Destinations

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
Sunny day at Tote Road Quad.

Loon Mountain Resort Update

Lodges Closed. Back To Basics. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Kudos to Loon Mountain Resort, N.H., for managing COVID restrictions so well. Our family bubble all agreed the best thing Loon had done was shut down all the lodges to indoor food service. That simplified one’s strategizing. Grab ‘n Go food windows[Read More…]

by February 9, 2021 1 comment East
The Apartment is in the heart of Morzine.

Marg’s Morzine Mishap

Poor Marg. She Becomes A Poster Person For Travel Insurance. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] When I think back over the last two decades, our group of skiing fanatics have been largely injury free. We are a large group of friends comprised of both Australian and British skiers. But there was Morzine.[Read More…]

by February 9, 2021 1 comment International
My Ski Lodge. Credit: Pat McCloskey

Gratitude

Half-Way Through The Season, Pat McCloskey Takes Stock. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] We are halfway through winter, and the groundhog has come out to let us know what he thinks about the rest of the winter. I wonder if he will be masked? In any event, this has been a different[Read More…]

by February 2, 2021 1 comment East, Features
Beautiful downtown Curlew, WA, a ghost town stop on the way to BC.

An Odyssey Between US And Canada

Our Traveling Australian Skier Recalls Characters, Odd Places, And Skiing In The US/Canadian West. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Have you been to Curlew, WA? We try several routes in an attempt to exit the USA, having already skied at Schweitzer Ski Resort. When I say skied, I use the term advisedly.[Read More…]

by February 1, 2021 1 comment West
Call Of The Mountains

Call Of The Mountains

A Lyrical Look At Classic Eastern Ski Trails. Killington, Okemo, Mt. Snow. See what you’re missing, Western Skiers? Thanks to SeniorsSkiing.com correspondent Don Burch for another great, feels-like-you’re-there video.

by January 3, 2021 5 comments East
Line up for the Silver Queen gondola at Aspen. Credit: Evelyn Kanter

How Aspen/ Snowmass/ Highlands is Coping with Covid

A Major US Destination Resort Implements Its Virus Plan. Here’s An Early Report Card. The biggest challenge ski/snowboard resorts face this season just may be lunch. Covid-19 restrictions limit lifts to 50 percent capacity, but indoor dining restrictions are even less.  That means many skiers will not be able to find a place to sit to eat, even if they[Read More…]

by January 3, 2021 4 comments West
Silver Star mid-mountain village center.

Revelstoke Ramblings

A Traveling Australian Discovers Charm, Interesting Characters In British Columbia.

Early Season Skiing: Okemo, VT

Early Season Skiing: Okemo, VT

Shaking Off Summer Dust: First Runs Of The Season Snow finally came to New England last week whether through machines or from the sky. It finally got consistently cold enough to make the stuff or for real snow to stick.  SeniorsSkiing.com correspondent Don Burch ventured out to see what was going on at Okemo, VT. Here’s his video report from[Read More…]

by December 7, 2020 4 comments East
Empty Pockets In Gressoney La Trinité, Aosta Valley

Empty Pockets In Gressoney La Trinité, Aosta Valley

A Simple Lunch Turns Into A Lasting Memory In A Small Italian Alps Town. When you are living out of a suitcase while traveling from one ski resort to another and have to transfer cash and cards from ski pants to jeans daily, inevitably, one day a mishap will occur. I am in Gressoney La Trinité, the highest town in[Read More…]

by December 1, 2020 4 comments Active Travel For Seniors
Wolf Creek, CO, opening weekend end of October. "Fall conditions". Credit: John Farley

Early Turns At Wolf Creek

A Report From The First North American Ski Area To Open. After the big snowstorm that dropped two feet of snow at Wolf Creek from Sunday, October 25 through Tuesday morning, October 27, Colorado’s Wolf Creek became the first ski area in the United States to open on Wednesday, October 28.  I skipped the first day to avoid the likely[Read More…]

by December 1, 2020 3 comments West
Dreamcatcher at The Canyons. Plenty of snow already for the new season.

Utah Preview: What You Can Expect

Key Take-Away: Know Before You Go. In these uncertain times, one thing is sure: Utah powder. As of this writing (mid-November), several Utah resorts had bases of two feet or more. Here are some updates of what you will see at Utah ski areas this winter.  In Little Cottonwood Canyon, Alta is limiting the number of parking spaces, on a[Read More…]

by November 30, 2020 0 comments West
Summit At Snoqualmie COVID Rules: Expect This At Your Local Area

Summit At Snoqualmie COVID Rules: Expect This At Your Local Area

Here’s An Example Of What You Can Expect When You Make Your First Visit To Your Favorite Local Resort. This comes from The Summit at Snosqualmie. The video below introduces the program. Thanks to SeniorsSkiing.com correspondent Yvette Cardozo for passing it along. Face Coverings Required. Keep your mask on – both inside and outside – while at your home mountain. [Read More…]

by November 12, 2020 2 comments West
SeniorsSkiing Guide: Holiday Valley

SeniorsSkiing Guide: Holiday Valley

Are there powder days in Western New York? Can Pete Widger yodel?   Yes, to both. In fact, septuagenarian Widger, the voice of Holiday Valley’s Snow Phone, will lace his conditions report with his trademark vocals every powder day of the season. Holiday Valley’s powder comes compliments of Lake Erie’s snow machine, the same lake-effect system that gives Buffalo its[Read More…]

by November 8, 2020 5 comments East, Resort Reviews
Report From Chile: The COVID Season

