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[Read More…]
A Veteran Ski Instructor Finds Nordic Matches His Senior Skiing Philosophy. Older, wiser, cheaper, what is this about? It reflects on what happens with age for most, but let’s put it into a skiing context. Having taught skiing since 1971, I’ve discovered these are the three adjectives that seem to reflect on one’s skiing philosophy with the passing of time.[Read More…]
Veterans Salute, Free Skiing For Seniors Announced, Rush To Prep For Season, Funny Mammoth Memories, Ditch The SmartPhone. 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[Read More…]
This will be my 64th consecutive year on skis, a factoid I should have mentioned at a recent ski industry event where each of the 50+ people gathered for lunch were asked to say something brief about what they do. I was the oldest in the room and spoke about older skiers and how we comprise 20% of the US[Read More…]
Thank You For Your Service. For a history of the 10th Mountain Division from Snow magazine, click here.
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[Read More…]
Family-friendly Blandford in southern Massachusetts was poised for extinction or development, but Ski Butternut and its owner Jeffrey Murdock bought it Sept. 1 and saved it. It’s a rescue mission of historic proportions. Right now, crews are working furiously to renovate Blandford’s base lodges, upgrade the grooming equipment, and install new snowmaking to help smooth out fickle weather cycles that[Read More…]
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. 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[Read More…]
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[Read More…]
Getting Fit, A Snowmaking Legend, Novel Gift Idea For Seniors, Ski Shows, Happy Birthday, Doug Pfeiffer. The snow season has started, officially and unofficially, in different places around the country. We urge our readers to start thinking about getting their gear out of basements and start spiffing up those skis and boots. It always pays to get those skis sharpened[Read More…]
SeniorsSkiing.com Needs You! …especially if you’re willing to write articles that would be of interest to our readers. Articles can cover prepping for the season (exercising, nutrition, personal accounts, etc.); thoughts on equipment, gear, clothing; technique; profiles of older skiers (well-known or not), destinations, planned trips, nostalgia, ski/board/snowshoe history, skiing with kids and grandkids, etc. We prefer articles no longer[Read More…]
Progressive Exercises From Easy To Difficult Can Help You Tone Up. Okay, it’s late October, and you’ve put this off long enough. You need to limber up for the upcoming snow season. Without topping up your muscles and stretching those ligaments, you can hurt yourself and have a very short season indeed. With some daily or weekly fitness routines, you[Read More…]
Son Of Immigrant Parents, Herman Dupre Found A Way To Give The Sport Snow. Aside from building the Seven Springs ski area in western Pennsylvania into a major mountain resort, Herman Dupre’s claim to fame is that he is a pioneer in snowmaking. He always tinkered with how to utilize high pressure air and water to help Mother Nature spread[Read More…]
If You’re Looking For Novel Gifts For Snow Country Lovers, Yummies Made From Fir Trees Are Worth A Look. Of course, this is a Christmas story. What else when you are talking about eating Christmas trees? It’s just the growing tips that you eat, actually. And the pine flavor is, well, way better than you expect if you are more[Read More…]
Weird Weather, Senior Profile, Von Trapp Cross-Country Innovator, Getting Ready. We can’t stop thinking about the major weather events that have descended across the globe this year. Hurricanes with epic levels of destruction, surprisingly early and deep snows in the Rockies, (and from what we hear, prodigious snowfalls in parts of Australia), wild fires creating horrendous destruction and loss of[Read More…]
Responses To SeniorsSkiing.com Reader Surveys Indicate That Finding Boots That Fit And Perform Correctly Is A Challenge. And 25% Of Readers Plan To Purchase New Boots. Two of our advertisers can help. America’s Best Bootfitters.com has a host of useful boot-related information, including the names of ski shops where highly trained fitters are available to get you the best fitting boots.[Read More…]
Scion Of The Famous Family Is The Inventor Of The Modern X-C Center. [Editor Note: This article first appeared in XCSkiResorts.com. Our thanks to publisher Roger Lohr for allowing us to reproduce it here.] If there was an American Cross Country Ski Hall of Fame, Johannes von Trapp would be one of the surefire inductees. The famous story of the[Read More…]
She Applies What She Learned To Life And Skiing. When the air raid sirens blared in Bingen, Germany, residents scrambled down into their cellars for protection. The town on the Rhine was bombed again and again by Allied forces. After each attack, Ruth’s mother would rush to the roof of their building to pick up the burning flares that had[Read More…]
It’s Warm In The East, And The Rockies Are Turning White. So it makes sense that one of the articles in this week’s package reviews the Tannus tubeless foam-filled bicycle tire and another explains why this is the best time to purchase a season pass. Harriet Wallis, an active biker, skier, and SeniorsSkiing.com contributor wrote the piece on the[Read More…]
Snow Has Arrived Around The West. Half-Price Subscription to realskiers.com: Jackson Hogen, publisher of realskiers.com, publishes short essays related to the the sport. The current one, about older skiers, is titled “Not Dead Yet.” You can sign up for the essays and receive them free. I recommend getting a paid subscription where, among other things, you’ll find intelligent and comprehensive ski[Read More…]
Many Readers May Remember Ski Ballet, The Graceful, Sometimes Amusing, Phenomenon From The 1980s. Costumed performers on skis took skiing to new levels as they executed freestyle moves to a variety of musical themes. It was the snow equivalent of free style figure skating with individual and pair performances. Some observers saw ski ballet as liberation from the restricted forms[Read More…]
The Deals Are Out There. Time To Act. [Editor Note: Mike “Bear Foot” Warner produces SeniorsSkiDeals.com which publishes the prices of top ski resorts and offers advice on where to find the best discounts and when to buy.] If you are a senior skier and are planning to ski over a week this winter, you might want to consider buying a[Read More…]
I’ve Learned A Lot And Here Are The Lessons. If your hands are arthritic, you know how hard it is get a tire back on the rim after fixing a flat. Lightweight Tannus tubeless foam tires were recently introduced into the U.S., and I was quick to buy a set. They don’t take a tube, and since they are filled[Read More…]
Down Under Snow Reports, Experticity Update, Early Winter Forecast. While we start thinking about buying season passes, contemplating new boots, and enjoying the last of summer activities (btw: great sailing in New England these days), the snows of Australia have been falling mightily. We have two reports from the land of Down Under. One focuses on the massive amounts of[Read More…]
Something Old. Something New. I just read two books about trails. The old one is American Skiing, published in 1939. It’s author, Otto Schniebs, was one of the Arlberg Technique pioneers in New England and contributed to the development of several areas. He founded the American Ski School of Boston and coached at Dartmouth College and later at St. Lawrence University.[Read More…]
