DeBooter: DeLovely Way For Easy (And Painless) Boot Removal
A Smart Ski Boot Jack That Really Works.
DeBooter: Easy-to-use ski boot jack. Click on image for demo. Credit: OutDoor Logic Solutions
They are the collective sounds of people removing their ski boots: the moans of agony and the sighs of joy heard in lots and lodges around the globe.
I’m simply relieved to get the damn things off, but getting the top of my foot past those two nasty tabs of plastic are akin to ripping a bandage off an old wound. I HATE IT!
No more. I recently had occasion to remove my boots with the DeBooter, an easy-to-use ski boot jack. It takes the pain and discomfort out of the process of taking off ski boots. You’ll still need to bend over to loosen your buckles and your booster straps (if you use them), but the struggle is over!
Place your boot heel in the designated area, step on the back of the device, and lift your foot out of the boot. It happens so quickly and so easily that you need to keep shoes close by so you’re not hopping around on one foot.
Wanting to verify my experience, I took the product around the Alta parking lot one afternoon as people were approaching their cars still wearing their boots. About a half dozen tried it. Using it is intuitive. The first few questioned why it was necessary. As soon as they tried it, they wanted to know where they get one for themselves. Another person who was wearing telemark boots had a little difficulty at first but quickly figured out how to make it work. Each and every one of the others appreciated the ease with which their boots popped off in full comfort.
The day had warmed up and the melting snow required shaking the product to get rid of dirty water. When faced with those conditions, keeping a towel in the car or using the DeBooter bag which can be purchased separately makes sense.
A great idea whose time has come. Get those boots off easily!
Credit: Outdoor Logical Solutions
The product is constructed of rugged plastic. It’s one of those things you purchase once and will to your favorite skier. It looks like it will last forever.
DeBooter is available in two versions: portable and commercial. I used the portable model, which sells online for $49.50. The commercial model gets screwed into a solid surface and is intended for use in condos, homes, and ski shops. It’s listed for $42.00. The company is a SeniorsSkiing.com advertiser and is offering readers a 20% discount. For more details, click here.
Seniors Snowshoe At Alpine Resorts
Snowshoeing—Fun, Easy, Safe—Steps Into Ski Country. Find Out Where.
Snowshoeing lets you enjoy winter at a different pace.
Credit: Ski Utah
Not everyone who visits a ski resort wants to or is able to ski or snowboard, so resorts offer other activities. Among those options, guests can explore and enjoy the outdoors on snowshoes. These snowshoe outings at ski resorts range from guided naturalist tours to nearby destinations to athletic fitness treks reaching the top of the mountain. Snowshoeing options at ski resorts are booming and becoming ever more creative. This is especially important to seniors who want to enjoy the outdoors at a different pace than downhill or even cross-country skiing. Snowshoeing is also a great opportunity to spend time with grandchildren on the snow.
Smuggler’s Notch Resort, a prime Vermont family destination, has one of the most comprehensive mixes of snowshoe programs available. There are snowshoe treks for families with young kids, and outings for adults or families with older kids, who want a bit more in terms of the length of the trek, the topography covered, and the insights shared about the natural world and outdoor skills.
Snowshoeing at Smugg’s. Many different tours are offered at Smuggler’s Notch.
Credit: Smuggler’s Notch
Special family snowshoe programs that are easy include the S’mores Snowshoe Tour, which is a guided snowshoe trek on Wednesday’s 6-7:30 PM through the woods to a rustic pavilion and bonfire. The Sugar On Snow Snowshoe Trek is where you learn about Maple Sugaring. Back at Smuggler’s Nordic Center, enjoy a sweet treat of Sugar on Snow, a Vermont tradition. Smuggler’s Notch also hosts a dramatic dining feature atop Sterling Mountain for adults, who ride the Sterling lift to a mountain cabin lit only by candles. There’s a gourmet meal served with appetizer, salad, choice of main course, and dessert. After dinner, those calories can be burned off with a 40-minute snowshoe down to the Base Lodge.
