Maple Syrup Time, Dolomite Ski Safari Update, Resort Reviews, Miss Tweedie, XC Lessons

Into the sugarbush we go at the end of winter. Boil and boil and boil.

There is clearly a disparity between snow conditions in the East and the West.  New England areas are starting to wind down, with some closing this weekend and others hanging on a week more. Exception: Killington will strive on until May, as usual. Out West, the snow is still coming down with multiple storms per week. Nevertheless, we’ve heard that some resorts (see Park City) are closing down despite the surfeit; local pass holders are not amused. Other mountains are planning to keep spinning until July Fourth (see Mammoth). Think about that for a second.  The Fourth of July on skis. You going?

Cold night, warm days make the sap run. Time to get the buckets out.

Meanwhile,in  the East, it looks like it really is spring. Maple sugaring has been going on for a month or so with maybe a week left to harvest sap and boil, boil, boil. Here’s a verse from Pete Seeger’s Maple Syrup Time, a classic song about this time of year. If you want to hear Pete sing the whole piece, just click here.

Maple Syrup Time by Pete Seeger

First you get the buckets ready, clean the pans and gather firewood,
Late in the winter, it’s maple syrup time.
You need warm and sunny days but still a cold and freezing nighttime
For just a few weeks, maple syrup time.
We boil and boil and boil and boil it all day long,
Till ninety sev’n percent of water evaporates just like this song
And when what is left is syrupy don’t leave it too long –
Watch out for burning! Maple syrup time. 

This Week

The Dolomites is a UNESCO Wolrd Heritage site and the world’s largest ski area

Co-Publisher Jon Weisberg reports on an amazing, five-day long ski safari across the Dolomites, under the guidance of Tim Hudson of Inspired Italy, a SeniorsSkiing.com advertiser. The transit of the vast mountain range included staying on the mountain in “refugios”, on-mountain hotels with gourmet restaurants. This is the skiing experience of a lifetime and really worth considering if you think you’ve done it all.

Our Mystery Glimpse includes a device from the war years in Colorado. Last week’s photo was revealed to be Betty Welch Whitney, who, with her husband Bill founded the Whitney Inn in Jackson, NH, back in 1928. What makes the inn notable is that it was the first to combine lodging, dining, and lift operations in one location. The venerable Whitney Inn is still around after all these years.

We have three Resort Reviews to share: Silver Star, BC, Cranmore, NH, and Sunapee, NH.  We have found this type of medium-sized resort is often the most accessible to seniors, especially mid-week.  Even though Sunapee has joined the Epic Pass, by the way, the resort still has a special mid-week season pass for its loyal senior following. This is the kind of resort we like, and we hope you do, too.

Outside the Brighton Lodge. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Correspondent Harriet Wallis offers an “average skier’s” perspective of what the really big snows really look like.

No, it’s not a collection of dramatic pictures of skiers plunging through clouds of powder with dramatic blue skies. Instead, her photo album shows conditions literally on the ground and what she had to contend with on her outing at Brighton, UT, her local area.

Jan Brunvand shares an interesting accounting of a one Miss Tweedie, a young English woman from Victorian times, who ventures to Norway to try some skiing in the 1880s. Have times really changed that much?

And finally, XC expert Jonathan Wiesel tells us the merits of group versus private cross-country lessons. There are different reasons for each, as you will see.

Thanks again for reading SeniorsSkiing.com.  We really do depend on your telling your friends about us. And remember, there are more of us every day, and we aren’t going away.