Northern Idaho’s “Little Secret” Steps Up Dining Amenities. Pat Rotchford, 76, sat in The Nest, the new top-of-the-mountain restaurant at Schweitzer Mountain Resort, looking very happy. He was drinking red wine by the fireplace with his friend, Debbie Stanley, eating prime rib sliders and Vietnamese spring rolls—not your typical mountain fare. “Everything we’ve had here has been excellent,” said Rotchford,[Read More…]
Camaraderie and coaching with spectacular views. You might even catch a glimpse of owner and super star Robert Redford. Several times a month the Sundance Seniors meet and ski the mountain together. They’re ski buddies. They’re bonded by their love of skiing and their passion for Sundance. What’s more, Sundance Seniors get VIP care. Some ski days include a complimentary[Read More…]
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…]
When You’re No. 2, The Saying Goes, You Try Harder. That’s true of Sun Peaks Resort, Canada’s second largest ski area behind behemoth Whistler-Blackcomb 200-plus miles away in the coastal mountains. This excellent resort near the British Columbia city of Kamloops offers three mountains to ski, a well-designed, bustling village and even a fair bit of off-piste, side country powder[Read More…]
Jan. 19-22 Races Are A First For This Resort Located In Twisty, Winding Big Cottonwood Canyon. It’s a test event for the FIS Freestyle, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships scheduled two years from now in 2019. So what? Don’t yawn. When Salt Lake City was chosen as the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics, the four resorts in Big and Little[Read More…]
Big Choice Of Intermediate Runs, “Master” Lessons, Bring Seniors Back Each Year. It’s hard to find a resort better suited to older skiers than the popular British Columbia destination of Big White. Located in Okanagan region of B.C. near the bustling, fast-growing city of Kelowna, Big White is indeed big, with a sprawling village that boasts the most ski-in, ski-out[Read More…]
This Says It All About The Snowfall In Utah This January. Credit: SkiUtah
Visit Soon, It’s About to Change. Before the end of this season, Powder Mountain, Utah’s slightly out of the way ski area will become the largest in all of North America with 8464 acres, surpassing in size Park City (7300 acres), Whistler Blackcomb (8171 acres) and Big Sky (8000 acres). Even without the 1000 new acres that will be available[Read More…]
New Lift Opening On Dec 16 Makes Mt. Bachelor Sixth Largest In US. The season seems to go on forever at Central Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor, where Pacific storms dump huge annual totals, and the upper-elevation slopes hold onto the snow. From November to late May, Mt. Bachelor keeps the lifts spinning for an ardent group of skiing faithful. Among them[Read More…]
It’s New This Year And Something To Shout About. It’s the largest backcountry resort in the country: 3,300 feet vertical, 300+ average inches of snow, and luxury yurt “glamping.” Check your bucket list. Better add Whisper Ridge. Peace, quiet, the hush of snow, make your own tracks, and the vastness of mountain ranges virtually to yourself. Are you drooling? Whisper[Read More…]
Seniors Can Find Big Bargains At This Big Boy Resort. It’s hard to realize that today’s Revelstoke Mountain Resort only dates back to late 2007 and now has the greatest vertical drop in North America (at 5,620 feet, 400 feet more than Whistler, locals like to point out). And while it has only a third the skiable acres of Whistler,[Read More…]
Chinese Skiers Expected to Fuel Growth. Vail Resorts Inc. has reached an agreement to buy Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, owner of Whistler Blackcomb ski resort. The C$1.4 billion deal is expected to result in Vail’s marketing machine to attract greater numbers of international visitors to Whistler Blackcomb. “We have felt for a long time that Whistler (Blackcomb) is really the best[Read More…]
A Small Area Enchants Seniors, Offering Bargain Skiing In Big Powder. Editor Note: This review was written by Jim Barber, a long time skier and ski business veteran. He lives near Mt. Baldy and loves his retirement home in BC. Here’s his story: “My wife and I started our life together in the ski shop business at Hunter Mountain N.Y. in the[Read More…]
Perfect Day’s Outing For Fit Seniors. [Editor Note: This article was contributed to SeniorsSkiing.com by Sue Z. Sue Z., born in Brooklyn, is now a senior skier who likes to spend her time at Alta. When she is not skiing or hiking with her husband, David, she paints in acrylics, plays the piano, and plays the drums. She and David have[Read More…]
Miles Of Mountain Trails On The OC Coast. My wife Janet was a flight attendant for US Air for many years, and she always referred to some crew members as “slam clickers.” They go to their hotel, slam the door and click the lock and don’t go out to visit any of the local sights. Too bad, especially since there is[Read More…]
Ten Days of Ancient Cliff Dwellings and Thousand Year Rock Art. It’s the 100th Anniversary of the National Parks Service, so my wife and I invited a friend to join us on a ten-day road trip to the Four Corners where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. We spent two nights each in Mesa Verde National Park, Canyon de[Read More…]
How To Learn Cliff Jumping At Snowbird In The Pow. On the first day of summer, we celebrate winter with a very cool video from pro skier Giray Dadali who is showing us how to jump the cliffs at Snowbird. So, if you are thinking that summer is too long, here’s a way to get back to those cool days[Read More…]
Finally, Outdoor Summer Snow. It’s the invention of TechnoAlpin, an Italian manufacturer of snow making equipment. Its Snow Factory addresses warming trends challenging the future of skiing, allowing skiable snow to be made when air temps are warm. It will help areas extend their seasons or operate when nature won’t cooperate. The first application in North America is at Boreal[Read More…]
Once Past The Crowds, Another World Opens Up. Looking out the window of a car just can’t capture the otherworldly beauty of Arches National Park in Utah. In this stark and dramatic landscape of towering spires, delicate arches and balanced rocks, I chose to bike and hike on my pathway to discovery. I visited Arches in Fall 2015. I pulled[Read More…]
Great Skiing And Social Life Makes SilverStar A Lively Scene For Seniors. [Editor Note: This review was written by Melbourne, Australia-based Marg Malkin, a retired ski industry veteran who spends February and March at SilverStar. She’s also the informal SilverStar liaison with a group of Ozzie skiers who travel to BC every winter. SeniorsSkiing.com welcomes her as our first Australian contributor. We[Read More…]
Senior Skiers Shift To Mountain Bikes To Ride Coast Of California. So, my ski buddy Eric says to me, “Patrick, let’s ride the Lost Coast of California”. The next thing I know I am winging westward to Sacramento with my mountain bike packed securely in my bike box and looking forward to a week of “van camping” with my good[Read More…]
Riding The Rim Was One Of The Best Rides Ever. As I topped a ridge near 8,049-foot Llao Rock on the north rim of Oregon’s Crater Lake, I had that giddy moment cyclists get when everything comes together. I felt great. I had just finished one of my biggest climbs of the day. And I was alone on a road[Read More…]
…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…]
Wonderful Value With Close-to-Lift Lodging. “You can’t find a better value than Road Scholar” is their claim. My wife Judy and I decided to test it the first week of March with the Telluride program run for Road Scholar by the Mountains and Plains Institute of Fort Collins. The price of $1495 each seemed a bit daunting. But, when I[Read More…]
A Short Ride From Seattle, Alpental Super Seniors Ski For $12. It was a rare sunny winter day in Seattle, and I was stuck working in my office. I kept looking out the window, thinking, “I wish I was skiing.” Why not? Daydreaming wasn’t getting the work done, so I bolted out of the city, and an hour later, I[Read More…]
