Warren Miller Film Tour, Other Things To Do Series Starts, Flat Light Polka. It is October and our natural, built-in annual calendar says it’s time for a Warren Miller flick to remind us how graceful, funny, and exhilarating snow sports can be. As long as we can remember, the official pre-start of the snow season has been the viewing of[Read More…]
I rode a chair last season with a couple who got upset when they saw a dead porcupine on the trail below. They “knew” the animal from skiing there for several months. It looked like it had been attacked. I’ve seen a lot of animals while skiing over the years. Nothing larger than the moose who frequented part of The[Read More…]
Other Things To Do In Winter For Seniors. Some folks fish for sport. Some for relaxation. Some to “just get away.” I fish to eat. If I can’t eventually put it in a fry pan, I’m not really interested. So enter Elevated Fishing Adventures, near Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, Canada, where you get all three. Especially the eating[Read More…]
Other Great Ski Publications, Protect Our Winters, Anticipation, Snowmaking As Fire Protection. As you may have read, SeniorsSkiing.com is entering its fifth season of publishing. Over these last few years, we have entered the amazing world of ski publications and their publishers, all of whom have been welcoming, supportive, and collegial to Jon and me as newcomers. You should know[Read More…]
“Snow is the cosmetic of the Earth.” That’s one of many memorable lines from Moby Dick, Herman Melville’s masterpiece about one man’s obsession with the destruction of a gigantic white whale. Riding early morning lifts, especially on a powder day, brings Melville’s observation to life. The smooth, undulating surface conceals what’s below. My skiing dreams and day-dreams invariably show untouched[Read More…]
In my never-ending battle with weight, I found myself wondering if we weigh more at sea level than we do in the mountains. We do. It’s not a lot, but it is physically factual. The science of it has to do with gravitational pull, which is what weight is, and the size difference between the entire planet and you. Pretty[Read More…]
Warren Miller has been gone for less than a year, and his wisdom about not postponing your next ski adventure has been on my mind. There’s one experience in particular that beckons. It is based in the beautiful ancient village of Saint Vincent in the Aosta Valley in the western Alps, close to Mont Blanc, Zermatt, and Monte Rosa. Organized[Read More…]
A few months ago, we reported on the key finding from our Spring reader survey: Grandparents are a significant influence getting grandkids into the sport. Once the kids have been introduced, almost 95% stay with it. Another significant finding is that 56% of respondents reported they spent between $1000 and $5000 per person last season on skiing, boarding, and[Read More…]
Your Brain On Nature. [Editor Note: Roger Lohr, publisher of XCSkiResorts.com and SeniorsSkiing.com’s Nordic Editor, reports on the therapeutic effects of being outside. We thought it, now we know it.] The Nature Fix by Florence Williams, published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2017, provides the most compelling argument to date for people to spend more time outdoors in nature,[Read More…]
Non-Snow Activities Make Mammoth A Family Summer Vacation Stop. Ok, picture yourself, flat on your belly in “Superman” position, hurtling in the air down a mountain at 60 mph. No wonder Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort calls this the Mega-Zip. It’s billed as the “most vertical in the USA” (some 2,100 feet from the top of the ski resort at 11,053[Read More…]
Some Adjustments Necessary To Ski The Legendary Mountains Of Chile. For many, a typical Chilean ski trip will seem a bit like traveling back in time to the USA 30 or 40 years ago. Some of the lifts date back even further than that! While the ski areas around Santiago are progressively upgrading their infrastructure, snow making, grooming, and security,[Read More…]
Editorial Regardless of whether the steady elimination of season pass senior discounts is personally insignificant or presents a financial burden, you should be aware of the lack of fairness and gratitude exhibited by this new policy. Through Vail’s EPIC Pass and Alterra’s IKON pass, the companies are advancing elimination of senior discounts, while acquiring more areas. In fairness, some localized Vail[Read More…]
Bottom Line: Knoweth Thy Limits, Wise One. As I was pounding the rocks of Laurel Mountain on the mountain bike with a group of younger riders here in Pennsylvania’s beautiful Laurel Highlands, I was thinking strategy. At 63 years old, I am still in pretty good shape but the older I get, I start thinking about the old adage “age[Read More…]
Are older skiers the Rodney Dangerfields of the slopes? Sometimes it feels like ski resorts show us no respect. Consider that there are no Epic or Ikon senior discounts, and, in the case of some Ikon resorts, there no longer are local season passes and the senior discounts associated with them. Some of the big players are doing very well.[Read More…]
What Happens When the Snow Disappears Along With The Crowds? Bet you’ve never thought about how your favorite ski runs get cared for when there’s no snow on the ground. Yes, they have to be prepped each summer. Seth Worthen, slopes manager at Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, Canada, explained how his 11 person trail crew works. And it’s[Read More…]
The Creative, Intense, Funny, Unique Journalist Will Be Remembered As One-Of-A-Kind. Ski journalist John Henry Auran was the kind of person you could never forget. I worked for John Henry, or JHA, as he was known to some, in the early 70s at SKIING Magazine, then located at One Park Avenue in New York City. Despite different life paths since[Read More…]
Season’s Over; Isn’t It About Time You Get That Puffy Back To Clean? Not only are your season-dirty down jackets, vests, and even sleeping bag dirty and smelly, if you left them that way, they would lose their heat-insulating properties. It is easy to destroy your down gear if you don’t follow some basic rules when washing them at home.[Read More…]
XC Ski In Shorts And T-Shirts This Spring: A Peak Experience! As the cross country (XC) ski season winds down most XC ski areas close because of lack of skiers rather than lack of snow on the trails. The sun comes out, the temperature rises, and the XC skiers quit. Why? Are we infected with winter fatigue? Is the lure[Read More…]
I’m in the desert with my skis. There’s snow in the higher elevations but the nearest lifts are a few hundred miles away. It’s nice to be enjoying a respite from winter. But I feel like a city dweller, removed from my favorite pastime. It’s not permanent. I have the good fortune of being able to get in the car[Read More…]
St. Patrick Brings Snow To (Much Of) Ski Country, Mystery Myth, The Snow Song, Bundled Pass Impact On Seniors, Maine AMC XC Lodge, Friendly Little Mountain In Idaho. The good St. Patrick might have driven the snakes from all of Ireland, but his advent this year has brought late winter snow into the resorts of the West and Northeast which[Read More…]
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.[Read More…]
The first rule for skiing powder is to get to it before anyone else does. It skis best when untracked, and it doesn’t stay untracked for long. The other day at Grand Targhee in Wyoming, I bought a ticket that gave access to the lifts an hour before opening to the public. The other option would have been pricier cat[Read More…]
Many readers have expressed interest in learning about lesser-known areas. When I mentioned that to a representative of Visit Idaho, he suggested visiting Pebble Creek and Pomerelle, both in the southern part of the state. First stop was Pebble Creek, 2,200′ of impressive vertical not far from Pocatello. I skied there two days and stayed nearby in Lava Hot Springs,[Read More…]
Living up to its reputation, at least across the West and Northeast, March is entering like a wild snow lion. SeniorsSkiing.com is heralding the arrival of March with a new discount service. It provides significant discounts on products Mike and I think will interest you. Some are specifically ski-oriented, others fit with the older, active, outdoors lifestyle. Each offering is[Read More…]
A Veteran Real Estate Agent Shares Tips You Might Not Have Thought Of. [Editor Note: See Joan Wallen’s earlier article: Commute, Rent, Or Buy? for advice on renting.] Want to buy a home in snow country? Perhaps you’ve rented and now decide that a second home is right for you. Or maybe you’re ready to take a leap of faith[Read More…]
