Short Swings!
I hope you’ve been following the new weekly Mystery Glimpse feature.
It’s our way of drawing attention to ski museums. The idea is to ask readers to identify old photos or pictures of objects from museum collections. Mike writes copy explaining where the item comes from and links it to the institution’s website. We figure the more you know about the place the more likely you are to visit and support it. The first Mystery Glimpse images came from The Alf Engen Ski Museum in Park City. Soon they’ll be coming from the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe and the Ski Museum of Maine in Kingsfield.
If you’re a friend of a ski museum that might want to participate, please let them know what we’re up to.
It’s not a museum, per se, but the International Skiing History Association does an outstanding job preserving and communicating about the history of skiing. Their bi-monthly magazine, Skiing History is one of those very special and superbly executed small magazines. The diversity of articles and always interesting graphics make it one of my favorites.
If you enjoy skiing’s past and haven’t already taken advantage of the free digital Skiing History subscription available to SeniorSkiing.com subscribers, I urge you to do so. You can find the link under Community/Subscriber-Only Content on the menu bar.
Mike and I are preparing for the SIA/Outdoor Retailer trade show next week in Denver. We’ll do our best to deliver a full issue.
Apex Ski Boot System
In one of last year’s reader surveys, we learned that 25% of you planned to purchase new boots. Your reasons had to do primarily with comfort, warmth, and fit. All of which contribute to performance.
If you’re thinking about new boots, I seriously recommend exploring the options in the Apex Ski Boot System. Apex is an alternative to conventional ski boots.
Apex combines a boarder-type boot with a detachable outer shell. An easy to use cable system allows for convenient adjustments. They are a staple in ski shops around the country. Domestic and international outlets are listed at the Apex Ski Boot System site. Also on the site are locations of demo centers in Colorado, California, Vermont and New York.
I skied them a few years with great satisfaction and look forward to trying them again. Excellent performance with improved comfort, warmth, and fit: If you’re among the 25% planning to purchase new boots, look at Apex.
The Better Mountain Cam
Resorts around the US are improving their Mountain Cam technology with Prism cameras. I don’t quite understand how it works, but Prism is a big improvement over the more conventional cameras currently in use. Following links are to Prism cameras (not too pretty in the fog and snow): Sun Valley, Tamarack, Deer Valley, Park City, and Mount Snow.
Colorado
Several Colorado Ski Country USA resorts offer an array of women’s programs. Most feature instruction. Some include meals, networking opportunities, yoga and other wellness activities, etc. They’re listed below. Visit websites for more information.
- A-Basin: Legendary Ladies Clinic meets Wednesday mornings.
- Aspen Snowmass: Women’s Edge Program four day clinic has been running for 30+ years.
- Copper Mountain: Women’s Wednesdays.
- Crested Butte: Women’s Tips on Tuesdays is a weekly half-day class.
- Eldora: Women’s Days Program
- Loveland: midweek Women’s Only Clinics.
- Monarch: Women’s Wednesdays.
- Powderhorn: Ski Like a Girl.
- Silverton: All-women heli-skiing weekend Feb 10-12 in the San Juan Mountains; April 6-8, Annual Silverton Sisters’ Meeting weekend for experts-only.
- Steamboat: three-day Women’s Ski Camp clinics.
- Telluride: 36th anniversary of Telluride Women’s Ski and Wellness Week. Resort also offers its SheRide Women’s Snowboard Camp for every level boarder.
- Winter Park: Women’s Ski Camps
- Wolf Creek: Ladies’ Ski and Snowboard Clinics on specific Sundays
Europe
The Alps are getting good snow. I recently learned about Alpskitour Snow Adventures, a group of European ski 
professionals that organizes five day resort-to-resort guided alpine ski tours. Accommodations are lovely. Whether or not you plan to go, the website is fun to visit.
Parisian auction house Drouot will auction the official 10th Winter Olympic Games’ (Grenoble) torch, Wednesday 24 January at Drouot Auctioneers, Paris. Estimate: €40,000 / 50,000.
Utah
The public is invited to meet the U.S. Olympic Moguls and Aerials Team 2-3PM, Tuesday, January 23 at Deer Valley’s Snow Park Lodge Plaza. The team will compete at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
The Essence
This short video from Black Diamond gets to the essence of the ski experience. Not all of us will spend our time skiing backcountry, but the message in BD’s video should resonate with every older skier.
