Post Tagged with: "50+"

Credit: MD Maginn

Snow In Literature: Interlude

By Linda Pastan We are waiting for snow the way we might wait for a train to arrive with its cold cargo— it is late already, but surely it will come. We are waiting for snow the way we might wait for permission to breathe again. For only the snow will release us, only the snow will be a letting[Read More…]

by January 14, 2021 1 comment Features
There's a groomed trail, but lots of folks just went their own way across the pasture at Appleton Farms. Credit: A. Maginn

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Jan. 8)

Happy New Year, It’s January. The Year Has Flipped. We launch into 2021 with the notion that positive change is just over the horizon, on the other side of the hill, beyond that copse of trees, around the next turn, and down the road.  The vaccine is coming, and, eventually, we will get out from the shadow of this miserable[Read More…]

by January 8, 2021 0 comments Features
Some planes are full; others are half empty. Credit: Picture Alliance

The How-Do-I-Get-There Conundrum

What If Driving Is An Undesirable Or A Non-Option? The world’s COVID hangover is going to continue well into 2021 so obviously ongoing precautions are needed to keep from contracting the disease. For those who live within three to four hours by car of a ski area, you’ve got options. Your car becomes your transportation bubble and then while skiing,[Read More…]

by January 3, 2021 9 comments Features
Call Of The Mountains

Call Of The Mountains

A Lyrical Look At Classic Eastern Ski Trails. Killington, Okemo, Mt. Snow. See what you’re missing, Western Skiers? Thanks to SeniorsSkiing.com correspondent Don Burch for another great, feels-like-you’re-there video.

by January 3, 2021 5 comments East
Line up for the Silver Queen gondola at Aspen. Credit: Evelyn Kanter

How Aspen/ Snowmass/ Highlands is Coping with Covid

A Major US Destination Resort Implements Its Virus Plan. Here’s An Early Report Card. The biggest challenge ski/snowboard resorts face this season just may be lunch. Covid-19 restrictions limit lifts to 50 percent capacity, but indoor dining restrictions are even less.  That means many skiers will not be able to find a place to sit to eat, even if they[Read More…]

by January 3, 2021 4 comments West
Ski the TOA. Race? Fun? Both? Up to you. Credit: Anchorage Daily News

Make More Tracks: Nutter Butters And The Tour Of Anchorage

Joining A Race Without Training? Hey, It Could Be Fun. In this strangest of times, I think back to the great and diverse and sometimes unorthodox adventures I’ve had cross-country skiing. And although I haven’t competed often, there was this one time, some years ago… As I understand it, you’re supposed to train for a major race. Seems sensible, right?[Read More…]

by January 3, 2021 3 comments Make More Tracks
Get Smart About Back Country Skiing

Get Smart About Back Country Skiing

It’s Socially Distanced For Sure. And Could Be Dangerous. The number of skiers and split boarders heading into the backcountry is skyrocketing as we search for ways to avoid ski areas’ confusing restrictions on lift capacity and parking plus social distance. Sales of skis, boots, skins, probes, and shovels are up (137 percent in the past three years). Trailheads are[Read More…]

by January 3, 2021 1 comment Features
Christmas Day Jet Stream snapshot.

Skiing Weatherman: The Beat Goes On

The Busy Pattern Continues. Last week’s installment headlined a progressive pattern that has been sending ridges and troughs west to east across the continent at a dizzying pace.  That pattern produced some meaningful snow in the West earlier this week and then unloaded a blockbuster on the mid-Atlantic and much of the Northeast midweek, jumpstarting the season at dozens of[Read More…]

by December 16, 2020 0 comments Skiing Weatherman
Silver Star mid-mountain village center.

Revelstoke Ramblings

A Traveling Australian Discovers Charm, Interesting Characters In British Columbia.

