Post Tagged with: "Harriet Wallis"

That's one sharp porcupine. Credit: Laurie O'Connor

Trailside Porcupine Becomes A Celebrity

  Skiers nimbly dodged a porcupine as he wallowed through deep snow to cross Alta’s ski slope. Some stopped to watch the prickly fellow tumble into a tree well and then start to climb. That’s all there was to see. The show was over. He was as prickly as the evergreen so his camouflage was perfect. He virtually disappeared. But[Read More…]

by March 8, 2021 5 comments Features
Riding the rope. Harriet's daughter Alison, 5, in leather boots and wooden skis on Jiminy Peak's rope tow. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Don’t Tell Me To Stay Home

How I Was Reinvented As An Athlete. I learned to ski on a dare. Actually, it was a threat. When my husband announced he was going to learn to ski, I gulped. I thought skiing was something crazy people in the other side of the world did, but not here in Connecticut. “You’re going to do what?” I asked. “How[Read More…]

by March 1, 2021 1 comment Nostalgia
Short Swings!

Short Swings!

This season will favor those living close to the mountain. Older skiers who aren’t a short walk or reasonable drive away probably will avoid the hassle and risk of commercial flights to get there. They’ll spend more time on local slopes.  Currently, we’re in our place several miles north of New York City. The closest reasonable skiing is about 2.5[Read More…]

Seniors participating in Life Elevated Utah having fun and acting silly for the camera. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Senior Small Group Ski Week With Lodging Right On Uncrowded Powder Mountain

Plan Now For Next Winter Gary and Sandy Nielsen have run Road Scholar programs in Utah for about 20 years. They’re experts at planning and organizing week-long programs including Hopi pottery, dinosaurs and rock hounding in summer—and the very popular senior ski program in winter. But several years ago as the demand for more senior ski weeks kept growing, Gary[Read More…]

by March 19, 2020 7 comments West
70+ Ski Club group photo. The club ventures to US, European, and this year, New Zealand resorts. Credit: 70+ Ski Club

70+ Ski Club: Ski Trips, Fun, And Camaraderie

You Are Never Too Old To Be Young. Ski clubs have been around ever since people strapped skis on for fun. But the 70+ Ski Club has a unique niche. It’s the only ski club for skiers – and boarders – who are at least 70 years old.  People often give up skiing when their spouse passes away or when[Read More…]

by March 12, 2020 7 comments Features
Short Swings!

Short Swings!

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…]

by March 6, 2020 1 comment Short Swings!
Up the hill goes the PistenBully. Quietly. Credit: PistenBully

There’s A Big Green Machine At A Few U.S. Resorts

It’s More Than A Pretty Paint Job. It’s The World’s First Hybrid Snow Groomer. On the outside, it looks pretty much like all the others in a resort’s fleet. It has a fierce-looking blade up front, a cab in the middle, and a corduroy-making tiller behind. What’s “under the hood” makes the green groomer special. The PistenBully 600 E+ is[Read More…]

by March 4, 2020 1 comment Features
Nose cone fashion statement? Credit: Harriet Wallis

Recipes For Toes And Nose

[Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com is asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.] Support SeniorsSkiing.com by clicking here. ______________________________________________________ Nifty Tricks For Your Feet And Schnoz.[Read More…]

by February 26, 2020 5 comments Accessories
Ted, you do not want to meet this on your bluebird, outback ski day.

A Letter To A Very Stupid Nephew

[Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com is asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.] Support SeniorsSkiing.com by clicking here. ______________________________________________________ Avalanches Don’t Care Who You Are; They[Read More…]

by February 12, 2020 7 comments Features
Uncrowded Powder Mountain

Uncrowded Powder Mountain

[Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com is asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.] Support SeniorsSkiing.com by clicking here. ______________________________________________________ 500 Inches Of Snow, 8,000+ Acres, And[Read More…]

by February 5, 2020 9 comments West
Harriet's daughter bought her a cupcake helmet cover. Seriously, there are such things. Credit: Alta

Hip Hip Hooray! I Turned 80 Today!

Harriet Hits The Big Eight-O. [Editor Note: A big hug and salute to Harriet Wallis, snow sports journalist, who has written dozens of interesting and useful articles of these pages since SeniorsSkiing.com began in 2014. Happy Birthday, Harriet.  Many more and have a great year ahead!] I planned to celebrate my landmark 80th birthday by taking cookies to my aerobics[Read More…]

by January 13, 2020 8 comments Ski Heroes
"Take some runs with us," say Howard and Naimi. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Skiing Single: Five Best Words To Hear On The Slope

Life Happens. We Get Older And Our Spouses Pass Away. That’s When We Ski Alone, Often Really Alone. This is a true story, and a sad story. It’s just one of many similar stories. It might sound like sour grapes, but the goal is to offer a perspective on what it’s like to ski as a widow. The story has[Read More…]

by December 30, 2019 10 comments Features
Monster Traffic Jams Overwhelm Canyon Roads At Four Salt Lake Resorts Last Winter

Monster Traffic Jams Overwhelm Canyon Roads At Four Salt Lake Resorts Last Winter

Big Changes Are Underway This Season. Will They Help Solve The Problem? Flashback To Last Winter Bumper to bumper traffic creeps up Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons toward Alta and Snowbird, Brighton, and Solitude. But resort parking lots are already full. It’s mid-morning on a typical weekend. Rabid skiers ignore the parkies. And they ignore One Way signs. They drive[Read More…]

by December 2, 2019 6 comments Features
Archives Honors Ski Club And Life-Long Influencer

