seniorsskiing

Mystery Glimpse: Who’s This Famous Ski Racer?

/39 Comments/in /by

Hint: She’s an Olympian. Can you name her and her accomplishments?

Respond in COMMENTS below the picture.  We will identify the correct answer either next week or when it appears.

Credit: Alf Engen Ski Museum, Park City, UT.

Editor Note: Mystery Glimpse is a new feature of SeniorsSkiing.com.  Occasionally, we’ll publish a photo from the archives of ski museums, collectors, or individuals. If you can identify who or what it represents, respond in COMMENTS below.

Readers can submit a photo, too.  Send a .JPEG or .PNG to info@seniorsskiing.com.

 

Harriet Wallis

SnowSports Leader: Alan K. Engen

/0 Comments/in /by

When Alan Engen was born, Dr. Wherritt put wooden tongue depressors—like miniature skis—on the bottom of his little feet and handed the newborn to his legendary father, Alf Engen.

“I think I can safely say that I came pretty close to being born on skis,” says Alan. He learned to ski when he was two.

Thus began a lifetime of ski achievements. He competed at nine, earned a place on the United States Ski Team in the 1960s, and won the United States Ski Association Intermountain Masters Alpine title six times. He served Alta for 50 years as an instructor, the ski school director, and then the Director of Skiing.

Alf Engen and Alan Engen jumping at Alta, circa 1949.

Alan and Alf—both world class ski jumpers —put on jumping exhibitions to demonstrate “Summer Snow,” a cornstarch-like substance. Father and son schlepped the product to the Los Angeles Fair Grounds for exhibitions on a 130 foot jump. In the grand finale the twosome jumped through a flaming hoop. After the demo, they shoveled the “snow” into gunny sacks and hauled it away.

Alan has dedicated more than six decades to skiing (click here to watch a video about Alan’s career) and is a member of the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. The Engens are the only family to have four Hall of Fame members: his father, Alf; two uncles, Sverre and Corey; and Alan.

Importantly for the entire skiing community, Alan is an accomplished scholar, author, and historian. His dream to showcase hundreds of Alf’s ski trophies and memorabilia in a small museum grew instead into the $10.5 million Alf Engen Ski Museum at Olympic Park in Park City, Utah. It was funded entirely by private donations (including Utah’s famed Quinney and Eccles families).

Alan with wife, Barbara.

Alan also is an active contributor to SeniorsSkiing.com where he serves on the online publication’s Advisory Council.

His advice to senior skiers: Use new boots, bindings and skis because the technology will help you enjoy skiing more.

This article is adapted from the original which first appeared in SkiUtah.com.

Roger Lohr

Top Reasons I Enjoy Being A Senior Nordic Skier

/6 Comments/in /by

In Response To Last Week’s “Top Reasons I Enjoy Being A Senior Skier”, We Hear From A Nordic-Loving Senior.

Credit: Dawn Green

Editor Note: Roger Lohr is publisher of XCSkiResorts.com, a top guide and center for cross-country news and destination information.

It seems the older I get, the more I enjoy Nordic (XC) skiing. It probably has something to do with being out in nature and also being confident on the skinny skis.

Roger Lohr is publisher of XCSkiResorts.com.

Nothing to Prove

There is nothing to prove but so much to enjoy going along a trail, whether going uphill or downhill. Well, truth be told, I enjoy the downhills much more than the uphills. Frankly, I completely endorse the two-car experience, where one car is left at the bottom of a trail and the other is taken to the top. Is this cheating? Maybe, but I am a senior XC skier; that’s my prerogative.

What A Feeling

It has always been enjoyable to help others with technique tips, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to really like when people appreciate my XC ski skills. Much of the enjoyment depends on having the right equipment and, with XC skiing, that is a very important factor. Narrow, fast, waxless skis for the tracks at a groomed XC ski area are great to enjoy the gliding sensation. Whether hearing the nearby brook bubbling, the fragrance of the pine or balsam trees, or stopping along the river to watch the water pass over ice-covered rocks, you find nature is at its transcendent best.

Downhill in the Forest

I also love using wider XC skis (either steel-edged or not) and a little more supportive boot with a wider binding system to go downhill in untracked snow on trails or off trails. Meandering and finding a way down in deep snow is what I call a good time, and the lightweight equipment makes it manageable. I often earn my turns by skiing up a hillside trail on waxless skis to capture some thrills on the slide back down.

The Mountain Road

I especially like taking the lift at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire’s White Mountains to ski back down on the Mountain Road trail whether it is groomed in a corduroy lane, roller coaster tracked, or is sporting a coat of any depth of new snow. That Mountain Road has never disappointed when I’ve taken friends on it.

Snowsport Brethren

My love of XC skiing includes no “attitudes” about my snow sport cousins on alpine skis, telemark or AT skis, snowboards, or snowshoes. We all can enjoy nature in winter and we all can enjoy mastering the snow for memories of the experience. In fact, on powder days I can think of nothing better than donning my snowboard hitting the slopes and floating down the powder paths to the lift to do it again.

Meeting on the Trail

I love to meet others upon the trail and chat about the trails, XC skiing, the equipment, and clothing. Sharing the outdoors with other active folks is great, and it always adds something to the outing.

Ski Anytime

With XC skiing, there is no midweek issue because you can ski anywhere there is snow and on any trail that has enough snow cover to support sliding and turning. Any day can be a great day XC skiing whether at the commercial XC ski area or up the street on a local trail network.

Ready for Anything

Being prepared helps, so on my outings I bring a small pack to carry water and other things that I might need such as dry gloves, a hat, compass, a scraper and spray to handle icing on the skis, and so on. In the old days, I’d carry a spare tip in case the ski broke, but that is a rare instance now as the skis are so well made. And speaking of the equipment, XC ski boots are so comfortable with the right sock set. It seems I’m out there in my bedroom slippers or barefoot.  Light, layered clothing works perfectly to keep me dry and warm. There’s no need for bulky insulation because XC skiing creates heat to ward off cold temperatures.

No Discounts Needed

When I get back home, I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and respect for nature. I’m not concerned with senior discounts because XC skiing is inexpensive at commercial areas where a trail pass is less than $20-30, or it is free on any other trail that you may find around town or in the local park. Either way, XC skiing keeps you active, feeling great, and in touch with nature, and that’s a triumphant triplet.

 

Don Burch

The Ultimate SeniorsSkiing Ski Quiz

/7 Comments/in /by

You’ve Think You’ve Been Around Snow Sports For A While?  Okay, Test Your Knowledge.

I know what you’re thinking; “Ultimate, I doubt it.” You’re a really good skier, you’ve been skiing for years and you’ve skied just about everywhere. “There’s no quiz about skiing that’s going to humble me.” Let’s see…

  1. As of the 2016-17 ski season, what state has the most operating ski areas?
  2. What state or province has the longest ski lift?
  3. What is the oldest operating ski lift in North America?
  4. What ski resort in the East has the greatest true vertical drop (lift-served, continuous fall-line runs)?
  5. Season pass holders account for what percent of all ski area visits?
  6. How long is the longest trail in the East?
  7. What ski area in North America has the greatest lift-served continuous vertical drop?
  8. In mph, how fast is the average detachable lift?
  9. In mph, how fast is the typical fixed-grip lift?
  10. What is the largest ski area in North America (as defined by lift accessible terrain).

