As Junior Bounous celebrates his ninth decade, we salute his love of the sport and his motivation. His message to the rest of us is simple: “Keep moving!” Check. Thanks, Junior and have a great birthday.
Here’s a short documentary produced by Snowbird that chronicles Junior’s trip down the Pipeline at age 80.
Credit: Snowbird Resort
The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe is nestled in the forest halfway up Northstar’s Mount Pluto.
Credit: The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe
To all you senior winter sports aficionados out there who still have your summer escape ahead of you: Is fitness a part of your plans? It should be, and it should be easy to pull off. Those days of lazing about day after day, taking afternoon naps on an Adirondack chair on the lawn of a summer resort or reading a pile of paperback novels on a deck chair aboard a big ocean liner are long gone. Although relaxation is still a major part of summer getaways, the operative words today are “go, go, go!” That bodes well for us skiers, skaters, snowshoers and boarders who want to be ready to fly when the snow does. Staying in shape during the off-season has never been easier because resorts and cruise companies have geared up handsomely for today’s active senior vacationers.
With my very public fitness journey in the forefront of my mind, I decided to test out this fitness vacation thing and spent three days sampling the fitness options offered by The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, a luxury resort situated in the forest halfway up the mountain at Northstar ski area. In addition to all the activities one can do right at the resort, the staff can also arrange any number of active adventures available in the Tahoe area for its hotel guests.
Kayaking is a great upper-body workout for skiers in the off-season and especially relaxing on the calm waters of Lake Tahoe, one of the clearest lakes in the world with water clarity of more than 70 feet. Credit: The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe
Before we had even checked in, we stopped off at Tahoe Vista on the shores of Lake Tahoe and took the Tahoe Adventure Company’s “Discover Kayaking” tour with a guide, learning how to get into and maneuver a kayak (we were both first-timers), and paddling over to King’s Beach and back, learning about the geology and natural wonders of the lake along the way. One of the beauties of kayaking is that it can be as laid back or as rigorous as you want to make it. And for first-timers, you can’t beat a placid lake!
Our fitness vacation was now officially launched, and after checking in at the hotel, we plotted out the rest of our activities for our short stay. Our main venue would be the hotel’s fitness center, which offers an array of one-hour classes free to hotel guests on selected days, classes such as Active Stretch, Core Focus, and Healthy Back. There’s also a full complement of cardio equipment—treadmills, elliptical machines, recumbent and upright stationary bikes—as well as free weights, etc., available for use 24 hours a day. (It’s amazing how much more enjoyable exercising is when you’re looking out onto a forest.)
Ritz-Carlton guests can also enjoy a lap pool (in addition to the regular hotel pool), and staffers can help guests plan rounds of golf, hikes, mountain biking, white water rafting (when there isn’t a drought!), tennis, or fly fishing. There’s enough active outdoor stuff to do here that you don’t even have to feel guilty when you overindulge in the resort’s superb Manzanita dining room.
Of course, when staying at a five-star establishment, one must spend a certain amount of time luxuriating, which we did: Sunning and swimming at the main pool in between sips of daiquiris served poolside, chilling in the hot tub, and wrapping up our stay with a soothing massage at the resort’s beautiful spa.
Whether you’re headed for a luxury resort or Uncle Joe’s log cabin in the woods, with a little research ahead of time and a little planning,
Ritz-Carlton fitness instructor Nancy Brest demonstrates “dynamic stability” during her Active Stretch class, one of several fitness classes offered by the resort hotel on selected days.
Credit: Katie Cleese Photography
it’s easy to make sure that your vacation has a robust fitness component. Make a list of all the things you can partake in within a 20-mile radius of where you’re staying, then prioritize the items on the list and commit to the top however many. And every time you overindulge at mealtime, make sure you’re out there the next day, hiking or biking or swimming or running. You’re most likely in a very scenic place, so get out there and enjoy the view!
For more information on The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, go to www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/LakeTahoe/Default.htm
To contact Tahoe Adventure Company, go to www.tahoeadventurecompany.com or call (530) 913-9212.
Harriet Wallis conquers the trail to the top of Emigration Canyon. Check.
Credit: Harriet Wallis
It’s summer and half my friends are traveling the planet. They’re checking off places on their bucket list. I get emails from exotic locations. They send photos of elephants and penguins, mountain peaks and crystal clear lakes.
