Tag Archive for: Black Diamond

Jon Weisberg

Short Swings!

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I hope you’ve been following the new weekly Mystery Glimpse feature.

It’s our way of drawing attention to ski museums. The idea is to ask readers to identify old photos or pictures of objects from museum collections. Mike writes copy explaining where the item comes from and links it to the institution’s website. We figure the more you know about the place the more likely you are to visit and support it. The first Mystery Glimpse images came from The Alf Engen Ski Museum in Park City. Soon they’ll be coming from the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe and the Ski Museum of Maine in Kingsfield.

If you’re a friend of a ski museum that might want to participate, please let them know what we’re up to.

It’s not a museum, per se, but the International Skiing History Association does an outstanding job preserving and communicating about the history of skiing. Their bi-monthly magazine, Skiing History is one of those very special and superbly executed small magazines. The diversity of articles and always interesting graphics make it one of my favorites.

If you enjoy skiing’s past and haven’t already taken advantage of the free digital Skiing History subscription available to SeniorSkiing.com subscribers, I urge you to do so. You can find the link under Community/Subscriber-Only Content on the menu bar.

Mike and I are preparing for the SIA/Outdoor Retailer trade show next week in Denver. We’ll do our best to deliver a full issue.

Apex Ski Boot System

In one of last year’s reader surveys, we learned that 25% of you planned to purchase new boots. Your reasons had to do primarily with comfort, warmth, and fit. All of which contribute to performance.

If you’re thinking about new boots, I seriously recommend exploring the options in the Apex Ski Boot System. Apex is an alternative to conventional ski boots.

Apex combines a boarder-type boot with a detachable outer shell. An easy to use cable system allows for convenient adjustments. They are a staple in ski shops around the country. Domestic and international outlets are listed at the Apex Ski Boot System site. Also on the site are locations of demo centers in Colorado, California, Vermont and New York.

I skied them a few years with great satisfaction and look forward to trying them again. Excellent performance with improved comfort, warmth, and fit: If you’re among the 25% planning to purchase new boots, look at Apex.

The Better Mountain Cam

Resorts around the US are improving their Mountain Cam technology with Prism cameras. I don’t quite understand how it works, but Prism is a big improvement over the more conventional cameras currently in use. Following links are to Prism cameras (not too pretty in the fog and snow): Sun Valley, Tamarack, Deer Valley, Park City, and Mount Snow.

Colorado

Several Colorado Ski Country USA resorts offer an array of women’s programs. Most feature instruction. Some include meals, networking opportunities, yoga and other wellness activities, etc. They’re listed below. Visit websites for more information.

  • A-Basin: Legendary Ladies Clinic meets Wednesday mornings.
  • Aspen Snowmass: Women’s Edge Program four day clinic has been running for 30+ years.
  • Copper Mountain: Women’s Wednesdays.
  • Crested Butte: Women’s Tips on Tuesdays is a weekly half-day class.
  • Eldora: Women’s Days Program
  • Loveland: midweek Women’s Only Clinics.
  • Monarch: Women’s Wednesdays.
  • Powderhorn: Ski Like a Girl.
  • Silverton: All-women heli-skiing weekend Feb 10-12 in the San Juan Mountains; April 6-8, Annual Silverton Sisters’ Meeting weekend for experts-only.
  • Steamboat: three-day Women’s Ski Camp clinics.
  • Telluride: 36th anniversary of Telluride Women’s Ski and Wellness Week. Resort also offers its SheRide Women’s Snowboard Camp for every level boarder.
  • Winter Park: Women’s Ski Camps
  • Wolf Creek: Ladies’ Ski and Snowboard Clinics on specific Sundays

Europe

The Alps are getting good snow. I recently learned about Alpskitour Snow Adventures, a group of European ski professionals that organizes five day resort-to-resort guided alpine ski tours. Accommodations are lovely. Whether or not you plan to go, the website is fun to visit.

Parisian auction house Drouot will auction the official 10th Winter Olympic Games’ (Grenoble) torch, Wednesday 24 January at Drouot Auctioneers, Paris. Estimate: €40,000 / 50,000.

Utah

The public is invited to meet the U.S. Olympic Moguls and Aerials Team 2-3PM, Tuesday, January 23 at Deer Valley’s Snow Park Lodge Plaza. The team will compete at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

The Essence

This short video from Black Diamond gets to the essence of the ski experience. Not all of us will spend our time skiing backcountry, but the message in BD’s video should resonate with every older skier.

Finally

 

 

I hope you’re getting in more skiing than I am, here on the Colorado Plateau. On a hike a few weeks ago, I came across this track in the sand. Aren’t bears supposed to be checked in to Holiday Inn this time of year?

