Features

John Denver filling up our senses. He wrote the lyrics to Annie's Song on a chairlift.

Music And Skiing: Annie’s Song And Dancing With The Mountains

John Denver Composed The Lyrics On A Chairlift. [Editor Note: Correspondent LuAnn Snyder, a director of the Baltimore Ski Club and a big John Denver fan, contributed to this article.]  Did you know that John Denver was an avid skier?  John Denver wrote his classic song “Annie’s Song“, while riding a chairlift to the top of Ajax Mountain in Aspen[Read More…]

by December 9, 2020 3 comments Features
Uh-oh, the mojo ain't working today. Credit: AlexanderTT

Question For You: Difficult Situations

How Do You Manage Your…Apprehensions? Yesterday, you did fine on Wild Thing, that steep, narrow trail on the shady side of the mountain. Today, Wild Thing is crusty, heavy, or worse, boilerplate, and it’s the only way down. Or, the afternoon light has gone totally flat, you’re at the top of the mountain, heading through the trees to the bottom. [Read More…]

by December 8, 2020 9 comments Features
Taking A Lesson During COVID

Taking A Lesson During COVID

Yes, Take A Lesson To Tune Up Or Re-Connect, But Be Prepared. A good ski lesson especially at the beginning of the season not only makes for a good day, but many more good days ahead. Refining technique, snuffing out bad habits, and discovering new ways to explore the mountain help make future ski days that much more enjoyable. Here’s[Read More…]

by December 7, 2020 0 comments Features
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Dec. 4)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Dec. 4)

Music In The Mountains, Question For You Redux, Snow Coming, Aosta Trattoria Interlude, XC Starter Kit, Mystery Tow, Dispatch From Wolf Creek, Rental Apartment Advice, Inspiration For Recovery, Utah Resort COVID Summary. Imagine our surprise when we were searching YouTube for tunes from one of our favorite bands when we found, wait for it, the “Gondola Sessions.” We love the[Read More…]

by December 4, 2020 2 comments Features
Restrictions: Help, hinder, hopeless? What is your experience? Credit: USNews&WorldReport

Question For You: Dispatches From The Snow Frontier

Let’s Try Again: What Is Your First Visit To A Ski Resort In COVID Times Like? A few weeks ago, we asked our readers to tell us how their first visits to a ski resort went in this unusual year.  We wanted to hear reactions to constraints, regulations, and policies designed to keep visitors and staff safe. Unfortunately, we didn’t[Read More…]

by December 3, 2020 11 comments Features
Skiing Weatherman: Here Comes The Snow!

Skiing Weatherman: Here Comes The Snow!

The Weather Worm Is Turning, Especially In The East. If the optimist in all of us considers November 1 the start of the winter sports season, then the first month of this season was a dud in the eastern half of the country. Cold air masses were infrequent visitors, and natural snow was even harder to find. A persistent jet stream[Read More…]

by December 2, 2020 2 comments Skiing Weatherman
Take a lesson from a pro. Here's balance practice. Credit: Weston Ski Track

Make More Tracks: Tips For Getting Started In XC Skiing

This Might Be The Season To Get On Skinny Skis. [Editor Note: This article first appeared in XCSkiResorts.com.] Getting outdoors, going at your own pace, enjoying and sharing an outing with a friend or family member of any age, and getting some winter exercise are all good reasons for older folks to try XC skiing. You can have a purpose[Read More…]

by December 2, 2020 2 comments Make More Tracks
Personal Note: Sources Of Inspiration And Frustration

Personal Note: Sources Of Inspiration And Frustration

A Military Epic Pass Discount Special Became A Big Motivator To Get Back In Shape. Last winter and spring, like many others, I watched the ski season melt away. For those who went before the big shut down, good on you. For, me, the only hopes I had of skiing was in late April or May or June at Mammoth. [Read More…]

by December 1, 2020 4 comments Features
Managing A Rental Unit In Your Ski House: Part 3

