Here’s a picture of the birthday cake that, along with a lot of other things, surprised me last weekend. The side you don’t see had pine trees around the bottom. Looked good and tasted delicious. If you have a ski-related cake or other confection you’d like to share with the SeniorsSkiing.com community, send a picture to jon@seniorsskiing.com or mike@seniorsskiing.com.
Are older skiers and boarders invisible to the people making business decisions about skiing? Unless, you’re a marketer selling reverse mortgages, extended care facilities, pharmaceuticals, or walk-in bathtubs, most companies ignore our market segment. In the world of skiing corporate ski area consolidators are eliminating senior discounts, and ski makers haven’t bothered to present a product designed and presented for[Read More…]
Twenty-seven thousand, three hundred and ninety-four days. Exactly, nine hundred months. On Wednesday I turned 75. For all but the first nine years, skiing has been my passion. Two things about me contribute to this craziness: I love being outside in the cold, and what I lack in athleticism, I’ve made up for with persistence. In Okemo’s early days, when[Read More…]
A friend recently commented that a key to greater happiness is to lower our expectations. It took a few days before I understood what he was saying. In some cultures, unhappiness can be traced to the variance between what we have learned to expect and what we have come to experience. Lowering expectations can change that, without lowering our standards.[Read More…]
Here’s an idea that may be of interest to a handful of readers. As part of our month-long ski trip to the Alps, I will spend the week of March 10 with Alpskitour, skiing with a guide in Italy’s Aosta Valley. I’m inviting a handful of SeniorsSkiing.com readers to share the experience. Alpskitour is based in the small city of[Read More…]
Last evening we celebrated our fifth year of publishing with a party in New York City. The crowd that showed up had a good time. Many walked away with raffle prizes. The idea for a magazine dedicated to older skiers, boarders, and snowshoers developed over several years. Living in Park City, I saw that, midweek, almost everyone[Read More…]
I keep a list of the places I’ve skied since I was 10. In a few weeks, I’ll be 75. The list totals 85 areas, mostly the US and Canada. The others are in the French and Swiss Alps. One, an indoor area that no longer exists, was in Japan. That, and the recent addition of Canada to our annual[Read More…]
We tend to give our gear more attention when storing it after the old season than when getting it ready for the new one. Whether or not that describes your approach, it’s important to give skis and boots a careful once-over before getting back on the hill. You may have gained or lost some pounds, or your skill level may[Read More…]
World War II produced many heroes. One of Norway’s best known died earlier this week. Joachim Ronneberg led the ski-assisted raid that destroyed the facility where Nazis were producing “heavy water,” a component they would have used to produce an atomic bomb. He was 23 when, according to his obituary in the The New York Times, he and eight other[Read More…]
Most people who love skiing take an interest in its history. Preserving and promoting that history is the mission of the International Skiing History Association (ISHA), a volunteer and membership organization that deserves our collective support. Among other things, ISHA publishes Skiing History, a delightful bi-monthly magazine available in digital and print versions. SeniorsSkiing.com subscribers are eligible to receive a free[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…]
I heard a massive avalanche one time. Chamonix in the late 60s. Several minutes later a fine dust covered everything. When it stopped, it was an inch or two deep. When you ski in the West, you often hear the early morning thuds of dynamite and bombs dislodging unstable slopes. It’s impressive. I like to seek silence, pausing in the[Read More…]
SeniorsSkiing.com is entering its fifth publishing season. When we started in 2014, we had a vision of creating an online magazine for snowsports enthusiasts over 50 and with it a community. Getting the magazine off the drawing board required many decisions. What should we call it? How frequently should it publish? Should it be free? Should we pay contributors? Etc.[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…]
