Tag Archive for: Sugarloaf

Jon Weisberg

Short Swings!

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We need to adjust our skiing to our age.

Some readers will probably react with a “Mind your own business,” and that’s fine.

But I keep running into too many people beating themselves up on skis: either forcing old bodies to ski like they did when they were young, or not knowing how to adjust to a more age-appropriate technique.

Several years back I was skiing with a contemporary in her sixties. She skied like she did as a college racer. Impressive, but way to fast for my taste. I waited a long time at the bottom of a bumpy Snowbird trail where her husband met me after patrol had put her into the sled. Broken leg.

I tell everyone I ski with that I ski slowly. I turn a lot, aspiring to graceful form. There are two downsides: it can be tiring, and it makes me vulnerable to being struck by a speed demon. I frequently glance uphill. A few weeks ago while linking tight turns at trail’s edge, I glanced back and saw a youngish boarder on my tail. “Thanks,” she called out. “I enjoyed following your turns.”

Epic Pass Additions

The Vail-owned bundled pass has added Crested Butte, Okemo, and Mount Sunapee for next season.

Boyne Aquiring 6 Areas

They are: Brighton (UT), Cypress Mountain (BC), Loon (NH), Sugarloaf (ME), Sunday River (ME), and The Summit at Snoqualmie (WA).

Harlem Globetrotter on Skis

Globetrotter, Bucket Blakes took a lesson at Arapahoe Basin to promote the team’s March 16 – March 18 Colorado tour. The resulting short video is a refreshing treat.

Colorado

Copper Mountain will upgrade two of its Center Village lifts. American Eagle will become a combination gondola/chairlift. American Flyer will become 6-passenger high-speed bubble chair.

Winter Park will replace its Zephyr Express quad with a gondola.

Montana

Big Sky will replace its Ramcharger quad with North America’s first eight-passenger chair. The new lift, to be ready for next season, will have heated seats and blue bubbles. The older, high-speed Ramcharger will replace the much slower Shedhord double chair.

Quebec

Mont Tremblant will replace its Lowell Thomas chair with a detachable quad. Its main summit lodge, Le Grand Manitou, will be expanded.

 Vermont

Snow gods seem to be favoring the Green Mountain State. Six to seven feet have fallen since beginning of the month. Great time to plan a Spring Skiing trip. This weekend will be filled with green snow and green beer as Vermont areas celebrate St Patrick’s Day.

Killington, part of the IKON pass, will continue to offer discounts on its season pass for seniors, 65-79. The pass for 80+ is essentially free (nominal processing fee required).

Stratton will replace its Snowbowl chair with a high-speed detachable.

High Fives Foundation

Jan and Judy Brunvand with their special edition Parlor Skis

Frequent contributor Jan Brunvand sent in this photo with his wife, Judy, holding her special edition High Fives Foundation Parlor Skis. Parlor gives 15% of its High Fives design sales to the non-profit which helps injured athletes reach their recovery goals. Jan is holding the trout skis Parlor made for the American Museum of Fly Fishing.

Northstar
Jon Weisberg

Short Swings!

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Unless you’re riding with people you know, ski lifts are public places, and conversational topics should reflect that.

Courtesy of Northstar

At least, that’s how I view the 8 – 12 minute ride with people who, if nothing else, have the sport in common. But experience shows that others may not share that sensitivity. How else to explain the ride on a triple where the night manager of a local hotel explained in detail how the owner was a drug dealer who used the property to launder money? Personal discretion must not have been a requirement for his job. That was a long time ago. More recently, on another triple, the man in the middle went on a racist rant for most of the ride. I told him he was using inappropriate language for a public place. He paused for a few breaths and resumed in a more obnoxious manner. I told him that based on what he said he was a racist. “No I’m not!” he yelled as we left the lift and he skied away. Regardless of age or status, lift conversation is our opportunity to bridge gaps and preserve the spirit of skiing.  Please make the effort.

IKON Pass Introduced. M.A.X. and Rocky Mtn Super Pass to be Retired 

Ikon is from Alterra Mountain Company and includes 23 resorts in the U.S. and Canada, many of which are part of the M.A.X. Pass, the Rocky Mountain Super Pass and the Mountain Collective. M.A.X. and Rocky Mountain passes will no longer be available and Mountain Collective will continue through 2018-19. The resorts include Mammoth, Squaw/Alpine, Deer Valley, Alta, Snowbird, Copper, Eldora, Aspen/Snowmass, Steamboat, Jackson Hole, Big Sky, Killington, Sunday River, Sugarloaf , Loon, Tremblant and CMH. Ikon will announce costs at a later date.

Epic Pass adds Telluride

Telluride Ski Resort will be available on Epic Pass starting next season.

Winter Olympics

Courtesy, IOC

The South Korean games run Feb 9-25 in Pyeongchang, the name of a county about 40 miles from the DMZ. Opening and closing ceremonies will be held in a roofless five-sided stadium seating 35,000. South Korea is the second Asian nation to host the games. Korea’s Yongpyong resort has been the site for World Cup ski races four times since 1998. It has 14 lifts servicing up to 2,500′ vertical.

Warren Miller

Ski Utah posted this five minute edit of the1984 Warren Miller’s Ski Country. Hearing his voice narrate the film brings me back to another time.

Patagonia Environmental and Social Responsibility Report

This three minute video presents what Patagonia has done to improve the environment, preserve outdoor recreational areas, and contribute to improved lives in 2017. It’s an eye-opener.