Tag Archive for: REI

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Bob Margulis

My Personal Skiing Safety Primer

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To stay safe, all older skiers should prepare themselves for what might go wrong. I call this a “safety mindset,” and it’s kept me safe in more than 40- years of rock climbing, mountaineering and skiing.

Part of that preparation is answering these questions: 

  • What should I wear to protect myself?
  • How will I be found?
  • What are the most common dangers and how can I survive them?
  • What skills/knowledge/training do I need?

What should I wear to protect myself?

Wear a helmet and make sure it is securely fastened. If your helmet isn’t adjusted properly and snugly attached it might not do much good. I check the helmet strap frequently. About half the time it needs adjustment. If you’re using an old helmet or one with a damaged shell, replace it with one of the modern impact distributing technologies like MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System).

How will I be found?

When skiing I always carry a Fox 40 whistle. If you’re skiing inbounds, a series of three loud whistle blasts will summon help. Your phone, also is useful, assuming there’s a signal and juice. Make sure 1) it’s fully charged at the start of the day, 2) the area’s number is in your “Contacts”, and 3) you have a GPS app that will give your coordinates for when you call patrol. To keep the battery from draining, I keep my phone warm on a neck lanyard between base layer and mid-layer fleece. 

Several ski clothing companies incorporate RECCO reflectors into their products. It can help rescuers find you. If RECCO is not built in to your parka or pants, Marmot makes a RECCO belt.

I also carry a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Mine is a McMurdo FastFind 220. About the size of a pack of cigarettes, it cost a couple of hundred bucks, is waterproof, requires no annual fee, and has a 6-year battery life. It gets registered with NOAA and, when activated, broadcasts a signal to the same rescue network used when commercial planes crash. It’s not to be used frivolously, but when it is, rescue will be on its way.

 

What are the most common dangers and how can I survive them?

In addition to avoid being hit by others or losing control, I try to avoid tree wells and avalanches; just a few of conditions that can lead to suffocation and/or hypothermia.

When skiing powder in the trees, I wear a Black Diamond AvaLung Sling. If I were stuck in a tree well, it would help me extract air from the surrounding snowpack and divert exhaled CO2 away from my head. It costs $130 and weighs 9 ounces. 

Hypothermia occurs more frequently in seniors and twice as often in men. When it’s cold the body reduces blood flow to the extremities in order to keep sending it to the brain and key organs. I use glove warmers and boot cozies to keep hands and feet warm.

Helmets help prevent heat loss from the scalp but if there’s exposed skin on your neck, body heat will be lost there. Neck gaitors are a good preventative.

What skills/knowledge/training do I need?

The answer to that question depends on your level of on-snow engagement. If you’re a resort skier, knowing and following the responsible skier’s code and being hypersensitive at trail intersections and to the people around you may be sufficient. A step up would be basic first aid and CPR training. If you’re spending time in the backcountry, take a Wilderness First Aid course (REI offers several 2-day courses) and investigate educational offerings from the American Institute for Avalanche Research & Education. 

Jon Weisberg

Short Swings!

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I’ve always believed in working with a competent car mechanic.

The same applies to a well-trained bootfitter. Many older skiers experience boot issues, and a good fitter can help overcome them. Masterfit is in the business of training people to fit ski boots. Their instructors include pedorthists, professionals with specialized training to modify footwear and employ supportive devices to address conditions which affect the feet and lower limbs. Graduates of Masterfit University populate ski shops around the nation and abroad. They can be located at bootfitters.com, which lists elite ski shops specializing in bootfitting.

Recently, in Masterfit’s typically low-key manner, the organization trained 275 REI employees in the skill of fitting ski boots. Most of them work in REI stores throughout the West, but employees from REI’s Soho (NYC), Framingham (Mass.) and Minneapolis stores also participated. Clearly, REI is upping its game when it comes to professional boot fitting. It will help them provide more complete service to REI members (Is there anyone reading this who is not an REI member?).

I remember being in a chain sporting goods store in midtown Manhattan several years ago where a salesperson with ZERO experience fitting boots was “helping” a customer with ZERO ski experience purchase ski boots. My tongue still hurts from biting so hard.

With this new development, boot shoppers can go to REI, seek out one of the people who went through Masterfit training, and proceed to get fitted with confidence.

Southern Utah Redux

Bear’s Ears. Courtesy: Chicago Tribune

Reader Alan Cort commented on last week’s piece about Patagonia‘s position against the administration’s reduction of Bear’s Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments:

In regards to Bear’s Ears, also a shout out to Black Diamond, maker of a lot of really good outdoor equipment.  The following is from their latest customer email: Nearly 60% of our country’s climbing areas lie on federal public lands. We repeat, over HALF of our nation’s beautiful, wild crags are on public lands. That’s just one reason why we, at Black Diamond, believe that public lands should stay in public hands, and also why we strongly support the designation of Bears Ears as a National Monument.  Think how many ski areas, especially in the West, operate on federal public lands; ones that I’m sure every SeniorSkiing reader has a special attachment to.

Thanks for making that point, Alan.