Archives Honors Ski Club And Life-Long Influencer

Alta Icon Alan Engen and Wasatch Mountain Club Earn Top Honors At Ski History gala Every year, the country’s largest ski history research organization, the Utah Ski Archives, awards honors to movers and shakers in the ski industry. This year the Wasatch Mountain Club earns the History Maker award for offering outdoor recreation for 100 years. It was founded with[Read More…]

by November 11, 2019 1 comment Features
102-Year Old Skier George Jedenoff’s Autobiography Published On Apple Books

102-Year Old Skier George Jedenoff’s Autobiography Published On Apple Books

It’s A Thriller, A History, A Love Story And More. Read It Free On Your Computer. George skis with enthusiasm. He cruises steep trails and shouts with glee when he jumps into powder. That’s George! Skiers at Alta flock to him for inspiration. “Age is just a number,” he says. “Don’t let it be a barrier.” His motto is: “Never[Read More…]

by October 9, 2019 4 comments Ski Heroes
Short Swings!

Short Swings!

“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…]

by July 26, 2019 1 comment Short Swings!
The parking lot is walled by snow. Where will they put the next storm's dump?  Credit: Harriet Wallis

A Banner Winter Through The Camera Of An Average Skier

Harriet’s Album Of Deep, Deep Snow Pics At Brighton. At my home resort Brighton, the snowfall has topped 500 inches—about 41 feet—and the snow keeps coming. Brighton is a down home, low key resort near Salt Lake City that’s favored by families and snowboarders. Plentiful snow is crucial because It’s our drinking water supply, and there have been several years[Read More…]

by April 1, 2019 7 comments West
George Jedenoff: 101!

George Jedenoff: 101!

[Editor Note: As the new year begins, SeniorsSkiing.com is again asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.  This year, we have a mix of[Read More…]

by February 14, 2019 2 comments Ski Heroes
World Championships 101

World Championships 101

[Editor Note: As the new year begins, SeniorsSkiing.com is again asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.  This year, we have a mix of[Read More…]

by February 6, 2019 2 comments West
Buried Alive In Deep Snow

Buried Alive In Deep Snow

Where’s Laurie? She’s Gone.   Here’s a lesson for vacationers and anyone else who skis in the West. Let me set the stage. A snowstorm dumped several feet of light, fluffy snow, and we were skiing at Brighton, UT, our home resort. We know every inch of the mountain—its steeps, its trees, its gentle slopes. Dreams are made of fresh[Read More…]

by January 24, 2019 3 comments Features
Alan Engen (l) and Jim Gaddis hold the Intermountain Ski Association Alpine Combined trophy. Each won the championship 3 times. c. 1959. Credit: Alan Engen Collection

Ski Champion Jim Gaddis: When Life Got Tough, He Surged Ahead

Advice Jim Followed: When You Come To A Fork In The Road, Take It. From the time Jim was a youngster, his single goal was to be an Olympic ski racer. He lived for that. He trained for that. But when he was shut out of the Olympics, it didn’t stop him. He generated ways to help others in the[Read More…]

by December 18, 2018 3 comments Snow Sports Leaders
Here's one Tom who made it past Thursday, glad to be trotting on the snow. Credit: SnoCountry

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 23)

Free (Or Almost Free) Skiing Directory, Skis For Seniors Recommendations, Chile Wrap, Trail Name Series, Ski History Gala, Skiing In Skirts. Happy Thanksgiving On The Snow!  For the first time in recent memory, there are plenty of lifts spinning in New England areas and in Colorado and other places in the West. The recent East Coast Nor’easter brought a snow[Read More…]

by November 23, 2018 0 comments Features
Honoree Howard Peterson (r) is warmly congratulated by Ski Archives Advisory Board members Tom Nielson (l) and Richard Hughes. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Olympic Visionary And Snow Safety Team Earn Honors At Ski History Gala  

Their Behind-The-Scenes Work Makes The Winter Sports We Love Even Better. Soft-spoken Howard Peterson grew up in a skiing family in Maine, became the ski director at New Hampshire’s Bretton Woods, and then moved west where he became the executive director of the U.S. Ski Team. He was already making an imprint on the ski industry. Then, while the 2002[Read More…]

by November 19, 2018 0 comments Features
Harriet looks for and usually finds a way. Credit: Laurie O'Connor

A Woman’s Guide To Sports As We Grow Older

Even Though You’re Not A Spring Chicken, You Can Still Do The Sports You Love. Don’t Let Your Past Hold You Back. To set the stage, I recently broke my wrist, so I’m sealed in a cast. Can’t drive. Can’t swim. Can’t this. Can’t that. Fortunately it’s temporary. Soon I’ll be back to doing the things I love. Meanwhile, I[Read More…]

by October 1, 2018 8 comments Features
Find the Bear. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Spring Is The Time To Play Games

Try This New Game: It’s A Cross Between Where’s Waldo And A Scavenger Hunt. I was skiing at Deer Valley, and I was taking photos. I’m always taking photos. It’s what I do. I never know when I’ll need a certain shot to illustrate a story. The next time I skied Deer Valley, I was with a friend. I showed[Read More…]

by April 2, 2018 1 comment West