Product Review: Are Seniors Ready For High Tech Goggles and Sunglasses?
Better Than $20 Off-The-Rack Sunglasses?
Sunglasses from Red Bull Racing uses high tech material for toughness and style.
Credit: Red Bull Racing
Inspired by Red Bull Racing, the four time Formula One Auto Racing Champions, Red Bull Racing is introducing new eyewear that uses high-tech, cutting edge technology in sunglasses and goggles. Formula One racing cars use the lightweight XMP material to reinforce carbon fiber and Kevlar in principal components. Red Bull Racing thought it would be a good idea to transfer XMP technology into lightweight sunglass frames. The result are lightweight, tough sunglass frames and polarized lenses. And you thought Red Bull was an energy drink.
Red Bull has also introduced a high end ski goggle to the market utilizing a matte black carbon fiber frame with a flash polycarbonate polarized lens. The Parabolica 010, which was used in the review, is another example of a sporty and race oriented look that provides maximum visual performance along with comfort with the lightweight frame.
These cool looking goggles flip up and they’re made of the same super tough material.
Credit: Red Bull Racing
Personal Observations:
I really liked the weight and visual acuity of the lenses in the RBR series sunglasses. They utilize a wide frame and large lens which provide comfort and vision benefits versus most sunglasses which tend to ride small on the face. There are varied choices in lens flash color as well as frame color and design.
A really neat feature on the goggle is a swivel built into each side of the frame which allows the frame to be flipped up without compromising the band fit on a hat or helmet. The lens acuity is sharp and the peripheral vision design is such that your field of vision is maximized with equal protection for the eyes both physically and with the built in Polarized vision protection. Also, based on use in different conditions including skiing while the snowmaking system was on, these goggles resisted fogging. One of my pet peeves with goggles: if you pay a good price for goggles, you want to make sure that the vision is not compromised. An anti-fog cloth is provided.
The price range is comparable to current products on the market. Retail price on these goggles runs from $89.00 to $339.00. The Parabolica is the high end goggle which I was able to test. The sunglasses retail pricing is from $125.00 – $219.00. I tested the high end sunglasses.
It’s pretty amazing that the technology from materials used in the construction of a Formula One Race Car is now being used in sunglass frames for strength and weight considerations. Good for someone like me who tends to sit on sunglasses and break them. Senior moments.
For more information visit www.madvision.com and also www.spectacular-eyewear.com. This is a new product line. The US market is coming on board as we speak and the retail locator will be available in the next few weeks.
SeniorsSkiing Guide: Cranmore A Classic Senior Ski Hill
This Venerable Mountain Is Super Senior Friendly.
Cranmore’s view of Mt. Washington. Since 1937, Cranmore has been one of the classic New England resorts.
Credit: SeniorsSkiing
Returning to Cranmore Mountain in North Conway, NH, is like coming back to the basics. You will not find flash, large verticals, or multiple-piste skiing. No heart-stopping double diamonds. You will find like-minded senior regulars gathering in the little lodge, classic New England narrow trail skiing as well as broad, open blue cruisers. Low key skiing comes to mind. We like that. There’s lots of room for skiing mid-week, and the prices are definitely right, if you know how to look for discounts. We like the snowmaking. Even in this season of eastern snow drought, there was decent coverage and highly carvable snow. And we like the community feeling among the other folks, even in the ski shop, rental desk and cafeteria.
History
The Skimobile ran straight up the middle of the mountain. It was still running in 1988.
Credit: Cranmore
If you’ve never been there, skiing at Cranmore in the Mount Washington Valley is something of a pilgrimage into skiing history. In 1937, local businessman Harvey Gibson founded the ski hill, put in a rope tow and so it began. In the next two years, two big innovations came to Cranmore. First was the Skimobile, built straight up the middle of the mountain. The Skimobile consisted of little cars traveling uphill on a wooden rail. It was a practical, New England-simple alternative to the lift system, contemporaneously making its first North American appearance at Sun Valley. It’s hard to believe that the Skimobile lasted till 1988. The other innovation was the
Hannes Schneider is called the Father of Modern Skiing at Cranmore. He established ski instruction that opened the sport beyond college athletes.
Credit: SeniorSkiing
arrival of Hannes Schneider from Austria. Schneider expanded the nascent ski school, extended the Skimobile and carved trails that you can ski to this day. Hannes Schneider had an enormous impact on ski instruction and, in many circles, is considered as the person who opened up the sport to the masses back in its early days.
