Short Swings!
What about that Big Dump last week in the West!!!!!!
If you’re like me — waiting for the first signs of Winter — the season is now on its way.
These areas plan to open in October:
- Wolf Creek, CO – 13th October
- Killington, VT – 19th October
- Sunday River, ME – 19th October
- Arapahoe Basin, CO – 20th October
- Loveland, CO – 20th October
- Wild Mountain Ski and Snowboard Area, MN – 20th October
- Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, NV – 20th October
- Mount Snow, VT – 20th October
- Wildcat Mountain, NH – 27th October
SeniorsSkiing.com is now publishing every Friday.
Two big issues for senior skiers surfaced in recent reader surveys.
-
One is your interest in finding contemporaries with whom you can ski.
-
The other is being hit by reckless and out-of-control skiers and boarders.
To address finding skiing buddies, I’ve asked a digital-cartographer friend and avid skier to help us identify a meeting place that could apply to all ski areas. The idea is to set a time (e.g. 10AM) when members of the SeniorsSkiing.com community could show up at a specific location and, displaying a SeniorsSkiing.com sticker, meet other readers with whom to take some runs.
Courtesy: University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library Ski Archive
What are the unresolved issues? 1) Identifying a location that would apply to all areas. If in the lodge, should it be a table closest to the end of the cafeteria line? Near the main entrance? Etc. If you have any ideas of how to do this – without involving area management – please send an email or post in Comments. 2) Supplying readers with the identifying SeniorsSkiing.com sticker. That’s the easy part: Email me your name and address, and we’ll send you a supply. My email address is jon@SeniorsSkiing.com.
As for the reckless/out-of-control skier problem, take a look at the reader comments in Mike’s This Week message. It’s not a trivial matter. Many readers report on slope hit-and-runs. Many more report near misses. Getting hit when you’re in your 60s, 70s, or 80s has more life-altering consequences than when you’re younger.
Something needs to be done. We’ve approached National Ski Patrol to inquire about their policies and to see if they would be open to exploring a collaborative effort to improve the situation. We’ll report what we learn. In the meanwhile, if you have suggestions to remedy this dangerous epidemic of unsafe skiing, please email them to the same address as above.
Finally, if you like SeniorsSkiing.com, please help spread the word by introducing your skiing friends to the site.
Despite Serious Neurological Disorder, He Continues to Ski
Nick Manely in France
Nick Manely, a SeniorsSkiing.com reader and avid skier has been managing a Functional Neurological Disorder for several years. He’s based in Colorado where he coaches at Eldora Mountain and works at Larson’s Ski Shop in Denver. In September, Nick presented about his condition and skiing to a group if physicians and researchers at The International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in Nice, France.
Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports Seeks Volunteer Instructors
Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports is the state’s largest year-round disabled sports nonprofit. The group looking for energetic winter volunteer-instructors. Volunteers will be trained to help teach and lead the organization’s winter programs that include Alpine and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, indoor rock climbing, veterans retreats, and wellness programs. For more information or to sign up to volunteer, complete the application at www.vermontadaptive.org/get-involved.
Economical Resource for Small to Plus Size Parkas and Pants
Many Senior Skiers have difficulty finding properly fitting ski clothing. One old friend, quite petite, is always checking ski shops for good-looking things. Sometimes she has to settle for children’s items. Another friend is at the other end of the size spectrum. She, too, has difficulty finding quality skiwear in her size. I know they’re not alone. That’s why I’m delighted that NW Sales Connection has become a SeniorsSkiing.com advertiser. The company offers a wide range of skiwear in a wide range of sizes. Their initial ad focuses on women, but the site covers women, men, and children. The cost of ski clothing on the site tops out at $139.99, and everything is marked down. There is a 30-day return policy (longer over the Holidays). Please click on the NW Sales Connection ad and welcome this valuable resource to the SeniorsSkiing.com community. As an additional incentive to SeniorsSkiing.com readers, NW Sales Connection is giving a 10% discount for purchases made between now and October 15. Enter “welcome seniors” in the discount code box during check out.
The Easier Way To Get Your Boots On
This is the surefire solution to getting feet into boots, even when your boots are cold. It’s the compact, never-fail, Bootster, a clever little device utilizing a slippery material that helps feet slide effortlessly into ski boots. Several things make this a particularly nice product: Bootster reduces the effort of getting boots on. And, it fits into your parka pocket, so you can take it with you and use it to get your boots back on after lunch. At $25, it’s highly affordable and makes for a thoughtful gift for the older skiers on your list. To learn more click here or on the Bootster ad on the home page.
Solar Powered Task Light
We receive lots of offers to review products and to try things that companies would like brought to the attention of our readers. Most are irrelevant or unworthy. But this one got my attention. It’s a light weight utility light powered by choice of solar or by your computer’s USB port. The flexible, yellow silicone arm wraps around almost anything to position the light where you want it. It has four settings, three to adjust the light intensity and one to make it flash. I envision this as a nifty addition to camping gear or just to keep in the car or at home. Mpowerd, the company that makes this and other similar products, works with non-profits to send lights to people living without access to electricity. Luci® Core, MSRP $14.95. Available from most outdoor retailers or directly from https://mpowerd.com
Remember Ski Ballet?
Skis of Glory is a brief video recapping that highly visual and entertaining era.
