Grabbing That Twirling Rope Was Not Easy. It was the early 1960s, I was in first or second grade and learning to ski at Mohawk Mountain in Connecticut. At the time Mohawk had just installed the first chairlift in Connecticut but most of the experiences I remember where on their numerous rope tows. The first thing newbies had to master[Read More…]
SKI Magazine Ski Testers Meet The Sundance Kid. Back in the early ‘70s, SKI Magazine (remember it?) developed a program called SKIpp that stood for “ski performance prediction” developed by the late John Perryman. He was a talented engineer who spent years in aerospace and worked with Howard Head at Head Ski Company. SKIpp had two parts, the laboratory analysis[Read More…]
An Undergraduate’s Parody Ski Song Led To An Academic Achievement. As an undergraduate at Michigan State University in the early 1950s I joined the ski club, and I learned, among other things (like how to kick turn), a bunch of ski songs. We sang them driving up to Caberfae resort near Cadillac and apres ski in a local[Read More…]
Our Next Mystery Photo Is Someone Who Became A Ski Celebrity. If you think you know who you think this guy is, write your guess in COMMENTS below, just scoll down. We’ll reveal the answer next week. Credit: SKIING Magazine Last Week’s Mystery Glimpse This is Olympian Picabo Street as a young racer. Thanks to the Alf Engen Ski Museum[Read More…]
Ski Suits Don’t Age, Just Their Owners. In 1974 while living in Vienna, Virginia, I had a midlife crisis. On December 27, I turned 40 with the thought that I had reached middle-age and would have to limit my skiing. In the past, while living in California, the family had gone skiing on my birthday. Now in Virginia, my nine-year-old[Read More…]
A Long Forgotten Incident Comes Rushing Back. In the late 70s, I was working at a ski resort and poor as could be. When the Head Maintenance Engineer asked around for someone to pick up a part for one of the chairlifts, I quickly volunteered. He probably figured I knew what I was volunteering for and wouldn’t have done so[Read More…]
Our Readers Search Their Attics For Old Ski Songs. Hear Them Now. Wow, what a response! Thanks everyone for comments and emails on our reprised article, Skiing Songs of The Sixties. We not only heard about ski song memories, we had some folks sending us (digital) recordings. We have to tip a pole to Boyd Allen, Exeter, NH, for taking[Read More…]
[Editor Note: Here’s an archive article that will bring back some memories. Back in the Sixties, there was a host of songs devoted to the relatively new and growing sport of skiing. This article from SeniorsSkiing.com August, 2014 highlights some of the songs and the singers.] Well, they called him Super Skier As he sat around the sun deck, For[Read More…]
Memories Live On Even If The Area Closes. Nothing can replace this family-based ski area in southern Massachusetts. But Blandford is now on the brink of being closed or sold. It has offered what mega resorts cannot offer. If kids got tired of skiing, they’d go off trail with their friends and build snow caves and ski jumps. When my[Read More…]
Back Road Scenery And Ski Slope Puddles Formed Indelible Pictures. I loved the scenic springtime drive to the slopes. Steam rose from little sugar shacks as the golden syrup was simmering inside. Horses stood motionless in frozen pastures and breathed clouds of fog into the frosty morning air. Christmas tree farms had fallen silent. Lichen-covered stone walls divided the winter-flattened[Read More…]
Ski buses, single-seat lifts, bear trap bindings, racing wipe-outs, skinny trails. From SkiPresse/Cycle Presse. Nostalgia.
After 7o Years Of Chronicling The Sport, The Venerable Publication Closes. The rumors are true. SKIING Magazine, like so many other classic magazines, has finally closed down after nearly 70 years of publishing. This is especially sad for me because I worked for SKIING in the early 1970s as a junior editor. It was there I found myself catapulted into[Read More…]
If You’ve Been Around The Ski Biz, You Will See Some Familiar Faces. Thanks to Cathie Judge for sending us this video commemorating the famous Harry Leonard Ski Shows, starting in the late 60s with lots of clips of several giants of the ski industry back in the day. Ski and Snow Board Show impresario and SeniorsSkiing.com advisory board member[Read More…]
This Throw-Back Cartoon Reveals The Stereotypes Of Skiing In The 70s. Credit: Walt Disney Productions (Of Course!)
Haunting Song Evokes Winter Night Snow Fall. Everybody knows Pete Seeger and his folk songs from archival ballads to anthems of struggle, the peace and labor movement, and the rest. What is not widely known is that Pete was a lyrical poet, and some of his lesser known works are rich with images and emotion. One of those is “Snow,[Read More…]