Ski Mojo
Jon Weisberg

Short Swings!

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The Excuse I Hear Most Often From Seniors Who Stopped Skiing Is That Their Knees Are Bad.

I can emphasize. At 74, I feel the occasional twinge forecasting a time when something medical is in my future. I know I’m not alone.

Which brings me to the Ski-mojo ad on the SeniorsSkiing.com homepage. It’s a British product for skiers with weak or bad knees. It also works for skiers without knee problems (I’ve been told there are some), by giving a power boost that helps them ski stronger and longer.

Full disclosure: I have not tried Ski-mojo, but I have spoken with skiers who have. They rave about it. Last year, I watched a skier get fitted for the device. It’s light and slim, and it fits easily underneath ski pants. Once on, the skier flicks a switch to activate or deactivate the springs.

In the US, Ski-mojo is endorsed by PSIA. In the UK it’s endorsed by BASI (British Association of Snowsports Instructors). The product can be ordered at www.skimojo.com and shipped virtually anywhere.

I prefer to be proactive about being able to continue to participate in the sport I love. If the twinge in my knees worsens, I’ll be ordering Ski-mojo. I want to stay in the game as long as I can.

January is Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month

Almost 70 U.S. areas are offering great deals on beginner packages for new skiers and boarders. Packages typically include lesson, lift ticket and rental gear. Depending on location, deals range from a single lesson to up to four. To learn about offerings in your area visit the Ski and Snowboard Month website.

California

Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows is now an Official Training Site of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team. Other sites are Mammoth Mountain, Deer Valley, Copper Mountain, and Timberline Lodge. Official Training Sites host U.S. team athletes for elite training sessions.

Quebec

Stoneham Mountain Resort dedicated its new Éclipse quad on December 23. The fixed grip quad replaces a double chair and T-Bar. Skiers use a conveyor belt to load the new lift. It has a capacity of 1900 skiers per hour and takes 8 1/2 minutes to reach the top.

Utah

Deer Valley hosts the world’s best aerial and mogul skiers during the 2018 Visa Freestyle International FIS World Cup, Wednesday, January 10 through Friday, January 12. DV has played host to international and world competitions for 20 consecutive years, including the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, two World Championships and 16 World Cups. If you’re in the vicinity, this is one exciting event to behold!

Powder Mountain Resort opened for the season on December 24. The resort has 8,464 acres. Powder now limits day pass sales to 1500.

Snowbasin opened its new Wildcat Express high-speed six-pack. It replaces a triple. The name “Wildcat” has been used for Snowbasin lifts serving the same part of the mountain since 1946, when it started as a single chair.

Soldier Hollow has Biathlon training for groups. Professional staff does the training and participants engage in a mini competition at the 2002 Olympic Range. Reservations required.

Solitude BrewSki Mountain Lager is a new German-style Pilsner created for Solitude Mountain Resort by Utah-based Bohemian Brewery.

Vermont

Vermont has 20 alpine resorts and 30 cross country centers. Ski Vermont is promoting an End-to-End Tour this season. Participants who visit different resorts each week and submit photos will be eligible to win tickets and prizes.

Molly Mahar is the new President of non-profit Vermont Ski Areas Association. She joins from Loon Mountain Resort where she was VP Marketing/Sales. Previously she held similar positions at Sugarbush and Bolton Valley.

Other

Black Diamond has a new short promotional video about backcountry skiing. Even if you stay in or around the resort, it’s well worth watching.

Liftopia announced its 2017-18 Best in Snow Awards. The results will surprise some. For all winners and how they were selected visit https://bestinsnow.liftopia.com/ – /

The Mountain Collective pass is back on sale for $519. With it you get 32 days at 16 iconic resorts. For more visit https://mountaincollective.com

peter metcalf
Jon Weisberg

OpEd—Black Diamond’s Peter Metcalf to Outdoor Retailer Show: Leave Utah!

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Time For The Industry To Speak Truth To Utah’s Anti-Public Lands Political Agenda.

This was the week of the Outdoor Retailers big show and non-stop party in Salt Lake City. It happens in both Winter and Summer editions, each with products focused on that season.

But this one was different because Peter Metcalf, the founder and former CEO of outdoor gear company Black Diamond, spoke out directly to the anti-public lands initiatives being promoted by Utah’s governor and the state’s Congressional delegation.

Twenty years ago, Metcalf successfully led the effort to relocate the show to Utah.

To fully appreciate his rationale, one needs to understand the economic impact the outdoor industry has on both the national and the state economies. It generates nearly $650 billion in gross national product (GNP) activity. At the state level, it generates nearly $12 billion and is responsible for about 120,000 jobs. The OR show, itself, delivers nearly $50 million of direct spending to Utah.