Managing A Rental Unit In Your Ski House: Part 3

Tips On Running A Rental And Finding Financing. Once you have reservations coming in, you have to manage the flow of people coming and going. Here are a few ideas we have found useful in making it easy and efficient for everyone. We could easily hire a cleaning service, but we do the cleaning ourselves to earn money in addition[Read More…]

by November 30, 2020 0 comments Features
Credit: Trapp Family Lodge

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 20)

SPECIAL EDITION: MAKE MORE TRACKS! Focus On Nordic, Snowshoeing, Fat Biking: Rationale, The Market Forecast, Videos: How To XC, Snowshoe, Fat Bike, Hidden Gem XC Resorts, Lesson Advice, Mystery Nordic Star, Trail Preferences. There’s more to winter besides downhill skiing. This issue will explore additional ways you can Make More Tracks. Let’s be clear at the top: We love Alpine[Read More…]

by November 20, 2020 0 comments Features
Roger Lohr

Editorial: Why Cross-Country Skiing?

[Editor Note: Roger Lohr is SeniorsSkiing.com’s Nordic Editor and publisher of XCSkiResorts.com] The Older I Get, The More I Love Cross Country Skiing. I love the sensation of gliding on the snow through the forest, being outdoors in nature. I can smell the fragrance of the trees. I can hear the bubbling brook and the sound of a bird in[Read More…]

by November 17, 2020 2 comments Features
Appleton Farms, Ipswich, MA. Credit: SeniorsSkiing.com

Question For You: Groomed Or Au Naturel?

What Is Your Preference?  We live across a little country road from a 900-acre conservation property. For years, we’d walk across the road, stumble over the stone wall bordering the street, and plod our way about 20 feet through tree-falls and heavy brush to a trail where we’d put on our xc skis. And then we’d break trail around our[Read More…]

by November 17, 2020 11 comments Make More Tracks
Make More Tracks: Fat Bike Experience

Make More Tracks: Fat Bike Experience

Another Way To Go In The Snow: Fat Bikes. If you’re a cyclist, you will love the fat bike experience. You will most likely want to head out on a cold day so the snow is firm but not icy. Many xc ski resorts have groomed tracks for Fat Bikes as well as skiing. Deep snow: Fat Bikes don’t work,[Read More…]

by November 16, 2020 0 comments Make More Tracks
XC/Snowshoe participation numbers are up. Credit: Snow Sport Insights

Make More Tracks: Predicting Participation In XC/Snowshoeing

[Editor Note: The following article was written by Kelly Davis, Snow Sports Insights. Kelly is a veteran snow sports industry researcher and a consult to the Cross Country Ski Area Association.] Alternatives To Alpine Skiing Are Expected To Blossom This Season. Participation in cross country skiing and snowshoeing is expected to increase significantly this winter for the second season in[Read More…]

by November 16, 2020 0 comments Make More Tracks
Make More Tracks: How To Snowshoe

Make More Tracks: How To Snowshoe

Snowshoeing Is A Highly Accessible and Easy Way To Enjoy The Winter. Now here’s a winter outdoor sport that brings you in to the vibrant , snow-filled landscape and fresh air with a minimum of hassle and expense. From our surveys, we’ve noticed that those who snowshoe often bring spouses and grandchildren along into an easy way to walk in[Read More…]

by November 16, 2020 2 comments Make More Tracks
Comfortable going along the river behind the Woodstock Inn. Credit: XCSkiResorts.com

Make More Tracks: Hidden Gems Of Nordic Skiing

[Editor Note: This article first appeared in XCSkiResorts.com.] Less Known, Excellent XC Destinations To Explore. With torrent of people hitting the trails and the outdoors across the country, XCSkiResorts.com wanted to give a shout out to hidden gem destinations for cross country (XC) skiing this winter. There may very well be an overflow of skiers at the most popular XC[Read More…]

by November 16, 2020 1 comment Make More Tracks
Make More Tracks: Private vs Group Lessons

