This is the first issue of SeniorsSkiing.com of 2022. I wish all readers good health, happiness, and peace for the New Year. But Covid’s omicron variant is challenging that wish for good health. It’s spreading fast, even among those who have been triple vaxxed. For most of the infected, it appears to be less taxing than Delta or earlier iterations. One[Read More…]
Friends in Vail recently got their Covid vaccinations. Colorado is making them available to people 70 and older. If we were in Utah where we have a place, my wife and I would be able to get shots on Monday, January 18. But we’re in NY where, over the past few days, the Governor announced that people 65+ are now[Read More…]
Boris and Ivan have been skiing across the frozen steppe for many days. After too long on the front, they’re finally going home. Boris spent hours telling his colleague what he intends to do when, finally, he arrives home: hug his family, down a hearty meal, paint the dacha, tend the garden. “Ivan, what is your plan?,” he asks. “My[Read More…]
I was in a place I shouldn’t have been. When I entered the gate, I thought I had been on this part of the mountain years earlier. But as I descended, nothing about it seemed familiar. It was steep beyond my comfort. There were bumps and trees, and the surface was getting icy. Signs on the trees warned this[Read More…]
“Too Darn Hot.” Cole Porter got it right with his enduring 1948 hit. What a summer! Weather is getting more and more extreme. Hot. Cold. Wind. Flood. I like this church sign: But I don’t like these pictures taken within a week of each other from near the top of Mont Blanc. Going from snow to lake in such a[Read More…]
Seniors Can Still Get A Mid-Week Pass At A Big Discount Before April 14. Sunapee in New Hampshire went Epic this past winter, joining Stowe and Okemo, Vt., as Vail Resort’s three footholds in the East. Sunapee draws many locals from neighboring towns plus a hefty day crowd from the Boston area. Parking lots fill up early on weekends. Midweek[Read More…]
Many thanks to those who responded to our February fund-raising campaign. Your decals, patches, and hats are being sent. There are delays in shipments because the patch supplier is behind schedule. Thank you for your support!!! Once upon a time, stores, malls and restaurants didn’t look the same. Places in different parts of the country looked and felt different, even[Read More…]
Earlier this week a request to support SeniorsSkiing.com showed up in your email. We really need your donations. This is our fifth publishing year and only the second time we’ve made the request. When we started, Mike and I decided that this labor of love should be free. What we’ve learned is that publishing weekly throughout the season requires a[Read More…]
I keep a list of the places I’ve skied since I was 10. In a few weeks, I’ll be 75. The list totals 85 areas, mostly the US and Canada. The others are in the French and Swiss Alps. One, an indoor area that no longer exists, was in Japan. That, and the recent addition of Canada to our annual[Read More…]
Editorial Regardless of whether the steady elimination of season pass senior discounts is personally insignificant or presents a financial burden, you should be aware of the lack of fairness and gratitude exhibited by this new policy. Through Vail’s EPIC Pass and Alterra’s IKON pass, the companies are advancing elimination of senior discounts, while acquiring more areas. In fairness, some localized Vail[Read More…]
Are older skiers the Rodney Dangerfields of the slopes? Sometimes it feels like ski resorts show us no respect. Consider that there are no Epic or Ikon senior discounts, and, in the case of some Ikon resorts, there no longer are local season passes and the senior discounts associated with them. Some of the big players are doing very well.[Read More…]
Pricing of the new IKON Pass has raised concerns among older skiers, especially people living close to Mammoth and Squaw Valley. Those and some other IKON resorts are eliminating local season passes, most of which had senior discounts. Like EPIC, Mountain Collective, and other bundled packages, IKON generally offers good value. Ski pass pricing is complicated and making a decision[Read More…]
We need to adjust our skiing to our age. Some readers will probably react with a “Mind your own business,” and that’s fine. But I keep running into too many people beating themselves up on skis: either forcing old bodies to ski like they did when they were young, or not knowing how to adjust to a more age-appropriate technique.[Read More…]
The first rule for skiing powder is to get to it before anyone else does. It skis best when untracked, and it doesn’t stay untracked for long. The other day at Grand Targhee in Wyoming, I bought a ticket that gave access to the lifts an hour before opening to the public. The other option would have been pricier cat[Read More…]
Is The US Ski Industry Becoming A Duopoly? If So, Will It Mean Higher Or Lower Priced Passes For Seniors? Denver-based KSL Capital Partners recently joined privately owned Aspen Skiing Co to acquire Intrawest’s six resorts and four in southern California owned by Mammoth Resorts. It’s the newest 800-pound ski resort gorilla. The other is Vail Resorts. Two gorillas. Twenty-two[Read More…]
End of Season House Cleaning We’re moving out of Salt Lake City. Anyone who has gone through the exercise knows about getting rid of stuff. You categorize three ways: stuff you need; stuff you think you need; stuff you know you don’t. Which brings me to skis, boots, and clothes. I have seven pairs of skis and enjoy all of them.[Read More…]
A Weekly Round-Up Of Industry News. CALIFORNIA 11th annual Alpenglow Sports Winter Film Series will be held at Squaw Valley’s Olympic Village Lodge, November 17. Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows promoted Tom Feiten to VP, Marketing and Business Development, overseeing marketing and sales. Before joining the resort in 2011, he helped Teton Gravity Research revitalize the Teton Gravity Research annual film[Read More…]
