This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 4)
Exotic, Remote Places To Ski, 50 Years Of Ski Racing, 85-Year-Old Skier On A Mission And More.
Challenging the famous “Corrugated Spines” of Alaska’s Tsirku Glacier. From North Face’s Big Mountain Adventure video series.
This has been an extraordinary week in the world of sports. Ski resorts are opening up all over the country, even in New England! Snow is here. Check Short Swings! for more industry news. And, amazingly and gloriously, the Chicago Cubs managed to come back from a three to one game deficit to win three straight and the World Series after a 108 year drought. Curses are erased, and history is made. Now if the Boston Red Sox could just regroup…
A reminder to our readers. The Ski and Snowboard Expos are here, starting today in Denver and in Boston from November 10-13. Our readers can get a discount if you order through the SeniorsSkiing.com site. Just click the link at the top of the page. Going to the ski show is a sure-fire way to get motivated and take advantage of deals on equipment and resort discounts.
Co-publisher Jon Weisberg brings us two sets of exciting videos featuring skiing and boarding in really exotic places. Check out these videos as the scenery is extraordinary.
Thanks to the Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance, we found a compilation of ski racing, starting with the 1960s and going up to present day. The scenes from different decades are more or less taken from similar perspective, so you can easily see how equipment and styles change over the years.
Finally, we learn about John Andrews, an 85-year-old, Washington-state, retired Boeing executive who is determined to ski at every ski resort in North America. This is a monumental goal that has taken John from Newfoundland to the tiniest hills of Tennessee. Find out how many he’s already crossed off the list.
Short Swings!
CALIFORNIA
Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows received seven inches of new snow earlier this week; more is forecast. The resort plans to open early between November 11 and 18, weather and conditions permitting.
Bear Valley Resort and Backcountry Pictures presents “A Walk in the Park with David Vassar” featuring the Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy® Award-winning writer, director, producer, and documentarian, David Vassar on Friday, November 25, 2016.
COLORADO
Arapahoe Basin‘s 70th season gift to skiers is its Elevation 4-Pass, good for any four days. Cost: $169 for adults.
Colorado Cross Country Ski Association Nordic Skiing Punch Pass is available for $99. The transferable pass includes 12 trail access passes at six Colorado resorts. Holders also enjoy discounts on rentals, tours and lodging. Visit http://www.coloradocrosscountry.com/Punch-Pass.
Onus iV Hydration in Denver is offering intravenous vitamin boosts to help visitors acclimate to altitude. According to the company, the 45-minute treatments provide maximum hydration. They have a mobile van that will deliver treatment at resorts across the Front Range. Costs from $65 to $145. Click here for more.
QUEBEC
Mont-Tremblant has fired up its snow guns. The resort can bury the equivalent of 76 football fields under one foot of snow in 24 hours.
MONTANA
Montana Office of Tourism has issue a brief video titled Alpen Glow. It’s based on skier/painter Rachel Pohl as she skis gorgeous scenery, records it in her sketchbook, and returns to her studio to preserve it on canvas. Less than 5 minutes and well worth watching: Click here.
UTAH
Alta Lodge, Alta Peruvian, Goldminer’s Daughter, Rustler, and Snowpine Lodge are each offering a variety of early season specials. Alta’s positioning and elevation attract early season snow. There are years when Thanksgiving has delivered 3′ of fresh, and by early December the mountain is well covered.
Powder Mountain Resort announced that for 2016-17, two new lifts will access 1,000+ acres of new terrain. Additionally, the resort will limit tickets to 2000 per day, giving it the lowest skier density of any major area on the continent. Powder Mountain now has 8464 skiable acres. For skiers in the know, it is a required destination when visiting Utah!!!!
ALBERTA
Whistler Blackcomb’s official opening day is set for November 24, 2016 but with favorable early season conditions, the resort can always be counted on to open early. Check out opening day events here.
OTHER
GetSkiTickets.com, the online ticket-seller, is offering $10 discount on gift certificates purchased through the site. A great stocking stuffer!! Visit GetSkiTickets, choose certificates, enter “ilovemountains” when checking out. Offer ends November 15.
Videos Show Skiing in Alaska, China, Iran, Central Asia
Arc’teryx And The North Face on YouTube With Top Cinematography And Music That Doesn’t Blow Your Eardrums.
From the North Face-produced series on skiing the Tsirku Glacier in Alaska. Amazing shots.
In 1990 China had zero ski resorts. Today there are 568, including Jackson Hole, a residential and ski community a few hours north of Beijing.
Iran is a land where, for many, skiing offers escape from state control.
Skiing in China, Iran, Japan and Iceland is featured in a series of short videos produced by Arc’teryx, the Canadian outdoor clothing and sporting goods company.
Each video is thoughtful in its look at the country visited. China: A Skier’s Journey contrasts the rapid development of resorts reliant on snow guns with the indigenous people of the remote Altai Mountains, banned from cutting living trees to make skis used to navigate their snow-laden landscape, as their ancestors have for millenia. We watch the ski making process using stumpage and see images of ancient pictographs depicting hunters on skis.
The videos use artistic cinematography and background music, that unlike many other ski films, is gentle on the ears.
Another outdoor clothing and gear company, The North Face, also has a selection of interesting ski videos. The company’s three-part Tsirku series takes us to the exceptional terrain where Alaska, British Colombia, and the Yukon meet.
We’re introduced to this extreme backcountry first from the air and then through a series of exceptional powder shots. By Episode 3, we’re at a steep corrugated ridge, cornice topped and deep with powder. The descent is beautifully shot and well worth the visit to YouTube. Like the Arc’teryx series, The North Face has opted for mercifully pleasant musical accompaniment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPYwCgOHsbk
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