So I ask: “What’s wrong with me? Why don’t I have a big bucket list? Is it okay to have a pail list instead?” Have those questions ever occurred to you?
I’m lucky. Throughout my life I’ve been able to see penguins, hike mountain peaks and paddle clear lakes. My bucket is pretty full. Now I’m working with a pail instead. Maybe a pail is right for you too.
For me, the things I want to accomplish — to fill my pail — are mostly close to home and are personal challenges. This summer, my pail list includes bicycling as many days as I skied during the winter (80 days), to swim three miles a week, and to tie a fly that’s so good the fish will fight over it. So far my pail is filling up. But I’m still struggling with the fish-thing.
Bucket lists are very trendy. But not everyone has the time, finances or inclination to travel to far away places. Consider a pail list instead. Consider setting challenges for yourself close to home. I’d love to hear what’s on your pail list and how you’re doing with filling it up.
With so many late, unexpected and unusual snowfalls this late spring, we wondered if people were still showing up. After all, it is almost boating season. Yet, a report last week from Faithful Subscriber Paul Remillard showed us that there are die-hards out there. It was not always thus, apparently.
We discovered this article from an archive copy of SKIING AREA NEWS, Winter 1970. An article by Mike Korologos describes an attempt by Alta to stretch the season by two weeks. Unfortunately, no one showed up. “Staying open didn’t pay,” said the then area manager Chick Morton. And that’s after spending more on promotions for those two weeks than any other comparable period during the “real” season.
Morton said he blamed the lack of spring skiing crowds to skiing patterns. The article states that “When May Day arrives, the cry is ‘Head for the links,’ regardless of how good ski conditions are.”
That was 45 years ago. Is it still the same today?
From Skiing Area News, Winter 1970.
As we reported last October, the deal is now done. Deer Valley has scooped up Solitude Resort, put a new general manager in place and is announcing lots of capital improvements for next season. Read all about it here.
Big Changes Coming From New Lifts To Restaurant Renovations.
Credit: CityWeekly.Net
On April 1st, it was no joke when California’s Department of Water Resources snow surveyors went to Phillips Station off Highway 50 near Echo Summit to do their official April 1st measurement of the snowpack. Whereas the average
Despite snow drought, author’s daughter Katie Cleese and friend Rose Cendak practice Quidditch at Heavenly Mountain Resort.
Credit: Heavenly Mountain Resort
snow depth at that location is 66.5 inches on that date since record-keeping began there in 1941, the measuring crew—with Governor Jerry Brown by their side—found themselves in a meadow devoid of any snow at all. It was unprecedented. Since it’s now likely that there will be very little Sierra snowpack runoff into the state’s reservoirs this year coupled with the previous three years of statewide drought, the governor announced on the spot a mandatory 25 percent reduction in water usage for everyone—companies, institutions, and individuals alike.
Yet, despite there being grass instead of snow in the meadow at Phillips Station, one can still ski and snowboard in the Sierra—at least for a couple more weeks. A small handful of wintersports areas will remain open past the traditional Easter weekend closing date, thanks to their snowmaking efforts, their higher elevations, and/or their careful protection and manicuring of the snow they were lucky enough to have fall on their slopes.
To catch a few more runs before all the snow is gone, you can head to any of the following (closing dates as of April 2nd are in parentheses): Bear Valley (Sunday, April 12th), Boreal (Sunday, April 12th), Heavenly (Sunday, April 19th), Mt. Rose (Sunday, April 19th), Kirkwood (Sunday, April 19th), and Mammoth Mountain (Sunday, May 31st). Bay Area skiers rarely make the trek to Mammoth on the eastern slope of the Sierra off Highway 395 since the quickest route there, via Tioga Pass in Yosemite, closes every winter after the first major snowfall. This season, however, Mammoth was and remains a great option since the Tioga Pass road never closed this winter—a first! As of March 31st, Mammoth had 19 of its 28 lifts operating, with a base of 30–60”. The resort has often been open for skiing over the 4th of July weekend; don’t hold your breath this year!
Only one Sierra wintersports resort is closing this Easter Sunday, April 5th, the traditional end of ski season: Alpine Meadows.
