No, This Is Not Bragging.

Marc, 71, left, and brother Scott, 60, at top of Snowbird Tram

My brother and I have proof through an app we used to track our movements. More important than the great early March skiing at Snowbird, Solitude, Park City and Deer Valley, were three takeaways that should interest senior skiers…

Lesson #1. We found lift ticket bargains in two flavors – military discounts and over 70. It was a race to which one was cheapest. Snowbird sold me a Monday thru Thursday all area lift ticket for $53 ‘cuz I’m over 71. Solitude’s rate for military active duty and retirees was about half off the full price. Just make sure you bring your ID cards for both  service member and dependents.

Senior only passes were equally cheap. When I walked up to the window, I asked which was cheaper, military or over 70? In one case, I got a little of both. Corollary A to lesson one is that these tickets were cheaper than what we could get on-line or at ski shops in the local area. Corallary B is that Park City doesn’t offer much of a discount.

Lesson #2. Through AirBnB, we rented a two bedroom, two bath house within spitting distance of the main routes to the resorts for about $160 a night. It took 25 minutes to get to the areas. We picked the area each morning based on weather and road conditions.

Lesson #3. Ski lodge designers don’t take old joints and tired legs into account when designing facilities. How do I know? Bathrooms are rarely on the same floor you enter and elevators are rare. Fortunately, the new Summit Lodge and Restaurant at Snowbird and the Roundhouse at Solitude have convenient bathrooms.

Conditioning, as I’ve noted before, helps. We averaged ~26,300 vertical feet per day despite my brother having to take time off on Day 2 to get new boots after the bladder in his elderly Nordicas died.

Here’s the most important takeaway from the trip: Airfare, lifts, ski rentals, lodging and food cost us each for six days about $335/day. Granted, we didn’t eat out a lot, but still, 335 bucks a day is, at least for a ski trip, reasonable. According to the ski tracker app on my brother’s iPhone, we skied a total 157,906 vertical feet at four different areas. That’s $.013 per vertical foot. An absolute bargain!!!

4 Comments

  1. Brad Huggins says:

    You da men! I want to be you.
    Brad, 62, missing this season after knee replacement

  2. Nice vertical. Those apps are interesting. My buddy and I logged 57,000 vertical at Northstar at Tahoe and the next day logged 52,000 at Mt. Rose. We set the Alpine Replay record for one day vertical at Northstar and we were in second place for one day at Mt. Rose( we dallied too long at lunch). Alpine Replay is now another app. But……..for a couple of 60+ guys, that is a lot of vertical in two days. Nice work on the article and we have to keep it going!! Check out my blog http://www.chroniclesofmccloskey.com

  3. David Greenblatt says:

    The Epic Mix app keeps track of your vertical in ski areas owned and operated by Vail. I turned 70 this year and spent 10 days at Vail. I logged 272,547 feet. This included one day in which they closed down most of the mountain due to high winds, causing incredible lines at the few lifts that were still open, forcing me to stop skiing at noon. On most days, I skied down to the base to have lunch with my wife, who no longer skis.

  4. Tom McCrumm says:

    That’s a goodly amount for 10 days in Vail. My wife and I, both age 72, logged 235,700 for ten days the end of January this year. My best Vail single day was about 20 years ago when I got in 55,000 for a day. I was whupped!

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