Post Tagged with: "senior skier"

Alta's Smiling Rock

Short Swings!

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…]

The Year in Review

The Year in Review

El Nino, Stay South. La Nina, Go North. If you haven’t already done so, it’s close to the time when the skis and snowboards get tucked away for summer hibernation.  Between Covid-19 restrictions, National Forest leases, and Old Man Winter calling it quits prematurely in much of North America, forces have conspired to end the season for the majority of[Read More…]

by April 14, 2021 7 comments Skiing Weatherman
Anyone Lose A Moriarity Hat 35 Years Ago At Beaver Creek?

Anyone Lose A Moriarity Hat 35 Years Ago At Beaver Creek?

We Have It For You.   Here’s a note from Shelley Canalia, a reader, who has come into possession of this old hat with numerous pins from resorts and events. My brother is Anthony Isham West. Great guy, comes from a Nordic ski family on his Father’s side. In 1985-86 he was working at Beaver Creek in Vail. He found[Read More…]

by April 12, 2021 10 comments Remember When?
La Parva, Chile, sunset through the icicles. Credit: Casey Earle

Look Ahead: Despite Challenges, Chilean Resorts Are Preparing

Areas’ Marketing Campaigns Are In Full Swing, But Will The Weather Cooperate? For 2020, the ski season revolved around the multiple ills Chile has been suffering, including the ongoing drought that affected the skiing. This year would seem to be a continuation of those ills, including social and political unrest, economic suffering, and plague. In spite of all that, last[Read More…]

by April 12, 2021 1 comment International
Ski resorts took COVID compliance seriously, allowing the season to happen. Credit: Pat McCloskeu

Look Back: US Season Wrap

A Wide Lens View Of How Large And Small Resorts Managed To Deal With Restrictions And Constraints. [Editor Note: Pat McCloskey is a regular contributor to SeniorsSkiing.com.  This article first appeared in Chronicles of McCloskey.] First, let me say I was glad that we HAD a ski season. From changing my boots in the lot at Laurel Mountain to the[Read More…]

by April 12, 2021 2 comments Features
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (April 9)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (April 9)

Spot-That-Resort, Top To Bottom Telluride, Skiing Weatherman, Question: Buy Now?, Cycling Lessons, XCSkiResorts, Focus Mindset, Killington In Spring, Ski Club Prep In Oz. Emily Dickinson said: “A little Madness in the Spring / Is wholesome even for the King.”  So here’s a little quiz that might drive you a little nuts. See how you do in this exercise in pattern[Read More…]

by April 9, 2021 1 comment Features
Skiing Weatherman: West Still Strong, East Hanging In

Skiing Weatherman: West Still Strong, East Hanging In

Some Powder. Trail Counts Good. The weather pattern that dominated the month of March in the eastern half of the country has continued right into April…unfortunately.  I communicated with a resort manager in Vermont last week and found out that the mountain, which has a high base elevation…had received exactly one inch of snow last month.  One %#$$@*& inch!  A[Read More…]

by April 8, 2021 0 comments Skiing Weatherman
Telluride has trails for everyone from beginners to expert. And it is certainly less crowded than the resort that starts with V.

Top To Bottom: Telluride

Here’s A View Of A Quad-Busting Run At A High-Altitude Colorado Classic. Our Vicarious Vacation series heads west to the major destination resort with a Victorian mining town heritage and lots of mountain to ski. At 8,750, the town sits at the base of mountains that range to 11,000 feet, making some of the highest, longest ski runs in North[Read More…]

by April 8, 2021 5 comments West
Question For You: Buy Now Or Wait?

Question For You: Buy Now Or Wait?

To Buy Or Not To Buy (Yet): That Is The Question. It should be clear by now that if you intend to ski more than two or three times a season at mid-large resort, a season pass is required. Basically, walk-up tickets are major resorts are in the $15o to $200+ range which is fine if you have limited interest,[Read More…]

by April 6, 2021 23 comments Features
Trek Navigator allows a comfortable, upright riding position. A fat seat helps.

Three Bicycling Lessons Relearned

Reflection On The Past Before Starting This Year’s Biking Season. With gyms closed to Covid, way back in August 2020, I started riding my bicycle five days a week as a way to get ready for the ski season. I live in North Texas where the terrain is relatively flat. We don’t have hills or mountains, we have rises. I[Read More…]

by April 6, 2021 8 comments Features
Ski Coach Bob Trueman (r) puts emphasis on the mental aspects of skiing.

Add Insult, Avoid Injury

“Your Problem Is, You Don’t Know What You’re Doing”. In modern times this sentence wouldn’t score well on the “how to make friends” scale. And yet it is in reality very informative. You just have to look at the real meanings of the words used, and not the colloquial inference. In fact, from the view point of performance enhancement it[Read More…]

by April 5, 2021 6 comments Ask An Expert
Spring Skiing At Killington

Spring Skiing At Killington

Here’s Another Don Burch Video Capturing A Blue Bird Day At The Big K. Snapshot of perfect conditions on a beautiful day.

by April 5, 2021 4 comments East
Early snow at Gravbot Ski Club welcomes work party in Mt. Hotham. Credit: Dave Chambers

Ski Club Work Weekend In Oz

Before The Snow Flies, Members Gather For Work Party And Find A Reason To Talk Skiing. My road trip from Melbourne in my Skoda AWD has been a pleasant morning drive. With two and half hours peeling away quickly, the freeways were unusually devoid of cars today on this Friday in March. My mate Terry phones to ask me, “Is[Read More…]

by April 5, 2021 3 comments International
Sign of spring: Tuckerman Ravine, 1938. Credit: Mt. Washington

