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Short Swings!

Short Swings!

A WOW Ski deal for Senior Skiers! The day before Alta closed for the season, a few ski companies were set up to demo products. One was Liberty Skis, a Colorado ski maker specializing in bamboo. I tried the Variant 87 and now own a pair. The “87” indicates the width of the ski under the boot, considerably narrower than[Read More…]

by April 27, 2017 6 comments Short Swings!
Correspondent Suzie Winthrop found fresh powder every day.  Can you see the smile on her face?
Credit: Steve Shannon

Suzie In The Selkirks

Run After Run Of Perfect Powder For Five Straight Days. Snowcat Skiing At Its Best. Do you dream of skiing in untracked powder?  Of course! We all do!  And most of us get one or two runs at resorts that offer “fresh tracks” early in the morning before the snow cats groom the trails. But soon you’re plowing through broken snow[Read More…]

by April 25, 2017 1 comment Destinations, International
Skiing 1,241 Ski Areas Around the World

Skiing 1,241 Ski Areas Around the World

Everywhere There’s Snow. (And Some Places Where There Isn’t.) You can’t have a favorite place until you’ve seen them all. That seemed reasonable to me, so when I started skiing back in 1973, I wanted to favor new locations over ones that I had already skied. My general plan is to fly somewhere, rent a car and stay in a centrally[Read More…]

by April 24, 2017 5 comments Destinations
What's in a name? A few resorts create a theme for trail names. Memorable. Cutesy. Provocative (?)
Credit: Don Burch

How Do Ski Trails Get Their Names?

Themes That Pick Up The Resort Name Can Be Catchy And Easy To Remember. Sometimes trail names are descriptive (Easy Mile at Suicide Six), sometimes they are a tribute (Thanks Walt at Mt Snow for its founder Walter Schoenknecht), sometimes they’re humorous (True Grit and No Grit at Waterville Valley), sometimes sensational (Widowmaker at Sugarloaf and Snowshoe) and at several mountains[Read More…]

by April 24, 2017 9 comments East
Putting XC Skis Away

Putting XC Skis Away

Nine Steps For Maintaining Your XC Equipment. [Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com thanks Roger Lohr of XCSkiResorts.com and Andy Gerlach of SkiPost.com and StartSkiWax for this article.] The winter and snow cover are leaving us, so what do we do with your xc ski equipment? 1) Cleaning: Use wax remover and Fiber wipe, a chamois-like cloth, to clean the kick zone and[Read More…]

by April 24, 2017 0 comments Skis
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Apr. 21)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Apr. 21)

Checking The Winter Forecast, Mom-And-Pop: Is Smaller Better?, Editorial: Is Bigger Better?, Silly Falls On Video, Alta GM Retires. This week, a mini-theme has emerged from two of our articles.  We have a piece from new contributor Don Burch, who makes the case for the local ski area. Basically, he says, it’s inexpensive, accessible, manageable, and more intimate (think community) than[Read More…]

by April 21, 2017 0 comments Features
Short Swings!

Short Swings!

People I’ve met love the Mountain Collective Pass For those prepared to travel, it’s a no-brainer. Two day passes at any number of well-known ski resorts for $399. I purchased one a few weeks ago for next season and quickly encountered the dark side of this attractive product: weak Customer Support. I made the non-refundable purchase and was then prompted[Read More…]

by April 20, 2017 0 comments Other News, Short Swings!
Credit: Harriet Wallis

Alta’s GM Onno Wieringa Retires

He’s Loved And Will Be Missed. Onno Wieringa has a passion for snow and for the soul of Alta. They have been his love and his career for 45 years. He arrived at Alta Ski Area in 1972 and landed a job as ski patroller. That was his day job. At night, he was a bartender at Rustler Lodge. After[Read More…]

by April 20, 2017 1 comment West
Editorial: How Will Consolidations And Collaborations Impact Senior Skiers?

Editorial: How Will Consolidations And Collaborations Impact Senior Skiers?