Katie Cleese and Mike Allen, Director of Ski Services, soak up the bennies in the too-warm, mid-mountain patio at Heavenly. Note snow melt in background.
Credit: David Koth
Several Sierra resorts had a tough season, especially those with no snowmaking capacity or besieged by higher temperatures that prevented snowmaking or located in the Central Sierra, which didn’t get as much snow as their neighbors farther north. Sierra-at-Tahoe managed to open on December 12th and ran its lifts for a total of 94 days before it had to close on March 16th. Badger Pass in Yosemite National Park opened on December 14th but had to close on January 19th, never to reopen. Dodge Ridge racked up similar stats to Badger Pass, opening on December 17th and closing in mid-January. Homewood on the west shore of Lake Tahoe opened on December 20th but then closed on February 23rd to wait for another significant snowfall that never came. Tahoe Donner closed on March 15th and Diamond Peak closed on March 29th. Sugar Bowl had to cut its 75th Anniversary season short, closing on March 22nd.
Hopefully, all the resorts will have a banner year next year, but with the new normal, it looks more and more like any California resort that hopes to survive the changing climate will have to take the plunge into a robust snowmaking system.
Deer Valley in Park City consistently ranks at the top of SKI Magazine’s polls for guest service, on-mountain food and snow grooming. As a part time instructor there for several years, I came to understand that the resort has a unique hotel culture. Customers are treated as “guests.” As one executive advised us, “Treat them well. They might not be right, but they’re still our guests.”
Freshly shucked oysters are never-ending at Deer Valley’s seafood buffet. Credit: Deer Valley
The food choices are varied, the quality is terrific, and, considering Deer Valley’s posh reputation, reasonably priced. I used to joke that DV is a great restaurant with skiing as an amenity. Actually, DV offers a lot of varied terrain that most of its guests probably never get to. It’s a fine area with a fine reputation and really fine food.
One of its dining institutions is the Seafood Buffet, a ski season-only restaurant that pops up Thursday through Sunday evenings in the resort’s Snow Park Base Village lodge. During ski hours, the cafeteria serves DV’s daytime offerings: far more sophisticated and varied than what you’ll find in most day lodges in North America. Come evening, it transforms to a remarkable array of freshly shucked oysters, crab legs, shrimp, sushi, cooked entrees from sea and ranch, and sweets of every fresh-baked and otherwise concocted description. It’s on Zagat’s “America’s Top Restaurants” list.
You might associate the food choices with dressing for dinner. But given the lodge’s upscale rustic surroundings almost everyone is in jeans.
A wide variety of seafood grace the Deer Valley seafood buffet, a ski season-only institution in the Wasatch. Credit: Deer Valley
Then there’s the service. With some exceptions, Utah restaurants are aggravating for their lack of quality service. Historically a culinary backwater, a growing number of excellent eateries in Park City, Salt Lake, tiny Boulder, and a few other locations are attracting attention and clientele from all over. The Seafood Buffet is all about superb service, and its international wait staff in topnotch. Leave your table for another plate of whatever, and you return — each and every time — to one tidied with replaced dishes, flatware, and moist cloth napkins for sticky fingers.
The wine and beer list is reasonably priced, with several whites clustered under the heading “Shell Fish Wines.” While the list has a range of options, our Marlborough (NZ) Sauvignon Blanc was available at a reasonable premium above the state wine store.
The buffet cost is $64 for adults/$34 for kids (11 and under), beverages excluded.
Deer Valley’s Seafood Buffet is a classic. Winter visitors to the Wasatch — the mountain range where Deer Valley and numerous other ski resorts are located within close proximity — have many dining options. But wherever you stay, at Deer Valley, in Park City, at one of the other resorts, or somewhere in the Salt Lake Valley, it’s worth a short drive to the mountains to enjoy first-rate cuisine from the seas.
Reservations advised.
Our friend and colleague, The Ski Diva, gathers a group of Diva Members for an annual ski trip to exciting places. This year, her group went to Montana where they had a rocking good time. Click here for her report. Pass this along to the Ski Diva in your life. The Ski Diva is a super resource for women who ski. Perhaps your diva would be interested in joining.
Ski Divas gathered in Montana this year. Clear skies and clearly fun.
