Warren Miller’s Latest, Skis For Senior Recommendations, Rent Your Ski House, COVID Rules, Sun Valley XC, Mystery Instructor, Early Visitor Question.
November 7 marks the Eastern premiere of the new Warren Miller ski-a-rama movie, Future Retro. This year, the crew of extreme skier-athletes and videographers tackle remote mountain settings in Antarctica, Iceland, Alaska, Montana, Switzerland, and more, all blue sky, magnificent vistas, and incredible skiing marked by flips, chute-running, and dare-devilry.
For many years, the arrival of the new Warren Miller movie has marked the official beginning of the ski season. The routine usually is: watch Warren’s latest, head to the November ski shows, start gathering your gear, wait for the first flakes, and make plans for your first outing. It’s a classic calendar marker, like September is back to school, and July is the beginning of summer.
Streaming on three different nights in three different regions of North America, Warren Miller’s 71st feature film will premiere on the East Coast on Saturday, November 7th, Mountain/Central regions on Saturday, November 14th, and on the West Coast on Saturday, November 21st. Each event features regional sponsors and unique prize giveaways. Each ticket includes deals, prize entries and the live event for up to four people. The trailer is below. And Click Here to order tickets for the virtual tour.
But here’s a thought. When we first went to ski movies, probably back in the late 60s, we were enchanted and lured into the sport by a distinctly different kind of Warren Miller film. The characteristic features then, we recall, were beautiful slow motion shots of skiers carving down slopes or doing ballet-like flips with grace, rhythm, and a lightness that made it look easy, accessible, and enticing. Sure, many Warren Miller films also featured hokey jokes and silly skiing, but there were always those slo-mos that were beautiful. We thought we could see ourselves doing those moves. Well, maybe not the flips, but the graceful turns, sure.
Clearly, contemporary ski films are emphasizing the other end of the thrill spectrum: More edgy, athletic, and dangerous-looking skiing. Compare this trailer from Warren Miller’s 1972 film Winter People to this year’s Future Retro. Notice the difference? If you think of these films as recruiting tools for the sport of alpine skiing, which one appeals to the average Joe or Jane who came to the flick to see what skiing was all about. Could they see themselves straight-lining a narrow, rock-bound chute in the back of the beyond?
Okay, if you’re an aficionado and have been doing this for a long time, the extreme skiing films are eye candy and a psych-up tool for the season. But does the skiing they present appeal to the curious neophyte? What do you think?
This Week.
The latest crop of Ski for Seniors recommendations is available. Created with realskier.com, the list includes a variety of ski types. For us guys and gals, it’s a good place to start the search for new boards. Bear in mind, inventory might be short this season so check around.
Correspondent Tamsin Venn summarizes the restrictions and constraints facing Alpine skiers at resorts this season. You may have heard this information before, but it’s important stuff. Know before you go, well before you go.
Correspondent Jonathan Wiesel reports on a glamor spot for Nordic Skiing, Sun Valley’s Nordic Center. Consider cross-country skiing a viable and accessible alternative this year. As we are learning, interest in the sport is spiking. What better place to give it a try than Sun Valley? It’s naturally socially distanced, healthy, outdoors, and all that beautiful scenery.
This week’s Question For You asks those readers who have already visited an early-opening resort to report their experience. We are all facing unknown circumstances and advice from the first wave of senior skiers will be helpful to all of our readers.
Contributor Steve Bell offers his advice on how to rent a portion of your ski house. It’s an interesting idea that will definitely help pay the mortgage, especially if you’re in a popular area for both winter and summer activities. This is the first of a series of articles on finding and operating a rental property in your own ski house.
Finally, this week’s Mystery Glimpse features a photograph of one of our ski idols as a very young man. A noted instructor, and pioneer in the teaching of the sport, this person is a celebrity in the ski industry. And Happy Birthday to him. We also reveal the identity of the flying saucer-like gondola from Mt. Snow.
Thanks for reading SeniorsSkiing.com. Tell your friends, please, and be careful out there. Remember there are more of us every day and we aren’t going away.
I first saw ski movies in my High School auditorium hosted by John Jay, live, with turn tables. What I appreciated most was his sense of humor. He captured the difficulty and challenge of learning through peoples’ failed attempts and close approximations. At the center of it was not a sense of laughing at the attempts but appreciating just how difficult it was to approximate a beautifully graceful Stein Erickson turn. Today’s ski movies are spectacular eye candy and unapproachable to the every day enthusiast. Better to sniff out some local legends, great snow maker/groomers, selfish acts of giving and some fine skiing.
Sadly, my husband and I call the newer Warren Miller films “Jumping Off Cliffs and Skiing Down Walls” and find them totally boring and uninteresing, as they are so far removed from any semblance of anything a normal skier could (or would want to) do. We miss the humility and self-deprecating humor of the “originals”. Maybe it’s because we’re so old now (80 and 87 and still skiing for two months annually).