Short Swings!
A WOW Ski deal for Senior Skiers!
The day before Alta closed for the season, a few ski companies were set up to demo products. One was Liberty Skis, a Colorado ski maker specializing in bamboo. I tried the Variant 87 and now own a pair. The “87” indicates the width of the ski under the boot, considerably narrower than what I’ve skied the past few decades in Western powder and occasional crud. But after a day on Alta’s corn-covered groomers, I knew that I had to have the Variant 87. The company representative gave me his card and the web address for their pro discount. This is where the story gets interesting and relevant to SeniorsSkiing.com subscribers. The Liberty Skis site currently lists the Variant 87 for $599 (in season MSRP is $725). Liberty is one of the companies offering discounts to SeniorsSkiing readers through Experticity, the pro discount program available to all readers who have registered to receive the weekly SeniorsSkiing.com editorial package. Through Experticity, the Variant 87 is $398.75!!!! (plus tax). The lesson here: If you’re looking for bargains, get thee to Experticity. Deep discounts on more than 40 cool brands await.
CALIFORNIA
Squaw Valley has had soooo much snow, it’s considering staying open through the summer.
CHINA
A cave painting in China’s Xinjiang region (between Mongolia and Kazakhstan) shows people hunting on skis. It is thought to be more than 10,000 years old — 2,000 years older than the next earliest ski artifact on record.
UTAH
Snowbird is the only resort still open, and it’s getting hammered. Almost three feet have fallen the past few days and more is forecast.
The University of Utah dedicated a new facility to support its ski racing program. The Spence Eccles Ski Team Building has locker rooms and gear storage fror the school’s Nordic and Alpine teams, as well as tuning facilities, meeting rooms, etc. The facility is named for ski team alumni and NCAA All-American Spence Eccles.
QUEBEC
Mont-Sainte-Anne closes for the season this weekend. The resort had 215″ of natural snow, 50″ over last year. Day-tickets sales increased 15%.
Suzie In The Selkirks
Run After Run Of Perfect Powder For Five Straight Days. Snowcat Skiing At Its Best.
Correspondent Suzie Winthrop found fresh powder every day. Can you see the smile on her face?
Credit: Steve Shannon
Do you dream of skiing in untracked powder? Of course! We all do! And most of us get one or two runs at resorts that offer “fresh tracks” early in the morning before the snow cats groom the trails. But soon you’re plowing through broken snow and by noon those freshies are a distant memory.
Snowcat skiing is a unique, albeit pricey experience with fresh powder every day.
Credit: Selkirk Snowcat
How about skiing run after run of perfect powder for five straight days? Run after run of power up to your knees, day after day. Impossible, you say. Well, this past March a group of us found Nirvana in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia.
It snowed every night. In the morning, our tracks from the previous day were nowhere to be seen. We accessed the terrain by snowcats which accommodated 12 skiers plus two guides. The powerful machines were cozy, comfortable and allowed for good conversation as we chugged up the mountains. The pace was just right; we had time to catch our breath between the ten or eleven runs we took each day. Fifteen to eighteen thousand vertical feet of downhill per day was more than enough to send us back to the comfortable lodge exhausted and happy. After a soak in the hot tub, a drink at the bar, a delicious homestyle dinner and a few rounds of “Grunge” at the pool table, it was time to call it a night. After all, we would be awakened at 6:30 a.m., stagger in to our 7:00 yoga/stretch class before enjoying our hearty breakfast and then head out to yet another day of perfect powder skiing.
Selkirk Snowcat Skiing is located in Meadow Creek in the SE corner of British Columbia, 60 miles north of Nelson. We flew to Spokane, rented vans and drove to Nelson where we spent the night at the Hume Hotel (“Antique, Chic, Boutique”). While in Nelson, we checked out Whitewater Ski Resort which offers a Super Senior ticket (75+ ski free) and looked like a great place to get your ski legs.
[Editor Note: Rates for 2017-18 range from $2,000-$6,000 per guest. If you’re interested, better check for availability. Repeat visitors book early.]
