Post Tagged with: "senior skier"

70s Ski Testing: A New Series

70s Ski Testing: A New Series

This is the first in a series about Ski Magazine’s 1970s ski testing program called Ski Performance Prediction or SKIpp.  Its methodology combined engineering analysis as well as a structured series of on the snow maneuvers designed to bring out the best and worst of a ski under a variety of conditions. Part one of the series Determining How Skis[Read More…]

by January 2, 2019 0 comments Ski History
Stan Kosmider, field representative for The North Face, presented on “How to Dress for Cold Temperatures” at the Northeast Weather Summit at Stratton Mountain Resort in December. Credit: Martin Griff

Weird Weather: Rethinking Ski Clothes For A Fickle Climate

Let’s Review The Basics Of Layering To Deal With Changing Weather. Here in New England, temperatures swing high and low a lot lately, with 50-degree-plus spikes and heavy rains interposing snow squalls and blizzards. This winter seems hell-bent on convincing the last climate change denier that something weird is going on. Accurately assessing atmospheric conditions for a day on the[Read More…]

by January 1, 2019 7 comments Gear
Mystery Glimpse: Who’s Flyin’?

Mystery Glimpse: Who’s Flyin’?

Airborne Family Members. Who is airborne? Can you guess where?  Hint: We can’t tell you the name of the museum that contributed this picture. Know why? Last Week Only one reader got this one.  The enthusiastic boarder is Shannon Dunn-Downing, the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic snowboard medal with a halfpipe bronze in 1998. Shannon was the first woman[Read More…]

by January 1, 2019 4 comments Features
In Praise Of Ski-ing

In Praise Of Ski-ing

When this passage (below) from The Mountains of Youth (1925) by Arnold Lunn was published, “skiing” still had a hyphen and “ski” was both the singular and plural form. Lunn (1888-1974) invented downhill and slalom racing, introducing them when the sport was mostly jumping and nordic racing. Lunn was knighted in 1952 “. . . for services to British skiing.”[Read More…]

by December 31, 2018 2 comments Ski Heroes
Yikes, here come the Santas! Credit: EasternSlopes.com

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Dec. 21)

Last Minute Gift, Tell-Tale Hoar Frost, Jim Gaddis Profile, Mystery Boarder, Seasons Greetings. If you’re caught empty-handed and about to head to another senior ski friend’s party, consider ordering and instantly downloading a copy of Ray Conrad’s classic collection of ski songs, The Cotton-Pickin’ Lift Tower and Other Ski Songs. Ray wrote and recorded these songs ‘way back in the[Read More…]

by December 21, 2018 1 comment Features
Crystalline shoots are a sign of hoar frost. Credit: Hiller Hardie

Looking At Surface Hoar Frost

A Tell-Tale Sign To Watch For In Avalanche Country. As the weather in the Northeast has gradually become colder over the last few weeks, I have noticed the soil in my garden develops into crystalized patterns such as those in the picture below: Of course, as the weather starts to turn cooler, I naturally start to think about skiing. As[Read More…]

by December 19, 2018 4 comments Features
Mystery Glimpse: Woman Snow Boarder Winner

Mystery Glimpse: Woman Snow Boarder Winner

Who Is She? What Makes Her Special? A competitor, a snowboarder (obviously), a woman.  See if you can put these clues together. Once again, thanks to the Colorado Snowsport Museum in Vail, CO., for this contribution.  Put your guess in comments below. Last Week This artifact is a United States Forest Service avalanche control gun sight. It was used by[Read More…]

by December 18, 2018 3 comments Features
Note forward ankle bend. Credit: "32 Degrees"

Technique: The One Team Concept

No Matter What You Are Sliding On, Basic Athletic Principles Apply. When I was a boy, my dad knew a woman who was a former USGA Senior Amateur Champion from South Carolina named Carol Cudone.  She constantly reminded my dad to finish his golf swing with his “belly button to the ball.” Ultimately she was trying to get my dad[Read More…]

by December 12, 2018 5 comments Features
Credit: Colorado Snowsports Museum

Mystery Glimpse: What’s This Thingy?