Metcalf authored an OP-ED in the Salt Lake Tribune, advocating for the Outdoor Retailer to leave Utah.

“… The state has some of the country’s most beautiful, varied, wild and iconic public lands that personified our industry’s values,” he wrote. “Utah’s public lands also formed the underpinnings of the state’s great competitive advantage — an unmatched quality of life unique to much of America that has attracted some of the best and brightest companies and their employees to the state.”

In explaining why he is urging the OR show to leave, he wrote, “Utah’s political leadership has birthed an anti-public lands political agenda that is the driving force of an existential threat to the vibrancy of Utah and America’s outdoor industry, as well as Utah’s high quality of life.

“Specifically, Utah’s top elected officials’ stated strategy is to take down our newest national monument, Bears Ears, gut the Antiquities Act, starve funding from federal land management agencies, and transfer our country’s public lands to state ownership, where the state will sell and prioritize extractive use over all others.

“This agenda is antithetical to our industry, let alone the majority of our citizens regardless of party affiliation. By our industry’s twice-annual trade show remaining in Utah, we are actually complicit collaborators in our own demise.

“It’s time for the industry to again find its voice, speak truth and power to power while making it clear to the governor and the state’s political leadership that this trade show will depart with the expiration of the current contract in 2018 unless the leadership ceases its assault on America’s best idea.”

SeniorsSkiing.com stands with Peter Metcalf on this issue.

seniorsskiing

Short Swings!

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historic5aNATIONAL

SeniorsSkiing.com salutes The Ski Diva for winning the prestigious Harold S. Hirsch Award for Best Ski Blog from the North American Snowsports Journalists Association. Wendy Clinch, a refugee from the advertising business, started the Ski Diva, a women’s ski blog, in 2006. Since then, she has written on a wide-range for topics for women snowsport enthusiasts and has attracted about 5000 readers to her very active online forum. ‘Way to go, Ski Diva!

COLORADO

Apex Ski Boots announced its XP Big Mountain Ski Boot. The Apex is infinitely adjustable and features a soft walkable inner boot and a hard shell exoboot. They’re sold online and through select retailers.

NEW YORK

The Northeast Ski & Craft Beer Showcase, presented by Alpin Haus, will take place at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany, NY, Friday, November 4 through Sunday, November 6.

QUEBEC

Mont-Tremblant received its first dusting on October 23.

UTAH

Ski Utah reports the following resort opening dates:

  • Alta – Nov. 18
  • Beaver – TBD
  • Brian Head – Nov. 18
  • Cherry Peak – TBD
  • Brighton – As early as possible
  • Deer Valley  – Dec. 3
  • Eagle Point – Dec. 17
  • Nordic Valley -Dec. 10
  • Park City – Nov. 18
  • Powder – TBD
  • Snowbasin – Nov. 23
  • Snowbird – Nov. 18
  • Solitude – Nov. 18
  • Sundance – Dec. 9

Park City may hold the world record for simultaneous shot ski drinkers. Confused? Wasatch Brew Pub bolted hundreds of skis together and mounted shot glasses for the momentous occasion. 2000 people showed up for the Big Gulp — double the number expected. They’re waiting for Guinness to confirm the record, previously held by Breckenridge, which attracted 881 participants. he event was a fundraiser for a local Rotary Club.

Black Diamond has issued Live, Ski Repeat, a one-minute video preview to the season.

WYOMING

Teton Gravity Research issued its latest film, Tight Loose, with exceptional powder beauty shots. Tour Dates: http://www.tetongravity.com/films/tight-loose/tour

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Killington is now open for season pass holders.  First in the East (again).

Wildcat Mountain is kicking off its 59th season with snowmaking operations, thanks to cold temps and natural snowfall above 3,000 feet.

Mountain Collective, the consortium of 14 iconic ski resorts is offering two day passes at each resort for a total of $419. Under 12 kids pass is $99. Season pass holders at Alta and other Mountain Collective resorts get half-price skiing at participating reports.OTHER

seniorsskiing

Black Diamond Introduces New Online Film Series

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Exploring The Call Of Mountains

BD TV will show you how the back country looks and the people who go there. Credit: BDTV

BD TV will show you how the back country looks and the people who go there.
Credit: BDTV

Black Diamond, the climbing, skiing, mountain sports equipment and apparel manufacturer, is introducing BD TV, a new online film series. According to the company, the series is “dedicated to sharing stories from the soul of climbing and backcountry skiing.” The first season covers ski mountaineers, avalanche forecasters and hometown heroes discussing lifelong goals, alpine starts, family traditions and building a life around the unending love for sliding on snow.

To preview the series and watch some amazing mountain scenes, click here.