Credit: The Ski DIva
Lift Mechanic Jamill Sami puts finishing touches on his department’s gigantic ninja turtle.
Credit: Harriet Wallis
The snow sculpture competition is an annual St. Patrick’s Day event at Brighton Resort, Utah. The competition pits departments against each other in a good natured contest.
During the night as grooming equipment manicures the slopes for the next day, they scoop up a pile of snow for each department.
Lifties who run the beginner lift created an enormous Snoopy lying on top of his dog house. Adults and kids who are learning get to ski and ride around the delightful sculpture.
There are nearly a dozen sculptures located around the base of the resort. Even non-skiers can walk around the base area and enjoy them. They’ll remain on view for a few days and then be groomed back into the slope.
Correspondent Harriet Wallis remembers the outstanding St. Patrick Days at now closed Brodie Mountain, MA.
Credit: NewEnglandSkiHistory.com
St. Patrick’s Day is for reminiscing. I used to live in the East, and I skied Brodie Mountain, Massachusetts on St. Patrick’s Day. The once thriving ski area went all out to celebrate the Irish holiday. There was green snow, green beer, green outfits, green face painting and lots of merriment off the snow and on it. Along with 20 others, I sledded down a slope on a cafeteria tray and crossed the finish line first. For that I earned a Brodie Mountain T-shirt. I still have it.
Does your ski area celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in an unusual way?
Northstar California has been operating full blast since Thanksgiving.
Credit: Northstar California
While much of the U.S. has gotten battered all winter long by massive dumps of snow and other inclement weather, California’s Sierra Nevada has been having a tough time living up to its name (“snowy mountain range” in Spanish). But, a crazily configured jet stream and a persistent giant high off the West Coast notwithstanding, most of the mountain resorts of drought-stricken California have been able to carve out a decent wintersports season.
As of March 8th, most Northern California resorts, particularly those in the Lake Tahoe region and at the higher elevations, have more than half of their lifts running and terrain open to skiers and boarders, thanks to a storm during the first weekend of March that dumped as much as 28 inches of snow on the slopes and to colder temperatures that have allowed for accelerated snowmaking.
Squaw Valley, with a base of 22″ to 52″, has all but five of its 29 lifts going, and its neighbor area, Alpine Meadows, has nine of its 13 lifts operating on a base of 19″ to 47″. Heavenly Mountain Resort, which boasts “the West Coast’s largest snowmaking” operation, is running 19 of its 28 lifts with an average snow depth
Heavenly Mountain Resort has been making snow, producing outstanding conditions.
Credit: Heavenly Mountain Resort
of 39″. Says Heavenly p.r. coordinator Liesl Kenney, “Everybody is surprised at how good conditions are when they get up here.” Convincing skiers and boarders of this is probably one of the biggest challenges facing many resorts, seeing as how the San Francisco Bay Area has been experiencing perennially sunny skies and basking in 70° temperatures week after week this winter!
Northstar California is “thriving” this season, according to senior communications manager Rachael Woods. “Every chair is served by our snowmaking system, which can be controlled by a smart phone!” The resort has been operating top to bottom since opening shortly after Thanksgiving and hopes to do so until its planned April 19th closing date. The resort currently has an 18″ to 49″ base with 18 of its 20 lifts operating. The higher-elevation resorts, Sugar Bowl (base: 6,883 feet) near Donner Summit, Sierra-at-Tahoe (6,640 feet) near Echo Summit, Kirkwood (7,800 feet) near Carson Pass, and Bear Valley (6,600 feet) near Ebbetts Pass, can all crow about their healthy snowpacks that stack up to as much as 72” (Sugar Bowl).
The two resorts located northeast of Lake Tahoe in Nevada can’t complain this season either. Mt. Rose, with the Tahoe region’s highest base elevation at 8,260 feet, has all 60 trails and all eight of its lifts going, with snow depths of 32″ to 66″. Diamond Peak, at 6,700 feet, has two to three feet of snow with five of its seven lifts in operation. And SoCal favorite Mammoth Mountain off US-395 in Central California has 19 of its 28 lifts running, a base of 30″ to 60″, and a planned closing date of May 31st. Its fellow Central California resorts, alas, have not fared as well. China Peak, Badger Pass in Yosemite, and Dodge Ridge are all currently closed due to a lack of snow cover. Up near Tahoe, Donner Ski Ranch, Tahoe Donner, and Homewood are also temporarily closed—permanently for the season if that high ridge doesn’t budge!
