This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Jan. 31)
Annual Fundraiser Starts, John Fry, Mystery Team, DV Multi-Generationals, Weather Coming, Start Drinking.
If it’s Ground Hog Day, it must mean SeniorsSkiing.com is launching its annual fundraiser. This time around, we have three levels of premiums to consider:
- $65: A super duper SeniorsSkiing.com tote bag, rugged and ready for ski trips, plus SeniorsSkiing.com patches and stickers.
- $35: SeniorsSkiing.com highly coveted sew-on patches and stickers.
- $25: SeniorsSkiing.com popular stickers with our Mountain Man logo.
Why a fundraiser? The short answer is that our subscriber base and editorial projects been growing and expanding, leading to increased expenses for emailing, software licenses, web design, hosting, not to mention administrative, marketing promotion, and, yes, even postage.
A couple of years ago, we thought that SeniorsSkiing.com should be offered on a paid subscription basis. When we pressed on that idea, we realized it would be a huge hassle to manage log-ons, passwords, cyber security, customer service, and lots more, representing a whole other set of tasks that distract from editorial. So, we adopted a fundraising model, just like National Public Radio. We offer free access, and you can choose to support us if we are providing you with interesting, useful, and entertaining content. We hope you do.
We are in the exact middle of SeniorsSkiing.com’s sixth publishing year. We’ve come a long way with your support and help. Thanks for making a donation.
Click Here To Support SeniorsSkiing.com
Or
Mail A Check To SeniorsSkiing.com, Box 416, Hamilton,MA. 01936
This Week
John Fry. Credit: SKI Magazine
We lost John Fry, a ski journalist, innovator, historian, and member of both the US and Canadian ski halls of fame. He had just turned 90 when he passed away on vacation in Puerto Rico. Click here for a look at his long life in snow sports.
Our West Coast correspondent Rose Marie Cleese reminds us to start drinking and stretching before we head out. Lack of hydration is the bane of seniors, as our own physician once said, “Most seniors are walking around in a state of dehydration.” And tight, too. It makes sense to do wake up those hamstring and quads, too. Click here to drink up.
Correspondent Tamsin Venn recounts her trip to Deer Valley with her millennial family who dropped their “Ok Boomer” attitudes and wound up loving the resort. Here’s her report on DV.
Our Mystery Glimpse asks you to identify the members of a US Ski Team, and we reveal the previous week’s picture was the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, the venerable, silver-mining relic that had celebrities and scoundrels galore in residence. Click here to see the Mystery.
Skiing Weatherman Herb Stevens previews the second half of the season. He’s optimistic there is much more to come. Check out his analysis here.
Thanks for reading SeniorsSkiing.com. Tell your friends, and remember, there are more of us every day, and we aren’t going away.
Short Swings!
This week’s column is devoted to asking you to donate to SeniorsSkiing.com.
When Mike and I started the publication in 2014, we had no idea that this free, weekly digital magazine would become so popular.
Most of you are US-based, but each week, SeniorsSkiing.com gets emailed to readers in Canada, throughout the EU, Australia, and New Zealand.
It takes a lot of time and costs quite a bit to do this. We don’t pay contributors or ourselves. But we do have considerable back office and related expenses. Some of this is defrayed by our handful of advertisers.
We are asking for your help so we can continue to advance the interests of older snow sport enthusiasts. We do this by publishing relevant and useful information; encouraging an engaged, online community, and advocating on your collective behalf.
Through SeniorsSkiing.com Reader Surveys, you informed us of your deep concerns about being hit by younger, reckless skiers and boarders. As a result, we introduced the Incidents and Accidents feature and are running a series on how ski areas deal with (or don’t deal with) the problem.
We’ve also learned about the important role grandparents play in introducing their grandkids to the sport. This is an important understanding at a time when the ski industry is trying to attract newcomers.
Please help.
Every donor will receive SeniorsSkiing.com stickers. Readers donating a minimum of $65 will receive a terrific tote bag to carry their ski accessories. They’ll also get a sew-on SeniorsSkiing patch. Donations of $35 will receive the sew-on patch, $25 will get our Mountain Man stickers.
Click here to link to the digital donation page or send a check to: SeniorsSkiing.com, Box 416, Hamilton, MA 01936.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
It’s Primary Season in New Hampshire. Time to Go Skiing!
That’s the title of an article in last Sunday’s New York Times in which veteran political journalist, David M. Shribman, explains how his two favorite sports – politics and skiing – are easily exercised and covered in New Hampshire. Click here to link.
