Articles by: Rose Marie Cleese

Snow Sports Museum in Northern California on Track for Completion

Snow Sports Museum in Northern California on Track for Completion

Back in 1955, it took Squaw Valley co-founder Alex Cushing, just six months to nail down his Northern California ski resort near Lake Tahoe as the site of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. The building of the museum that will preserve the history of the games along with the broader history of Sierra Nevada winter sports is taking far longer. By the[Read More…]

by May 12, 2023 0 comments Other News
Avy dog demos were a big hit at Sierra-at-Tahoe. Credit: SkiCalifornia

Slope Safety Reigned Supreme In Far West

[Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com is 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.] Support SeniorsSkiing.com by clicking here. ______________________________________________________ During the second annual Ski California Safety[Read More…]

by February 12, 2020 5 comments Incidents and Accidents
Bear Valley Cross Country's Paul Petersen swigs water, something we should all remember to do.
Credit: Paul Petersen

Have You Been Drinking? It’s Time To Start!

Hydration and Stretching: Two Things You Must NEVER forget to do before you hit the slopes. If you’ve taken to heart the advice in a previous seniorssking.com article of Paul Petersen, president of Bear Valley Cross-Country in California, on the best way for seniors to get in shape for skiing, you’ve developed and faithfully followed a fitness regimen focusing on balance,[Read More…]

by January 27, 2020 0 comments Conditioning, West
Aspen Mountain reflected in Solar Panels at resort.
Credit: Aspen Skiing Company

How The Ski Industry Is Fighting Climate Change

Climate Change Is Literally In The Air. Here’s A Roundup Of What’s Going On. [Editor Note: This article first appeared on the Liftopia.com blog and can be found at http://blog.liftopia.com/ski-industry-fighting-climate-change/.] Cold, snowy weather is the very foundation of the ski industry. So, it’s not surprising that climate change has been at the top of the industry’s priority list since the[Read More…]

by August 3, 2017 2 comments Features
Five Tips For Sierra Summer Skiing

Five Tips For Sierra Summer Skiing

[Editor Note: This article by Correspondent Rose Marie Cleese first appeared in Liftopia’s The Blog.  We thank Liftopia for allowing us to pass it along to the readers of SeniorsSkiing.com.] Even though summer has officially arrived and temperatures are reaching triple-digits across the country, are you still nostalgic about winter and wish you had gotten in a couple more days[Read More…]

by June 26, 2017 0 comments West
Learning To Ski As An Adult

Learning To Ski As An Adult

The Number Of Senior Skiers Is Growing By Leaps And Bounds Every Year. Join The Gang.  [Editor Note: This article first appeared in Liftopia Blog. SeniorsSkiing.com thanks Liftopia for sharing Rose Marie Cleese with us.] Statistics show that many people who give skiing a try—regardless of age—never return after their first day. Why? Because it wasn’t the most pleasurable of[Read More…]

by March 15, 2017 8 comments Features
How Old Is “Too Old” To Start Skiing Or Boarding?

How Old Is “Too Old” To Start Skiing Or Boarding?

  [Editor Note: This article first appeared in Liftopia’s Blog and is used with permission.] What’s the cut-off age for starting to ski or snowboard? The answer is simple: you can take up—and keep—skiing or boarding at any age! You can never be too “over the hill.” It’s unanimous. Just as health experts have been saying for years about exercise[Read More…]

by February 28, 2017 5 comments Features
Credit: Homewood Mountain Resort

Sierra Nevada Blowout Version 2.0

And The Snow Just Keeps Piling Up! A month ago I wrote that, barring a barrage of rainstorms, 2016–17 would be going down as an epic ski season in the Sierra Nevada. What’s a word that’s greater than “epic”?! Stupendous? Mammoth? Ginormous? All apply to the Sierra’s burgeoning snowpack that just keeps growing, thanks to another string of snowstorms in[Read More…]

by February 23, 2017 0 comments West
Homewood: Monumental snow.
Credit: Homewood

Sierra Nevada Blowout!

Think Feet, Not Inches. “Nevada” (Spanish for “covered in snow”) is back with a vengeance at the end of “Sierra” (“mountain range”) and California’s skiers and ski resorts are jubilant! Since January 1st, the Sierra Nevada has been clobbered with one storm after another, and except for one spate of warmer temperatures that brought rain for a couple of days[Read More…]

by January 26, 2017 0 comments West
Pollan's seven word rule for selecting and consuming food.  Makes sense.

