This Club Oriented to Senior Skiers is Thriving

Seniors Want To Get In Touch With Other Senior Skiers. A Club Is The Answer. Here’s One That Skis And Socializes.

[Editor Note: This article was written by John Farley, a Gray Wolf Ski Club member.  If you have any news about your ski club or advice to others about how to make ski clubs successful, please let us know.]

Red Solo Cup Day at the Gray Wolf Ski Club. Why not wear one or two on your helmut?
Credit: Gray Wolf SC.Some clubs catering to senior skiers are growing mightily. One great example of that is Colorado’s Gray Wolf Ski Club, whose membership has been steadily rising for a number of years and is now nearing 900 strong.

The Gray Wolf Ski Club is centered around the Wolf Creek Ski Area in the San Juans. Although the majority of the club’s members live in the Pagosa Springs, CO area, there are also quite a few members from communities such as South Fork on the opposite side of Wolf Creek Pass, and also a fair number of members from all over the country who vacation or have second homes near Wolf Creek.

The club’s mission is simple—to ski and socialize. And the club does a lot of both. Over the course of the ski season, members enjoy several club luncheons at Wolf Creek, each with a distinctive theme that members dress up for, like Red Solo Cup Day. Silly and fun.

To become a Gray Wolf, you must be 50 years old or better. Some are a lot “better” than 50, including Colorado Ski Hall of Fame member Charles Elliott who celebrated his 100th birthday by skiing.

Here’s Charles skiing, while Gray Wolves line both sides of the run: An interesting club tradition is that, once a year, members who turned 80 that year, and anyone else who wants to go along hike to the top of Alberta Peak (hike-to terrain within the Wolf Creek Ski Area) and ski down.

Members enjoy discounts on season passes at Wolf Creek Ski Area, and also at various businesses in the Pagosa Springs and South Forks areas. They also gather each Tuesday for a happy hour, which is particularly well-attended during the ski season but runs all year. That is but one of the many kinds of social events the club sponsors through the year, including an annual holiday dinner and dance and a pig roast during the summer. .

For more information about the Gray Wolf Ski Club click here.

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