Short Swings!
I’ve spent the past several days in downtown Chicago.
Maybe it’s the nice weather or the pleasure of being in a big city after an extended post-season stay at our desert place, but Chicago is wonderful. The architecture is impressive, as was the tour boat through downtown explaining the broad variety of design. While I was working, my wife took a Frank Lloyd Wright tour in Oak Park. This is the 100 anniversary of his death, and there’s a lot of the Wright stuff going on. She had a glowing report. The food here is something else. I don’t watch chefs on TV, but, apparently, every star has staked turf in Chicago. One BBQ place, Isabelle’s in Wicker Town, was memorable. Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza was out of this world. Steak at Gene & Georgetti was very good, but not on our return list. Millennium Park is filled with treats including the 110-ton polished stainless steel “Cloud Gate” sculpture by Anish Kapoor; “Crown Fountain,” comprising two 50-foot glass blocks with LED composite images of Chicagoans spouting water from their mouths, and an outdoor concert stage and serpentine bridge designed by Frank Gehry. My kinda town!
THE SEASON
Nationally, skier days were up to 54.7 million from 52.8 million in 2015-16, a 3.7 percent increase. Visits varied by region with strong rebounds in the Northeast, Southeast and Pacific Northwest. Declines were seen in the Pacific Southwest, Rocky Mountains and Midwest. Those declines notwithstanding, visits at Colorado Ski Country USA‘s 22-member areas (Vail not included) totaled 7.3 million, estimated to be the state’s second best on record. Ski Utah reported 4.6 million skier days, up 2.85 percent from the previous record during the 2015-16. And Ski Vermont reported 3.9 million visits.
MEANWHILE, IN NEW ZEALAND
It’s the first run of the first day of ski season at Coronet Peak, Queenstown, NZ.
Credit: Coronet Peak
Coronet Peak, the closest ski field to Queenstown, NZ, opened on June 17 as planned with the Magic Carpet lifts, Meadows Express and Coronet Express Chair lift, and the tubing park, all open.
Coronet Peak Ski Area Manager Nigel Kerr said, “This is a really good start to the season. We had a big turn out for that first ride and it has been building up throughout the day.”
Coronet Peak welcomed more than 1000 people by lunchtime on Day One.
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
The New York Times publishes short videos each day that allow the viewer to mouse around the image at will. It’s an interesting use of technology. Today, the first day of summer, the Times 360 video shows how to make an igloo.
DISCOUNTS
25% off Panda ski, trekking, and camera poles.
SUPER DUPER SENIOR SKIER GEORGE JEDENOFF TURNS 100
100 and still skiing, George Jedenoff.
Credit: Ski Utah
George Jedenoff, a resident of California has been traveling to Utah to ski Little Cottonwood Canyon (Alta and Snowbird) every year since 1960. George learned how to ski at Alta when he was 43 and claims it was the best decision he has ever made. He is a remarkable man who draws his true happiness from the slopes and has become an inspiration to the Utah ski community. His official birthday is July 17. Happy Birthday, George and thanks for the inspiration.
2016-17 Trail Masters
Congratulations to the 2016-17 Trail Masters!
Trail Masters are those senior skiers whose number of days skied last season matched or exceeded their ages. Seventy-seven qualified, compared to 42 in 2015-16, the first year Trail Masters were recorded.
At the top of the list is our oldest Trail Master, Fredi Jakob, who skied 83 days at age 83. Fredi’s home resort is Alta. He has been skiing 66 years. Next is Jack Nixon, 82, who skied 110 days, whose most frequently skied resort is Crested Butte. Jack was also in second place last year.
Several people made the list both years. Among them is David Orlinsky, a ski buddy of the past few seasons. We’re both 73, and when we skied Copper Mountain in January, he was always waiting at the end of the run. Glad to see “Speedy” clocked 85 days.
The average age of all Trail Masters is 66. Their average number of days skied last season is 83.5, and their average number of years skiing is 48.5.
Each of the ten oldest Trail Masters will be mailed a DeBooter, that outstanding ski boot jack that lets your remove boots quickly and painlessly! Every older skier should own one.
Skiing one’s age is a terrific accomplishment. For all of us it will be easier to accomplish next season than the season that follows.
Why Do I Have To Re-Enter My Name And Password?
We Explain Why This Annoyance Happens And What You Can Do About It.
Editor Note: We get emails from time to time about how frustrated some of our readers are in having to re-enter their name and password when they visit our online magazine. Sometimes those emails are in ALL CAPS, sometimes they use naughty words. Trust us, there is an explanation, and not everyone who subscribes has this problem. We’ve published this before and will continue to do so. It’s an easy fix.
If you are being asked to re-enter your email to confirm your subscription to SeniorsSkiing.com, you might be a bit annoyed. We don’t blame you, but there is an explanation.
- You are accessing SeniorsSkiing.com through a device that is different from the one you originally signed up on. Subscribing to SeniorsSkiing.com puts a “cookie” on your device. If you use a different device, no cookie, so you are viewed as a non-subscriber. If you re-enter name and password, you’ll be okay with the new device.
- You have disabled cookies or cleared browser history on your device. Turn cookies back on, and you’ll not have to re-enter again, or leave it disabled and realize you have to re-enter each time. Your call.
- You are trying to access our Subscriber-Only Content. Instead of building a firewall that requires usernames and passwords, we elected a much simpler way of getting to our exclusive content: Just confirm your name and email. You will have to do that each time you want to get to that information, which, by the way, is under the Community tab at the top.
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