A Long Forgotten Incident Comes Rushing Back. In the late 70s, I was working at a ski resort and poor as could be. When the Head Maintenance Engineer asked around for someone to pick up a part for one of the chairlifts, I quickly volunteered. He probably figured I knew what I was volunteering for and wouldn’t have done so[Read More…]
When It Comes To Holiday Gifts, Sometimes Our Adult Children Don’t Have A Clue What We Would Like To Have. Here Are Some Hints To Pass Along. Or, Just Send A Link To This Story! Idea #1. A private lesson: A gift of confidence and fun. You know you’d love to have the undivided, one-on-one attention of a skilled instructor[Read More…]
We Took The Challenge And Wore Them For Five Days. Here’s What Happened. We love buffalo, the distinctly American creature who has been denizen of the Great Plains since pre-history, who was deified by native Americans, who has captured our imagination in countless legends, songs, stories, novels, and movies, who has shown up in hamburgers, (bison burgers) and who now[Read More…]
Consider A Second Career For Fun, Fitness, Fulfillment. Many SeniorsSkiing.com readers are seriously committed to skiing, and many have the experience, time and skills to actually teach skiing. Here are ten good reasons you should consider working as a ski instructor. Plenty of other advanced age ski instructors are doing the same thing. You are in good company. You are[Read More…]
Blind Skier Inspired All Who Knew Him. The first time I skied with Fred Siget was in Snowshoe, WV, with Larry Walsh of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. This was my maiden voyage guiding a visually impaired skier. I had Fred, the first blind skier in our area, in front of me. Right turn, left turn, right turn, stay, stay.[Read More…]
Happy Thanksgiving, La Nina Delivers, Reader Input Needed, Great Gift Idea, Funny Urban Legend, Lift Maintenance, Birthday For 98 Year Old Olympian, Experticity Reminder. Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers! We know you are happier than the poor turkey to the left. In many places, this weekend marks the official start of the snow sports season. In fact, Killington is[Read More…]
The Whole Summer Was Spent Getting Ready For Winter. It’s 80 degrees at Deer Valley. Mountain snow melted long ago. A summer breeze rustles leaves on the aspen trees and wafts through the open doors of the maintenance shop. The crew wears shorts and T-shirts. It’s mid-July. Gears and gizmos cover the work benches, and the crew is meticulously polishing,[Read More…]
From The Ski Museum Of Maine. Chummy Broomhall, two-time Olympic cross country skier and the oldest living member of the Chisholm Ski Club, will be celebrating his 98th birthday on December 3rd. Last year the Chisholm Ski Club sponsored a card campaign for Chummy’s birthday and he received almost 150 cards! Let’s blow that number out of the water this[Read More…]
New England Areas Opening, Updates In Free* Skiing For Seniors, X-C Correctly, And More. It’s happening. The Western ski resorts are getting snow, especially in the Pacific North West. New England areas are opening, too. Bretton Woods in New Hampshire’s White Mountains is spinning lifts, the first to open in the state. Other NH resorts are making snow, and for[Read More…]
Rossignol’s Top Executive And The University Of Utah Ski Team Earned Top Honors. The country’s largest ski history and research organization, Ski Archives, held its annual gala and fundraiser to help support its mission. In addition, the event honors individuals and organizations that set a high mark for their influence on the ski industry. This year, Ron Steele, philanthropist and[Read More…]
A Veteran Ski Instructor Finds Nordic Matches His Senior Skiing Philosophy. Older, wiser, cheaper, what is this about? It reflects on what happens with age for most, but let’s put it into a skiing context. Having taught skiing since 1971, I’ve discovered these are the three adjectives that seem to reflect on one’s skiing philosophy with the passing of time.[Read More…]
Veterans Salute, Free Skiing For Seniors Announced, Rush To Prep For Season, Funny Mammoth Memories, Ditch The SmartPhone. We’re heading off to Boston’s Ski and Snowboard Expo at the World Trade Center this morning, armed with lots of SeniorsSkiing.com stickers and many copies of a hot-off-the-press news release announcing a list of resorts where seniors can ski for free. When[Read More…]
