A Reunion, Big White As A Role Model, A Forbidden Resort, Goodbye To A Mountain Pioneer, Remembering Spring Skiing.
Credit: Yvette Cardozo
Onwards to Spring! We hear the skiing in the West has never been better. Still more storms in the Sierra coming and the question, “When will it end?” must be raised. For some, never is an okay answer.
This week, in addition to noting the 105th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we have dipped into nostalgia. Most happily, we (i.e., this editor) bumped into our former boss from SKIING Magazine Doug Pfeiffer and his wife Ginny at the International Ski History Association Hall of Fame Induction ceremony at Stowe, VT, last weekend. Decades didn’t erase the memories we shared ever so briefly as the crowds mingled around us. It’s great to see the long arc of life events coming round again. Doug and Ginny, it was wonderful to say hello.
We have a two-part story about the Master’s Week program at Big White, Kelowna, BC. We feel this is an important pair of articles for two reasons. First, we want our readers to know that ski areas can and should develop senior-specific programs that will consistently attract seniors and help create a lasting community of friends. Second, we want to show ski area management that these kinds of programs, which have been popping up across North America, are, in fact, a low-cost, no-cost way to acknowledge and support a ski resort’s most loyal customers, the seniors who come back year after year. Thanks to correspondent Yvette Cardozo for looking at both the social and ski clinic elements of the program.
Utah-based Harriet Wallis reminiscences about spring skiing days in New England, a special time up there when snow season transitions to mud season, and Robert Frost poetry books come down from the shelf in the evening.
Many years ago, we skied in South Korea. It was an unusual experience. Pioneering could be a way to describe conditions and equipment back then. We are sure they’ve been upgraded since. Co-publisher Jon Weisberg notes that the North has joined the alpine ski business with a new resort. Could it be the One-Whose-Haircut-Can’t-Be-Mentioned wants to relive his college days in the Swiss Alps?
Finally, we remember Mary Anderson, co-founder of REI in 1938. Not many retail businesses last that long. Mary and her partners formed a cooperative that managed to survive swings in the economy and to this day appeals to mountain and outdoor enthusiasts.
Thanks to all and, this week, a special salute to our advertisers who are renewing for one more year of supporting SeniorsSkiing.com.
Next week, we’ll be profiling our two Advisory Council members who were inducted into the ISHA Hall of Fame, Bernie Weichsel and Gretchen Rous Besser. We’ll have a story about the glory of local areas by a new contributor and other surprises.
Remember folks, there are more of us every day, and we aren’t going away!