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (March 26)

Spring Is Here, Quitting Time? Corn or Mashed? Beech Top-to-Bottom, Diggins World Cup, Ski Art III, Skiing Weatherman. Spring: Time for renewal. Time for change. New directions. “It was such a spring day as breathes into a [person] an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes [them] stand motionless, looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out[Read More…]

by March 26, 2021 1 comment Features
Skiing Weatherman: West Strong, Last Call East

Skiing Weatherman: West Strong, Last Call East

Bluebird Days. Light Snow. The weather pattern hasn’t changed much in the past week as the jet stream set-up has continued to feature a cold trough over the western half of the country and a milder to warm ridge over the eastern half.  It has been another snowy week in the West, although amounts of fresh snow have been a[Read More…]

by March 25, 2021 2 comments Skiing Weatherman
Spring brings corn for a few precious hours. Credit: Jans

Corn Snow And Mashed Potatoes: Know The Difference.

One Fun, The Other Not So Much. We’re nearing that time of year in New England and the upper Midwest where the snow melts a little during the day and freezes at night. The repetitive process creates tiny balls of ice. In the morning, they’re rock hard but as the sun comes up, they melt a little and turn into[Read More…]

by March 23, 2021 7 comments Features
Skiing Weatherman: Season Rolls On in West, New Snow Scarce in East

Skiing Weatherman: Season Rolls On in West, New Snow Scarce in East

Fresh Snow in the Wasatch. Spring Conditions Reign East. This week’s message is quite simple: If you want fresh snow, head west.  If you enjoy spring skiing, the upper Midwest and East will sport those conditions much of the time through the end of the month.  That said, I do expect the East to turn a little colder early in[Read More…]

by March 18, 2021 1 comment Skiing Weatherman
Breckenridge lift line in Dec 2020 when the resort had "significantly reduced capacity."

Question For You: The Best Of The Virus Year?

One Year On, It Is Time For Reflection. This year of sudden shut down when everything about lives has changed has thrown a lot of plans out the window. While many readers have found a way to get out in the snow, others have given this season a bye, and still others have taken up alternative snow sports, like cross-country,[Read More…]

by March 18, 2021 16 comments Features
Snow In Literature: Cross Country Snow

Snow In Literature: Cross Country Snow

By Ernest Hemingway (This is an excerpt from the short story which appeared in the collection In Our Time (1927). To read the complete story, click here.) The funicular car bucked once more and then stopped.  It could not go farther, the snow drifted solidly across the track. The gale scouring the exposed surface of the mountain had swept the[Read More…]

by March 18, 2021 0 comments Features
Top-To-Bottom: Wildcat Polecat

Top-To-Bottom: Wildcat Polecat

Non-Stop, Two Mile Run on Polecat. Here’s the next in our Vicarious Vacation series: here’s a nice, calm run on the longest green trail in New Hampshire. Polecat runs from the top of Wildcat to the base, nice wide trails, mostly, taken at a leisurely pace. That’s Mount Washington on the horizon on the Tuckerman Ravine side. Spectacular bluebird day[Read More…]

by March 16, 2021 2 comments Features
Fifty-Five Years (So Far) of “The Greatest Snow on Earth”

Fifty-Five Years (So Far) of “The Greatest Snow on Earth”

Part Six: Jan and Judy Become Senior Skiers. We moved to Utah in 1966 when we were in our early thirties. We retired in 1996 in our early sixties, and now we are in our eighties, still skiing what is hyped as “The Greatest Snow on Earth.”  It’s a catchy slogan and mostly true. Many of our best skiing memories[Read More…]

by March 15, 2021 14 comments Features
Make More Tracks: Favorite Nordic Centers In Colorado

Make More Tracks: Favorite Nordic Centers In Colorado

Small Ranch Resorts And Large Scale Nordic Centers Span The State. [Editor Note: This article by Pete Wilson first appeared in The Nordic Approach.]  In this state of mile-high life, opportunities to elevate your outdoor activities abound. Taking a page from the book of their Alpine resort neighbors, these cross-country ski areas center their offerings around the spectacular peaks of the[Read More…]

by March 15, 2021 0 comments Make More Tracks, West
The Big K’s Ambassador Program

The Big K’s Ambassador Program

Ambassadors Help Create A Congenial Climate At Killington. As a huge ski area with several base areas and mountain peaks, finding one’s way around Killington can be a challenge. That’s where the green-jacketed Ambassadors come in, often saving the day by showing guests how to get where they want to go—or in some cases—avoid a too difficult or too flat[Read More…]

by March 15, 2021 5 comments Features, East
Sharing A Ski House: Seven Ways To Share Without Stress

Sharing A Ski House: Seven Ways To Share Without Stress

Setting Expectations And Providing Reminders Are Key For Sharing. When sharing a property with a club or friends and family, it’s important to establish a sustainable system for access, expenses, safety and maintenance. Time and effort invested in setting expectations will pay off in the long run. Here are seven ways to share without stress: 1. Commit to an arrangement[Read More…]

by March 15, 2021 0 comments Features
Alta closed on March 17, 2020. Abruptly.

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (March 12)

End Or Interim, Snow West, Cooler East, Vail Run, Jan’s Saga, Demo Tips, Ski Japan?, NW XC, Happy At Appi, Sharp Porcupine. We’ve been through quite a year. Last year at this time, we were hearing about and experiencing the abrupt closures of ski resorts all over the globe. Races, vacations, bookings cancelled. People just arrived to start vacations had[Read More…]

by March 12, 2021 1 comment Features