount Snow in Southern Vermont was the center of my winter universe. Then it was that state’s Stowe and Killington.
In the early 70s my new bride and I visited Alta for the first time. It’s the classic ski resort at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon, just outside of Salt Lake City. We were there for a week. There’s hardly a season since that I haven’t returned.
There are other great areas, some with bigger terrain, more sophisticated lifts, and other bells and whistles. I’ve skied many of them and hope to ski many more.
Alta keeps pulling me back.
The obvious reasons are accessibility, snow, and terrain.
But there are more subtle things that are part of Alta’s draw. There is a unique Alta culture that understands and appreciates its rich history, its remarkable beauty, and, for those who know and love it, it’s essence.
Over the years I’ve skied most of the area, but some places were out of my reach and, at this age, will remain that way.
Utah’s license plate reads “Greatest Snow on Earth.” Of its 14 resorts, Alta consistently receives the most. The 2010-11 season delivered 724″. Last season snow depths totalled 626″. This season, to date, Alta has more than 355″. Click here for its annual totals.
Most people drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon for the day. Unfortunately, as the Salt Lake Valley population grows, that 8 mile drive can take a long time. It took me 90 minutes a few weeks ago. Powder days require a very early start.
In the 47 years of skiing Alta, I’ve stayed at each of its five lodges. The Alta Lodge and The Rustler are favorites. The old Snowpine Lodge was Spartan-like. I have yet to try its posh replacement. Goldminer’s Daughter and Alta Peruvian each have their own charm.
If you’re an Alta regular, you’ll understand. If you’ve never been or haven’t been in a while, it’s time to go. Like everything else, Alta is destined to change. But because it is Alta, when it does, it will only add to the magic.
Masterfit Buyers Guide
The new Masterfit Buyer’s Guide provides comprehensive guidance on the best choices in 2019-20 skis, boots, bindings, poles, insoles, and kid’s gear. The free, 105-page guide is chock full of valuable information explaining what to buy and how to buy it. It was put together by an all-star team of reviewers and writers who, for years, worked for the nation’s top ski magazines. My strong recommendation: make the Masterfit Buyer’s Guide a “favorite” on your computer (click here for the link). It will be useful the next time you’re considering a purchase. And while you’re there, check out the SeniorsSkiing.com ad on Page 106.
Is Apple iWatch Anti-Skiing?
A few iWatch obsessives I know say the device’s “Workouts” function shows “Snowsports” and “Snowboarding,” but not “Skiing.” Can anyone out there disprove it or explain why?
New Name for Ski and Snowboard Expos
The Denver and Boston Ski and Snowboard Expos have been renamed Snowbound. This year’s Denver event is scheduled for November 6-8; Boston’s is scheduled for November 19-22.
Pico Hosts Blind Skiers
This weekend, more than 30 athletes who are blind or have visual impairments will learn to ski with Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports during the 13th anniversary of the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) Winter Ski Festival at Pico Mountain. Click here for more info.
Skiing History’s New Issue Now Available
The January-February 2020 issue of Skiing History is online. If you’re a member of the International Skiing History Association (ISHA), a hard copy is on its way to your mail box. If you’d like a free digital copy, click on the ISHA advertisement on the SeniorsSkiing.com home page.
Mikaela Shiffrin’s Father Dies in Roof Fall
75-Year Old Uphill Skier Profiled in New York Times
Sharon Crawford, 75, a multisport athlete from Frisco, Colorado, is an uphill skier. he Times profiled her participation in the Breckenridge Ascent Series, which, took her from Breckenridge’s 9,600′ base up 1,500′ vertical on a black diamond. The fastest racer completed the course in 32 minutes. Crawford clocked in at 1 hour 2 minutes. Click here for complete story.
Fantastic Gift For Young Mothers To Be
Mountain Marsupial 4-in-1 Jacket
Mountain Marsupial is a 4-in-1 jacket that can be worn while baby carrying in the front, on the back, and while pregnant. It caught my eye last week at the SIA/OR Snow Show. The jacket lists for $239. If you’re looking for an attractive, functional gift for a pregnant someone or a recent Mom, click here.
Snow In Literature: Hemingway In The Voralberg, 1920-30s
[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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Esquire Magazine Published “The Snows Of Kilimanjaro” 84 Years Ago. We Celebrate With An Excerpt.