Hint: It’s Government Issue. Thanks again to the Colorado Snowsports Museum in Vail, CO, for contributing this photo to our series. A special shout-out to curator Dana Mathios for picking some interesting relics and for providing answers to the “glimpse”. The collection at the Colorado Snowsports Museum tells the story of the explosive rise of skiing in the Colorado Rockies,[Read More…]

by December 11, 2018 6 comments Features
Gene Hackman and Robert Redford in "Downhill Racer" (1969). This heart throb loved to ski.

Guest Ski Tester

SKI Magazine Ski Testers Meet The Sundance Kid. Back in the early ‘70s, SKI Magazine (remember it?) developed a program called SKIpp that stood for “ski performance prediction” developed by the late John Perryman. He was a talented engineer who spent years in aerospace and worked with Howard Head at Head Ski Company. SKIpp had two parts, the laboratory analysis[Read More…]

by December 10, 2018 3 comments Remember When?
Turning off traction control to see how the Big Red Truck behaves. Credit: Martin Griff

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Dec. 7)

Weather Factoids, Driving School, PA Trail Names, Utah Poet, Special Birthday For Klaus. Busy week here at SeniorsSkiing.com.  We attended the Northeast Winter Weather Summit at Stratton Mountain, VT, and met with meteorologists, ski resort operators, and lots of journalists to discuss matters of mutual interest.  And we picked up some amazing fun facts from hanging around with some weather[Read More…]

by December 7, 2018 2 comments Features
Turning off traction control to see how the Big Red Truck behaves. Credit: Martin Griff

Winter Driving: Where’s Your Car’s TC Button?

An Eye-Opening Lesson From Team O’Neil Rally School About Spinning Tires And Traction Control In Snow. At this past week’s Northeast Winter Weather Summit held at Stratton Mountain, VT., we had a chance to do some driving, spinning, skidding, and generally driving like a cowboy home from the range on a controlled, enclosed test area with mixed conditions: gravel, ice,[Read More…]

by December 6, 2018 7 comments Features
Credit: Mike Roth

Trail Name Series: Doc Dempsey’s

A Wonderful Cartoon From Mike Roth, Ski Journalist From Albany. Mike writes and draws cartoons for the Albany Times-Union Ski Blog. This one is about Smuggler’s Notch’s Doc Dempsey’s run.

by December 6, 2018 1 comment East
See if you can spot Draufganger on Big Boulder's Trail Map.

Trail Name Series: Pennsylvania

Extrovert, Powder Puff, and The Elevator Spend a little time looking at resort maps and you’re sure to find some attention-grabbing trail names. When I looked at Pennsylvania resorts I found some beauties. Powder Puff and The Elevator at Jack Frost along with Extrovert at Blue Knob topped the list. Among the best is High Hopes also at Blue Knob.[Read More…]

by December 5, 2018 2 comments East
Alta. Credit: SkiUtah

Snow In Literature: Lesson #1

Utah Poet Offers Instruction And Advice For Beginners In Sonnet. The following loosely-rhymed sonnet is by Utah skier and writer Emma Lou Thayne (1924-2014). It appeared in her 1971 book Spaces in the Sage and was once printed on a ski poster sent nationwide to advertise Utah’s “Greatest Snow on Earth.” Thayne earned a master’s degree in creative writing from[Read More…]

by December 5, 2018 1 comment Nostalgia
Mystery Glimpse: Flying Racer

Mystery Glimpse: Flying Racer

Who Is The Airborne Skier? What’s His Story? Do You Know His Hometown? This week, we made the Mystery Glimpse a little more challenging.  Name this high flyer.  Tell us about him and (hint) how he met his unfortunate and untimely end. Okay that’s hard. Here’s another one of this celebrated personage. These photos come from the collection of the[Read More…]

by December 5, 2018 11 comments Features
Happo One is the largest resort in the Hakuba Valley with base areas serving the mountain. Credit: Hakuba.com