One of the issues in southern Utah, where these monuments are located, is that county commissioners and state officials are opposed to Federal land ownership. They think they can manage these vast areas more effectively. Among other goals, they want to create a handful of jobs by opening these beautiful wilderness resources to the extraction industries (A uranium mining company is reported to have pressured the White House to reduce Bears Ears.) Last weekend, we visited Goblin Valley State Park, a wonderful area filled with human scale hoodoos. The State of Utah manages the park. Trails are ill-defined, people can walk wherever they choose, signage is virtually non-existent. By comparison, we hiked Arches National Park the day before, where all systems and operations were efficient and well run. The Utah locals seeking control of Federal lands are amateurs who don’t accept the idea that their backyards belong to all citizens.

CALIFORNIA

Santa-costumed skiers and boarders will participate in Mountain High’s annual Santa Sunday this weekend. The event raises funds for Protect Our Winters (POW), the climate change advocacy group for the snow sports community. Registration requires minimum $20 donation to POW. Receipt can be exchanged for a day ticket. Visit Santa Sunday for details.

COLORADO

Aspen Highlands opens Saturday with limited terrain. Pray for snow!!!!

MAINE

Maine resorts received 21″ of natural. Time to head north!

New York

Many upgrades at Whiteface and Gore (lodge expansions, upgraded snowmaking/grooming, etc.).

Lake Placid hosts World Cup Luge this weekend, FIS 2018 Freestyle World Cup aerials competition (Jan. 19-20), Empire State Winter Games (Feb. 1-4), USCSA Ski & Snowboard Championships (March 4-10), Lake Placid Nordic Festival and Loppet (March 18), and ECAC Hockey Men’s D1 Championships (March 16-17).

If you’re in the neighborhood the weekends of Jan 19 and 26, drop by The Sagamore Resort‘s (Bolton Landing) and hoist one at its Glacier Ice Bar & Lounge, featuring nine tons of carved ice.

The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival is Feb. 2-11 and features a massive Ice Palace. The palace tradition dates to 1898. They feature tunnels and mazes and are decorated with flags, ice furniture and sculpture.

New this year is the Adirondack Snowshoe Fest ,Feb. 24 -25 in Saranac Lake. Races are scheduled for all levels. Lots of surrounding entertainment to take off the chill.

QUEBEC

Mt Tremblant reports recent snowfall and perfect snowmaking temps resulting in opening of all 4 sides of the mountain by end of weekend. 60 runs to be available! If you’re planning to visit over the holidays, don’t miss La Famille Grelot (December 23 -31), a feisty family of singing, dancing and acrobatic elves in the pedestrian village.

UTAH

Salt Lake City is promoting itself as an “apres cultural mecca” while skiing the state’s nearby iconic resorts. There’s theater, dance, classical music, jazz, professional sports, and art and natural history museums. More at Ski City USA.

VERMONT

Some resorts received as much as 24″ of fresh this week. Current trail conditions and weather alerts at SkiVermont.com; resort information, deals and events at Resort Finder.

OTHER

 

R.I.P. Bruce Brown, the documentarian who brought us The Endless Summer and On Any Sunday died earlier this week in Santa Barbara. He was 80. For many of our generation, his surfing films and motorcycle films stirred a fantasy of the possible.

 

 

Free, Last Minute, Online Gifts for Senior Skiers

These magazine subscriptions are available free to SeniorsSkiing.com subscribers:

  • One year (six issues) subscription to SKI Magazine (U.S. residents only).
  • One-year (six issues) digital subscription to SKIING HISTORY Magazine.

To register, click the Subscriber-Only Content at the top of the SeniorsSkiing.com Home Page.

  • For SKI Magazine, go to bottom of form and click on: Click Here For Free One Year Subscription to SKI Magazine and follow directions.
  • For SKIING HISTORY go to bottom of form and click on Click Here for Your Free Subscription to SKIING HISTORY Magazine, scroll to Digital Membership, select 1 Year-Digital Only, add to cart, enter coupon code SENIORSKI17, checkout, then set up your account.

 

Jon Weisberg

Mary Anderson, REI CoFounder, RIP

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Mary Anderson, who in 1938 co-founded REI, the nation’s largest consumer cooperative, died March 27.

Mary and Lloyd Anderson, REI founders

She was born in 1909 and lived to 107.

She and her husband, Lloyd, began during the Depression importing high quality ice axes from Austria and selling them to fellow climbers. They formed a cooperative, a business model popular during the Depression in which members paid a small fee and received an annual dividend based on the amounts they spent with the coop throughout the year.

She and Lloyd were avid climbers and hikers. They ran the business from their home, until the 1960s when expansion no longer made that possible. Both retired in late 60s/early 70s.

Today REI has 140+ stores in the US as well as successful catalog and online operations. Last year it reported revenues of $2.56 billion from 6+ million members who received collective dividends of $193.7 million.

REI pays out more than 70 percent of its profits to the outdoor community and other worthwhile nonprofits. One of its current biggest pushes is encouraging women to love nature.

A past CEO, Sally Jewell,  was interior secretary in the Obama administration.

Lloyd died in 2000 at age 98.

On the occasion of Mary’s 100th, the REI Foundation announced a grant in her name that encourages young people to get out in nature and explore.

Remember a few years back when REI closed on Black Friday? Their rationale was to encourage all employees to take a hike (literally) or spend time with family. It was a paid day off.