Downhill: New Film Starring Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Downhill is the name of a feature film starring Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The comedy will be released February 14. They and their kids are on a ski holiday in the Alps, when an avalanche strikes, forcing them to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other. Based on the brief description and the trailer, it looks like a Hollywood remake of Force Majeur, the Swedish comedy-drama from 2014.
New Liftless Area in Colorado
Bluebird Backcountry is the name of the nation’s first liftless ski area. The 1500 acre area is located between Kremmling and Steamboat Springs. It will open Feb 15 for a “test season.” Amenities include patrol for medical emergencies, warming huts, and backcountry gear rentals and lessons.
Half of US population Doesn’t Recreate Outdoors
Outdoor Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Outdoor Industry Association, released its latest Outdoor Participation Report. The good news is that about half the U.S. population participated in some form of outdoor recreation in 2018. The bad news?
- Less than 20 percent recreated outside at least once a week.
- Americans went on one billion fewer outdoor outings in 2018 than they did in 2008.
- Kids went on 15 percent fewer annual outings in 2018 than they did in 2012.
The report also shows a continued gap between the diversity of outdoor participants and the diversity of the U.S. population; more specifically, non-Caucasian ethnic groups reported going on far fewer outings in 2018 than they did five years ago.
Another finding: of the people who report they participate in outdoor activity, 63 percent report they go outside within 10 miles of their home.
Essential Product for Bad Air
Vogmask is a breathing mask that, unfortunately, will become essential gear as air quality declines and we run into health isses such as the coronavirus. The Korean import carries an N-95 rating, which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for most cases of air contamination. These filters are designed to seal tightly around mouth and nose and are made of material certified to block 95% of particles roughly the size of a single virus. Vogmasks come in a variety of sizes and are designed to fit closely around nose and mouth. One version has a single valve to facilitate exhaling; another carries two valves. They are attractive, washable and reusable. Older skiers living in the Salt Lake Valley or other locations where air quality often is compromised by frequent inversions would be prudent to visit the Vogmask website.
X-Games Postponed Due To Coronavirus
Chongli Ski Resort
Forbes reports that ESPN’s first-ever X Games winter event on Chinese soil, has been postponed until a later date, due to continued coronavirus concerns.
X Games Chongli was scheduled to be held February 21-23 at the Secret Garden ski resort in Chongli district within the city of Zhangjiakou.
SeniorsSkiing.com’s Winter Fundraiser Begins
We’re Asking For Your Support; Contribute And Get A Cool Premium.
Patches!
SeniorsSkiing.com is in the middle of our sixth publishing year. We are gratified and proud that our online magazine has clearly found an audience that resonates with our editorial content and our advertisers. Our new Incidents & Accidents feature has clearly struck a nerve, and we will continue to examine how unmonitored skiers and boarders are impacting senior skiers, and what can be done to mitigate these errant resort customers. Our skilled group of international, professional correspondents bring you a variety of articles from instructional tips, equipment comments, resort reviews, personality profiles, nostalgia, and popular features like Mystery Glimpse and Ask The Expert. Our directory of those resorts that offer free or deeply discounted tickets and passes seniors is completely unique. Our listing of ski recommendations in conjunction with Jackson Hogan’s realskier.com is a fall favorite.
Stickers!
All of this and more comes to you weekly for free.
And we’ve grown in subscribers and advertisers. With that growth comes increased expenses. You can help us defray some of those expenses by helping us with a donation.
Please consider a donation; in return, we offer exciting SeniorsSkiing.com premiums.
Tote Bag!
For $65 or more, you get a SeniorsSkiing.com tote bag, our top choice for the best way to keep all of your ski stuff in one, portable place, and to show your support for SeniorsSkiing.com. Made of durable, water-resistant polycanvas, it is 19.5” wide, 15” high, and expands by 7.5”. Use it to store and carry gloves, mittens, liners, hand warmers, sun screen, lip balm, extra tops and socks, a change of clothes, you name it. It has a good-sized zippered interior pocket to keep ski passes, cell phone, etc. The entire bag zips up to make a neat package for the back of the car or to carry on board. It features sturdy sewn hand straps and a clip-on nylon shoulder strap.
For $35, we’ll send you two coveted SeniorsSkiing.com sew-on patches with a bold battle cry, “Liv 2 Ski” and two SeniorsSkiing.com stickers.
For $25, you’ll get two SeniorsSkiing.com stickers with our “Mountain Man” logo, one for each ski.
To Make A Donation, Click Here.
[authors_page role=contributor]