Subscribers Only: The Best 2020 Skis for Senior Skiers
Each year, SeniorsSkiing.com collaborates with Realskiers.com to inform its readers about skis that allow older skiers to turn more easily and to ski longer without tiring. Women’s skis – sometimes engineered for female size and physique – are included.
To find the list on the site, a) click “Community” on the menu bar, b) click “Subscriber Only Content” in the dropdown box, and c) click on “Ski Recomendations for Seniors 2020.”
The skis were identified during Realskiers.com’s annual national ski evaluation process.
Most of the selected skis have relatively soft flex, which helps them engage the snow with minimal exertion. Regardless of one’s physical condition, using skis with these characteristics allows older skiers to turn more easily and to ski longer without tiring.
The recommended skis are grouped into five categories, each based on the ski’s width, which helps determine the terrain where its performance is optimized.
SeniorsSkiing.com recommends that when purchasing new skis, older skiers should start by choosing the most suitable category and work with a quality ski shop where they can demo before purchasing.
The characteristics of each of the five categories follow:
Frontside (“Carving” skis)
- Encompasses broadest range of skier abilities from entry-level to experienced
- For use on groomed terrain. Wider models are usable off-trail
- Ski width: 75MM-84MM
All-Mountain East
- Works equally well on- and off-trail
- Good “re-entry” ski for those who haven’t skied in a few years
- Ski width: 85MM-94MM
All-Mountain West
- For use in the West by high performance skiers
- Adapted for off-trail use but can be skied on-trail by skilled skiers
- Ski width: 95MM-100MM
Big Mountain
- A more maneuverable powder ski
- Inadvisable for regular on-trail use
- Ski width: 101MM-113MM
Powder
- Specialty ski for use in Deep Powder only
- Ski width: >113MM
Detailed reviews are available at Realskiers.com. The site provides free access to equipment reviews and other information. In depth information and personal guidance from the publisher is available to SeniorsSkiing.com subscribers at a discounted annual rate of $9.95. To sign up, visit Realskiers.com. Scroll down to/click on “Subscribe Today!” Then click “Sign Up” in the “Annual Membership” box. Complete the form and enter SS20 in the field under “Coupon Code.”
Blind-Sided And Body-Slammed
Is It Time To Address Ski Slope Collisions? How?
[Editor Note: This summer, we published a little play about the speeding, out of control skier and what the ski patrol can do about it. You can read it here. Bottom line: It’s not their job, at least, that’s the party line. They are there to maintain the lines, help injured people, sweep the slopes. They are not trained nor prepared to confront unruly or out of line customers who are not complying with the Skier’s Code of Responsibility. What to do? Here’s SeniorsSkiing.com XC editor and publisher of XCSkiResorts.com publisher Roger Lohr’s story about his collision and consequences.]
This year, I was one of the many skiers and riders who got blind-sided and body-slammed by someone on the slopes. After seeing me bounce into the snow a couple of times and violently twist my lower body, the “guy in orange” who plowed into me said nothing and skied away. No apology, no asking if I needed help.
I got up slowly after the collision and immediately thought about how effective my new MIPS helmet worked. Just afterward, I felt shooting pain in my lower back.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the guy in orange about 40 yards away. He had stopped and was looking across the terrain at me while I was taking stock of my bruises and sprains associated with the collision. Then he took off.
I stopped in at the patrollers’ cabin and saw six guys sitting at a table. I requested some kind of heat compress or rub for my pain and was told that they are not allowed to distribute anything like that.
This incident was in fact, the third collision that I’ve had in recent years. What can the industry do to deal with the increasing number of slope collisions?
Can we blame lack of skill in the kind of collision I experienced? It might have been a miscalculation of his line, his ability to change course, his maintenance of too much speed, inattention, an obstruction, etc.
The collision occurred near the bottom of the slope, so was there a chance that I cut him off? Would more patrollers on the slopes talking to people about control, speed, where they stop, and so on, make a difference?
I often ride the chair with patrollers but I don’t remember the last time I heard from a patroller out on the slopes. I can’t say that I’ve seen many of them speaking with skiers and riders about unsafe situations. Would a broad skier/rider education campaign about speed and skiing in control make a difference for safety purposes and curtail the collisions?
As I’ve aged I’ve become much more cautious keeping an eye on the slopes around me. In my collision situation, I was heading to the lift line and did not look up the slope for five seconds on a day when there were very few people skiing. I paid for those seconds with medical bills and three weeks of pain.
The statistics on ski area collisions are mounting and this past spring’s SeniorsSkiing.com reader survey showed a serious concern among site visitors about these incidents. And we all know parents who have freaked out watching their child get steamrolled and mangled on the slopes. It is not only older skiers who have cause to worry about collisions.
What happened after I was hit was significant. The speedster took off, offering no help and no curiosity as to whether I was injured.
There are seven points in the Skier’s Responsibility Code about staying in control, avoiding others, stopping in places that do not obstruct, and the like. There is no suggestion in the code that there is any responsibility to help a victim or check that the subject who’s been hit is able to ski away after the incident. Yeah, you’d think it was common courtesy for the slammer to apologize and see if aid is required but in my experience and other incidents that I’ve heard about, this is not the case; this is not standard protocol.
I understand the ski area operators’ perspective: no one wants a “patroller policeman” yelling at guests, but can we develop a more robust educational campaign to curtail slope collisions and incorporate a new tenet for courtesy when such incidents occur? Can we amend the Skier’s Responsibility Code to include helping people who are hit?
[authors_page role=contributor]