On The Fitness Road Again!

How My Fitness Journey Took A Detour, And How One Powerful Documentary Is Going To Help Me Get Back On Track. So, to let all of you who were following my fitness journey here last summer know, I was doing great…and then I wasn’t. I don’t know exactly when I lost momentum or let complacency set in or thought I[Read More…]

by August 25, 2016 0 comments Nutrition
Bear Valley Pond Skimming.  Silly season is in out in happy, snow-filled California.
Credit: Steve Peixotta/ Bear Valley

California Wrap: Sierra Nevada Resorts Are Jubilant!

…And There May Be More Snow Coming Next Week! As one of the best ski seasons in the Sierra Nevada in the past five years winds down, resort operators can look back and smile broadly about the steady stream of mid-size snowstorms that rolled over their resorts on a regular basis all season long, making for consistently ideal conditions and[Read More…]

by April 7, 2016 0 comments Features, West
Pow-ing down to the Sugar Bowl village. Always lots of snow for playing.
Credit: Sugar Bowl

SeniorsSkiing Guide: Sugar Bowl And Royal Gorge—A Winning Combination!

Do a little downhill, then a little cross-country at these history-rich neighbors near Donner Summit. Sugar Bowl, the venerable ski resort that sits majestically atop Donner Summit, is as steeped in history as it is endowed with famously steep runs. In December, 1939, the Tahoe region saw the beginnings of its first major ski area when a small village with[Read More…]

by March 9, 2016 0 comments Resort Reviews, West
Jon Mahanna, creator of the Master’s Clinics, has class members follow his every move down the slopes.
Credit: Dodge Ridge

Master’s Clinic: Fabulous Idea For Senior Skiers

The Secret To Breaking Decades-old Bad Habits: Attending A Master’s Clinic At Dodge Ridge. I hadn’t skied at Dodge Ridge, the closest ski area to the San Francisco Bay Area, in years. But as soon as I arrived at the base area a couple of Thursdays ago for one of its Master’s Clinics, a four-hour-long freeski instructional program designed for intermediate[Read More…]

by February 8, 2016 5 comments Home Top Box 3, Features, West
"There's no comparison to last season" at Dodge Ridge. Everyone is happy!
Credit: Dodge Ridge

It’s Snow Sport Heaven This Season In The Sierra Nevada!

All Systems Go As The Snow Keeps Falling On Sierra Resorts. As the East Coast got a taste the last couple of months of what’s it like when the inclement winter weather fails to show up, the situation has been quite different on the West Coast. After four years of a crippling drought, the rains have returned to the flatlands[Read More…]

by January 14, 2016 0 comments West
Correspondent Rose Marie Cleese reports on her fitness journey, noting that regular exercise makes a big difference in how you feel.
Credit: Pinterest

My Fitness Journey Continues: Part Eight

The Journey That Began With A Single Step Isn’t Over Yet! Although this will be the last official installment of my personal fitness journey series that began on May 1st, it’s definitely not the end of the journey. I have many more pounds to lose before I sleep and promises to myself to continue to keep. I’ll be posting an[Read More…]

by December 4, 2015 1 comment Conditioning
First turns of a hopefully long season at Heavenly Valley.
Credit: Rachel Woods

Sierra Resorts Give Thanks

Forget the Turkey! Sierra Skiers And Snowboarders Are Getting To Carve Up The Slopes This Holiday Weekend. California wintersports lovers have a lot to be happy about this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and they—and the industry—are hoping that this earlier-than-normal start to the ski season is a harbinger of things to come. Nearly every major resort in the Sierra has at[Read More…]

by November 27, 2015 0 comments West
Don't be old-fashioned about getting fit.  Rose Marie Cleese finds high-quality sites to check out.

My Fitness Journey Continues: Part Seven

Wading Through the Web For The Best, Most Reliable Health and Fitness Info. You can find anything on the internet: the good, the rad…and the untruthful! So how do you know that what you’re reading on any given website is solid, current information? When you’re embarking on a fitness journey and decide to do some internet research, you’ll find a[Read More…]

by November 5, 2015 0 comments Health, MedTech
Getting back into shape is a combination of courage, knowledge and just doing.
SeniorsSkiing.com Correspondent has all three working for her.

