Each season, at this time, we pass the fund-raising hat. Your contributions, modest and generous, help keep SeniorsSkiing.com arriving to your inbox free of charge.
Please click here to access our fundraising page. We’re requesting a minimum contribution of $14, or $1 per issue. Readers contributing $50 or more will receive Licensed To Ski, the original 28” x 22” poster of clever ski-themed license plates from around the US. All readers who make a gift of $14 or more will be mailed the new “Senior Skiers Rock!” stickers for use on helmet, skis, car, locker, wherever you choose to express support for and pride in older skiers.
SeniorsSkiing.com started in 2014 to provide an information source for 50+ skiers and snowboarders. After a few seasons, it became evident that the site also serves as a virtual community, connecting older snowsports enthusiasts around the globe.
To date, we’ve published almost 1,700 original articles about issues relevant to the older participant, resorts, people, equipment, technique, injury and recovery, etc.
Keeping the lights on carries a price tag: maintaining the site’s platform and its subscriber mailing lists; employing parttime services of webmaster, graphics people, etc.
Your gifts, along with revenue from a handful of advertisers, allow this shoestring operation to collect and distribute, free, original content written specifically to your interests.
Over the next four issues, reminders of the fundraiser will be posted with each article. Please take a minute now by clicking here and making a contribution.
Thank you for subscribing and for your support!
SeniorsSkiing Featured on The Storm Skiing Podcast
For the past few years, Stuart Winchester, of The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast has been interviewing ski industry insiders and thought leaders. He takes an informed approach with the 90-minute podcasts, that many followers listen to while driving to the mountain. In the current Storm Skiing Podcast, Stuart and I discuss SeniorsSkiing.com and the role and influence of older skiers in the US. Click here to tune in to this just-published interview and the 70+ others in The Storm Skiing Podcast archive.
Update: Stevens Pass Passholders vs. Vail Resorts
A few weeks ago we reported that 20,000 Stevens Pass (WA) pass holders had signed a petition asking owner Vail Resorts to refund 60% of their pass cost because only 40% of the area is open. As of this writing, the number of signatories had grown to almost 45,000. The ski area, now with a newly installed manager, has opened far more terrain, and Vail Resorts is offering discounts on next season’s Stevens Pass and Epic season passes.
Vail Introduces “Phone Free” Zones
In an effort to reduce lift line delays due to skiers distracted by their cell phones, the resort has started “Phone Free Zones.” Not a bad idea, especially if they extend it to the chair ride, itself. A few days ago, I was riding a four-seater at Alta while the guy next to me gave a Zoom lecture on economics. Interesting info. Wrong venue.
Klaus Obermeyer Is 102
Aspen legend, Klaus Obermeyer, celebrated his 102nd birthday last week. An early instructor at the resort, he went on to develop such skiing staples as the quilted down parka, the first nylon windshirt, the dual-liner ski boot and the 2-prong ski brake. Klaus once told me that as he aged, he found it easier to ski than to walk. Happy Birthday, Klaus!!!
Alan Engen Reflects on His Father, Alf
Ski Utah podcaster, Tom Kelly recently interviewed Alan Engen about his father, Alf, and his own experience as a member of one of the nation’s most prominent skiing families. Listen to it by clicking here.
South Korean Chair Rolls Back
No serious injuries occurred recently when a chair at South Korea’s Bear’s Town Ski Resort lost control and rolled backward. Passengers jumped to safety before the chairs piled up in the terminal.
Fan Mail
Jim Cobb, manufacturer of The Bootster ski boot shoehorn, received this note last week from a SeniorsSkiing.com reader: I tried a friend’s Bootster and had to get my own because it works so well! I have very limited range of motion in my left big toe joint due to bone spurs, so it is VERY difficult getting my ski boot on. The Bootster makes it so much easier!
Mikaela Outskis T-Rex
More from the world of bizarre Beijing Olympics promo videos. Readers in the US may already be seeing this on their screens.
BABY OLYMPICS
How can we not fall for this three-minute video of toddlers in Olympic garb competing for Gold? (Be sure to click “Watch on You Tube.)
An Interesting Ski Video
Those of you who follow Short Swings! are aware of my general criticism of me-too ski videos. This one, featuring Sam Cohen and Michelle Parker, takes a different and more interesting approach. It documents a ski mountaineering expedition into a remote region of the North Cascades. The two adventurers carry gear for several days in North Cascades National Park, eventually taking the steep climb to a thrilling ski descent. 12 minutes of really interesting scenery, climbing and skiing.
Beijing Winter Olympics
The games start today. As you already know, a lot will be different: virtually all ski and board events will be on manmade snow; there won’t be big, international crowds, and a lot of attention will be on non-sporting activities. But, like every other Olympics, this one will be exciting to follow. I can’t wait for the men’s and women’s downhill. The course has some heart-stopping drops and jumps. Enjoy the Games!!!!
Absolutely insane run. Some frozen granola and good snow.
Great skiing video! Silly as it may sound, watching it gives me faith in the generations which are following us. Thanks!