New Discounts For Senior Skiers!
Select Vendors Are Offering Special Savings 15-20% Or More Off.
Starting now, you can access special deals just for SeniorsSkiing.com readers on our new Discounts For Seniors page.
From our surveys of our readers, we’ve learned that senior snow sports enthusiasts are interested in discounts. We’ve shown you where you can ski for free or almost free at 115 ski resorts in the US. That directory is available for free for subscribers-only. We’ve also created a group on Experticity for qualified subscribers which offer discount deals on gear and clothing. Also free to readers.
Now, we are working with a group of vendors who have interesting and relevant products to offer our readership and at a discount. There are deals for you, your significant other, your grandchildren, all with impressive 15 to 20% or more dollars off.
These deals can be accessed by clicking on the ad you’re interested in on our Discounts For Seniors page. Note the discount code, click through, and order directly from the vendors’ website.
Over the next two months, we’ll be spotlighting our Discounts For Seniors vendors. We are really interested in hearing from you about how you like the deals and the products.
This is just the start. We will enlist even more vendors for you.
Here are the vendors who are participating:
- After Shokz Headphones: Wireless and wired bone conduction headphones and accessories
- Apex Boots: Comfortable ski boot without sacrificing performance
- Brilliant Tape: Reflective iron-on, stick-on reflective tape
- CP Helmet: Elegant, built-in visor helmets
- Epic Water Filters: Water bottles, pitchers, jugs with filtration system
- Hemp Honey: Combines honey, whole-plant hemp extracts (Hemp Cannabinoid Oil Extract), herbs, spices
- Know Brainer: Ketogenic creamers, coffee, teas, hot chocolate, convenient, sugarless, good fat powered
- L-Bow: Family-owned mittens, hats, gloves for adults and (grand)children
- Omeals: Self-heating, fully cooked meals for outdoorsy folks
- Orsden: High performance snow and ski wear at affordable prices
- OS1st Compression Sleeves and Braces: Relieve knee and plantar fasciitis pain, medical grade quality
- Parakito: Innovative mosquito repellant with active, natural ingredients, DEET free
- Stabil: Traction footwear for ice, hiking, golf, running, kids
- The Tea Spot: Handcrafted loose leaf teas and creator of Steepware® tea infusers
- Tipsy Elves: Outrageous clothes to make life fun, St. Patrick’s Day, Patriotic, Ugly Christmas sweaters, more
- Wild West Jerky: Utah-based, family-run jerky snacks with wide variety of flavors and meat options
CLICK HERE FOR DISCOUNTS FOR SENIORS
SeniorsSkiing Guide: Taos—High, Dry, And Full Of Culture
Some People Say The Best Four Letter Word About Skiing Is “Taos.”
Big, high, dry, up in the sky: That’s Taos. Credit: Val E.
When I looked up at the main slope, I was speechless, then the words came—steep, moguls, trees. Wow. At 12,000 ft, Taos’ Mt. Kachina is close to the top of the World.
The resort is located in northern New Mexico, which one seasoned skier described as “a mix of a desert and mountains, unusual and beautiful.” The Blake family discovered, founded, developed, and an Taos Ski Resort since the mid fifties.
In 2013, new management built new lifts, hotels, and other facilities. The result is a cute, small, Euro-style village with an obvious French-Swiss touch and a huge mountain with well groomed slopes, moguls, cornices, glades, and trees almost up to the very top. Snow is quite dry there because of the altitude. Taos is a breathtaking resort in more ways than one; the town is the highest municipality in the US.
Secret Knowledge
Note single chair on left. Credit: Val E.
Kachina Peak is the highest peak reachable by a triple chair in the North American Continent.
Resort lodging options include hotels, condominiums, and bed and breakfasts. The new jewel of Taos is the luxury Hotel Blake, named for the resort founders. The interior is elegant, the restaurant is high-end, and the rental area looks like a high tech lab.
The Ernie Blake Snowsports School is one of the highest rated ski schools in North America. Ski instructing services for groups, especially for ski clubs, were quite reasonably priced.
One of the best parts, besides the slopes and snow, is super friendly employees. Ski lift operators and ski patrol people were waving and smiling like old friends. One ski resort host kindly ride with me just to introduce to the mountain.
Community
During my week stay at the resort, I talked to a few local skiers, some of them were from the 50+ category.
Here is what an expert skier, originally from Hollywood, said: “I moved to Taos after 16 years in Los Angeles in the film business. Taos is a ski town which has world class skiing and an ancient cultural heritage—one of the oldest in the US. It’s also an artist’s town and has dozens of galleries. Taos gives you access to a wider choice of restaurants and apres ski activities. It is great for couples where one doesn’t ski or who like cultural activities.”
A very confident female skier shared: “We came to live in Taos from NYC after years of skiing here. My husband doesn’t ski anymore. He wanted to retire in a friendly community with a synagogue. Now I ski Kachina peak almost every day.”
Another young looking retiree told me: “I am from St. Louis, flat country. I ski in winter and hike in summer. People come to Taos because you can be whoever you want to be, and nobody is asking questions here.”
Taos Ski Valley is a rugged mountain, pioneered by people who put skiing first and all else second. If Virginia is for lovers, then Taos is for skiers!
Taos By The Numbers
2.5 hours by car/bus from Albuquerque International airport
4 espresso bars, including one ski in, ski out
15 lifts
25 miles to Colorado
$105—one day adult ski ticket (18-64); $85—one day senior ski ticket (65-79); 80+ year old – ski free
$408 ski pass for 6 days (65-79); shorter day pass combinations are available
110 trails 55 for beginner/intermediate and 55 for advanced/expert skiers.
305 in—average annual snowfall
7,000 ft—Taos city altitude
9,207 ft—Taos Ski Resort
12,481 ft—Kachina Peak
Click here for Taos Ski Resort Website
Trees up to the top are a trademark of Taos. Credit: Val E.
Mystery Glimpse: Who And Where?
Hint: 1950
Can you spot who this is dashing through the poles? Might be easy. But where and what event and what’s the significance? That’s the challenge. Note your replies in Comments, just scroll down.
Thanks to the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum for contributing this photo.
Who, where, 1950. Credit: Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum
Last Week
Credit: John Emery
Yes, a rope tow gripper. We’ve never used one, we just grabbed the twirling rope. But, many readers certainly have. It is significant that memories of using this device—from the 60s!—are so clear to our respondents. John Emery, a reader who submitted this picture, says, “There used to be a heavy belt which the clamp was attached to via the short rope. It had a pouch that the clamp fit into when not in use. You would grab the tow rope with one hand and close the two halves of the clamp over the tow rope. The clamp was attached to the belt, and you would just lean back and enjoy the ride—one-handed even.”
Using this device took a bit of concentration. From what we’ve read in the Comments section, it was getting it off at the top that was tricky. It is a long way from a rope tow gripper to quadruple, high-speed chairs, and an impressive number of our readers have seen the transition from one to the other.
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