Short Swings!

Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

It is the end of summer, and we’ll soon be back to our weekly schedule.

Mike and I want to take this moment to thank our readers, contributors, and advertisers for keeping SeniorsSkiing.com active and relevant.

Our combined efforts seem to be working.

All summer long, the number of new SeniorsSkiing.com subscribers kept increasing. The volume wasn’t as great as other times of the year, but the steady flow was both surprising and encouraging.

We have some data that shows the 50+ snow sports demographic represents almost 1/3 of all U.S. skiers, and the more who learn about the site, the more who sign up.

Our goal is to create community and help the ski industry better appreciate the value of all older snow sports participants.

I was in a meeting last week on the East Coast that had nothing to do with skiing. I mentioned SeniorsSkiing.com in passing. One of the people around the table is a reader. This morning, while hiking here in Utah, I met a couple from Washington, DC. They are skiers and have followed SeniorsSkiing.com for the past few years.

Please tell others about SeniorsSkiing.com.

UTAH

Many improvements and changes for the coming season:

• Alta’s new Supreme high-speed quad replaces its former namesake and Cecret lifts. Its base is near Alf’s Restaurant. This will be Alta’s 80th anniversary. 2017-18 open/close dates (conditions permitting): Opening Day: November 22, 2017; Closing Day: April 15, 2018 + April 20-22; April 27-29 & May 4-6, 2018.
• Deer Valley Resort, as reported earlier, is being acquired by an area consortium including Aspen, Intrawest, Mammoth, and Squaw.
• Park City Mountain has a new, enclosed-surface lift and a new designated beginner trail.
• Powder Mountain will cap day passes at 1,500 and season passes at 3,000.
• Snowbasin is replacing the Wildcat triple chairlift with a new high-speed detachable six-pack.
• Snowbird’s newly remodeled 13,500+ square foot Creekside Lodge, will open at the start of the season.
• Solitude Mountain Resort invested $1.5 million in several improvements to lodges. If you’ve got limited time, fly into the Ogden-Hinkley Airport. This small airport, serviced by Allegiant Air, is located five minutes from downtown Ogden and will be adding new flights from Los Angeles (LAX) and Las Vegas (LAS) this fall.  Scheduled Thursday through Monday with starting prices at $35 each way, this is a great option for the weekend warrior.

VERMONT

Parker Riehle, who has been with Vermont Ski Areas Association (VSAA) for the past 20 years, has been named president and CEO of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). NSAA is the non-profit trade association that represents US ski area owners and operators. He replaces Michael Berry who will retire this winter following 25 years as NSAA president. VSAA represents Vermont’s $1.6 billion ski and snowboard industry. A search is underway for a new president.

• Trapp Family Lodge, North America’s first cross-country skiing center is turning 50!
• Bolton Valley is upgrading its snowmaking system
• Burke Mountain is installing a high speed T-bar which will substantially increase uphill capacity. Burke’s snowmaking is being extended.
• Magic Mountain has new base to mid-mountain chair and expanded snowmaking.
• Mount Snow doubled its snowmaking capacity.
• Okemo also upgraded snowmaking and grooming capacity.
• Stratton increased its groomer fleet
• Sugarbush installed RFID ticket-reading gates at all base lifts; improved its snowmaking guns and the size of its groomer fleet.
• Suicide Six instituted trail improvements, added new load/unload decks to the summit quad, and more snow making improvements.

OREGON

And here’s an amazing shot of Crater Lake from NASA taken in mid-summer 2017. The remnants of the colossal 2016-17 snowfall in the Cascades is there for all to see.