Carve Turns On Opening Day

Carve Turns On Opening Day

Master Making Those Modern Arcs. Ski instructor Paul Lorenz has a great instructional series on You Tube showing how to carve on skis.  To properly execute this type of turn, it is important to consider the basics of balance.  Those of us who have skied for a while know that it is most important to stand on the new downhill[Read More…]

by December 15, 2020 4 comments Features
Bill Koch started skating on XC skis and changed the sport. Credit: ISHA

Make More Tracks: Milestones In XC Skiing

From Wooden Skis, Wax, And Pine Tar Bases To High Tech Equipment in 50 years. Since the time that wooden skis were found in a peat bog in Sweden dating to 2,000 BC, there have been many milestones that brought XC skiing to where it is today. In the USA, the forefathers of cross-country skiing include people like Snowshoe Thompson,[Read More…]

by December 15, 2020 1 comment Make More Tracks
Protect yourself and others. Things have changed. Credit: Marketwatch

More On Taking A Lesson With COVID

Things Are Different. More Ideas For Successful Lessons. Correspondent Keller Minton’s article last week on taking a lesson in COVID times was praised by a ski world notable. Seth Masia, president of the International Ski History Association, long time ski journalist, active ski instructor at Aspen/Snowmass, and member of SeniorsSkiing.com’ Board of Advisors, wrote to us with some additional comments. [Read More…]

by December 15, 2020 1 comment Features
Mystery Glimpse: Multiverse of Santas

Mystery Glimpse: Multiverse of Santas

Santa Santa Santa Where are we? What’s special about what’s going on? Last Week Clearly, there are some fantastic ski history buffs in among our readership. We had some spot-on descriptions of this old hotel last week. This is the Poland Springs House in Poland Springs, ME. Here’s a bit of this famous landmark’s story from Glenn Parkinson, the historian[Read More…]

by December 14, 2020 2 comments Mystery Glimpse
John Denver filling up our senses. He wrote the lyrics to Annie's Song on a chairlift.

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Dec. 11)

More Music And Skiing, Jackson Nordic, John Denver, Storms On Parade, Difficult Moments, Question: Handling Clutch Situations, Early Season Videos, COVID Lesson Advice, Old Maine Hotel. After last week’s discovery of the two musical events that are held in the middle of the ski world, we thought we’d explore the intersection between snow sports and the music world one more[Read More…]

by December 11, 2020 0 comments Features
Could this be Nordic Heaven? Credit: Teton Pines

Make More Tracks: Jackson Hole Nordic

States Of Euphoria The week before Christmas, 1980, I drove west from Cody, WY, through the rugged Absarokas, over Togwotee Pass, dropping into the northeast corner of Jackson Hole, then south to the town of Jackson. Deep fresh snow covered the landscape, with occasional bison, moose, and coyote tracks crossing broad meadows. The road parallels the Snake River. So do[Read More…]

by December 10, 2020 1 comment Make More Tracks
This might have been do-able last week, but, hmmm, today you can't handle "it."  Rambo at Crested Butte. Credit: Chris Segal

How To Handle Difficult Moments

What To Do When Things Go Pear Shaped. Consider a ski run you’ve done before and which you found perfectly do-able with your present level of technical skiing skill. But conditions have changed, and the snow is less easy to ski; perhaps the temperature has fallen and the surface is now more crisp. Or the light has gone totally flat. [Read More…]

by December 9, 2020 3 comments Features
John Denver filling up our senses. He wrote the lyrics to Annie's Song on a chairlift.