Skiing 1,241 Ski Areas Around the World
Everywhere There’s Snow. (And Some Places Where There Isn’t.)
Reader Richard Pazara has skied almost everywhere on the globe, and he’s still going.
Credit: Richard Pazara
You can’t have a favorite place until you’ve seen them all. That seemed reasonable to me, so when I started skiing back in 1973, I wanted to favor new locations over ones that I had already skied. My general plan is to fly somewhere, rent a car and stay in a centrally located non-resort town and drive for less than hour to different ski hills. Definitely not ski-in ski-out.
Since retiring in 1994, I’ve had the time to accelerate that effort. At the end of this season, I have a total of 1,241 different ski areas in 31 countries which includes 432 in North America, 560 in Europe, 203 in Japan and 30 in the Southern Hemisphere. The experience differs greatly based on local culture, ski area marketing philosophy and, of course, topography and climate.
How does lunch in the French Alps compare to the cafeteria line at your local resort? You kidding?
Credit: Richard Pazara
Truth be told, in terms of sheer numbers such as vertical drop, number of lifts, on-mountain restaurants and miles of runs, the Alps come out way ahead over North American resorts. In the Alps, an area with 1,500-2,000 foot vertical and five-seven lifts will have a day price of $35-40.
For example, Trois Vallees in France with a 7,000 foot vertical with 375 miles of runs is serviced by 143 lifts and has a $65 day ticket price. Add the incredible views of the Alps and excellent food and wine, and it’s really an memorable experience. And yet, most North American skiers I have spoken are totally surprised by these numbers.
Outside the Alps, European skiing becomes much more moderate with hundreds of small T-Bar areas in Germany, for example.
Scandinavian skiing reflects the hardiness of Scandinavians. Go to Salen, Sweden and see pop-up campers in the parking lot in 5 degree F temps. Or go night skiing at 9:00 am at Levi in Kittila, Finland (in January there is no day) when it’s -4 degrees F and be told it’s better than last January when it was -60 degrees F.
Ski Dubai is an indoor experience. And cool (17 degrees F)
Credit: Richard Pazara
Japan had the most ski areas of any nation, but the total has been in steady decline for several years. Skiing in Japan which boasts heavy snowfall and some significant mountain complexes is still mainly a social phenomenon. Not uncommon to arrive on the weekend to a totally full parking lot and see no lift lines as a large portion of the young snowboarders are there to see and be seen, not to make a lot of runs.
The infrastructure is Japan is also different. In the southern part of the main island Honshu, ski areas have ice plants installed on the mountain. That’s right; it’s too warm to make snow with air and water, so ice is made and crushed to cover the slope. I skied one spring on a 1,500 foot vertical snow cone. Japanese lift people are almost always older men who bow as you exit the lift every time. When it’s snowing, the chairs are always swept clean before you sit down. And there will be an air compressor by the lodge to blow off any snow before you put them away. The Gala Yuzawa lodge has a gondola entry at one end and the bullet train station (from Tokyo 115 miles and 100 minutes away) at the other end.
There are also ski areas in unsuspected places. Morocco has Oukaimeden in the High Atlas (14,000 feet) where I was offered a donkey ride to the lift by a local boy. Dubai has an indoor ski area in a mall. It is kind of odd to be quite cold after a two-hour session in a thin rental ski suit at Ski Dubai where it’s 17 degrees F inside and 107 degrees F outside.
Skiing in the Southern Hemisphere is a joy. Driving a circle route in Chile and Argentina was quite an adventure with some wonderful skiing. Australia has Theadbo and Perisher Blue among other resorts which are quite nice with some very unique twists. I think of Eucalyptus trees as tropical but the Snow Gum tree is a hearty winter variety. Seeing them and wombats and kangaroos on the drive to the hill is still amazing to me. New Zealand has some real mountains, and the chance to ski the Tasman glacier on the spur of the moment was a thrill.
So I have enjoyed a lot of different places in all conditions, from unbelievably good to unbelievably bad. I have some places I prefer, but I’m not done yet, so I can’t have a favorite place until I’ve seen them all.
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