With most currently open Sierra resorts planning to close the third or fourth weekend in April, West Coast skiers 65 years of age and older still have at least six weeks to enjoy some quality spring skiing or boarding and to catch some senior savings. Most resorts offer discounted lift tickets (65+) and you can even ski for free if you’re 75+ (Bear Valley) or 80+ (Diamond Peak). Several resorts offer clinics for 55+ skiers early on, but that’s a story for next season. May it be ever so snowy! Like Boston-snowy!
Back country warnings are there for a reason.
Credit: Harriet Wallis
Yesterday we rode the chairlift with a bozo. Okay. Maybe he wasn’t a bozo. Maybe he was just clueless. All the way up he yapped about his skiing prowess. And near the top he phoned home to give his wife his location. “She worries about me,” he said.
She should worry. He planned to duck under the boundary rope and make some turns in the deep, unspoiled powder beyond.
“Take your avy gear,” we said.
“Don’t need it. It’s in the car. I’m just doing side country,” he said.
Somehow he missed hearing that there is no such thing as side country.
The term “side country” hit the scene a few years ago, and it was quickly squelched by the ski industry’s leading avalanche experts, snow science experts, the U.S. Forest Service, ski area risk managers, mountain patrollers and others. It was likely a marketing brainchild used to promote the newest boots and powder-specific skis and boards.
The term had obvious appeal to intermediate and advanced skiers and riders. They could buy the latest gear and try their skills beyond the rope line thinking it would be okay. They could be a little bit naughty.
But the ski industry took a stance saying you’re either within a resort or else you’re in the unmonitored, ruthless back country. You’re either in bounds or you’re out of bounds. There’s nothing in between. There is no such thing as side country. There is no such thing as “kinda” out of bounds.
“We all must focus on educating skiers and snowboarders that backcountry terrain accessed from a ski lift has the same risks as any other back country or out-of-bounds area,” says the National Ski Area Association.
Later in the day I caught the TV news. A skier died after being caught in an avalanche. The avalanche occurred in the very out of bounds area where a guy— with too much macho and too little knowledge—went to ski. There’s no such thing as side country.
There’s no such thing as being a little bit dead.
Black and White, Ying and Yang, Macy’s and Gimbel’s, Felix and Oscar: These opposites come to mind when we look at this picture of what happened to the weather in February, 2015. The Washington Post reports there were coldest months on record throughout the East, while the West cooked. There are some in both places who aren’t having fun with this. You can understand the frustration of Western snow sport enthusiasts when they see brown hills, but there are plenty in the East who find the cold abysmal, the roads to ski areas challenging, and the need to deal with ice dams at home more demanding than recreation. Nevertheless, as the month turns (Rabbit, Rabbit), there are signs the West is entertaining new storms.
One glance at the February weather composite shows why we’ve had a weird mid-Winter: Cold East, Warm West.
Credit: Weatherbell.com
SeniorsSkiing.com is proud to spotlight George Jedenoff, 97, who skis Alta every year.
Credit: Ski Utah
How’s the spring in your legs? Here’s George Jedenoff, a 97-year old from Oakland, CA, who has been skiing Alta, UT, since 1960. With a lifetime season pass and a healthy lifestyle, George shows us that skiing can be a part of any stage of life.
Here’s a short video of George has he sweeps down the slopes in February 2015. Thanks, George, you are an inspiration to all of us. And thanks to Ski Utah for documenting George’s return to the slopes for the past three years. You can see additional videos of George from 2013 here and from 2014 here.
Eldora’s Front Range Gang is another senior-focused program. Other ski areas: Are you paying attention?
Credit: Eldora Resort
Anyone who lives in or visits Boulder in winter has absolutely no excuse not to ski Eldora Mountain Resort, not really a resort with lodging but a simple ski area under the brow of the Continental Divide, is just 21 miles west of town. There’s no need to drive, since scheduled RTD buses depart from downtown station, stop at the park-and-ride lot in the heart of downtown Nederland and then drop passengers and their gear off right in front of the Main Lodge, with return service – of course. Fares are half-price for ages 65-plus.