This Season, Free Skiing Will Be Available To Senior Skiers At 112 Resorts Across 26 States. The list of resorts is available to SeniorsSkiing.com subscribers. The annual SeniorsSkiing.com report was first issued for the 2015-16 season. The number of resorts reporting free skiing privileges for seniors increased slightly from last season. Most provide free skiing at age 70. According to recent[Read More…]
Family-friendly Blandford in southern Massachusetts was poised for extinction or development, but Ski Butternut and its owner Jeffrey Murdock bought it Sept. 1 and saved it. It’s a rescue mission of historic proportions. Right now, crews are working furiously to renovate Blandford’s base lodges, upgrade the grooming equipment, and install new snowmaking to help smooth out fickle weather cycles that[Read More…]
In the winter of 1993, I was in my 29th season, age 55 and still in that happy state of benign self-deception when I believed I skied better each season than the season before. A lifelong wage slave, despite passionate longings to the contrary, I had never given myself the luxury of a ski-bum year. As a weekend-warrior, a good[Read More…]
Put Away The Phone And Be Here Now. On a midweek day last winter I went into the lodge for lunch. Nearby were six men, obviously friends enjoying a day skiing together. During their entire lunch five of them were on cell phones, and the sixth had no one to talk to. On the ride up on a six-pack bubble[Read More…]
Getting Fit, A Snowmaking Legend, Novel Gift Idea For Seniors, Ski Shows, Happy Birthday, Doug Pfeiffer. The snow season has started, officially and unofficially, in different places around the country. We urge our readers to start thinking about getting their gear out of basements and start spiffing up those skis and boots. It always pays to get those skis sharpened[Read More…]
Progressive Exercises From Easy To Difficult Can Help You Tone Up. Okay, it’s late October, and you’ve put this off long enough. You need to limber up for the upcoming snow season. Without topping up your muscles and stretching those ligaments, you can hurt yourself and have a very short season indeed. With some daily or weekly fitness routines, you[Read More…]
Son Of Immigrant Parents, Herman Dupre Found A Way To Give The Sport Snow. Aside from building the Seven Springs ski area in western Pennsylvania into a major mountain resort, Herman Dupre’s claim to fame is that he is a pioneer in snowmaking. He always tinkered with how to utilize high pressure air and water to help Mother Nature spread[Read More…]
If You’re Looking For Novel Gifts For Snow Country Lovers, Yummies Made From Fir Trees Are Worth A Look. Of course, this is a Christmas story. What else when you are talking about eating Christmas trees? It’s just the growing tips that you eat, actually. And the pine flavor is, well, way better than you expect if you are more[Read More…]
Weird Weather, Senior Profile, Von Trapp Cross-Country Innovator, Getting Ready. We can’t stop thinking about the major weather events that have descended across the globe this year. Hurricanes with epic levels of destruction, surprisingly early and deep snows in the Rockies, (and from what we hear, prodigious snowfalls in parts of Australia), wild fires creating horrendous destruction and loss of[Read More…]
Responses To SeniorsSkiing.com Reader Surveys Indicate That Finding Boots That Fit And Perform Correctly Is A Challenge. And 25% Of Readers Plan To Purchase New Boots. Two of our advertisers can help. America’s Best Bootfitters.com has a host of useful boot-related information, including the names of ski shops where highly trained fitters are available to get you the best fitting boots.[Read More…]
She Applies What She Learned To Life And Skiing. When the air raid sirens blared in Bingen, Germany, residents scrambled down into their cellars for protection. The town on the Rhine was bombed again and again by Allied forces. After each attack, Ruth’s mother would rush to the roof of their building to pick up the burning flares that had[Read More…]
The Deals Are Out There. Time To Act. [Editor Note: Mike “Bear Foot” Warner produces SeniorsSkiDeals.com which publishes the prices of top ski resorts and offers advice on where to find the best discounts and when to buy.] If you are a senior skier and are planning to ski over a week this winter, you might want to consider buying a[Read More…]
I’ve Learned A Lot And Here Are The Lessons. If your hands are arthritic, you know how hard it is get a tire back on the rim after fixing a flat. Lightweight Tannus tubeless foam tires were recently introduced into the U.S., and I was quick to buy a set. They don’t take a tube, and since they are filled[Read More…]