Answers:

  1. This one surprises most of us: New York has the most with 48 followed by Michigan with 42, Wisconsin and Colorado tie with 30 each, California has 29, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire tie with 26 each and Vermont has 24 (Source: SnowBrains).
  2. Vermont’s Sugarbush has the longest lift, Slide Brook Express at 11,012 feet (just over two miles). The Slide Brook Express connects Lincoln Peak with Mt. Ellen and carries skiers in both directions (Source: Peter Landsman author of LiftBlog).
  3. The Single Chair at Mad River Glen (VT) is the oldest operating lift having been constructed in 1948. In 2007 it was been extensively renovated and updated (Source: Peter Landsman).
  4. According to the folks at MountainVertical.com, Whiteface in NY has the greatest true vertical drop at 3,216 feet. They define true vertical drop (or True-Up Vertical Drop as they call it) as “the most vertical distance at a resort that can be achieved on commonly skied, lift-served, continuous fall-line runs”.
  5. According to SAM (Ski Area Management) passholders now account for 40 percent of ski area visits.
  6. According to Wikipedia, Juggernaut at Killington (VT) is the longest trail in the East at 6.2 miles.
  7. Revelstoke (BC) with 5,620 feet has the most vertical drop (Source: MountainVertical.com).
  8. The average detachable lift moves at 12mph (Source: Peter Landsman).
  9. The typical fixed-grip lift travels at 5.6mph (Source: Peter Landsman).
  10. Whistler Blackcomb (BC) is the largest with 8,171 acres (Source: Liftopia The Blog).

In the comments section, let us know how you did. Were there any surprises? Are the any answers you’d like to contest?

This Week
seniorsskiing

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.Com (Dec. 15)

/0 Comments/in /by

Unusual Snow Stat, Happy Holidays, Celebrating Retro Togs, 10 Reasons To Be A Senior Skier, Urban Wilderness.

Here’s a strange stat from the National Weather Service:  There has been snow cover in every state this fall, and we are days away from the start of winter. That includes Hawaii and Florida. Remember, the La Nina forecast for winter includes colder and wetter in northern latitudes and warmer and average precip to the south.  Clearly, there are some anomalies in the weather pattern, an ongoing theme reflecting odd weather around the globe. Thanks again, to Snowbrains.com for bringing this up.

Holiday Gift Corner: Still Time!

Holidays are around the corner, and if you look back on the past couple of months of SeniorsSkiing.com, you will find some unusual gift suggestions for your snow-loving family and friends.  There is still time for last minute stocking stuffers. For your convenience, here are some links to those gift ideas:

We love our Buffalo socks; warm, thick, soft.  Nice to sleep in on cold nights.

Retro Togs

Even retro ski poles…

Moriarty hats, knickers, pegged ski pants, onesie ski suits, it’s all hiding out there somewhere.

We hope to have a bit of fun publishing our readers wearing some retro snow clothing.  We have some examples of old stuff found in the bottoms of trunks and storage bins that are still useful and, amazingly, still fit.  Check out out collection, get inspired, and reach for that wool sweater.  Take a pic and send to us!

Send to info@seniorsskiing.com (.jpeg, .png) with a short blurb. We’ll collect a bunch and publish them from time to time.

Stories This Week

Correspondent Jan Brunvand offers 10 good reasons for being a senior skier. Fun ideas.  What are your reasons?

Steve Hines discovers Urban Wildernesses, wild areas often in the middle of cities, or very close to urban centers.  Depending on where these are located, they can be excellent spots for cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, fat-biking.  More about fat-biking in winter in a later story.  It’s actually a growing sport that we will be exploring.

Welcome New AARP Subscribers, Boot Recommendations ARE IN

And a hearty welcome to our many new subscribers who found us through AARP. Look through our archives; we have more than 750 stories to peruse.  Check out our Subscriber-Only Content.  If you have any questions, write to us at info@seniorsskiing.com.  Comment on our stories, send us story ideas.  And tell your friends about us.

Check the hot-off-the-press Boot Recommendations for Seniors under the Subscriber-Only Content menu.

There are more of us every day, and we aren’t going away!

FIND OUR SUBSCRIBER-ONLY CONTENT HERE:

 

mikemaginn

Going Retro

/0 Comments/in /by

If You’ve Been Into Snow Sports For A While, You’re Gonna Have Retro Clothes. Find Them, Take A Pic, And Send To Us.

We have hats from the 60s, sweaters from the 70s, boots from the first time we went cross-country skiing, knickers, lots of old stuff we could never toss.  Well, we’re having a bit of fun wearing them around the various snow fields (slopes, trails) that we habituate, now that snow is on the ground.

Send us a picture of you in your vintage togs, we’ll publish it and put them all together on a special page.  Will be fun to see what you’ve got in the back of your closet. Just send a JPEG or PNG to info@seniorsskiing.com

Even retro ski poles…Skiing at Appleton Farms, Ipswich, MA.
Credit: A. Maginn

Here’s a pic of yours truly in a 1966 Moriarty hat (bought at Mrs. Moriarty’s shop on the Stowe Mountain Road, by the way), a US Ski Team sweater by Montant from about 1972, and Mother Karen’s knickers circa 1970. (Props for still being able to squeeze into them.) Taken last weekend after Saturday’s snowstorm in the Boston Area.

Correspondent Jan Brunvand sent two pics.

Jan’s been wearing this jacket since high school.
Credit: Jan Brunvand

The first shows him wearing a nylon unlined jacket covered with ski patches, posing at main entrance of the Peruvian Lodge at Alta. This was taken on his 84th birthday, March 23, 2016. He’s had this jacket since high school and wore it through college over a heavy sweater on a regular basis. He’s added patches over the years, and is about to start putting them on the back. The label identifies the brand as “Ski Trail Sportswear” with the same name printed on the leather zipper pull.

The picture below shows Jan’s wife Judy wearing a wool Demetre sweater with a sleeve logo alluding to Spider Sabich (1945-1976), who was a participant in the 1968 Winter Olympics. She had it on at the mid mountain restaurant at Vail in 2013 when Jan spotted a young man wearing an orange, black and yellow version of the same sweater. He said his father had let him borrow the sweater for the trip west. Demetre also made a black, white and red version of this sweater, although I have never seen one, only pictures. 

Spider Sabich logo sweaters from the late 60s.
Still work.
Credit: Jan Brunvand

Finally, correspondent Tamsin Venn found a picture of real people in long ago outfits from a gathering of the Ski History folks a couple of years ago at Stowe.

More than retro, these outfits are just old-fashioned.
Credit: Tamsin Venn

Send yours in and we’ll see what senior skiers have been sequestering for decades.

Jan Brunvand

Top Ten Reasons I Enjoy Being A Senior Skier

/21 Comments/in /by

#10. I have nothing to prove.

            I don’t need to ski bumps, steeps or crud. It’s challenging enough just skiing blues at age 84.

A guy with the right attitude that I met at Deer Valley a couple of years ago. He told me he wanted to add to the message on his helmet, “ . . . but not today.” Credit: Jan Brunvand

#9. Skiing impresses my non-skiing peers.

When folks ask “Are you still skiing,” they mean “still” as in “At your age?” not “still” as in “Is there still any snow up there?” I try to be a ski missionary and convince some old friends to return to skiing or to try it for the first time.

#8. Everything works better than when I was a kid.

Skis turn more easily, bindings release when they’re supposed to, and boots are actually comfortable. Ski clothes are lighter, warmer, and drier than in the good old days of wool and windbreakers.

#7. I have a built-in excuse for just about anything . . .

. . . like taking green runs, skiing half days, having extra coffee breaks, asking the liftie to slow it down, and forgetting where I parked.

#6. Skiing half days.

Did I mention this? I forget. Anyway, my wife and I ski what we call the “middle half”—start about 10:00 and quit about 3:00. We take at least five runs to count it as a ski day.