Eldora’s Front Range Gang is a popular program for skiers aged 50 and over. It is offered from 9 a.m. to 12 noon every Monday and Thursday in February and March. Alpine, telemark and Alpine touring gear is welcome. And cross-county skiers are welcome at the Nordic area, which shares base facilities with Alpine skiers.
Each Front Range Gang day includes a three-hour guided group session on a choice of green, blue or black terrain,
City bus from downtown Boulder to Eldora is super convenient.
Credit: Eldora Resort
helpful tips and liftline priority access – though in truth, except when Boulder Valley schools are out, you’ll never find a line. Cost is $40 per day, $99 for a one-month package and $189 for two months – too late for 2015, but keep it in mind for next winter.
[Editor’s Note: What other ski area/resort sponsored programs do readers know about? We’d love to create a directory for our readership. Please let us know.]
Every region has its own pronunciations, so if you take a western ski trip you might want to brush up on a few words and say them the way the local say them.
Word 1: Alta. This popular ski-only resort in Utah is the granddaddy of powder skiing. It averages 500 inches of snow a year, yet it’s just 25 miles from Salt Lake International Airport. How to say it like a local? Use this as a guideline. “My PAL AL skis at ALta.”
Word 2. Nevada. If you go a littler further west you’ll ski in Nevada at resorts around Lake Tahoe such as Kirkwood and Heavenly. But the state’s name often gets clobbered by visitors. Try saying this: “I’m GLAD not MAD to ski NEVADa.
BLIZZard, no longer BlizzARD. Talk like a native.
Credit: Harriet Wallis
Word 3. Blizzard. That’s a snowy weather condition. It’s also a brand of skis that’s popular out west. The Lift House, a full service ski shop at the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah, says that the brand is modernizing and Americanizing its name. No more “BlizzARD”, rhymes with “yard.”
Now you’re in the know. You can pronounce BLIZzard skis just the way you’d speak of a big snowstorm – a blizzard.
Does your region have some words that get mispronounced by out-of-staters?
Santas collaborate at Brighton Ski Resort, UT., after delivering presents to entire world.
Credit: Harriet Wallis
The recent acquisition by Vail of Park City Mountain Resort is yielding a major new development. Vail will link Park City and Canyons Resorts together, creating the largest ski area in the US with over 7,300 acres of skiable terrain. Click here to read the whole story from the Salt Lake Tribune. Your move, Colorado.
Dec 9 Story From the Salt Lake Tribune
Movers and Shakers honored.
Twenty years ago, ski enthusiasts and visionaries realized that historic ski photos and manuscripts should be collected to assure they wouldn’t be lost in dusty attics and that old albums wouldn’t be tossed out. The resulting collection is housed on the University of Utah campus in the J. Willard Marriott Library, and it’s called the Ski Archives. It has grown to be the largest cache of skiing and snow sports history in the country, and it’s a prime research collection, and it’s open to the public.
The Silent Auction is part of the annual fundraiser for the collection.
Credit: Harriet Wallis
The Ski Archives is supported by an annual fund raiser and silent auction. During the gala event this Fall, awards were presented to extraordinary individuals. This year’s top honor went to Deer Valley president and CEO Bob Wheaton who earned the S. Joseph Quinney award – named for the ski visionary and founder of Alta Ski Area. Seven medalists in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic earned the History-Maker awards.
Joseph Quinney Award winner
Deer Valley’s Bob Wheaton received the prestigous S. Joseph Quinney Award
Credit: Harriet Wallis
Bob Wheaton began at Deer Valley in 1980 doing maintenance as the resort was being built, and he worked his way up to become resort president in 1997, a position he continues today. With Wheaton at the helm, Deer Valley has been rated the number one resort in North America seven times by readers of SKI Magazine. He credits his staff for the resort’s success.
History-Maker Award winners:
Josh Christensen, Park City, Utah, gold medalist, slopestyle skiing.
Kaitlyn Farringron, Bellevue, Idaho, gold medalist, slopestyle snowboarding.
Sage Kotsenberg, Park City, gold medalist, snowboarding half pipe.
Ted Ligety, Park City, gold medalist alpine skiing giant slalom.