SeniorsSkiing Guide: Japan’s Hakuba Valley

A Senior’s Introduction To Some Of The Best Skiing In Japan. The Hakuba Valley sits three hours west of downtown Tokyo and boasts some of the best skiing in all of Asia. Host to the 1998 Winter Olympics, Hakuba offers a unique combination of diverse terrain spread out over 11 resorts, 12 meters of annual snowfall, world class facilities, and[Read More…]

by November 29, 2018 3 comments Resort Reviews, International
German POWs making shingles at Camp Hale, CO, circa 1943-46. Credit: Colorado SnowSports

Mystery Glimpse: Who’s Diligently At Work?

They’re Lucky To Be In The Mountains And Not Where They Were. This should be relatively easy.  Who are these chaps? What are they doing? Where are they doing it? When? Look closely. There are clues you can see. Thanks, again, to the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame for contributing this picture. The museum’s website has some well-researched[Read More…]

by November 28, 2018 3 comments Features
How did a ski silly ski song to the tune of a classic melody wind up on a Folkways record which became a classroom classic?

My Career As A Folk Singer

An Undergraduate’s Parody Ski Song Led To An Academic Achievement.     As an undergraduate at Michigan State University in the early 1950s I joined the ski club, and I learned, among other things (like how to kick turn), a bunch of ski songs. We sang them driving up to Caberfae resort near Cadillac and apres ski in a local[Read More…]

by November 26, 2018 4 comments Remember When?
Great friends, great memories. Credit: Pat McCloskey

Treasure Your Ski Buddies: A Tribute

Skiing Binds Friends Together; Don’t Skip A Trip. One of the great things about the sport of skiing is that it is a conduit for friendships.  There is nothing like the anticipation of the weekly get together with friends or the ski trip with pals that you have skied with for over 40 years.  There’s a buzz: the excitement, the[Read More…]

by November 26, 2018 7 comments Features
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
Chile 2018 Ski Season Wrap Up

Chile 2018 Ski Season Wrap Up

Finding Good Days In A Disappointing Snow Season In The Southern Hemisphere. The 2018 season started on time in June, after a serious drought, but sputtered out before it ever really got going. The Chilean Central Zone ended with a 54 percent precipitation deficit, despite ENSO-neutral conditions. For a ski area in Chile not to get to the Sept 18[Read More…]

by November 20, 2018 1 comment International
Trail Name Series: Michigan

Trail Name Series: Michigan

Idiot’s Delight, Fun Bubble and Crisis. [Editor Note: Last week, we launched Don Burch’s Trail Name series with a round-up of trail names from resorts in California.  This week, we move to Michigan. If you have some trail names that stick in your memory, please let us know in the comments section below.] Look at some resort maps and you’ll[Read More…]

by November 20, 2018 3 comments Features
Mystery Glimpse: Who’s Skiing In Skirts?

Mystery Glimpse: Who’s Skiing In Skirts?

It Looks Royally Uncomfortable. Here’s a picture from long ago. The woman on the right is the mystery lady. Who is she? You can probably guess the era from the skiing “costumes”. Probably foreign. Last hint: Think Scandinavia. This week’s picture was contributed by Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum & Heritage Center, in Decorah, IA.  The center has over 33,000 artifacts,[Read More…]

by November 19, 2018 3 comments Ski History
This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 16)

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Nov. 16)

Fifth Anniversary Party Bash Report, Revised Free Ski List, New Trail Name Series, Big Bell Mystery, November Poetry From Robert Frost. The Upper West side of Manhattan reverberated with the laughs and chatter of the SeniorsSkiing.com’s Fifth Anniversary Bash at E’s Bar and Grill last Wednesday.                     This Week We have[Read More…]

by November 16, 2018 0 comments Features