#5. Skiing with grandkids.

Until they’re about ten, the grandkids ski at about the same pace as us, and afterwards they’ll fetch us a coffee while we sit out a couple of their runs on the steeper stuff. If you ski with the kids you may be able to keep them from going to the dark side—SNOWBOARDING!

#4. Skiing midweek.

We avoid Saturdays, but sometimes ski Sundays, starting early, if that’s the only other time the grandkids are free. (If brought up properly, they can sometimes be convinced to skip school.) If you must ski weekends or holidays, split with your partner and use the singles line. You might meet someone interesting, hopefully not more interesting than your partner.

#3. Meeting other active seniors.

The 60+,70+, 80+ occasionally even 90+ jacket patches give your fellow oldsters away. Thin and graying hair under the helmets IDs them in the lodge. I always chat with peers asking where they learned to ski, and moving on to other important topics like how many grandkids do they have, are they fly fishers, and do they remember Studebakers. (I have a ’53 Commander, a good conversation starter with older people.)

#2. It’s a good kind of tired.

After a nice half day of skiing, by the time I get the boards off the car and myself out of my long underwear, I’m very sleepy and mellow, ready for a nap, a shower, and a drink before dinner. Ah, bliss!

And the #1 reason I enjoy being a senior skier. Senior discounts.

At my age in my area, season passes are free at Alta, $49 at Snowbasin, $20 at Powder Mountain, with other discounts and deals elsewhere. Check out the Senior discounts where you live.

seniorsskiing

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.Com (Dec. 8)

/1 Comment/in /by

Free Magazine Subscriptions For Readers, Tale Of The Yellow Suit, Choosing A Condo Rental, More Gifts For Seniors, A Funny Remembered Incident.

Alberto Varagas illustration from WWII honoring ski troops.

This week is a special time of the year for those of us who are Baby Boomers or, more likely, pre-Baby Boomers. When we were growing up, Pearl Harbor Day was more than a mention in the newspapers. Like the attacks on Sept. 11, Pearl Harbor Day was a day of remembering how everything changed.

To commemorate this auspicious date, we’re publishing this voluptuous image from Alberto Varagas, honoring ski troops from WWII. This appeared some time during the war. You don’t see booties like those much anymore. Thanks, Cathy.

We have some more good news for our subscribers this week.  We are always looking for ways to bring value to our readers.  We’ve worked with two magazine publishers to bring free subscriptions to you guys.  You can get a one-year free subscription to both SKI magazine and SKI HISTORY magazine just by following the links in Jon’s article.

These two benefits add to the list of free skiing for seniors, the ski recommendations, Experticity discounts for those who qualify, and free historic ski posters.  All of these are available for subscribers only.  Look under the Subscribers-Only Content box at the top or under the COMMUNITY > Subscriber-Only Content pics.

Bill skiing Park City on his 80th.

Reader Bill Emerson submitted a nice story about his yellow ski suit which has been with him for quite a while. We’re collecting stories about retro clothing, parkas, hats, sweaters, etc., from yesteryear that are still useful.  If you have something really old that you are still using, send us a picture of you with your relic. We’ll assemble a bunch of these and see what happens.

Correspondent and real estate agent Joan Wallen offers some advice on how to rent a condo that fits your needs.  This is the first part of a two-part article; next time, she’ll be talking about how to buy a ski condo.

Correspondent Don Burch read Harriet Wallis’ article on Lift Maintenance 101 which triggered the memory of a funny incident when he was a young man working lifts.  Here’s his story.

Speaking of Harriet, this week she offers some accessible, sensible, and really desirable gift ideas for seniors.  Plenty of time for shopping, right?

Finally, we have to send our best wishes and hopes to those friends and folks in the LA area who are dealing with wildfires and Santa Ana winds. Wide awake out there.

Next week, we should have some news about boot recommendations for seniors, another value-add feature of SeniorsSkiing.com.  Please tell your friends about our online magazine.  There are more of us every day, and we aren’t going away.

 

 

 

 

Bill Emerson

The Story Of The Yellow Ski Suit

/5 Comments/in , /by

Ski Suits Don’t Age, Just Their Owners.

In 1974 while living in Vienna, Virginia, I had a midlife crisis. On December 27, I turned 40 with the thought that I had reached middle-age and would have to limit my skiing.

In the past, while living in California, the family had gone skiing on my birthday. Now in Virginia, my nine-year-old son, Bill, said, “There aren’t any mountains. If you want to ski we’re going to have to go to Utah or Colorado.” There was only one thing to do, jump into the Mercedes and drive to Utah, where we all loved to ski.

Bill Emerson in his yellow ski suit on his 40th birthday

As a belated birthday surprise my wife provided me with a form-fitting yellow ski suit. My first day with the yellow suit was spent at Park City, enjoying a beautiful sunny day.

Thus began a tradition of skiing on special birthdays in my special yellow suit. Between those events, the yellow suit hung in the back of a closet.

It emerged next in 1984 for my 50th. My very grown up son and I headed to Snowbird to celebrate. The yellow birthday suit went with us.

After that trip, the  suit moved again to the back of the closet. Its next adventure w

Bill skiing Park City on his 80th

as 25 years later. This time on my 75th.

In September 2014, approaching my 80th, I returned to the gym to work off a few pounds. I wasn’t going to celebrate on skis without the suit or my son. He was over 40, older than I was when I received the suit on my 40th.

We agreed to meet at Park City.

The cold day required wearing a newer and much warmer red jacket.

At one point I donned the yellow suit so Bill could snap a few shots of my yellow ski suit and me.

 

Joan Wallen

Commute, Rent, Or Buy?

/1 Comment/in , /by

The Best Way To Enjoy Your Ski Time.

Choose a small chalet…

While some snowsports enthusiasts are fortunate enough to live and work in ski country, most skiers and riders have to commute from their homes, often two, three or more hours from their favorite mountain. For the frequent skier—those who want to spend every weekend, plus vacation weeks on the slopes—their commute can become very tiresome.

This can be especially true for families with young kids. Parents, and grandparents, have to get the kids organized every morning to get in the car at an early hour so as to be at the slopes for the start of the day. If the kids are in some kind of racing program or weekend recreational class, hitting the road in a timely fashion becomes even more important. “Did you remember your gloves, goggles, hat”, even “your boots”, is sometimes heard as the car heads out the driveway.

…or a luxury, slope side condo. It all depends…
Credit: Steamboat Springs

Many families opt out of this weekly hassle by renting a house or condo near their favorite resort or perhaps in close proximity to several areas so they have a choice throughout the season. Ski gear and clothing can be left there, they can drive up on Friday evening, relax and be ready to go on Saturday morning without the stress of an early morning drive, and return after a day on the slopes for a relaxing evening.

What should you look for when renting a property in ski country?

Well, that depends a bit on your lifestyle and the resort where you want to spend your time. If very young grandchildren children are part of the mix, you might want to find something slope side or very close to the mountain so one family member can take a child home when he tires out. A ski in, ski out unit is best for this, but even a house or condo a mile or two from the area will let someone be delivered home easily without disrupting the entire family’s day.

Another thing to consider is what you like to do in the evening. If you’re content to return to your rental after the lifts close, have dinner in, watch tv or movies or play games, then you might look for something out of town in a quiet, country setting. But if you want entertainment, like to eat dinner out frequently, sample the nightlife, then perhaps a house in a town or around the base area (depending on the resort you choose) is a better option.

As far as the actual property goes, you need to again examine your lifestyle as well as your budget. How many bedrooms do you need? Will you or your children or grand children be bringing guests? Is one living space, whether large or cozy, where you can all be together preferable? Or would separate spaces for relaxation work better for the family? Do you prefer something upscale, in a condo community with amenities such as a spa, swimming pool, workout equipment? Or will a simple house work fine for your group?