Danelle and Rob Ulmstead, Park City, Paralympic bronze medalists, alpine super combined.
Keith Gabel, Ogden, Utah, bronze medalist, Paralympics snowboard cross.
In addition, two organizations celebrated milestones. The Utah Nordic Alliance, with emphasis on bringing skiers into cross-country and providing training and race events, was founded 25 years ago. And the U.S. Ski Team celebrates its 40th anniversary in Park City.
SeniorsSkiing.com was a silent auction partner.
Credit: Harriet Wallis
Credit: Sweetgrass Productions
So far, this year’s pre-snow-season has seen at least two new dazzling ski movies hit the screens. First, we couldn’t help but notice Warren Miller’s 65th ski movie, No Turning Back, which we reviewed here and concluded it was the best yet. That movie is working its way around the country, showing in schools, colleges, theatres and even ski lodges. Click here for show times and locations near you.
Now, we have Afterglow, a short but incredible visual feast featuring night skiing in light suits over dramatic Alaskan wilderness terrain. Think about that for a second. Night skiing. Light suits. Alaskan wilderness. Think of the logistics. And you have troubles getting your grandkids booted up for the day.
Credit: Sweetgrass Productions
This is a creative cinematic experience that goes into places we guarantee you’ve never seen before. Big time ski pros Pep Fujas, Eric Hjorleifson, Daron Rahives, and Chris Benchetler take slo-mo runs down night-time chutes and powder pillows with dramatic big lights capturing the flying snow. The best part is when they wear LED-light suits and head down into the darkness. The effect is otherworldly and quite beautiful. We had instant flashbacks to our college skiing nights at Song Mountain in Tully, NY, where the dark skies and arc lighting made us lose our sense of space and proportion. This movie brought those impressions back, leaving us wondering where, when and if we should try that sort of skiing again.
The film is presented by lighting manufacturer Phillips, Atomic and produced by Sweetgrass Productions, a far-edge filmmaker which is out to “capture the indescribable”. You can watch this one online; it’s just about 10 minutes. We bet you will be forwarding it to your skiing buddies.
All of this visual spaghetti adds to the building psyche-up for the coming season, a season which has already started in some places in Colorado and Maine.
What we’ve been waiting for has finally happening. Subtly, to be sure. The lifts opened on Oct 17 at Arapahoe Basin, the first ski area to open this season. Robin’s egg blue day. Let’s hope we see more of those this year.
First run at A-Basin.
Credit: Al’s Blog
To read the scoop on A-Basin’s opening day, click here for Al’s Blog, the official Arapahoe Basin blog. To scrutinize what is happening right now on the mountain, click here for A-basin webcams from OpenSnow, another cool ski website.
Snow is coming soon to a mountain near you.
Will Deer Valley Change The Sign?
Credit: CityWeekly.Net
There goes another one. First, Vail scoops up Park City. Now we have Deer Valley, a top-shelf brand, picking up Solitude. Who’s next?
Here’s the full story from the Salt Lake Tribune. And here’s the official press release from Deer Valley. Operations at Solitude won’t shift over until May, 2015. We wonder if bigger is better when it comes to ski area ownership. Remember conglomerate corporations from the 80s? We shall see, won’t we?
What do you think?
[Thanks to Harriet Wallis, SeniorSkiing’s correspondent in SLC, for spotting this one.)
Hi From Ski City, USA
Credit: Visit Salt Lake
Visit Salt Lake President Scott Beck isn’t pulling punches when he says a new $1.8 billion campaign to boost SLC’s brand is aimed at luring skiers away from Colorado’s storied resorts. Expect a flurry of online and print advertisements promoting Salt Lake City’s short drive to four close-by world-class,
mountain resorts, international airport, restaurants, night life, and bars.
Click here for the full article from the Standard Examiner.
From the Salt Lake Tribune:
Vail Resorts has purchased Park City Mountain Resort for $182.5 million in cash, creating the country’s largest ski resort covering more than 7,000 acres.
The Colorado resort announced the acquisition Thursday morning, adding that the sale resolves all litigation with Powdr Corp., Park City Mountain Resort’s parent company.
Alan Engen Recounts How Alta’s Wild Old Bunch has been meeting on the mountain since 1969.
With the baby boomers now reaching retirement age, there is a growing population of senior age skiers on the slopes, some of whom are even active in competitive skiing activities.