Report From Chile: The COVID Season

What We Can Learn From The Ski Season In Chile During The Pandemic Only four ski areas opened in Chile this year, due to the pandemic, all in the last third of the normal season (late August). The country was in the midst of a severe drought when the entire metropolitan region of Santiago shut down in May. An “atmospheric[Read More…]

by October 21, 2020 7 comments International
Thredbo Supertrail mid-August. Credit: John Harris

Pandemic Skiing In Australia

Impossible Or Just Tricky? Resort skiing in Australia is in the Australian Alps straddling the border between our most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, with capitals in Sydney and Melbourne. The season officially opens in early June and closes early October. NSW’s biggest resorts—Perisher (acquired by Vail Resorts in 2015) and Thredbo (Mountain Collective and Ikon links)—lie in[Read More…]

by September 30, 2020 4 comments International
Downtown Banff. Bike rental on Banff Ave. which was closed to traffic this summer for social distancing. Credit: SkiBig3

Ski Canada And Covid

Ski resorts are still trying to figure out what the next season will look like. We heard from a few Canadian ski area representatives and whatever finally happens, next year your favorite resort won’t look like what you remember from the past.  Many resorts opened for a revised summer season that several called “a great dress rehearsal” for next winter.[Read More…]

by July 30, 2020 6 comments International
Now, that's a blue cruiser at JH looking delicious. Credit: Jackson Hole

SeniorsSkiing Guide: Jackson Hole—Not For Experts Only

There also are dozens of trails and cirques for the rest of us mere mortals. I’ve been skiing here since I was locked into that famous and frustrating  “intermediate plateau” and took a chance on defying Jackson’s reputation for experts only.  Besides, the town sounded like fun, with wooden sidewalks and real cowboys coming into town from the ranches that[Read More…]

by July 25, 2020 4 comments West
Wish the rules for buying a season pass were as clear as the skies over Alta. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Buying A Season Pass In The Covid Year

[Editor Note: This article first appeared in the Cottonwood Heights Journal on May 18, 2020. The situation unfolding in Utah is similar to what is happening in other regions of North America.]   A Season Pass Is A Complicated Decision. Gone are the days of one deadline, one price. This year, season passes are a jigsaw puzzle. It’s complicated by[Read More…]

by May 21, 2020 8 comments West
Yellowstone's vastness holds many opportunities for an active vacation,

SeniorTravel: Yellowstone For Remote Active Adventures

The Oldest National Park Starts Phased Re-Opening This Week.  Located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, Yellowstone National Park is the first national park, named in 1872, and ideal for active seniors who want to explore the great outdoors. The park is about to be gradually opened up this month. Here’s more information on the re-opening plan. There’s something surreal about being[Read More…]

by May 18, 2020 0 comments Active Travel For Seniors
Sugarloaf is a big mountain with lots of choices for all levels.

SeniorsSkiingGuide: Seniors Love Sugarloaf

For Many Many Reasons. Located in Maine’s western mountains, Sugarloaf is farther away than other New England resorts, with underpopulated weekdays, giving you more room to roam. It is rugged and unpretentious which draws one of the most loyal following of skiers in New England. The setting is a lone behemoth, third highest peak in Maine at 4,249 feet. It[Read More…]

by March 26, 2020 5 comments East
Seniors participating in Life Elevated Utah having fun and acting silly for the camera. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Senior Small Group Ski Week With Lodging Right On Uncrowded Powder Mountain

Plan Now For Next Winter Gary and Sandy Nielsen have run Road Scholar programs in Utah for about 20 years. They’re experts at planning and organizing week-long programs including Hopi pottery, dinosaurs and rock hounding in summer—and the very popular senior ski program in winter. But several years ago as the demand for more senior ski weeks kept growing, Gary[Read More…]

by March 19, 2020 7 comments West
Topnotch At Stowe: Ski, Relax, Recharge

Topnotch At Stowe: Ski, Relax, Recharge

A Great Spot Close To The Big Mountain. As one person said, Stowe, VT, takes its wellness seriously and nowhere is that more apparent than at Topnotch Resort. The 120-acre wooded getaway is a place to recharge and refuel in a calm and soothing environment. The attractive, minimalist hotel has just 68 rooms, plus two restaurants. From the minute you[Read More…]

by March 11, 2020 2 comments East
Taos Kachina Peak is at 12,481 where the snow stays cold. Credit: Taos

A New Yorker Discovers New Mexico Resorts

A Veteran Skier Can’t Find Ice On His Visit To Taos, Angel Fire, Ski Santa Fe. The past three times I skied here in the East the skiing was good.  That means the trails were all skiable but every run you would encounter different conditions.  Most mornings after a cold night, you will find nice groomed corduroy which had set[Read More…]

by March 11, 2020 3 comments West
Backcountry skiing is different, requires planning and gear. Credit: Bolton Valley

Alpine Backcountry Touring Primer In Bolton Valley

Three Things to Do And Not To Do While Alpine Backcountry Touring. For those who have never tried Alpine Touring, Bolton Valley near Burlington, Vt., offers an intro to backcountry skiing every Saturday morning out of the spacious Sports Center near the main lifts. That is due to a recent change in Bolton Valley ownership. Three years ago former owner[Read More…]

by March 4, 2020 2 comments East