Budget is an obvious important consideration. If you rent a single family house, in addition to the rent, you will likely be responsible for paying utilities including cable and wifi as well as plowing costs. Be sure to ask about the type of heat the house has and how efficient it is. Fuel costs over the course of a winter can sometimes come as a big, surprising shock, and you want to be prepared.

When searching for a seasonal rental property, it is a wise idea to use a real estate rental agent. These folks know the properties and, by asking a few questions, can often direct you to something you might not find on your own. They will have a handle on expenses for the winter, condition of the property and lots of tips on location relative to the mountain and other activities that may be of interest to you. There are plenty of ways to book lodging on line, but if you go this route be sure to use reputable web sites and ask a lot of questions.

Another option is purchasing a home in ski country, clearly a more complicated process which will be addressed in a future article.

Harriet Wallis

Three Holiday Gifts Senior Skiers Wish For

/1 Comment/in /by

When It Comes To Holiday Gifts, Sometimes Our Adult Children Don’t Have A Clue What We Would Like To Have. Here Are Some Hints To Pass Along. Or, Just Send A Link To This Story!

A surprise awaits and it’s not fruitcake. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Idea #1. A private lesson: A gift of confidence and fun.

You know you’d love to have the undivided, one-on-one attention of a skilled instructor to refresh your skills or move the needle a little bit further on your skiing. Ask for a private coaching session.

“Private lessons help build confidence,” said Leslie Blank, snowsports school director at Brighton. “Private lessons will let you move at your own pace. Or, you can get a little out of the comfort zone and try something new.”

Even good skiers get stuck in ruts, said Tim Wolfgram, director of Snowsports Services at Solitude. A private lesson can help you try new movements so you can have more fun.

Idea #2. A professional photo: Ski action or family portrait.

Ask your adult kids to put down their selfie sticks. Instead, ask for a professional photo of you skiing. Or, get the whole clan together for an on-slope family portrait.

Let a pro capture the photo memory.
Credit: Dobber Price, Peak Photo at Alta

Many resorts have on-mountain photographers who will take great photos of you with no fee and no obligation. But it’s a good idea to call ahead and coordinate the location and time with the photographer.

Here’s a tip. “Wear bright colors. It’s better than dark colors,” said Dobber Price, owner of Peak Photo at Alta, which is now in its 28th year of ski photography. And ski action photos, whether on a gentle slope or steep terrain, will capture your inner pro.

Idea #3. Ski tuning: So you can slide and turn more easily.

Ask to have your skis tuned. Many shops will inspect your skis and give a no-cost assessment of what needs to be done. Often, they just need to be waxed. Sometimes, if they haven’t been tuned or waxed for a long time, they might need more work. “It’s all about safety and the quality of turns,” said Brett Pergrossi, rental manager at Snowbird.

Tuned and waxed skis will slide and turn more easily. “You might slide right past your buddies on the flats,” said Brayden Morgan, head of rentals at Alta Ski Shop. “And, you won’t be as tired because you won’t use as much energy,” he said.

Many resorts offer gift certificates. But tell your kids to be sure the certificate can be used for the service they choose for you. They can buy it, wrap it, and give it. The holiday is solved. And you’ll have a treat coming.

P.S. Now aren’t these gifts better than fruitcake?

To read more from Harriet click here for her stories on SkiUtah.

seniorsskiing

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Dec. 1)

/0 Comments/in /by

Unusual Gift Ideas For Senior SnowsSporters, Becoming An Instructor, Blind Skier Tribute, Walking With Wolves.

Mikela Shiffrin wins the FIS World Cup over Thanksgiving Weekend at Killington. She’s an inspiration and a role model for young skiers everywhere. Credit: FIS

The Women’s FIS World Cup event at Killington over Thanksgiving showed us: 1) There is real skiing in New England going on right now, and, 2) Mikela Shiffrin won the slalom and came in second in the GS in front of 34,000 enthusiastic fans. While it was balmy on Saturday, on Sunday, the weather closed in, and it snowed on the course for most of the day, making for perfect racing conditions. Mikela certainly has captured the imagination of snow sport lovers and has become an inspiration to a legion of young people who view her has a heroic role model. Here’s the whole story from Vermont Public Radio.

While it snows on Thanksgiving in Vermont, we note that there is also heavy snow coming to Hawaii’s volcanic peaks. We don’t associate Hawaii with snow, but Mauna Kea is more than 13,000 ft.  Brave skiers and boarders are able to drive up the summit road and get a run in; there are no lifts or facilities. Skiing in Hawaii in November.  Hmmm.  Is the climate getting rambunctious or what? From the Weather Channel.

The big news this week is that we have published the 2018 Best Skis For Senior Skiers recommendations.  We worked with Jackson Hogen of realskiers.com to come with a list of skis for different mountain types and skiing preferences. This is the second year we’ve published this list and it has proven to be quite popular with our readers.  Click here to read all about it.

This week we also have more gift ideas for our readers. We have tried and tested heavy duty socks made from “Bison Down” and found them durable and resilient, considering that we wore them for five days in a row. Find out why.

We also highlight the ultra useful DeBooter, a perfect and simple device for helping you remove ski boots.  DeBooter is also one of our first and loyal advertisers; SeniorsSkiing.com readers get a discount!

Correspondent Tamsin Venn shows us how to become a ski instructor.  Think about it; you have the experience, the skills, the time and interest in spending more time outdoors and mingling with kindred spirits.  Why not consider becoming an instructor?  Tamsin offers 10 good reasons to just do it.

Pat McCloskey pays tribute to Fast Freddie Siget, a skier who continued to enjoy life and skiing despite the devastating injury that blinded him.  There’s a lesson to be learned from Fast Freddie.  Thanks for sharing it with us, Pat.

Finally, we hear from Yvette Cardozo, our correspondent in the Northwest who finds that walking in the woods with wolves isn’t as bad as Little Red Riding Hood makes it out to be.

Next week, more gifts ideas, news about Ski Recommendations for Seniors and perhaps some fun with retro ski clothes.

OUR LIST OF 115 RESORTS WHERE SENIORS CAN SKI FOR FREE (OR ALMOST FREE) CAN BE FOUND UNDER THE COMMUNITY MENU PICK IN THE BLUE MENU AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE.  LOOK UNDER SUBSCRIBER-ONLY CONTENT.

If you want an excellent and free bunch of stickers from SeniorsSkiing.com, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to SeniorsSkiing.com, Box 416, Hamilton, MA 01936 and we’ll send some.

Remember, dear readers, there are more of us every day and we aren’t going away.

 

Short Swings
Jon Weisberg

Short Swings!

/0 Comments/in , /by

We’re still transitioning into the Information Age and, like a well-skied trail, the bumps are plentiful.

Personal data is compromised. Weird account charges are difficult to get removed. Criminals and other rogue players are changing how we would normally communicate with each other. But there are some bright spots. Older skiers are pleased with purchasing lift tickets online. In fact, 93% of SeniorsSkiing.com survey respondents indicate they are somewhat or highly satisfied with buying tickets online. More than 50% of you purchased them directly from the resort; 10% from Liftopia and other online aggregators. Sites like Liftopia are worth visiting before going to a specific area’s site because they may be offering special deals. Please click through to Liftopia from the ad you see in the right column. And for many of us, there may be no charge at all. The list of 115 US Resorts Where Seniors Ski Free has grown to include 115 areas. Be sure to check out the most updated version in the SUBSCRIBER ONLY button under the COMMUNITY tab.