Bigger Better? With the Aspen KSL Capital Partners acquisition of Stratton VT and Mt. Tremblant, PQ, and Vail buying the iconic Stowe VT resort, it appears the ski industry has passed a tipping point. The trend is now toward nation-wide reach, corporate management and marketing, multi-resort passes that can be used from coast to coast, and certainly more choices. These[Read More…]

by April 20, 2017 12 comments Features
Precipitation: Forecast vs Actual 2016-17
Credit: NOAA

2016-17 Winter Forecast Outcome

How Close Were NOAA Predictions? The Surprise Was California. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center recently published a review of its forecast for the 2016-17 winter.  As you know from horse racing, the stock market and Las Vegas, predictions often do not reflect realities.  The question really is how close to reality the predictions are. In October, 2016, the Winter Weather prediction was focused[Read More…]

by April 20, 2017 3 comments Features
Ski Fails On Video

Ski Fails On Video

A Compilation Of Major Flops And Embarrassing Flips. It’s the silly season in these last days of April.  We’re sending along a collection of video clips of those skiers and boarders who tried…and failed.  The T-bar episode is actually hysterical. Thanks to FailToTheGail for putting this together.  Who was it that said the difference between comedy and tragedy is distance?    [Read More…]

by April 19, 2017 1 comment Features
Small is better? Accessible, economical, family-friendly, local ski areas have a community feeling.
Credit: Ski Sundown

The Case For The Local Ski Area

So It’s Not The Rockies.  But What Makes Mom-And-Pop Special? [Editor Note: As we are seeing in a month of startling industry news, the ski business is rapidly consolidating.  Big corporations are buying portfolios of resorts.  Vail has added Stowe to its collection. Aspen and its private equity investors, KLS Capital Partners are plucking up Stratton and Mt. Tremblant, among[Read More…]

by April 18, 2017 8 comments Features, East
Ski legend Doug Pfeiffer and SeniorsSkiing.com co-publisher Mike Maginn reconnect after many decades at the ISHA Hall of Fame ceremony at Stowe.

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Apr. 14)

A Reunion, Big White As A Role Model, A Forbidden Resort, Goodbye To A Mountain Pioneer, Remembering Spring Skiing. Onwards to Spring!  We hear the skiing in the West has never been better.  Still more storms in the Sierra coming and the question, “When will it end?” must be raised.  For some, never is an okay answer. This week, in[Read More…]

by April 14, 2017 0 comments Features
Short Swings!

Short Swings!

It may be the end of the season, but now is when next year’s equipment is evaluated. Bootfitters from around the nation converged this week on Mt Bachelor to test next season’s crop of boots. MasterFit organizes the unique annual event, and in the past, the knowledge gathered there was the basis of the annual boot review features in Ski[Read More…]

by April 13, 2017 0 comments Short Swings!, Home Top Box 1
Mary and Lloyd Anderson, REI founders.

Mary Anderson, REI CoFounder, RIP

Mary Anderson, who in 1938 co-founded REI, the nation’s largest consumer cooperative, died March 27. She was born in 1909 and lived to 107. She and her husband, Lloyd, began during the Depression importing high quality ice axes from Austria and selling them to fellow climbers. They formed a cooperative, a business model popular during the Depression in which members[Read More…]

by April 11, 2017 0 comments Features
Women in Big White Ski Resort Masters ski program show off their green hair helmet decorations. The program runs a week with lessons in the morning and social programs at night. Kelowna, BC.
Credit: Yvette Cardozo

Master’s Week At Big White: Senior Focused Lessons And Activities

Big White Found The Right Formula To Attract Seniors For A Special Week Just For Them. Like so many things of yesteryear, ski weeks are making a comeback. And not surprisingly, they’re aimed at the same folks who went ski trips back during the ski week heyday in the 1970s and early ‘80s—the Boomers. The original ski week hit when[Read More…]

by April 11, 2017 3 comments West, International
Baby-Faced Leader Builds Baby Resort in Hills of North Korea

