We Have Hurricanes And Wildfires. Oz Has Big Snow. Sound Like A Theme? The news from Down Under is that the snows are prodigious, the depths of which haven’t been seen in 17 years. The snowpack in Australian snow fields is up to 97 inches, eight feet, which sounds awfully similar to the monster snow this year in the North[Read More…]
Mountain Bikers: These Trails Are Worth The Trek. One of the smoothest, most buttery trail systems in the east is situated in the middle of rural Pennsylvania near a beautiful body of water—Raystown Lake. The Alligrippis Trails were IMBA( International Mountain Bike Association) designed in conjunction with the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the[Read More…]
This Wonderful Family Area Is Simply Out Of Money. [Editor Note: According to the Westfield News, Springfield Ski Club’s members will be meeting on July 18 to approve the sale of assets to the owners of Ski Butternut. If two thirds of the total membership do not specifically vote yes, the ski area will close.] The website says: “May 28, 2017[Read More…]
[Editor Note: This article by Correspondent Rose Marie Cleese first appeared in Liftopia’s The Blog. We thank Liftopia for allowing us to pass it along to the readers of SeniorsSkiing.com.] Even though summer has officially arrived and temperatures are reaching triple-digits across the country, are you still nostalgic about winter and wish you had gotten in a couple more days[Read More…]
Where Is Everyone? There’s Pow At Alta. Thanks to Snowbrains for passing this along. June 13, 2017 run at Alta.
Special Bikes Available At Different VT Locations This Summer. [Editor Note: This article first appeared in XCSkiResorts.com; we thank Roger Lohr, editor-in-chief, for sharing this with SeniorsSkiing.com readers.] The Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports organization’s new Adaptive Mountain Bike Program, which is one of the first in New England offers special dates for outings in various location and limited adaptive mountain bikes[Read More…]
Serious Cycling For This Senior Who Hangs With A Younger Crowd. Nothing like a road trip with 23 of your mountain biking friends to State College, Pa. aka “Happy Valley”. Our merry band of warriors converged on the Hilton Garden Inn and prepared for three days of riding the challenging terrain of the Rothrock State Forest. As one of two[Read More…]
Run After Run Of Perfect Powder For Five Straight Days. Snowcat Skiing At Its Best. 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[Read More…]
Everywhere There’s Snow. (And Some Places Where There Isn’t.) 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[Read More…]
Themes That Pick Up The Resort Name Can Be Catchy And Easy To Remember. Sometimes trail names are descriptive (Easy Mile at Suicide Six), sometimes they are a tribute (Thanks Walt at Mt Snow for its founder Walter Schoenknecht), sometimes they’re humorous (True Grit and No Grit at Waterville Valley), sometimes sensational (Widowmaker at Sugarloaf and Snowshoe) and at several mountains[Read More…]
He’s Loved And Will Be Missed. Onno Wieringa has a passion for snow and for the soul of Alta. They have been his love and his career for 45 years. He arrived at Alta Ski Area in 1972 and landed a job as ski patroller. That was his day job. At night, he was a bartender at Rustler Lodge. After[Read More…]
So It’s Not The Rockies. But What Makes Mom-And-Pop Special? [Editor Note: As we are seeing in a month of startling industry news, the ski business is rapidly consolidating. Big corporations are buying portfolios of resorts. Vail has added Stowe to its collection. Aspen and its private equity investors, KLS Capital Partners are plucking up Stratton and Mt. Tremblant, among[Read More…]
Big White Found The Right Formula To Attract Seniors For A Special Week Just For Them. Like so many things of yesteryear, ski weeks are making a comeback. And not surprisingly, they’re aimed at the same folks who went ski trips back during the ski week heyday in the 1970s and early ‘80s—the Boomers. The original ski week hit when[Read More…]
There’s More Than Ski Clinics For Seniors That Make Big White’s Master’s Week Unique. [Editor Note: Correspondent Yvette Cardozo also reported on Big White’s Master’s Week focusing on the ski instruction elements. Here, she shows us the social side which really looks like a lot of fun.] The social part of the Big White Ski Resort Masters Week is what made[Read More…]
Lots And Lots And Lots Of Snow. PBS posted a Plant Labs video comparing the snow cover from 2015 to 2017. And we understand there is more snow coming this weekend to the High Sierra. It’s April, folks.
There Is A Clear And Distinct Difference. Which Is For You? Just returned from my annual ski adventure with my group of guys from all over the country. We all converge on our friend in Tahoe and enjoy the Tahoe areas and then head to Mammoth to end the week. Have to tell you folks, there is a lot of[Read More…]
What’s It Like To Visit A Members-Only Resort? Find Out How You Can Do It. On March 12 — zero degrees, wind whipping — my ski companion who had never ridden a bubble covered, heated-seats six-pack commented, “This lift is a spoiler.” Anita doesn’t do well in the cold, but thanks to the Barnstormer these two seniors skied for two hours before[Read More…]
The Facts Are Tough To Face, But The Ski Season In New England Is Getting Shorter. This story comes via the New England News Collaborative, and was first published by Maine Public. It aired on WBUR Boston, March 15, 2017. Two years ago during the infamous 2014-15 season, there was enough snow, it seemed, in New England to cover Mt. Washington many[Read More…]
This Non-Profit Ski Area Is Community Owned And Prices Reflect It. Bogus Basin outside Boise, ID, is the local ski hill. But it’s not your usual tiny, rustic, over run local hill. “What you get here is destination skiing at local prices,” said General Manager Brad Wilson. “Our lift tickets are $59, our ski rental package $30, our burgers are[Read More…]
Almost Down And Out, This Resurrected Resort Returns As A Bargain For Senior Skiers. Tamarack is the original comeback kid. It opened in 2004 to great fanfare and serious celebrity cred, the first new ski resort in the US since Beaver Creek in 1980. With tennis star Andre Agassi and wife Steffi Graf at their publicity helm, the idea was to[Read More…]
Popular Program For Seniors Offers Guided Skiing All Day. For Free. On one of those perfect bluebird Colorado days, I rode up the Gondola at Steamboat (www.Steamboat.com) with a group of women from the Indianapolis Ski Club (www.indyskiclub.org), who thought I was one of them. All us skiers look alike in our goggles and helmets. They were spending a week[Read More…]
Idaho has the most usable hot springs in the entire US: 130 springs out of the state’s 340 are “soakable.” Yes, it’s warm down there underground. The state apparently sits above a massive hot spot that fuels not only this but the springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park. So, locals have their pick from rustic pools that are run[Read More…]
Up To The Minute Trip Report From Roger Lohr, Publisher Of XCSkiResorts.com. [Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com thanks Roger Lohr for this update. XCSkiResorts.com is the premium resource for nordic ski vacation and resort information in North America.] We excitedly planned a weekend trip to Jackson, N.H., because it is a true Mecca for Nordic skiers. This is the quintessential New England[Read More…]
When It’s Time For A Diversion Excursion, Visit The Elk Herd. Yes, Idaho has some delicious skiing. Yes, some people want to do something else. In winter. In the snow. And so, in the McCall area, there’s the elk feeding trip. Back in 1983, Lyle Points’ pop, Vernon, started to worry about the elk on his land. These were wild[Read More…]
A Swanky New Hotel On The Mountain Is A Magnet For Those Who Love The Basics. “Burke is what skiing used to be. It’s back to the basics. We’re just happy here,” says Barb Mader who with husband, Don, ski 80 days a year at this laid-back mountain high in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. They stretch the season at[Read More…]