In Ernest Hemingway’s story, “The Snows Of Kilimanjaro”, the main character, Harry, a writer on safari with his rich wife, lies dying on a cot, his leg gangrenous from a thorn cut he neglected to treat. He reflects on his writing and his wasted talent, dissolute lifestyle and the few incidents in his life that could have redeemed him from failure. Several times he drifts into an internal monologue where he writes in his mind what he could have written, but never did. Here is Harry’s remembrance of skiing in Austria after the war. These scenes are considered autobiographical, reflecting Hemingway’s own excursions and experience of skiing in the 20s and 30s in the Voralberg region. You can read the whole story by clicking here.
Madlern Haus in the Austrian Alps, circa 1930s
From “The Snows Of Kilimanjaro”
Ernest Hemingway skiing in the 1920s.
In Schrunz, on Christmas day, the snow was so bright it hurt your eyes when you looked out from the Weinstube and saw every one coming home from church. That was where they walked up the sleigh-smoothed urine-yellowed road along the river with the steep pine hills, skis heavy on the shoulder, and where they ran down the glacier above the Madlenerhaus, the snow as smooth to see as cake frosting and as light as powder and he remembered the noiseless rush the speed made as you dropped down like a bird.
They were snow-bound a week in the Madlenerhaus that time in the blizzard playing cards in the smoke by the lantern light and the stakes were higher all the time as Herr Lent lost more. Finally he lost it all. Everything, the Skischule money and all the season’s profit and then his capital. He could see him with his long nose, picking up the cards and then opening, “Sans Voir.” There was always gambling then. When there was no snow you gambled and when there was too much you gambled. He thought of all the time in his life he had spent gambling.
But he had never written a line of that, nor of that cold, bright Christmas day with the mountains showing across the plain that Barker had flown across the lines to bomb the Austrian officers’ leave train, machine-gunning them as they scattered and ran. He remembered Barker afterwards coming into the mess and starting to tell about it. And how quiet it got and then somebody saying, ”You bloody murderous bastard.”
Those were the same Austrians they killed then that he skied with later. No not the same. Hans, that he skied with all that year, had been in the Kaiser Jagers and when they went hunting hares together up the little valley above the saw-mill they had talked of the fighting on Pasubio and of the attack on Perticara and Asalone and he had never written a word of that. Nor of Monte Corona, nor the Sette Communi, nor of Arsiero.
Alpine town Bludenz, long a skiing and hiking center in the Voralberg.
How many winters had he lived in the Voralberg and the Arlberg? It was four and then he remembered the man who had the fox to sell when they had walked into Bludenz, that time to buy presents, and the cherry-pit taste of good kirsch, the fast-slipping rush of running powder-snow on crust, singing ”Hi! Ho! said Rolly!’ ‘ as you ran down the last stretch to the steep drop, taking it straight, then running the orchard in three turns and out across the ditch and onto the icy road behind the inn. Knocking your bindings loose, kicking the skis free and leaning them up against the wooden wall of the inn, the lamplight coming from the window, where inside, in the smoky, new-wine smelling warmth, they were playing the accordion.
Voralberg region, Austrian Alps, was visited by Hemingway and friends.
Mystery Glimpse: Fast Lady
[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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Nice Sweater, But Who Is She?
Looks like a balmy day on the snow with this speeding skier, sans cap and a big sweater. And hmmm, that flag. This week’s pic comes from Jamie Storrs at Peak Resorts who has opened their archives for SeniorsSkiing.com.
Credit: Thad Quimby, Peak Resorts
Last Week
Thanks again to Dana Mathios, Curator and Director of Collections, Colorado Snowsports Museum, for the description. This photo shows the 1972 U.S. Alpine Ski Team. Colorado heroes include Hank Kashiwa, Rick Chaffee, and Whit Sterling.
Hank Kashiwa was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1967 to 1972. He won the 1969 US National Championships and competed in the 1970 World Championships in Val Gardena, Italy. After racing in the 1972 Olympics in Japan, he starred in the Pro Circuit from 1972 to 1981 and won the World Pro title in 1975. He later served as President of the Volant Ski Corporation, a Boulder-based ski manufacturer. Hank was inducted into the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame in 1994.
Other 1972 US Alpine Ski Team members included Bob Cochran, David Currier, Terry Palmer, Tyler Palmer, Karen Budge, Marilyn Cochran, Susan Corrock (placed third in Downhill), Barbara Cochran (who won the Slalom), Sandy Poulsen , and Patty Boydstun.
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