As a result, senior ski programs are becoming a significant part of many ski area activities in the Intermountain Region. For example, at Snowbird, Junior Bounous has his “Silver Wings” program. I used to have an Alta seniors program called “Silver Meisters.” In addition, various “seniors” ski clubs abound such as The Over the Hill Gang, The One Ski in the Grave Ski Club, The 70 plus Ski Club, and a special group here in Utah called the Wild Old Bunch.
WOB clowning around at Alta circa 1970.
Credit: WildOldBunch.com
In 1969, several senior ski buddies started the Wild Old Bunch by getting together on a weekly basis to enjoy Alta’s famous deep snow conditions. The founders were Art Wilder, Foley Richards, Johnny Bell, and Rush Spedden.
Shortly after, Rush Spedden made a home movie of the group skiing powder. Spedden named the film “The Wild Old Bunch.” This title gained immediate favor with Wilder, Richards, and Bell. It was decided by unanimous decree to
adopt the name on a permanent basis. Foley Richards created a patch for identification purposes which, in turn, became the groups logo. The smile face is well-known around local ski circles and quickly sends a message as to what the group is all about—namely enjoying the pleasure of winter skiing and the companionship that goes with it.
By 1973, the group had grown to about a dozen or so regulars and, by the end of the 1970s, it had about 130 active skiers from ages 50 on up. Because most of the membership consists of men and women retirees from the hectic pace of the corporate world, they have time to ski whenever they wish throughout the week. Rush Spedden solemnly told me the club’s rules when I was given my special membership WOB patch. He said, “The only rule is…there are no rules.”
Throughout the winter ski season at Alta, the Wild Old Bunch can be found congregating at Alta’s ALF’S mid-
WOB is one of the many ongoing senior ski clubs that endure across the country.
mountain restaurant at 11:00 a.m. several times a week. One of the articles written about the WOB said, “There, they swap jokes, agree to disagree, boost a few toddies and welcome other skiers.”
The driving inspiration binding this group was Rush Spedden who passed away at age 97 in late 2013. He served as the WOB primary spokesperson for many years. He was not only an outstanding skier; he was a noted engineer/scientist, teacher and historian in Utah. Rush Spedden’s generous donation to the Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation made it possible to add a special pair of handmade skis from the Alaska gold rush days of the mid- 1800s to the permanent exhibit in the Alf Engen Ski Museum near Park City.
Intermountain ski history certainly includes the wonderful contributions of senior groups such as the Wild Old Bunch, and they deserve special mention as ambassadors for the joys of skiing at any age.
Alan Engen is a SeniorsSkiing Advisory Council member and recognized ski historian and author.
Okemo recently announced installation of its Orange Bubble, a heated-seat, six-pack chair, the first of its kind in New England. And, Canyons Resort in Park City installed its Orange Bubble Quad a few years ago. I’ve taken that lift, and the warmth and orange-filtered view are nice‑especially on a bitter day.
Like riding up in a ski goggle
Credit: Rob Bossi/Canyons
The technology gives the seats a fast charge when the chair passes through the lift terminals. Fannies and spirits are in a good mood on the way up. These seats have been popular throughout Europe for the past decade and recently started migrating to North America. Vail installed the seats on its Number One gondola about three years ago.
Heated seats on a bubble chair are a vast improvement over the heavy wool blankets worn from the 40’s to the 70’s to fight cold at Stowe, Killington, Mad River, Bromley, Aspen, Gore and Holiday Valley. Under certain conditions, they froze cardboard stiff. Under all conditions, they were pleasantly musty. Under no condition was your butt comfy and warm.
Scott Pierpont, SVP Sales, Doppelmayr USA, explains this emerging North American trend as providing another level of comfort beyond the bubble. His company built the lift at Canyons Resort.
Keeping Tushies Happy Credit: Rob Bossi/Canyons
Both he and Rick Speer, president, Leitner-Poma of America, the company that built the new Okemo lift, believe that we’ll be riding on many more heated seats over the coming years.
“It’s all about skier comfort,” Speer explains. “The older you are, the more you’re going to like it.”
Why orange? We have our theories, but what do you think?
Here’s how it looks and feels. The spiel from the Canyons…