Beaver Creek Resort in Avon, CO, has a variety of snowshoe tours via the Strawberry Park Express chair lift. There are guided naturalist snowshoe tours for two hours that include the gear and a map at $175 for two people. The group tours are $73 per person. On certain days the three-hour Fit Tour is available and there’s also the Wine Excursion Snowshoe Tour. On Fridays, there’s the Fondue & Snowshoe Tour and on Wednesdays the Women’s Walk and Wine is offered. The Family Tour is 4-5:30 with a guide, hot cocoa and snacks. The private guided snowshoe tours include the two-hour outing at $285, the half day at $395, and the All Day Snowshoe Tour is $600. Following each tour, the Osprey Fireside Grill welcomes guests into its slope-side, mountain-modern elegance—where Executive Chef Conor Shedor presents decedent culinary and wine pairings befitting of a post-snowshoe hike. Click here for Beaver Creek Resort.
At Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville, MI, there are daily guided snowshoe tours and evening moonlight snowshoe tours. One of the popular treks is to the Michigan Legacy Art Park, which is a 30-acre preserve on 1.6 miles of hiking trails within Crystal Mountain. The Art Park features over 40 sculptures (20 in the winter), poetry stones, an outdoor amphitheatre (open in the summer). Click here for Crystal Mountain.
Stop by the Base Camp at Big Sky Resort in Montana for snowshoe adventures. They have a two-hour snowshoe tour on the Moose Tracks Trail for up to 10 people at a time led by two guides. There are designated trails for snowshoers to go out on their own, but they are asked to pay a $5 trail pass. Click here for a video about the guided snowshoe tours that are available at $50 for guests at Big Sky Resort.
Back in Vermont, a resort that presents a different option is Mount Snow where snowshoe tours are available via Grand Summit Hotel lodge’s NatureSpa. There are planned and marked trail routes at the ski area and the unique “Guided Snowshoe Tour & Massage,” that includes (for $185) a guided snowshoe tour followed by a sorely “kneaded” massage after returning to the spa. Trail loops can take an hour or two and snowshoes are available to rent. Click for a link to the NatureSpa.
Snowshoeing a Mt. Snow where you can tour followed by a massage.
Credit: Mt. Snow
Guided snowshoe tours take about an hour for $45 per person including the snowshoes, poles and a group guide. There are also private tours available and outings offered to people who are more athletic and looking for a fitness workout on snowshoes or an environmental tour with a local Vermonter talking about animal tracks or local geography. Trail maps for snowshoers are available at Mount Snow Sports, where snowshoe rental equipment and a trail pass can be acquired. The trail pass is $10 per day and rentals are $25 per day or $15 per afternoon.
It was necessary this year for some of the Smuggler’s Notch snowshoe treks to be on the alpine slopes due to low snow in the valley. Snowshoers used the lifts to access a high elevation tour and a backcountry tour. The Smuggler’s Nordic Director commented, “When the skiers saw the people snowshoeing on the slopesides, they wanted to get out of their skis to come and try it.”
Helpful Handy Hand Warmer Hints
From Newborn Mittens to YOUR Mittens.
Editor Note: Sue Z. is a senior skier and craftsperson who hangs out at Alta. She wrote a recent gift idea that showed how to transform worn out ski socks into a cool scarf.
Like many older skiers, I rely on disposable glove warmers to keep my hands comfortable. I open the package at home and let them toast my gloves on the 30-minute drive to Alta, my home resort. Manufacturers of disposable hand warmers advise that they not be placed directly against the skin. Since my gloves and mittens don’t have pockets, I came up with the following idea which allows me to use disposable hand warmers without them touching my skin.
My ski mittens.
Mittens for newborn children, which can be bought at any store that carries infant clothing.
Little Hotties® hand warmers. Remove pair from package and shake.
Insert Hotties into newborn mittens. Now, the Hotties will not be against your skin.
I put them in my mittens about a half hour before I’m ready to hit the slopes. That way, my mittens are warm by the time I’m ready to put them on. An added benefit: if the mittens are near my socks in my ski bag, I have warm socks as well!
®Little Hotties is a registered trademark.
*Sue Z., born in Brooklyn, is now a senior skier who likes to spend her time at Alta. When she is not skiing, she likes to paint in acrylics, plays the piano, and has taken several years of drum lessons. The “sock to scarf” idea came about while she was looking for a scarf for her new ski jacket; she came across knee socks in fun colors, and thought she could sew them together to create just what she was looking for.
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