Tag Archive for: Pat McCloskey

Pat McCloskey

Skiing With Life-Long Pals: Annual Trips, Memories, Friendship

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Do You Have Skiing Buddies From Way-Back When?

SeniorsSkiing.com polls show that most seniors like to ski with their friends. Our ski group of seniors has banded together for decades, getting together in March each year for epic skiing in Tahoe or Utah depending on the conditions. The common denominator in our group is our fearless leader Eric Durfee, Incline Village, NV. In the group picture, Eric is seen as second from left flanked by Mark Hutchinson of Vermont and Proctor Reid formerly of Vermont and now D.C. These guys grew up together and raced together as juniors.

Pat McCloskey's gang of life-long ski buddies. This lucky bunch of seniors meets yearly for Big Skiing. Credit: Pat McCloskey

Pat McCloskey’s gang of life-long ski buddies. This lucky bunch of seniors meets yearly for Big Skiing out west.
Credit: Pat McCloskey

The balance of the group on the right is yours truly and Bart Smith, formerly of Seattle and now residing in Utah. Bart was a college racing pal of Eric’s, and Eric’s wife Helen is an old friend of mine from skiing as a kid. I met Eric at his wedding, and we have had a lifetime of adventures ever since. Missing is our friend John Ingwersen who rounds out the group as a former college racing friend of Eric’s from Cornell. That was a long time ago.

Aside from Eric being the glue to this fun loving group, what makes a group like this stick together for those many, many years? Hutch says it best when he states , “We love the fresh air, the scenery, the exercise, the chats on the lifts, and dinners together.” He goes on to say, “We are lucky to have a leader who affords us a nice place to stay in Nevada. He does the planning of where we are to go and does a

Skiing pals at the top of Northstar where you can see forever. Credit: Pat McCloskey

Skiing pals at the top of Northstar where you can see forever.
Credit: Pat McCloskey

fantastic job of organizing us. He has taken a few individual, devoted, ski loving guys and provided them with an ideal situation to enjoy what we enjoy most.” Bart provides an alternative landing spot in Utah if Tahoe conditions aren’t terrific. Finally, Hutch states, “We have a wonderful mix of his (Eric’s) friends who have become great friends to each other.”

Between hip replacements, torn rotator cuffs, bad backs, and various worn out parts, this group of old guys managed to break an iPhone app record a couple of years ago when we logged on and managed 57,000 vertical feet of skiing at Northstar in one day. The next day, we each logged 52,000 at Mt. Rose. The app developer contacted me and asked who we were since we had broken the individual day record, and I recounted to him that we were just a bunch of old guys in their 60s who love to ski together and enjoy each other’s company. He was astounded.

The saying goes, if you finish your life with a handful of friends, you are a lucky man. This is our handful.

[Editor Note: Pat McCloskey is lucky to be skiing with friends he met many, many years ago.  Do you have a group of stalwart skiing companions?  Let us know your group’s story.]

Pat McCloskey

SeniorsSkiing Guide: Mt. Rose and The Chutes

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Tahoe Area Has A Big Surprise For An Eastern Newbie.

Gate to a chute on Mt. Rose, double-black, steep, and fun. Credit: Pat McCloskey

Gate to a chute on Mt. Rose, double-black, steep, and fun.
Credit: Pat McCloskey

For many years, I drove up the Mt. Rose Highway out of Reno and passed the Mt. Rose Ski Area on my way to Incline Village, Nevada. It seems like Mt. Rose has been a favorite of the Reno locals for years and when I finally skied it a couple of years ago for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised. It has become a regular stop on my ski trips to the Tahoe region in Nevada.

Lift To Lot Access 

Personally, I like areas where you can drive into the parking lot, put on your boots, walk a couple of hundred feet and get on the lift. You can do that at Rose.

Snow and Terrain

The area has a nice family feel to it. Great groomers to warm up with and then you can make your way to a series of lift-serviced chutes aptly named, “The Chutes”. This skiing is not for the faint of heart and if you can’t make quick turns on some pretty steep vertical, you really should not pass through the gates. Every year I go there, it is the first wake up call for me that I am once again out West on non- groomed steep terrain where you better be paying attention. If we are fortunate enough to have powder conditions, The Chutes are wonderful. They are steep enough that you have to view the snow report and make sure that the avalanche conditions are in check. Not often do you get steep terrain like this inside the boundaries of a ski area.

Culture

The Mt. Rose chutes from a distance. Credit: Pat McCloskey

The Mt. Rose chutes from a distance.
Credit: Pat McCloskey

One day, a few years back, we saw a group of guys with baggy clothes and full-face helmets blasting down the Chutes howling and laughing and having a great time. We saw them at lunch in the lodge and when they took off their helmets, there were gray beards and gray hairs everywhere. I introduced myself and remarked that we thought they were a bunch of kids with their garb and how well they skied. They appreciated the comments and said that they have been skiing together since they were 16 years old. These guys were all in their 60s. They motocross together all summer. Great bunch of guys who have called Rose their winter home for close to 50 years. Similar groups like these are common at Rose especially the retired set from Reno who only travel 25 minutes to the ski area.

Bottom Line

Mt. Rose has special Silver Ski Clinics designed for wiser, more experienced skiers ages 50 and older who are at skill level of lower intermediate to advanced, interested in the newer movement patterns used with shaped skis and/or improving their skiing technique. That’s on Fridays and Mondays in the morning for $25 plus the price of a lift ticket.

Mt Rose also has other specials if you look for them. The standard $104.00 day ticket ($94 if you buy online) is not the only option. Midweek specials include Two Fer Tuesdays ($104.00 for two adult tickets), and Ladies Day Thursdays ($29.00 per adult ticket), great pre-season pass rates and a $20 shuttle from Reno. Check the web site for specials and more information.