Colorado

The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs will celebrate its Centennial year in 2018. The resort hotel has played a major role in figure skating. On Saturday, January 20, a gala at the resort will salute Peggy Fleming Jenkins and the 50th anniversary of her Olympic Gold Medal in Grenoble. Click here for details and tickets.

It appears the new KSL Holdings/Aspen resort coalition will be announcing its new name and 2018-19 pass details later this season.

Aspen Mountain is open top-to-bottom. The Silver Queen Gondola, Ajax Express, and Bell Mountain Chair are open. Snowmass has limited skiing. Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk are scheduled to open December 9.

Montana

Big Sky Resort opened the Lone Peak Tram in the area’s first week of operation. Lone Peak (11,166′) has a 49″ base. More snow expected this weekend.

Utah

Deer Valley Resort will open for the 2017-2018 ski season on Saturday, December 2, 2017, with eight chairs and nine runs.

The Utah Olympic Oval will host the 2017 ISU Long Track Speed Skating World Cup beginning Friday, December 8 through Sunday, December 10. Skaters will be racing in the following distances: 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m and Team Pursuit. General admission: $7. More info: UtahOlympicLegacy.org

Good news: The International Biathlon Union (IBU) selected Soldier Hollow Nordic Center as the host venue for the eighth stop on the 2018/2019 World Cup season tour. It will be the first major international biathlon competition to be held at Soldier Hollow since the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Less Good News: It will be held in February, 2019. Biathlon combines cross-country skiing with shooting. Competitors ski through a cross-country trail system whose total distance is divided into either two or four shooting rounds, half in prone position, the other half standing. With a total cumulative TV viewership approaching one billion, biathlon is the most popular winter sport in Europe.

Vermont

Like all of us, Vermont is praying for more snow. In the meanwhile, resorts there have come up with a variety of non-ski entertainments.

  • Trapp Family Lodge at Stowe has a series of wine tastings scheduled for the first half of December.
  • This Sunday Okemo is giving a $39 lift ticket in exchange for donations of five food items
  • On December 8, Stratton will host an alternative rock festival.
  • December 9
    • Jay Peak to hold its season pass holder annual party
    • Killington has a $25,000 purse rail skiing event
    • Smuggler’s Notch hosts its annual BrewFest. $20 ticket buys 8 samples and other goodies
  • December 12 is Founder’s Day at Mount Snow. Lift tickets will be $12
  • December 16, is Spirits of the Season at Stratton.10 tasting-ticket pack is available for $25 in advance; $30 at the door

Visit individual resorts sites for more details on these and other events.

Other

Watched “War For The Planet of The Apes” on a flight a few days ago. One scene takes place at an abandoned ski area. The culminating scene is in another mountain location and involves a massive avalanche. I still think the first in the franchise is the best.

Tamsin Venn

Becoming A Ski Instructor At An Advanced Age

/7 Comments/in /by

Consider A Second Career For Fun, Fitness, Fulfillment.

Mick O’Gara, PSIA Alpine Examiner Emeritus, leads the crew, at Waterville Valley, NH. Credit: Tamsin Venn

Many SeniorsSkiing.com readers are seriously committed to skiing, and many have the experience, time and skills to actually teach skiing.

Here are ten good reasons you should consider working as a ski instructor.

  1. Plenty of other advanced age ski instructors are doing the same thing. You are in good company.
  2. You are needed, especially on weekends and over vacation weeks, February in particular. It’s often all-instructors-on-slope at these times. In down times, which can be frustrating, free skiing with like-minded instructors is a great chance to have fun and parse technique on the lift.
  3. Contagious youthful energy. We old folks get to mix with high school students who have skied at the area since they were Mitey-Mites, those taking a winter off from college or to reset career priorities, and foreign students here for a winter in the U.S.

    How many silly ski instructors does it take to change a ski’s load capacity?
    Credit: Tamsin Venn

  4. Camaraderie. You will find your fellow instructors are a great group of folks, supportive, funny, professional, many life long skiers, who love skiing and are dedicated to teaching.
  5. Training. Ski areas provide on-snow instruction for newbies so no need to fear you’ll be sent out to cluelessly teach beginners. Trainers offer regular clinics throughout the season for newbies and veterans alike. You are encouraged to go through PSIA-AASI (Professional Ski Instructors of America/American Assn. of Snowboard Instructors) certifications, and resort trainers offer instruction for that as well.
  6. PSIA is a great organization to join with many clinics and division events throughout the season. It offers Level I, II, and III certifications not only in Alpine and Snowboard teaching, but in Adaptive, Adaptive Snowboard, Cross Country, and Telemark. Level III is very challenging. If you meet an instructor and he or she says Level III, give them cuts in line. PSIA is good for goal setting. You have access to a slew of great trainers, examiners, plus educational material, manuals for teaching different levels of skiers, videos, newsletters, and magazines. You also receive pro discounts of 40 percent or more from major ski gear companies. (You can never have enough Patagonia Nano Puff jackets.)
  7. Perks? Parties. Plus season pass. Locker, so you don’t have to schlep your gear to the mountain every day. Uniform, probably cooler than your own ski jacket. Discounts on gear and burgers. Free skiing at other mountains with letter of intro from your ski school director.
  8. One of the best bosses you may have ever had (at least, that was true in my case).
  9. Incredible sense of accomplishment when a lesson goes well.
  10. It’s easy to get started. Go to jobs page at a ski area that interests you—or more importantly where you have a place to stay—and follow instructions for hiring. Good luck.

    Tamsin says: “I wish I could still do this.” Not required for instructor certification though.
    Credit: Tamsin Venn

 

seniorsskiing

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 24)

/1 Comment/in /by

Happy Thanksgiving, La Nina Delivers, Reader Input Needed, Great Gift Idea, Funny Urban Legend, Lift Maintenance, Birthday For 98 Year Old Olympian, Experticity Reminder.

Fun Thanksgiving? Not for all.
Credit: SnoCountry

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers! We know you are happier than the poor turkey to the left.

In many places, this weekend marks the official start of the snow sports season. In fact, Killington is hosting the Audi FIS Women’s World Cup starting Nov. 24 and going through the weekend. Snow guns are taking advantage of every drop in temperature, and trails will be ready for the world’s fastest women. Join the crowds!

Here’s a short video clip from last year’s race at Killington. Pretty exciting profile of Mikaela Shiffrin, 21-year-old winner of the slalom event.

La Nina Brings Snow

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center reports that a weak La Nina condition exists in the eastern Pacific off the coast of Peru.  That means surface sea water temperatures are cooler than normal having the ultimate effect of retracting the jet stream that flows over North America.  The connection with snowfall is shown on the map below which is a summary of several years of snow accumulation during La Nina winters. Note the blue is above average snowfall, the brown below average.  You can easily see where the snow will be. Remember, this doesn’t guarantee massive snow, but it is certainly a positive development for those in the blue areas.

Reader Stories and Videos Welcome

We were very pleased to see how many readers wrote in to correct and update our original list of where seniors can ski for free. (Note: You can find the list under the COMMUNITY menu pick, select SUBSCRIBER-ONLY CONTENT.)

That enthusiasm led us to think that many of our readers might have interesting stories that other readers might be interested in reading. Or video clips.  If you have something to share, please write us at info@seniorsskiing.com.  Keep your copy to 500 words. Pictures are really important, too.  JPEGs or PNGs are ideal.  If you have brief videos, post them on YouTube and send us the link with your story.

An Appropriate Gift For Seniors

We tested a device for locating lost objects using a small, bluetooth-based chip called Tile. We were very impressed and suggest you take a look.  It is one of those inventions which can be truly life-changing. And for the better.