Baby-Faced Leader Builds Baby Resort in Hills of North Korea

Masikryong Ski Resort , North Korea Baby-faced supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, built a luxury ski resort on Taehwa Peak, a 4,460′ mountain in Kangwon Province. It was constructed in 10 months by the Korean People’s Army. The cost is estimated at US $ 35+ million. It has nine blue and green runs, a ski school and a children’s snow park. The[Read More…]

by April 11, 2017 0 comments Other News
Jolly time at Masters Week apres ski party at Big White Ski Resort. The Masters program is aimed at skiers of all levels over the age of 50. 
Credit: Yvette Cardozo

Master’s Week At Big White: The Social Side For Seniors

There’s More Than Ski Clinics For Seniors That Make Big White’s Master’s Week Unique. [Editor Note: Correspondent Yvette Cardozo also reported on Big White’s Master’s Week focusing on the ski instruction elements.  Here, she shows us the social side which really looks like a lot of fun.] The social part of the Big White Ski Resort Masters Week is what made[Read More…]

by April 11, 2017 3 comments West, International
Favorite Memories Of Skiing New England In Spring

Favorite Memories Of Skiing New England In Spring

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…]

by April 10, 2017 1 comment Remember When?
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Apr. 7)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Apr. 7)

More From Jackson Hogen, Snow Sierra Superlatives, Seniors Like Online, Good Lesson Criteria. This week, we notice there are a number of resorts in New England having their final runs. Lifts are still spinning for a week or perhaps more at upper altitude resorts in northern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, though. And season pass deals for 2017-18 are starting to[Read More…]

by April 7, 2017 0 comments Features
Short Swings!

Short Swings!

For me, this has always been a melancholy time of year. Most North American lifts stop running, and the joy of winter shifts to summer diversions. Some people use the time to push their limits. Years ago, I’d drive to New Hampshire to ski Tuckerman’s Ravine on Memorial Day. It was an Eastern skier’s rite of passage. When older and[Read More…]

by April 6, 2017 5 comments Other News, Short Swings!
The Top All-Mountain Skis of All Time: Part II

The Top All-Mountain Skis of All Time: Part II

This article completes the list of “iconic all-mountain” skis published last week. One reader comment on last week’s list stated that better options are available today. In the interest of clarification, skis listed last week and in this article weren’t necessarily the most innovative or game changing. But, at the time they were introduced, they were the best at handling[Read More…]

by April 6, 2017 5 comments Skis
Snow Pack In California: This Says It All

Snow Pack In California: This Says It All

Lots And Lots And Lots Of Snow. PBS posted a Plant Labs video comparing the snow cover from 2015 to 2017. And we understand there is more snow coming this weekend to the High Sierra.  It’s April, folks.      

by April 6, 2017 1 comment West
For Senior Skiers, Online is Just Fine

For Senior Skiers, Online is Just Fine

Like generations of more recent vintage, SeniorsSkiing.com readers are comfortable making online purchases. Nintey-five percent of the respondents to the most recent SeniorsSkiing.com reader survey reported they were “satisfied” with purchasing lift tickets online from ski areas and from ticket aggregators like Liftopia. And more than half of the respondents reported that they’re likely to purchase ski apparel, such as[Read More…]

by April 4, 2017 1 comment Other News, Home Top Box 1
How Can You Tell You’ve Had A Good Ski Lesson?

How Can You Tell You’ve Had A Good Ski Lesson?

A Good Lesson Is One Where The Student Comes Away With A Positive Feeling. [Editor Note: Pat McCloskey is a Level III PSIA Instructor and a wicked, good skier and teacher, according to his friends.  This article is his response to last week’s “Taking A Lesson At 72.” Fun Fact: A past subscriber survey revealed that almost 40% of seniors intended to[Read More…]

by April 4, 2017 4 comments Features