Finally
I hope you’re getting in more skiing than I am, here on the Colorado Plateau. On a hike a few weeks ago, I came across this track in the sand. Aren’t bears supposed to be checked in to Holiday Inn this time of year?
Mystery Glimpse: Stuffed Animals Are…What?
Okay, Here’s A Tougher One.
Clearly there are some knowledgable snow sports enthusiasts out there. Based on your responses from the last few Mystery Glimpse photos, you not only knew the right answers, you added details about the people and the pictures. So this week, we’re posing a little more difficult puzzle.
Who are these stuffed creatures and what do they represent? If you know, respond in COMMENTS below the picture.
Credit: Alf Engen Ski Museum, Park City, UT
Last Week
This is the infamous Jet Turn or Avalement which made a brief flash in the early 70s. We learned it is also called the Slow Dog Noodle by at least a few responders.
Former SKI Magazine editor, founder of Snow Country and creator of NASTAR John Fry commented on this maneuver:
“Avalement is not a turn, and Killy despised it. It was a technique term invented by Georges Joubert, derived from the French ‘avaler’ to swallow. The skier swallows bumps and irregularities in the terrain by collapsing and extending legs. At one point in the process, the skier looks like he or she is sitting back. It was more suited to hotdogging than to effective technique in slalom or gs.
For more on Joubert and Killy, read my book, The Story of Modern Skiing.”
We believe the skier is Tom Leroy, a forerunner of freestyle and the first person to do a double forward somersault back in the 6os.
When Should A Senior Skier Take A Lesson?
Five Good Reasons To Join A Class.
A ski class practicing kick turns at Peckett’s-on-Sugar Hill, 1930s, where, for the first time, Americans could take lessons with skilled Austrian.
Credit: Concord Monitor
[Editor Note: In a SeniorsSkiing.com Survey, 30 percent of respondents revealed they took a lesson sometime during the season. Why? Correspondent Marc Liebman found out five core reasons lessons might be a good idea.]
Back in the days when I was on the staff of Ski Magazine responsible for all its ski equipment and instruction articles, the most frequently asked question from readers was “When do I need to take a lesson?”
The question is a good , and the good consulting answer is “It depends….” After talking to several ski instructors and racking my brain as a former certified instructor, here’s a short list of conditions assuming you are not new to the sport and walking onto the slopes for the first time.
Keep in mind, Mother Nature didn’t have skiing 30,000 vertical feet a day down through waist high moguls when she created the aging process. As we age, despite our best efforts, we lose flexibility, muscle, and bone strength. In short, we’re more susceptible to injury. When we are hurt, it is usually more serious, and, even worse, it takes longer to heal.
So, you need to take a lesson…
- After you have a serious illness or a major injury or a joint replacement or it hurts when you ski. Why? You don’t know how what happened will affect your ability to turn, your balance or stamina. The lesson, assuming it is taught by a trained instructor, will help you figure this out.
- If you haven’t skied in awhile. Why? Two reasons. One, ski equipment has changed. The new short skis are easier to turn, generate less torque on your legs and more stable than the longer skis of yesterday. To ski them well, you have to adjust your technique. Two, while some may think skiing is like riding a bike, it is not. If you haven’t skied for awhile and your name is not Billy Kidd or Jean-Claude Killy, take a lesson!
- If you just bought new equipment. Why? Unless you were the first person to use a pair of demo skis, your new ones even though they are the same make and model, may ski differently than you remember for reasons beyond the scope of this article. So, to get the most out of your new skis, take a lesson!
- If you are planning to ski conditions with which you are not familiar. Why? If you have never skied waist deep powder, take lessons to learn how. Or, if you skied only in Utah or Colorado and suddenly find yourself living and skiing in Vermont, you need a lesson!
- To polish your skills. Why? Unless you are an expert and can ski any condition with aplomb and in perfect control, you need a lesson. The majority of skiers are “intermediates/advanced intermediates” so take a lesson. Even instructors go to clinics to polish their skiing (and teaching) skills.
So that’s the consensus five. I’m sure there are others. Net net, if you cannot ski any condition or trail on the mountain like an expert and without hesitation, then you need a lesson!
Ski School, Austria, circa, 1930s.
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