Skiing Urban Legend

We have a funny story which has taken on the status of urban legend about a novice skier.  Correspondent Jan Brunvand coined the term “urban legend” when he was in academia and was asked to report on any legends related to the snow sports world. Here’s the story.

Keep Lifts Spinning

SLC Correspondent Harriet Wallis has a story about lift maintenance, a months-long, complex process that most of us never think about but which has to be done just right to ensure a trouble-free, safe season.  Harriet profiles the lift crew at Deer Valley.

Happy Birthday To 98 Year-Old Olympian

The Ski Museum of Maine has saluted Chummy Broomhall, a two-time Olympian cross-country skier who is celebrating his 98th birthday.  The Museum is asking people to send Chummy a card. Last year, he received 150 cards; let’s beat that this year. Find out where to write.

Experticity Reminder

Several readers have found that when trying to re-register for Experticity, they are faced with a questionnaire asking them for their connection to the ski business.  We explained the change a few editions ago, but it’s worth repeating. What happened was that our original discount relationship was with Promotive.  That company was merged with Experticity early last spring.  They scrubbed their list of subscribers and informed us that only those readers who had a legitimate connect to the ski industry could qualify. We asked them to change their verification process to make it a little less constrictive, and Experticity did take our recommendations.  So, it wasn’t an open door like it used to be, but some readers can probably still qualify.

Next Week

On we go into the early season.  Our correspondents are all working on stories for you.  Gift ideas, tips for renting condos, profiles, and lots of other topics.  Also in the story bin is our list of ski recommendations for seniors.  And boot recommendations.  Stay tuned.

Remember, tell your friends about SeniorsSkiing.com.  There are more of us every day and we aren’t going away.

 

 

 

 

 

Jan Brunvand

Novice Skier Loses It On The Slopes

/7 Comments/in /by

An Urban Legend From The World Of Skiing.

Editor’s Note: Jan Harold Brunvand is a frequent contributor to SeniorsSkiing.com. An avid skier, he is a retired American folklorist, researcher, writer, public speaker, and professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah. Jan is best known for popularizing the concept of the urban legend, a form of modern folklore or story telling. Urban Legends are “too good to be true” stories that travel by word of mouth, by print or the internet and are attributed to an FOAF: friend of a friend. “Urban Legends,” Brunvand says, “have a persistent hold on the imagination because they have an element of suspense or humor, they are plausible and they have a moral.”  We asked him if there are any skiing urban legends, and he submitted the following. 

In all my years of collecting and researching urban legends I’ve encountered only one story that involves skiing, but it’s a doozy.

I first heard it at Snowbird during the winter of 1979-80, but it’s probably older.

A young woman from California after taking a couple of lessons on the bunny slopes felt ready to try a run from the top of the mountain. But as she got off the tram, Mother Nature called, and she didn’t see any restroom or lodge up there.

So she skied behind a clump of trees, jabbed her poles into the snow, and began to unzip. Just as she pulled down her ski pants and thermal underwear, she began to slide down the slope. In an instant, she was swooshing down the mountain backward, her pants around her ankles, trying to stop, until she collided with a tree.

She was rescued by the ski patrol who brought her to the base for medical care. As she was leaving the patrol first aid room, her arm in a sling, a man wearing an instructor’s parka was carried in, his leg in a splint.

“What happened?” she asked him. “I mean, you’re an instructor!”

“You’re not going to believe this,” he explained, “but I was riding the lift when I saw this woman roaring down the run backwards with her pants down; I leaned over for a better look, and fell off the lift. So, what happened to you?”

***************************************

I have an inch-thick file of letters, clippings, and notes re-telling different versions of this story. Typical of folklore, there are countless variations in detail while always preserving the core yarn of the hapless novice skier. She may be an Iowan at Aspen, an Oklahoman at Vail, an Atlantan at Squaw Valley, A Chicagoan at Alta, a Missourian at Sun Valley, an Ohioan at an Upstate New York resort, etc. etc. etc.

The same story is also told about skiers from Canada, England, and New Zealand on ski holidays either at home or abroad. In a version from Australia the injured lady who has been skiing in the Snowy Mountains is flying home to Sydney when she finds herself seated next to a young man with his leg in a cast. “What happened to you . . . ?”

For years a photocopied version circulated bearing the title “How’d You Break Your Arm?” Now you can find it on the Internet. It’s also a favorite story for after-dinner speakers.

The December 1983 issue of Ski magazine quoted the story from a Montreal newspaper with the variation that the half-dressed snow bunny was skiing frontwards, and she crashed “under a fully loaded chairlift.” This publication as well as one from a Swedish magazine had a cartoon illustration.

I have two questions for SeniorsSkiing.com readers: First, what version of The Ski Accident have you heard? And second, aren’t there some other urban legends about our favorite winter pastime?

 

 

 

Harriet Wallis

Lift Maintenance 101

/4 Comments/in , /by

The Whole Summer Was Spent Getting Ready For Winter.

Reassembling parts takes time and patience.
Credit: Harriet Wallis

It’s 80 degrees at Deer Valley. Mountain snow melted long ago. A summer breeze rustles leaves on the aspen trees and wafts through the open doors of the maintenance shop. The crew wears shorts and T-shirts. It’s mid-July.

Gears and gizmos cover the work benches, and the crew is meticulously polishing, calibrating and lubricating the parts. It’s virtually open heart surgery on the inner workings of a ski lift.

“We work eight months to be open for four months of skiing,” said Deer Valley’s Lift Maintenance Manager Jeffrey Miller. “All of us in this industry do a great job. We’re well aware of how many bottoms are in the air.”

Maintenance also deals with rubber parts that get worn, such as belts. Weather, wind and temperature can affect alignments. Even identical lifts can wear differently. Lift maintenance is complicated. It’s part science, part skill and part art.

It takes a lot of work to refurbish parts.
Credit: Harriet Wallis

Deer Valley’s talented crew keeps the resort’s 25 lifts running smoothly.

But there’s more. Just like your car gets its 60,000 mile service, lift components must be inspected, reconditioned and rebuilt at various frequencies, Miller said.

“For example, certain lift manufacturers require that sheave assemblies be rebuilt every six years. Brakes should be completely torn down, inspected and rebuilt every four years. Gearboxes and final drives get reconditioned on an hour basis, right around the 12,000 hours.”

Got that? It’s a complex schedule.

In spite of all the tedious maintenance, a breakdown can happen. The needed part — many of which are huge — might not be in storage. But a nearby resort might have that part. “We’re a tight-knit group much like a family. We reciprocate by sharing parts,” Miller said.

This is a job for four hands.
Credit: Harriet Wallis.

All this so you can enjoy your ski day.

But the work doesn’t stop when summer ends. When we ski, we’re always looking up – looking at the lift mechanisms, he said. And we periodically sample the oil to see what’s in it and we check tension adjustments.

Get ready to ski. Deer Valley’s lifts and the lifts at your favorite resort had their summer work outs.

To read more from Harriet click here for her stories on SkiUtah.

 

seniorsskiing

This Week in SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 17)

/0 Comments/in /by

New England Areas Opening, Updates In Free* Skiing For Seniors, X-C Correctly, And More.

Bretton Woods is making world-class snow. This shot is from 11/11/17. The resort opened on the 10th. Credit: Bretton Woods

It’s happening.

The Western ski resorts are getting snow, especially in the Pacific North West. New England areas are opening, too. Bretton Woods in New Hampshire’s White Mountains is spinning lifts, the first to open in the state.  Other NH resorts are making snow, and for some in the Granite State, it’s the earliest they’ve ever done that. Cannon and Cranmore plan to open over Thanksgiving with others soon following.

