Articles by: mikemaginn

Book Review: Staying With It

Book Review: Staying With It

An Aging Athlete Becomes Enlightened [Editor Note: We are reprising this article from Nov. 2015 because it contains important themes of persistence and adaptability. And the book Staying With It was written by one of our favorite authors, the venerable John Jerome, a former editor of SKIING magazine.] What happens when a 50-year-old writer decides to fight aging by becoming[Read More…]

by October 10, 2023 4 comments Conditioning
Henry David Thoreau in 1856. Source: Wikipedia

Around Walden Pond

There are two trips around Walden Pond near Concord, MA. The first is a ski tour through a picturesque New England landscape, with sharp and steeply wooded hillsides surrounding an ice-covered, lambchop-shaped lake. Around the same pond is a second trip, a pilgrimage that passes the cabin site of Henry David Thoreau, “self-appointed inspector of snowstorms”, conjuring the spirit of[Read More…]

by November 11, 2021 3 comments Home Top Box 2, Other News, East
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (April 9)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (April 9)

Spot-That-Resort, Top To Bottom Telluride, Skiing Weatherman, Question: Buy Now?, Cycling Lessons, XCSkiResorts, Focus Mindset, Killington In Spring, Ski Club Prep In Oz. Emily Dickinson said: “A little Madness in the Spring / Is wholesome even for the King.”  So here’s a little quiz that might drive you a little nuts. See how you do in this exercise in pattern[Read More…]

by April 9, 2021 1 comment Features
Happy Spring To All

Happy Spring To All

Passover, Easter, Baseball Opening Day, Spring Rituals: All Welcome As The Year Moves On. SeniorsSkiing.com is taking a break for the holiday week.  We wish all our readers a safe and healthy time, especially if you’re Zooming with friends and family or venturing out for the first time in a while.  To our amazing contributors to our recent fundraiser:  All[Read More…]

by April 2, 2021 6 comments Features
Sign of spring: Tuckerman Ravine, 1938. Credit: Mt. Washington

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (March 26)

Spring Is Here, Quitting Time? Corn or Mashed? Beech Top-to-Bottom, Diggins World Cup, Ski Art III, Skiing Weatherman. Spring: Time for renewal. Time for change. New directions. “It was such a spring day as breathes into a [person] an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes [them] stand motionless, looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out[Read More…]

by March 26, 2021 1 comment Features
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (March 19)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (March 19)

ISHA Treasure Chest, Wildcat Polecat Run, Hemingway Excerpt, Jan’s Series Wrap, Gift From COVID Year, Shared House Tips, Nordic Colorado. “There Is Much Weather In A March Day”: Irish Proverb. Indeed, March has us betwixt and between. We had some beautiful mid 60s to 70 degree days early on in New England, then an abrupt switch to zero degrees and[Read More…]

by March 19, 2021 1 comment Features
Alta closed on March 17, 2020. Abruptly.

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (March 12)

End Or Interim, Snow West, Cooler East, Vail Run, Jan’s Saga, Demo Tips, Ski Japan?, NW XC, Happy At Appi, Sharp Porcupine. We’ve been through quite a year. Last year at this time, we were hearing about and experiencing the abrupt closures of ski resorts all over the globe. Races, vacations, bookings cancelled. People just arrived to start vacations had[Read More…]

by March 12, 2021 1 comment Features
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (March 5)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (March 5)

Looking Ahead, First Timers Tips For Europe, Personal Risk Test, Midwest Nordic Centers, DV/PCR Visits, Brunvand’s Journey, L2A Top-Bottom, Tune Up Kit, Okemo Founders, Harriet’s First Time, Emily And March. Outdoor author Patrick McManus said: “God invented March in case eternity proved to be too brief.” March, the elongated month, stretching from the cold of February to the sunshine of[Read More…]

by March 5, 2021 0 comments Features
Dawn, Appleton Farms, Ipswich, MA. Credit: NSNA

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Feb. 26)

Cross Country Bubble, Skiing Styles History, Aspen Top-Bottom Run, Gelati Apres-Ski, Norway Skiing, Yellowstone Yurt Resort, Goggle Fog, Weather Ahead. Across the street in Appleton Farms, we notice many disparate groups of xc skiers, snowshoers, dog walkers, and hikers have been descending in growing numbers whenever there is a decent covering of snow, a frequent occurrence this February.  The stalwart[Read More…]

by February 26, 2021 1 comment Features
Nipika is totally off the grid.

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Feb.19)

Why Support SeniorsSkiing.com, Ski Test Process, Flat Light Nemesis, Women Behind Pico, Sustainable XC Resorts, Snow In Literature, Skiing Weatherman. If you are of a certain age, you’ve probably figured out by now that people in business, sports, and marketing, who design, sell and market products and services, who have hiring responsibilities, and, generally, who are under 40, view aging[Read More…]

by February 19, 2021 4 comments Features
Credit: Jan Brunvand

Question For You: Flat Light Tactics

[Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Is Flat Light The Bane Of Your Skiing Experience? Or Just One Of Those Things? No contrast, lack of depth perception, no tell-tale marks on the snow, flat light adds another dimension to deal with. Not welcome to many. Tolerable to some. We’ve had a couple of our[Read More…]

by February 16, 2021 37 comments Features
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Feb.12)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Feb.12)

Valentine To Our Readers, Loon Visit, Resort Liability-Less, Vicarious Swiss Ski Run, Marg’s Moment, Personal Ski, XC Ski Injuries, Skiing In College In The 50s, Take A Lesson, Herb’s Weather For The Week. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Here in SeniorsSkiing.com’s New England headquarters, we are feeling very gratified. We’ve been receiving[Read More…]

by February 12, 2021 1 comment Features
Vicarious Ski Run In The Swiss Alps: Fun Or Foolish?