Snow And Terrain
Snowmaking is an art at Cranmore. The snowmaking team publishes its own blog and methodically covers the entire mountain when nature is not forthcoming. As for trails, there are 54 spreading out from the summit served by nine lifts of different sizes. On the left side of the mountain, you find the archetypal narrow, twisty, old-style New England specials like Kandahar, Rattlesnake, Arlberg. These narrow trails get slightly U-shaped in cross section as the season goes on, so it’s almost like skiing down a tube. On the other side of the mountain, you get those beautiful wide blues that we love. Artists Falls, East Slope, and Schneider are great blues, Easy Street is a greenie that runs from the top and one that we like to take as a first run to shake off the dust from the ride up from Boston. And yes, there are terrain parks and glades for those who indulge in those kinds of activities.
Cranmore is a super mountain for seniors: friendly, accessible, reasonable cost.
Credit: SeniorsSkiing
Lot To Lodge To Lift
Cranmore’s base is small and compact. You can drive up to the lodge, drop off your stuff, park and walk the 100 yards or so back to your car. It’s easy. The lodge is small, but it is on a couple of levels. That’s the only criticism I can think of. Bottom level: lockers, changing area and rest rooms, next level cafeteria and lodge. Many seniors just park their gear around the lunch room area and change there, walking out to the lifts which are an easy skate away.
Culture
It may be a slight exaggeration, but I think that during the week seniors own the mountain. Lots of seniors show up in the morning, take some runs and many are gone by 1:00. Obviously, they are season pass holders who come in groups, singly, in pairs and who schmooze over coffee and packed lunches before heading home. Everyone we met was cheerful, chatty, and friendly. At about 2:30 or so on the several Thursdays we visited, school buses descended and lots of kids poured out to take lessons. North Conway clearly has an enlightened Physical Education program at the local district. There is a bar and separate restaurant at the base. We imagine those are weekend magnets that weren’t busy on Thursday afternoon.
The Future
A group of Boston entrepreneurs purchased the resort in 2010 and have plans to rebuild the whole base area around a new condo village. Right now, the condos are on sale , and whenever construction starts you can bet the culture is going change. The good news is that there will be a future for this historic and important ski area. The other news is that the quirky little lodge will be gone. Cranmore will eventually become more of a year-round residence-resort. Regardless, the mountain will still have those classic trails.
Bottom Line
Seniors are treated nicely at Cranmore. We bought a $29 weekday senior (65-79) lift ticket online. Weekend tickets bought online are $40 for seniors. Weekday passes are $48 for seniors if you don’t buy online. When you look online for passes, you will notice that prices vary by week and what’s going on, i.e., Washington Birthday Week, school vacation week, etc. Seniors can buy a season pass before the end of November for $369 for limited skiing and $429 for unlimited. Check the website for more details.
The future of Cranmore includes a condo development and lodge area. Here’s a rendering of what the future will look like.
Credit: Cranmore
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Jan.29)
Peek At Survey Results Hot Off The Internet, Over-The-Hill Gang Profile, Warm Toes, Alta Resort Review, and Flying Into Big Sky.
Heading down Big Dipper at Alta.
Credit: Harriet Wallis
We looked over the initial results from Subscriber Survey 2016 and realized we wanted to respond immediately to some of the questions you raised. You will find a capsule summary of responses to your questions in We Hear You. Please note that we do have a FORUM, and it can be a useful tool if you want to connect to other senior skiers. Look at the topmost dark blue menu bar, second menu pick in from the right, just to the left of ABOUT. Seems as if it’s been a best kept secret all this time. More results will be coming soon.
Curiously, one of the themes you mentioned in your survey advice was to help ski resorts and senior skiers form groups like the Over The Hill Gang that started in Copper Mountain, CO in 1976. This week, we present a profile of OHG and how it works. Can you get a gang like this together where you ski?
Our friend and skiing colleague, The Ski Diva, wrote a useful set of tips on keeping your feet warm. You know what cold feet can do to your day. Thanks to The Ski Diva for letting us reprint her advice.
SeniorsSkiing.com’s ace correspondent Harriet Wallis shows us the “Skiers’ Paradise”,—Alta— in all its glory. Alta has much to offer senior skiers, and, in this resort review, Harriet shows us some of its treasures.
And, for those who always wanted to ski Montana but found the getting there part a bit of a chore, there is news inside about a new airline route. You can get a more direct flight into Bozeman, opening up your way to Big Sky.
Preview:
Next week, we’ll be posting more data from the Subscriber Survey, a resort review of the venerable Cranmore Mountain, North Conway, NH, a profile of our favorite Nordic site in Massachusetts, more product reviews, and whatever else comes over the transom.
Meanwhile, do two things:
1) Check our FORUM. That’s where you can link up with other kindred spirits.
2) And, tell your friends about SeniorsSkiing.com.
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