The aging process does weird things to the mind. We remember days of yesteryear winding down through moguls on a steep run all day, thinking it was fun. Or floating through knee-deep powder all day from when the lifts open until they close. Today, in my dotage, when confronted with a steep pitch full of knee-high, well-rounded moguls, I go[Read More…]
As a young ski racer, I learned the importance of properly tune skis. Now as an old a recreational skier, I can assure you skiing “tuned” skis makes the sport more enjoyable. Tuning a pair of skis answers three questions. One, do the bindings work as advertised? Two, are the bottoms flat, not convex or concave? And three, are the[Read More…]
When one thinks of the first ski areas in the U.S., one thinks of Sun Valley or Stowe. Few know that in 1936, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains east of Santa Fe, NM, Robert Nordhaus installed a rope two to haul people up the slopes of what is now Ski Santa Fe. It was used as a training area[Read More…]
Way back when in the last century, after I started skiing, ski bottoms were wood. Then, Kofix, the first polymer bottom, came out in 1956 followed by P-Tex 2000 in 1966. Since then, every ski has a polyethylene bottoms. The lure, besides better gliding over the snow, was that with P-Tex, one didn’t have to ever wax your skis again.[Read More…]
Different Way to Buy a Pair of Skis – Part 1 Before I left Dallas, knowing I now had a new pair of Dynastar skis, I needed a new ski bag. The ones I had were designed to protect the skis on a car roof rack but weren’t suitable for riding in the baggage compartment of an airliner. On visits[Read More…]
It was after Thanksgiving, 2022 and ski trip planning was well underway. With ski passes in hand. I decided to buy a new pair of skis. Being a cheap sort, I decided to wait until after the first of the year before going ski shopping. The Ski Gods didn’t cooperate. In early December 2022, I had a transient ischemic attack[Read More…]
This is the time of year when one starts planning ski trips. Maybe not the details such as booking hotels and flights, but at least beginning to let the “where” rattle around in your brain. And, as you think about this, unless you live near a ski area and are a season pass holder, the cost of lift tickets is[Read More…]
The pandemic caused ski area management teams to change how they run their resorts. Covid affected every business function from technology to marketing and communications to day-to-day operations. As a group, ski areas were forced to learn how to react quickly to an ever-changing set of guidelines emanating from the Federal government as well as those from state governments that[Read More…]
The last turn of the last run on any ski day is a bittersweet moment. If it’s the last day of the trip, it is sad, if not melancholic. As I come down the mountain on what will be my last run of the day, I go through the same routine. Partly because I am tired, partly because the beginner[Read More…]
Source: Travel Crested Butte The first thing one notices about the terrain at Crested Butte is the jagged, arrowhead shaped mountain peak thrusting into the sky. The base of the mountain is 9,820’, and lifts take you to a notch, several hundred feet below its 12,162’ summit. There’s lots to like about skiing Crested Butte: beaucoup, well-groomed beginner, intermediate and[Read More…]
Reflection On The Past Before Starting This Year’s Biking Season. With gyms closed to Covid, way back in August 2020, I started riding my bicycle five days a week as a way to get ready for the ski season. I live in North Texas where the terrain is relatively flat. We don’t have hills or mountains, we have rises. I[Read More…]
One Fun, The Other Not So Much. We’re nearing that time of year in New England and the upper Midwest where the snow melts a little during the day and freezes at night. The repetitive process creates tiny balls of ice. In the morning, they’re rock hard but as the sun comes up, they melt a little and turn into[Read More…]
Guidelines For An Objective Assessment. One of the great things about ski rental shops today is their willingness to rent top of the line skis. This is a great deal because for $35 – $50/day, you can try skis that will set you back $1,000. For the CPAs, math and economic majors, the break-even at $50/day on a $1,000 pair[Read More…]
DIY: Prepare And Repair Ski Bottoms. Here’s What It Takes. Way back when I used to drive to ski resorts, I used to slide a toolbox into the back of the car with everything needed to tune a pair of skis, fix a gouge in the P-Tex and wax the bottoms. The biggest and most important item was my Toko[Read More…]
[Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Seven Ways To Make Ski Tests More Objective. Way back in the late 20th Century, while running the SKIpp Testing program for SKI Magazine, John Perryman and I learned the most difficult problem to solve and the biggest variable was the ski tester. In conversations with almost every[Read More…]
Does The World Need A Custom Ski Just For You? [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Way back in the winter of 2018, long before Covid raised its ugly head, I asked the heads of marketing (none of whom would qualify for a SeniorsSkiing/com subscription) from three manufacturers a simple question: “Has ski[Read More…]
What If Driving Is An Undesirable Or A Non-Option? The world’s COVID hangover is going to continue well into 2021 so obviously ongoing precautions are needed to keep from contracting the disease. For those who live within three to four hours by car of a ski area, you’ve got options. Your car becomes your transportation bubble and then while skiing,[Read More…]
A Military Epic Pass Discount Special Became A Big Motivator To Get Back In Shape. Last winter and spring, like many others, I watched the ski season melt away. For those who went before the big shut down, good on you. For, me, the only hopes I had of skiing was in late April or May or June at Mammoth. [Read More…]
What Happened To Me And WhyYou Should Treasure Your Health And Fitness. As I get older, each ski season is more precious than the one before. I’m pushing 60+ years of skiing, and early in my life, I learned never to take one for granted. Except for being deployed overseas during Vietnam and Desert Shield and Storm, I haven’t missed[Read More…]
Do You Have A Plan For Your Debut? Marc Does. My favorite condition for my first run on my first day of skiing on any trip is freshly raked frozen granular. Why? Because I can feel the edges of the ski carve in the snow. Early enough in the season, even if one skis out west, you’ll see more hard[Read More…]
Make It A Good One. The last turn of the last run on any ski day is a bittersweet moment. If it’s the last day of the trip, it is sad if not melancholic. On one hand, I’ve spent the day or days enjoying my favorite sport and on the other, there’s no more skiing until the next trip that[Read More…]
Spring Skiing Paradise Editor Note: As of April 12, even more snow has fallen on the Sierra Nevada since this report was written. Mammoth is known for its late closings, generally after Memorial Day, but this year, closing is scheduled for July 4th! On April 1st, the snow depth at the top of the 11,059 ft. mountain was a 230[Read More…]
New England Trails With Western Snow. I love skiing Solitude Mountain Resort for its wide range of trails for all levels and ages of skiers ranging from wide-open trails to steep, narrow trails that remind me of skiing Stowe, Mad River Glen, and Sugarbush. All the parking is right out front of the Moonbeam Lodge or Solitude Village. Management loves[Read More…]
SeniorsSkiing.com Correspondent Makes Presentations On Senior Skiers’ Needs and Wants. NSAA is the National Ski Areas Association, publishing the NSAA Journal six times a year. The publication’s audience, along with its competitor, the independent Ski Area Management, are those who manage and market ski areas. A growing topic of interest is the senior skier and how to bring them to[Read More…]
[Editor Note: As the new year begins, SeniorsSkiing.com is again asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation. This year, we have a mix of[Read More…]