Vicarious Ski Run In The Swiss Alps: Fun Or Foolish?

Here’s A Top-To-Bottom Video Of A Run At Nax. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] This is a Go-Pro video we found on YouTube.  It’s shot at Nax ski resort in Switzerland, a charming ski village in Valais, overlooking Val de Herens. It’s an intermediate-type area with moderate runs, one of the many[Read More…]

by February 11, 2021 27 comments International
Question For You: Liability-Less

Question For You: Liability-Less

A Recent Court Decision Changes The Legal Landscape For Skiers In Colorado. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Watch this video news story from Channel 7 News in Denver, CO. Basically, a recent December 2020 Appeals Court ruling has decided that skiers cannot bring action against ski resorts, expanding protection for resorts, releasing[Read More…]

by February 11, 2021 13 comments Features
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Feb. 5)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Feb. 5)

Supporting SeniorsSkiing.com, Time For Gratitude, StratWarm, XC Ski Length, Reflections On Comments, Best Restaurant Ever, Odyssey Between US And Canada, And More Ski Art. About eight years ago, Jon Weisberg, a college friend and fraternity brother, mentioned on a holiday phone call that he had been thinking about starting a website for senior skiers. He even chatted up fellow senior[Read More…]

by February 5, 2021 3 comments Features
Make More Tracks: How To Pick Ski Length

Make More Tracks: How To Pick Ski Length

If You Thought It Was Based On Height, Think Again. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Thanks to Jared Manninen from TahoeTrailGuide.com for this advice. We’re curious.  Are readers able to buy cross-country equipment at mid-season?  We’ve heard inventories have been depleted. Let us know.  

by February 4, 2021 2 comments Make More Tracks
Question For You: Best Restaurant Ever In A Ski Town

Question For You: Best Restaurant Ever In A Ski Town

During This Pandemic, We Are Yearning For Those Fantastic Meals. Let’s Have Them Vicariously. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Part of the fun of going on a ski vacation, a ski weekend, or even a day trip is eating out. Whether it’s a hamburger from a grill on a sun deck, magnificently[Read More…]

by February 2, 2021 26 comments Features
Hannes Schneider brought "technique" to the US in early 30s.

Question For You: How Did You Learn?

Did How You Learn Help Or Hinder Your Current Technique? I remember taking couple of lessons when I started skiing in the mid-60s. Lessons were based on the snow-plow, stem christie, christie school.  Very Austrian. It served me well over the years I skied up to the time my Alpine career went on hiatus. When I came back to skiing[Read More…]

by January 19, 2021 36 comments Other News
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Jan. 15)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Jan. 15)

Don’t Let The Old Man In, Vortex Coming, More Poetry, Luxury XC Resort, Ski World Art, Season Pass Value, Ski Boot For Seniors, Norway . My self-image has always been as an active, healthy, strong, relatively athletic person who also happened to be 76 years old.  Friends were frequently impressed when they learned my age. “Really? You certainly don’t look[Read More…]

by January 15, 2021 5 comments Features
Question For You: What’s Santa Bringing?

Question For You: What’s Santa Bringing?

What Snow Sports Stuff Do You Have On Your List? It’s not too late to write to Santa to request that single, elusive item you crave for your ski kit. What would make a nice present for you? A new knit hat? Expensively warm gloves? New boots? Our own research into reader wants reveals that underwear and layers are at[Read More…]

by December 15, 2020 1 comment Features
Mystery Glimpse: Multiverse of Santas

Mystery Glimpse: Multiverse of Santas

Santa Santa Santa Where are we? What’s special about what’s going on? Last Week Clearly, there are some fantastic ski history buffs in among our readership. We had some spot-on descriptions of this old hotel last week. This is the Poland Springs House in Poland Springs, ME. Here’s a bit of this famous landmark’s story from Glenn Parkinson, the historian[Read More…]

by December 14, 2020 2 comments Mystery Glimpse
Mystery Glimpse: The Old Hotel

Mystery Glimpse: The Old Hotel

Where? When? What? This week’s Mystery Glimpse is a challenge. Major hint: The identity of the magnificent hotel can be found on the website of the Maine Ski and Snowboard Museum. Spend some time there browsing around and consider supporting the Museum and its mission. If you know where, when and what this is a picture of—or when you find[Read More…]

by December 7, 2020 4 comments Mystery Glimpse
Mystery Glimpse: Where And When?

Mystery Glimpse: Where And When?

This Is An Oldie. Can you identify where this rope tow was and when? If you can, write your comment in Leave A Reply below. Many thanks to Ski History magazine for this picture. Ski History magazine is the publication of the International Ski History Association. Find out more about ISHA by clicking here. Last Week In keeping with last[Read More…]

by December 1, 2020 5 comments Mystery Glimpse
Appleton Farms, Ipswich, MA. Credit: SeniorsSkiing.com

Question For You: Groomed Or Au Naturel?

What Is Your Preference?  We live across a little country road from a 900-acre conservation property. For years, we’d walk across the road, stumble over the stone wall bordering the street, and plod our way about 20 feet through tree-falls and heavy brush to a trail where we’d put on our xc skis. And then we’d break trail around our[Read More…]

by November 17, 2020 11 comments Make More Tracks
Question For You: Preparing

Question For You: Preparing

What’s On Your Agenda? Last week, we noted that Warren Miller’s new movie Future Retro has hit the internet. For many, the premier of a Warren Miller film has been the starting gun of the season. Which got us to thinking about routines we have developed to start our own personal snow sports season. As we mentioned, perhaps it’s something[Read More…]

by November 11, 2020 6 comments Features