Music And Skiing: Annie’s Song And Dancing With The Mountains

John Denver Composed The Lyrics On A Chairlift. [Editor Note: Correspondent LuAnn Snyder, a director of the Baltimore Ski Club and a big John Denver fan, contributed to this article.]  Did you know that John Denver was an avid skier?  John Denver wrote his classic song “Annie’s Song“, while riding a chairlift to the top of Ajax Mountain in Aspen[Read More…]

by December 9, 2020 3 comments Features
Uh-oh, the mojo ain't working today. Credit: AlexanderTT

Question For You: Difficult Situations

How Do You Manage Your…Apprehensions? Yesterday, you did fine on Wild Thing, that steep, narrow trail on the shady side of the mountain. Today, Wild Thing is crusty, heavy, or worse, boilerplate, and it’s the only way down. Or, the afternoon light has gone totally flat, you’re at the top of the mountain, heading through the trees to the bottom. [Read More…]

by December 8, 2020 9 comments Features
Early Season Skiing: Okemo, VT

Early Season Skiing: Okemo, VT

Shaking Off Summer Dust: First Runs Of The Season Snow finally came to New England last week whether through machines or from the sky. It finally got consistently cold enough to make the stuff or for real snow to stick.  SeniorsSkiing.com correspondent Don Burch ventured out to see what was going on at Okemo, VT. Here’s his video report from[Read More…]

by December 7, 2020 4 comments East
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Dec. 4)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Dec. 4)

Music In The Mountains, Question For You Redux, Snow Coming, Aosta Trattoria Interlude, XC Starter Kit, Mystery Tow, Dispatch From Wolf Creek, Rental Apartment Advice, Inspiration For Recovery, Utah Resort COVID Summary. Imagine our surprise when we were searching YouTube for tunes from one of our favorite bands when we found, wait for it, the “Gondola Sessions.” We love the[Read More…]

by December 4, 2020 2 comments Features
Restrictions: Help, hinder, hopeless? What is your experience? Credit: USNews&WorldReport

Question For You: Dispatches From The Snow Frontier

Let’s Try Again: What Is Your First Visit To A Ski Resort In COVID Times Like? A few weeks ago, we asked our readers to tell us how their first visits to a ski resort went in this unusual year.  We wanted to hear reactions to constraints, regulations, and policies designed to keep visitors and staff safe. Unfortunately, we didn’t[Read More…]

by December 3, 2020 11 comments Features
Skiing Weatherman: Here Comes The Snow!

Skiing Weatherman: Here Comes The Snow!

The Weather Worm Is Turning, Especially In The East. If the optimist in all of us considers November 1 the start of the winter sports season, then the first month of this season was a dud in the eastern half of the country. Cold air masses were infrequent visitors, and natural snow was even harder to find. A persistent jet stream[Read More…]

by December 2, 2020 2 comments Skiing Weatherman
Take a lesson from a pro. Here's balance practice. Credit: Weston Ski Track

Make More Tracks: Tips For Getting Started In XC Skiing

This Might Be The Season To Get On Skinny Skis. [Editor Note: This article first appeared in XCSkiResorts.com.] Getting outdoors, going at your own pace, enjoying and sharing an outing with a friend or family member of any age, and getting some winter exercise are all good reasons for older folks to try XC skiing. You can have a purpose[Read More…]

by December 2, 2020 2 comments Make More Tracks
Personal Note: Sources Of Inspiration And Frustration

Personal Note: Sources Of Inspiration And Frustration

A Military Epic Pass Discount Special Became A Big Motivator To Get Back In Shape. Last winter and spring, like many others, I watched the ski season melt away. For those who went before the big shut down, good on you. For, me, the only hopes I had of skiing was in late April or May or June at Mammoth. [Read More…]

by December 1, 2020 4 comments Features
Credit: Trapp Family Lodge

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 20)

SPECIAL EDITION: MAKE MORE TRACKS! Focus On Nordic, Snowshoeing, Fat Biking: Rationale, The Market Forecast, Videos: How To XC, Snowshoe, Fat Bike, Hidden Gem XC Resorts, Lesson Advice, Mystery Nordic Star, Trail Preferences. There’s more to winter besides downhill skiing. This issue will explore additional ways you can Make More Tracks. Let’s be clear at the top: We love Alpine[Read More…]

by November 20, 2020 0 comments Features