My Fitness Journey Continues: Part Six

The Battle Of The Bulge Rages On! (Thankfully, Reserve Forces Are On Their Way.) As I enter the sixth month of my personal (and public!) journey to fitness, I continue to make slow, steady progress toward my goal of being in great shape for the slopes come the first snowfall (and it IS supposed to snow in the Sierra this[Read More…]

by October 1, 2015 1 comment Conditioning, Nutrition
The pioneering body device is Fitbit.  Other devices have grown up around it.
Credit: Fitbit

My Fitness Journey Continues: Part Five

From High-Tech to Low-Tech, Great Gear For Getting Fit The best fitness gear you can get requires no expense! It’s at the end of your legs: your own two feet. Walking (or jogging or running) as much as you can in any given week will burn calories and keep you cardiovascularly fit. Being on the move is considered one of[Read More…]

by September 3, 2015 0 comments Conditioning
Kayaking is a great upper-body workout for skiers in the off-season and especially relaxing on the calm waters of Lake Tahoe, one of the clearest lakes in the world with water clarity of more than 70 feet. Credit: The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe

My Fitness Journey Continues: Part Four

Exercise your right to stay fit when you go on that summer trip! To all you senior winter sports aficionados out there who still have your summer escape ahead of you: Is fitness a part of your plans? It should be, and it should be easy to pull off. Those days of lazing about day after day, taking afternoon naps[Read More…]

by July 30, 2015 0 comments Conditioning, West
In this Zesty Lime, Shrimp and Avocado Salad recipe, healthy avocados play a starring role! (Credit: skinnytaste.com)

My Fitness Journey Continues: Part Three

How and what we eat is the second half of being fit. Well, they never said it would be easy. Although the exercise part of my journey to fitness is going well (I’ve lost another inch in my upper body measurements), the changing of my diet is going a bit more slowly (I’ve lost only two pounds this month). The[Read More…]

by July 2, 2015 4 comments Conditioning, Nutrition
Correspondent Rose Marie Cleese goes to the Senior Center in Golden Gate Park for free exercise classes.
Credit: SFP&R

My Fitness Journey Continues: Part Two

This Month’s Main Event: Sound Advice From A Medical Expert. In Part Two I’m going to focus on fitness and heart health, the latter particularly important to me as a favorite nephew of mine who’s only 49 suddenly ended up in the hospital two days ago having a stent put in due to a 100 percent blocked artery. I may have company[Read More…]

by May 27, 2015 4 comments Conditioning
No nonsense aerobics instructor Pablo Molina keeps his classes hopping. He'll be 73 in June, just a few months older than Rose Marie

My Fitness Journey Begins: Part One

My six-month plan to go from being a couch potato to a mogul masher. I had a revelation and a wake-up call on the slopes of Heavenly Mountain Resort this winter while skiing a few runs with the resort’s director of skier services. I had not taken my own advice regarding pre-skiing conditioning or done anything to lose the pounds[Read More…]

by May 1, 2015 6 comments Features, Conditioning
Despite snow drought, author's daughter Katie Cleese and friend Rose Cendak practice Quidditch at Heavenly Valley.
Credit: Rose Marie Cleese

Sierra Ski Season 2014–15: A Mixed Bag

In a winter with the lowest snowfall in the Sierra Nevada since record-keeping began, some resorts fared well while others barely managed to open. On April 1st, it was no joke when California’s Department of Water Resources snow surveyors went to Phillips Station off Highway 50 near Echo Summit to do their official April 1st measurement of the snowpack. Whereas[Read More…]

by April 3, 2015 1 comment West, Home Top Box 1
Northstar-at-Tahoe has been operating full blast since Thanksgiving.
Credit: Northstar

There’s Snow In Them Thar (California) Hills

Although Snow Conditions Have Been Less Than Golden This Season, There IS Some Great Skiing To Be Had In California’s Northern Sierra Nevada. While much of the U.S. has gotten battered all winter long by massive dumps of snow and other inclement weather, California’s Sierra Nevada has been having a tough time living up to its name (“snowy mountain range”[Read More…]

by March 9, 2015 0 comments Destinations, West