Non-Snow Activities Make Mammoth A Family Summer Vacation Stop. Ok, picture yourself, flat on your belly in “Superman” position, hurtling in the air down a mountain at 60 mph. No wonder Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort calls this the Mega-Zip. It’s billed as the “most vertical in the USA” (some 2,100 feet from the top of the ski resort at 11,053[Read More…]
You Can Find Adventure In Your Own Back Yard. This Adventure Began In A Window Well. [Author’s note: I’m stuck at home with an arm in a cast. Can’t drive. Can’t hike. Can’t, can’t, can’t. The baby robin tale is a good reminder that adventure and joy can be right at home.] Laurie called to me: “A baby bird has[Read More…]
Whether You Day Hike Or Trek, There Is Some Woodsy Wisdom You Need To Know. Several years ago, we stumbled on a unique resource to surviving in the woods if you become lost. Now you might think that is probably something that won’t happen to you because you are either experienced, well-equipped, cautious about where you wander, or just lucky.[Read More…]
New Technology In Mountain Bikes Can Keep Seniors On The Trails. Remember when you first bought your first pair of “shaped” skis? I do. I jumped on them to take advantage of an easier turn and less work. Fast forward, I have a nice quiver of skis now with some 107s under foot for powder, loose snow, and crud. Just[Read More…]
Some Adjustments Necessary To Ski The Legendary Mountains Of Chile. For many, a typical Chilean ski trip will seem a bit like traveling back in time to the USA 30 or 40 years ago. Some of the lifts date back even further than that! While the ski areas around Santiago are progressively upgrading their infrastructure, snow making, grooming, and security,[Read More…]
Southern Hemisphere Special, Safe and Sane Cycling For Seniors, Zany Videos, El Nino Coming. Yes folks, it’s the start of the ski season in far away places below the Equator. Here’s a picture of downtown Santiago, Chile, which received a highly unusual coating of snow for the first time in years. And in New Zealand, The Remarkables, those beautiful, mystic[Read More…]
Jeeping the High Country A few weeks ago we took the five hour drive to Ouray, Colorado, to escape our desert heat. Ouray sits at 7792′ surrounded by peaks in the San Juan Mountains in the southwest section of the state. The scenic Victorian mining town rightfully calls itself “The Switzerland of America.” It’s 47 miles from Telluride on normal roads;[Read More…]
Editorial Regardless of whether the steady elimination of season pass senior discounts is personally insignificant or presents a financial burden, you should be aware of the lack of fairness and gratitude exhibited by this new policy. Through Vail’s EPIC Pass and Alterra’s IKON pass, the companies are advancing elimination of senior discounts, while acquiring more areas. In fairness, some localized Vail[Read More…]
Chase The Snow To Summer’s Skiing Headquarters In The Southern Hemisphere. Come May, you have probably set your skis into hibernation and begun patiently waiting for the snow to fly next fall. But you really don´t have to wait! Southern America’s greatest mountain range starts getting snowed on in May, and by June the ski areas are normally in full[Read More…]
Bottom Line: Knoweth Thy Limits, Wise One. As I was pounding the rocks of Laurel Mountain on the mountain bike with a group of younger riders here in Pennsylvania’s beautiful Laurel Highlands, I was thinking strategy. At 63 years old, I am still in pretty good shape but the older I get, I start thinking about the old adage “age[Read More…]
Survey Results: Summer Activities, Summer Trail Prep, Sacropenia Defense. We are in high spring, as it were, as of this writing, and yet they are still squeezing out runs in Killington, VT, and will be until the end of May. Here’s a pic from last weekend from Aspen East Ski Shop’s Facebook page. And also at Killington, Scott Howard, (65)[Read More…]
Are older skiers the Rodney Dangerfields of the slopes? Sometimes it feels like ski resorts show us no respect. Consider that there are no Epic or Ikon senior discounts, and, in the case of some Ikon resorts, there no longer are local season passes and the senior discounts associated with them. Some of the big players are doing very well.[Read More…]
Grandparents who ski or board play a major role introducing their grandchildren to the sport. This is one of several significant findings from the April reader survey. It was the fifth SeniorsSkiing.com reader survey, and it produced the largest reader response to date. Fifty-eight percent of respondents identified as grandparents. The introduced more than 68% of their grandchildren to the[Read More…]
What Happens When the Snow Disappears Along With The Crowds? Bet you’ve never thought about how your favorite ski runs get cared for when there’s no snow on the ground. Yes, they have to be prepped each summer. Seth Worthen, slopes manager at Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, Canada, explained how his 11 person trail crew works. And it’s[Read More…]
It Can Happen, But Don’t Despair. Read On. Sarcopenia or muscle wasting is a condition which affects almost everyone starting about 50 years of age. Do you have it? Look in the mirror: Your once proud biceps and pectorals have sagged, your pants are falling down, no more butt, your legs look skinny. What looks like loose skin is really[Read More…]
