This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Oct. 18)
Stirring The Pot: Reaction To Ski Collision Article Signals Concern From Senior Skiers.
We get letters. Do we! Well, not letters, but comments. A couple of weeks ago, we published an article by SeniorsSkiing.com correspondent and XCSkiResorts.com publisher Roger Lohr recounting a hit-and-run collision that left him with ongoing back pain. Obviously, that article struck a sore point: Our readers had a lot of passion about on-slope safety.
Out-of-control skiing was also a top grievance we identified through last spring’s Annual Survey.
Based on the energy expressed in your responses, we decided to ask the National Ski Patrol what the official policy was regarding speeding skiers. At press-time, we have learned the NPS and NSAA are coordinating to respond. We will publish their response as soon as we receive it. On the other hand, we did hear from some readers who were in fact current or former NSP patrollers. The general drift of their comments was: We warn when we can, we can’t be everywhere, policing is not a primary role. So, role clarity is apparently missing here; many readers expressed that they expected the NPS to lift tickets. Clearly, clarity is needed.
On the other hand, our readers had many interesting and novel ideas for controlling the inconsiderate and rude skier. Here is a loose summary of some of those ideas:
- Put up signs warning against speeding and its consequences
- Indoctrinate new skiers to rules in ski lessons
- Update the Skier’s Code of Responsibility
- Bring the issue to resort owners at the NSAA (National Ski Areas Association)
- Put in speed bumps at run-outs and trail intersections
- Practice personal situation awareness; check your six
- Enforce the rules
- Sue until it hurts
Meanwhile, SeniorsSkiing.com co-publisher Jon Weisberg has connected with Dr. Dan Gregoire, head of the SnowSport Safety Foundation, a non-profit whose mission is to encourage concerned skiers to advocate for skiing safety. The organization issues safety report cards for selected resorts. See Jon’s Short Swings article this week for more details.
We have some other ideas about raising consciousness about this issue in the ski industry. One of those is asking our readers to share their experiences with others in a new feature tentatively called “Incidents and Accidents”. We will keep you in the loop as this develops.
This Week
time you skied?
We hear from UK-based Bob Trueman about his advice for seniors returning to skiing after a hiatus. We know there are many newly retired seniors who want to get back to the sport they loved before career and family drained away their time. With new and open calendars, they are checking out what’s new. Bob’s advice is most interesting, different, and useful.
Co-publisher Jon Weisberg reviews the Apex boot, an innovative change to the classic ski boot. The Apex is proving very popular with seniors because it is comfortable. But how does it ski? Check out his thoughts here.
Our Mystery Glimpse this week goes apres ski. Check out the picture and the answer to last week’s mystery. We told you those guys shooting M1s in the snow wasn’t what you thought. Find out here.
Thanks to SnowBrains.com for pointing this next one out. We are publishing a retro music video of John Denver singing and skiing “Dancing To The Mountains”. Check out his groove as he skis what we think is Aspen, sans helmet but with a lot of hair spray.
Thanks again for reading SeniorsSkiing.com. Get ready to head to ski shows and grab some bargains: gear, clothing, ticket deals.
Please tell your friends, and remember there are more of us every day, and we aren’t going away.
Short Swings!
A subscriber recently brought to my attention the SnowSport Safety Foundation, a non-profit, with the mission to encourage and enable ski area safety improvement through research, education and public access to reliable safety information.
Dan Gregorie, MD, MsM, Trustee, Founder, President, SnowSport Safety Foundation
It was conceived by Dan Gregorie, after losing his adult daughter in a terrible snowboard accident at Alpine Meadows. Dan, a Physician Executive, Board Certified in Internal Medicine, set up the foundation to research the issue and to encourage greater transparency regarding safety procedures, accident reporting, etc.
When we spoke, he explained that the resort industry has no requirements to disclose information about accidents. In fact, other than the mechanical operation of lifts, the ski resort industry has virtually no safety regulation, government oversight, or accident/injury reporting requirements.
He and his team have made impressive progress identifying safety issues and developing a protocol for evaluating the safety profile of individual areas. The foundation’s website lists safety scores for the California and Nevada resorts. It also lists a decade of Colorado resort fatality stats.
The website encourages concerned skiers to become advocates with area management and local and state authorities.
We’ll have more about the work of the SnowSports Safety Foundation in future issues.
On a related note, a reader alerted us that last season he noticed that Vail posted “…the number of lift passes they voided for reckless and dangerous skiing.” I emailed Vail to learn more and to see if this is something they are doing or plan to do at their other resorts. Will report when I hear back.
If you’re aware of what areas are doing to improve on-snow safety, please email me (jon@SeniorsSkiing.com) or post them in Comments.
Prediction: Snow to Favor Eastern Canada
Accuweather, which is said to make highly accurate weather forecasts, predicts that Quebec and Ontario will experience a snowy winter.
A-Basin is First to Open
Arapaho Basin opened last Friday. Keystone was running on Saturday.
Wolf Creek’s 80th
Wolf Creek will be celebrating it’s 80th season. You’ll see in our list of North American resorts with big bargains for seniors (look for it next week), that Wolf Creek has good day ticket prices if you’re 65; once you hit 80, its free.
Lotsa Flights to Big Sky
Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN), gateway to Big Sky, has 13 daily non-stops to Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco.
Artificial Skiing on Copenhagen Power Plant Roof
Copenhill is the artificial ski run on the roof of a new trash-to-energy facility in Copenhagen. It uses a magic carpet lift. The same architectural firm has designed a hotel in Western Switzerland with a zigzag skiable roof.
Alan Engen to be Recognized at University of Utah’s Annual Ski Affair
Alan K. Engen, retired Director of Skiing Services at Alta, will be honored at the 29th Annual Ski Affair, November 5 in Salt Lake City. Alan, a member of the SeniorsSkiing.com Advisory Council, is a highly celebrated skier. Among many other accomplishments, he was an All-American skier in college for the University of Utah and has been inducted to several Halls of Fame, including the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame (2004). As a ski ski historian he authored the award-winning book, For the Love of Skiing – A Visual History (1998) and co-authored First Tracks – A Century of Skiing in Utah (2001). He is Chairman Emeritus of the Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation; Chairman of the Alta Historical Society, and a former member of the board of directors for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum. More on Alan and his many contributions to the world of skiing in the coming weeks.
Comic John Pinette on Skiing
I got a kick watching this 2 minute video of comic John Pinette talking about his adventure on skis.
John Denver Ski Music Video
“Dancing With The Mountains” Ode To The Lure of Skiing.
“Dancing With The Mountains”
Everybody’s got the dancing fever, everybody loves to rock and roll.
Play it louder baby, play is faster, funky music’s gotta stretch your soul.
Just relax and let the rhythm take you, don’t you be afraid to lose control.
If your heart has found some empty spaces,
Dancing’s just the thing to make you whole.
I am one who dances with the mountains. I am one who dances in the wind.
I am one who dances on the ocean,
my partner’s more than pieces, more than friends.
Were you there the night they lost the lightning?
Were you there the day the earth stood still?
Did you see the famous and the fighting? Did you hear the prophet tell his tale?
We are one when dancing with the mountains.
We are one when singing in the wind.
We are one when thinking of each other
More than partner’s, more than pieces, more than friends.
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