Vermont’s Mt. Snow opened on 11/11/17.
Credit: Mt. Snow

Across the Connecticut River in Vermont, Stowe will be open this weekend followed by Stratton, Smuggler’s, and Bromley over Thanksgiving. Killington is hosting the Audi FIS World Cup for the second Thanksgiving Weekend in a row. And, what was the first resort to open anywhere in the East? Killington on Nov. 8. Our friend and colleague, the Ski Diva, reports Okemo is open right now.

In Maine, Sugarloaf and Sunday River are already open with limited skiing.  Most other Maine resorts will be starting soon after Thanksgiving.

Wooo-Hooo! Many million dollar investments in snowmaking are really paying off.

Last week, we published our list of 111 ski resorts where seniors can ski for free or virtually free.  It didn’t take long for our readers to comment on errors and additions.  Thank you, readers, for helping make this project more accurate.  So now, we have a list of 112 ski resorts where seniors can ski for free or very nearly free.  It resides under the COMMUNITY menu pick at the top right of the page under SUBSCRIBER-ONLY CONTENT. If you are not a subscriber, please join us.  It’s free and we’re on your side.

Also, we hear from an expert ski instructor on advice for senior Alpine skiers venturing to the Nordic skiing world.  His bottom line: “It’s easy to do it wrong.”

SLC Correspondent Harriet Wallis reports from the Ski Archives Gala where Rossignol ski executive Ron Steele was presented with the Joseph Quinney Award for his contributions to the industry.

Finally, here’s an unabashed plug for the New England Ski Museum’s really nice gift catalogue.  It’s filled with gift ideas for skiers and winter outdoor enthusiasts. And purchases go to help support the ski museum.

We are featuring it because there are really wonderful, hard-to-find items like historic ski posters, books with an winter outdoor spin,  DVDs, jewelry and belts, hats, accessories, etc.

If you know of other ski museums which have interesting gift catalogues, please let us know.  We’re sure they’re out there.

Meanwhile, let’s get going.  Time to get out into the cold.

Thanks for reading SeniorsSkiing.com.  Remember, folks, there are more of us every day and we aren’t going away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harriet Wallis

Coveted Honors Awarded At Ski History Gala

/1 Comment/in /by

Rossignol’s Top Executive And The University Of Utah Ski Team Earned Top Honors.

Top honoree Ron Steele oversaw the company’s sales and distribution of Rossignol, Dynastar, Lange, Look and Kerma brands while he was president of Rossignol.
Credit: Harriet Wallis

The country’s largest ski history and research organization, Ski Archives, held its annual gala and fundraiser to help support its mission. In addition, the event honors individuals and organizations that set a high mark for their influence on the ski industry.

This year, Ron Steele, philanthropist and Rossignol’s executive vice president earned the Joseph Quinney Award. The award recognizes him for his ski industry commitment, vision, and business leadership.

Steele left his home state of Washington to become a champion ski jumper for the University of Utah, and he went on to compete on the U.S. Olympic ski team in Sappporo, Japan. Along the way he was an alpine technician for Rossignol and he rose through the ranks to become its president and now executive vice president. He also serves on ski industry boards.

“I got a great life after coming to Utah,” he quipped.

The award Steele earned, the Joseph Quinney Award, is named for the late ski visionary and founder of Alta.

The University of Utah’s ski team won the NCAA Championship, and the ski team members have high GPAs.
Credit: Harriet Wallis

The other top award, the J. Willard Marriott Library History-Maker Award, went to the University of Utah Ski Team. In 2017, the team won its 11th overall title and its first national NCAA Ski Championship title.

During the winter while the team was out skiing, the unique $2.8 million ski team building, the Spencer F. Eccles Ski Team building, was rising out of the ground on the campus. It’s believed the building is the first-of-its-kind facility on a U.S. college campus.

It’s named after Spencer F. Eccles, a former U of U All-American ski team member, and it was funded by private donations. The donation program was headed by another skier well known in the industry, U of U All-American skier Jim Gaddis. The evening’s award winner Ron Steele was a major donor and played a major role in fund raising for that structure.

The Ski Archives collection is open to the public, and it’s located in the University of Utah campus library in Salt Lake City.

To read more from Harriet click here for her stories on SkiUtah.

 

Jon Weisberg

Update: Reader Input Brings Changes To List Where Seniors Ski Free

/51 Comments/in /by

Following Last Week’s Publication Of SeniorsSkiing.com’s List Of US Resorts Where Seniors Ski Free, We Received Numerous Corrections From Readers.

 

 

Mad River Glen in Vermont and Hunter Mountain in New York don’t have freebies; Bear Valley in California and Gunstock in New Hampshire do. The list has been updated to reflect those and other changes.

Some areas have prices so low that they’re virtually free. For example, Snow Basin in Utah has a $99 season pass if you’re 75. It’s not “free,” but it is quite the bargain. The footnote on the last page had been altered to cover that type of bargain.

We’re confident that there are other such bargains we haven’t captured. As you come across places offering free or “virtually free” skiing, please let us know. We’ll inform readers as the information comes in.

In the meanwhile, make the most of the list and suggest that other senior skiers subscribe so they, too, will have access to that list and other valuable Subscriber Only content.

States with the most areas offering free or “virtually free” skiing:

  • New Hampshire: 12
  • California: 11
  • Minnesota: 10
  • New Mexico: 8
  • Pennsylvania: 8
  • New York: 7
  • Maine: 7
  • Vermont: 6
  • Oregon: 6
  • Colorado: 5
  • Washington: 5

If you’re a current subscriber,  access the full list by looking under the COMMUNITY>SUBSCRIBER-ONLY CONTENT menu picks.  If you aren’t a subscriber, give us your name and email address (free by the way), and you’ll be good to go.

mikemaginn

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 10)

/2 Comments/in /by

Veterans Salute, Free Skiing For Seniors Announced, Rush To Prep For Season, Funny Mammoth Memories, Ditch The SmartPhone.

A platoon of the 10th Mountain Division training at Camp Hale, CO. They were one tough bunch; many went on to become ski industry pioneers.

We’re heading off to Boston’s Ski and Snowboard Expo at the World Trade Center this morning, armed with lots of SeniorsSkiing.com stickers and many copies of a hot-off-the-press news release announcing a list of resorts where seniors can ski for free.

When we started SeniorsSkiing.com, we were told by many industry veterans that, in the past, many resorts offered free skiing for seniors.  Over the decades, that benefit eroded away until it became noticeably absent at major and mid-sized resorts. Nevertheless, with the help of baseline information provided by the International Skiing History Association, SeniorsSkiing.com has ferreted out where seniors can still ski for free. Most of the 111 ski resorts we identified are on the small to medium size, but some are bigger, almost destination resort sized.  It is clear from this research that there is a sizable segment of the ski resort industry which values the contributions of and business from senior skiers, many of whom have been skiing for multiple decades.

The list of resorts offering free skiing is available to our subscribers under the COMMUNITY menu pick on the top blue menu.  If you’re not a subscriber, sign up, it’s free, and, hey, we’re fun city.

Veterans Day is a time to remember those who served.  This year, we salute the 10th Mountain Division, the iconic and hardy group of hunters, climbers, skiers, and outdoorsmen who transformed themselves into a potent military force. You can click through to an article on the 10th Mountain from Snow Magazine.