Make More Tracks: Private vs Group Lessons

Groups For Beginners, Private To Refine Technique. Let’s say you want to learn how to cross-country ski relatively quickly and easily – how to move with grace and minimal effort, develop endurance, and enjoy what you’re doing from the git-go. The surest shortcut to becoming a good skier is to take multiple lessons with a professional instructor. I’ve often wondered[Read More…]

by November 16, 2020 0 comments Make More Tracks
Make More Tracks: How To XC

Make More Tracks: How To XC

The Basics Of Cross-Country Skiing Demonstrated. The benefits of cross-country skiing are many. Clearly, it’s a full-body exercise that you can dial up or down depending on your mood, conditioning, and terrain. And, it’s easy. You can learn the basics in an hour and feel confident on your first outing. Advanced techniques are rather simple, too, so the learning curve[Read More…]

by November 16, 2020 0 comments Make More Tracks
Skiing Weatherman: Fast Movers

Skiing Weatherman: Fast Movers

In last week’s first installment of my weekly discussion, the Pac Northwest and northern Rockies were enjoying a parade of early season snow events while skiers and riders in the Midwest and East had to be content with tuning gear and digesting the state-by-state Covid restrictions rolling out recently. The storms have continued to hit the same general areas that[Read More…]

by November 16, 2020 0 comments Skiing Weatherman
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 13)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 13)

Classified Bonus, Skiing Weatherman, Volcano Snowshoeing, Renting Your Ski House Apt., Dust Of Snow Poem, Prep Advice, Strange Parka, Holiday Valley Review, COVID Rules Example. So we had  six inches of snow on Halloween and two weeks later we have 70 degree weather all week around the Boston outpost of SeniorsSkiing.com. And it’s Friday the 13th. And it’s a La[Read More…]

by November 13, 2020 1 comment Features
Marketing A Rental Unit In Your Ski House: Part 2

Marketing A Rental Unit In Your Ski House: Part 2

Attracting Renters Using Online Booking Tools. So, once you purchase the right house, how do you rent out the guest unit?  You could rent on a long-term basis, but we found that to be a problem.   A long-term lease gives the tenant a lot of time to mistreat the apartment.  In the past, we rented to a long-term tenant.  She[Read More…]

by November 12, 2020 3 comments Features
Make More Tracks: Craters Of Moon

Make More Tracks: Craters Of Moon

Ocean Of Volcanic Lava Offers Awesome XC/Snowshoe Experience. “[It is an] area of about 60 miles in diameter, where nothing meets the eye but a desolate and awful waste, where no grass grows nor water runs, and where nothing is to be seen but lava.” (Washington Irving, The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, 1868 ) Some things leave a lasting impression.[Read More…]

by November 12, 2020 4 comments Make More Tracks
Skiing Weatherman: Haves and Have Nots

Skiing Weatherman: Haves and Have Nots

So It Begins, Unevenly. As is often the case at the start of the ski season, the weather pattern is designating “haves” and “have nots” in terms of sufficiently cold air for snowmaking and natural snow.  Consistent with first year La Ninas, as this season will be, November has brought winter weather to the West while the eastern half of[Read More…]

by November 12, 2020 3 comments Skiing Weatherman
Question For You: Preparing

Question For You: Preparing

What’s On Your Agenda? Last week, we noted that Warren Miller’s new movie Future Retro has hit the internet. For many, the premier of a Warren Miller film has been the starting gun of the season. Which got us to thinking about routines we have developed to start our own personal snow sports season. As we mentioned, perhaps it’s something[Read More…]

by November 11, 2020 6 comments Features
Credit:Creasy Mahan Nature Preserve

Snow In Literature: Dust of Snow

By Robert Frost   The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree   Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued.  

by November 9, 2020 0 comments Features