There’s an interesting development in the Blandford Ski saga.  This venerable area was almost in the hands of real estate developers when it was purchased in early September and saved for a skiing future.  Blandford is the type of area families and seniors love: friendly, accommodating, pleasantly challenging and convenient.  We are ecstatic the resort will continue.  Now the challenge is to get ready for the upcoming season.  Thanks to correspondent Harriet Wallis for this report.

And, here’s a funny story contributed by Roger Monty, a subscriber who responded to our call for reader submissions.  It’s an example of how age can prevail over youth.

If you have an anecdote to share, send it along to us at info@seniorsskiing.com.

Finally, correspondent Don Burch reminds us to be mindful when we head out to mountains and trails.  Basically, enough with the Smartphones already.

Thanks for reading SeniorsSkiing.com.  We are on your side.  Please tell your friends about us, and, remember: There Are More Of Us Every Day, And We Are Not Going Away.

If you’d like a couple of SeniorsSkiing.com stickers, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to SeniorsSkiing.com, Box 416, Hamilton, MA 01936.

seniorsskiing

SeniorsSkiing.Com Salutes Our Veterans

/1 Comment/in /by

Thank You For Your Service.

For a history of the 10th Mountain Division from Snow magazine, click here.

Jon Weisberg

Now Available: 2017-18 List of 112 US Resorts Where Seniors Ski Free

/13 Comments/in /by

This Season, Free Skiing Will Be Available To Senior Skiers At 112 Resorts Across 26 States.

The list of resorts is available to SeniorsSkiing.com subscribers. The annual SeniorsSkiing.com report was first issued for the 2015-16 season.

The number of resorts reporting free skiing privileges for seniors increased slightly from last season. Most provide free skiing at age 70.

According to recent National Ski Areas Association statistics, 20% of the nation’s total skiing/boarding population are 52 and older (1,843,000). Those 52-62 total 1,220,000 participants; 62-71 total 510,000, and 72+ total 113,000.

Each resort establishes its own age threshold for free skiing. People in their 60s ski free at nine resorts in six states. Those 70-79 have a choice of 62 resorts in 22 states, and those 80 and older ski free in 40 resorts in15 states.

The three states with the most areas offering free skiing are New Hampshire with 11 and California and Michigan, each with 10. New Mexico, New York, and Pennsylvania each have 8 resorts with free skiing. Maine has 7, Vermont has 6, and Washington has 5.

Three resorts, Alta Sierra (California), Welch Village (Minnesota), and Sugarbush (Vermont), have a minimum age of 90 to ski free.

Many resorts have a range of discounts for older skiers purchasing lift tickets and other products and services. The editors of SeniorsSkiing.com advise looking online or asking before making purchases.

The free list is available to SeniorsSkiing.com subscribers. Existing subscribers have immediate access to the list by clicking Community in the menu bar and then Subscriber Only Content in the dropdown box. New visitors to the site must enter their email address to have access.

Roger Monty

Mammoth Memories: See Ya!!!

/3 Comments/in , /by

In the winter of 1993, I was in my 29th season, age 55 and still in that happy state of benign self-deception when I believed I skied better each season than the season before.

On the Gon at Mammoth.
Credit: Sarah Sherman/ MMSA

A lifelong wage slave, despite passionate longings to the contrary, I had never given myself the luxury of a ski-bum year. As a weekend-warrior, a good year would be 20-25 days.

It was late May and all of my usual Tahoe destinations closed. I decided to take a solo road trip to Mammoth to close the season. The sun was warm and the slopes covered with corn. I quickly racked up formidable verts and boarded the old Gondola at mid-station for what was to be one last run. Three 20-somethings joined me in the cab, regaling each other with boasts of what a fine day they had all had. “Good show!” I offered, “Now we can all relax and coast down on that good old last run.”

“Oh? Why last run? I can handle more,” one guy responded.

“Yeah, well, I don’t think so,” I said.

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s 2:20, now,” I began to explain. “Lifts stop running today at 2:30. We’re still at least five minutes from the top, and it’s a long way down, so… hey!”

“Yeah, well, whatever,” the guy said. “I suppose if I were your age, I’d see it that way, too.”

That smarted. Damn whippersnappers, can’t they show a little more respect… then I thought how I must look to these guys… gray hair, faded parka, scuffed-up red boots… Ah, hell, they’re just kids, who cares, anyway? Still…

At the top, we exited and quickly descended the stairs. I clicked into my skis as fast as I could, and checked my watch – exactly 2:27. No way… BUT… I glanced over my shoulder to see the three guys ready to shove off; they hollered, “See ya!” Then, rather than my usual cautious chicken-slow entry onto the slope, I launched straight out into the air, off the cornice, into the most direct route down.

What the hell am I doing? flashed through my mind. But, to my mild surprise, I nailed the landing, then hauled ass through those soft steep moguls all the way down to the wide groomed outrun. Already flying, I tucked all the way. A hundred yards ahead, the attendant had already started to pull the “CLOSED” rope across the entrance. I waved my poles and shouted, “HEY! HOLD ON!” By the time he looked up, I had scooted through the gate. “Oh, OK,” he smiled. “You’re the last one.” Grateful as hell, and breathing hard, I proceeded to the loading platform and boarded the last gondola of the season.

As the car left the station, I looked down, and saw the three youngsters from the last ride, approaching the now-closed lift entrance. Unable to do otherwise, I opened the window, stuck out my head, and hollered, “SEE YA!”

At the top, I exited slowly, took a long time drinking in that glorious view of the Minarets, Mono Lake, the whole beautiful scene, then coasted down, easy, stopping every few turns to admire all that grandeur, one last time, in all my quiet solitude.

2017-2018 will be my 54th season. I turned 80, last week. It’s been quite a few years now since I last believed I skied better every year. But that passion is still there, and I have no plans to quit, any time soon.

Mammoth’s season goes past Memorial Day in snowy years.
Credit: Peter Morning/ MMSA

Don Burch

Intentions For Upcoming Season: Mindfulness

/7 Comments/in /by

Put Away The Phone And Be Here Now.

On a midweek day last winter I went into the lodge for lunch. Nearby were six men, obviously friends enjoying a day skiing together. During their entire lunch five of them were on cell phones, and the sixth had no one to talk to.

On the ride up on a six-pack bubble chair lift one of passengers took a call from work and loudly carried on a conversation for the entire trip up the mountain.

I was skiing with a group, and one of the skiers spent nearly half the day recording himself using a selfie-stick.

It was saddening but all too familiar; people were skiing in a beautiful mountainous area but unable to unplug and enjoy their surroundings.

One of the most pleasurable elements of skiing is attending to nature through all our senses. On the mountain, I can smell the aroma of pine and hear water in streams hidden beneath the snow. If I was plugged into a device, I’d miss one of my favorite sounds, ice kernels spraying off the tails of my skis in spring snow.

Skiing is often about sharing the fun with others. It may be conversations with strangers on a lift or sharing the joy of a great run with friends. Being on the phone or looking at the LCD screen on the safety bar (yes, this is coming) isolates us from others.

Recreation and being in nature are about replenishment. They’re about forgetting everything and being present in the moment. They’re about being mindful and aware. With all the confusion, chaos and distraction in the world we need to take full advantage of skiing’s restorative potential.

On the ride up chairlifts I’ve spotted hawks, owls and voles. Early one morning, I was the sole skier on a trail sharing it briefly with a coyote. Rugged terrain with rock outcroppings, snow and frost covered trees and unique weather events like cloud inversions might be go unnoticed if my eyes are on a screen.

Being outdoors on a mountain in the winter is an incredible gift, and skiing is a remarkably sensual experience. We need to be fully present in order to benefit from all they have to offer. So turn off the phone and listen, look, feel and enjoy.