Off To The OR/SIA Show, Mystery Tennis Player, Questions To Find The Right Instructor, Pat’s Peak For Hobbits, A Very Successful Senior Ski Club.
SeniorsSkiing.com co-publishers are heading out from various starting points to the great, big Outdoor Retailer and Snow Show in Denver’s gigantic Colorado Convention Center. We will be there to look for stories, product ideas for our readers, and to meet and schmooze with some industry friends. Our objective is to embed the message that the senior snow sports demographic is an unpolished jewel and to promote our growing online magazine.
This trade show combines the OR Show with Ski Industries America (SIA), and it looks like a mammoth undertaking. The list of exhibitors goes from Adventure Travel to Yoga/Pilates with just about every other outdoor activity to can think of in between. This promises to be a learning experience for us with demos, educational seminars, fashion shows, and special exhibits all revolving around active life style products and services. It’s a chance for vendors to show off their new products to buyers from retail organizations of all kinds and sizes.
We are extremely impressed with the level of planning and tools provided to exhibitors, buyers and media. There are tools to help filter exhibitors whose products/services you want to see, maps which plot those interest points, direct email channels to vendors and lots and lots of public relations communications from the thousands of vendors and show promoters.
The whole industry has come a long way from the crowded hotel corridors we remember from the venerable Doc Desroches SIA shows of yore. In fact, we remember meeting the great mountain climber Jim Whittaker, the first American to climb Mount Everest, at the SIA Show in Chicago in 1970. Yes, it was a narrow, crowded corridor, so narrow in fact that Jim decided to proceed down the passageway with his hands on one wall and his feet on the other. True story. We also shook hands with a very sun tanned Stein Erickson at the Chicago show. SIA was the ski industry trade show that rotated through New York, Chicago and LA shows for many years.
So, we are ready, we’ve planned who we want to see and what we’re looking for. So wish us luck, and we’ll report on progress next week.
Ski The World: Audi Hires Candide Thovex To Ski On Anything
Here’s a commercial from Audi Quattro that will get your attention. The “Flying Frenchman” Candide Thovex, extreme athlete, stuntman, adventurer, completely rips it up on grass, sand, rock, you name it. This is for those of you who are still awaiting a decent base out there. It’s worth the five minutes.
This Week
A new Mystery Glimpse appears with a challenging photo of a ski racing notable from yesteryear. Can you guess who she is? Thanks to the United States Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame for contributing this week’s picture.
Only a few readers rose to last week’s stuffed animal challenge. See what significant event the rabbit, bear, and coyote represented.
Marc Liebman continues his advice on taking a ski lesson. This week, he gives us five questions to ask an instructor before you sign up. You may not be surprised to learn there is no universal, system-wide, standardized PSIA curriculum for teaching seniors. We know there are people who are very much interested in creating and promoting this idea. Seems like a long time coming. If there was a senior-focused curriculum, we bet there would be more lapsed senior skiers coming back to snowsports of all kinds, not just Alpine skiing.
Sk clubs are a mecca for senior skiers. In fact, you can find a ski club to join just by clicking through to the National Ski Council Federation. Just click Find Ski Buddies Near You on the top menu box. Correspondent John Farley brings us a report of a mountain-based ski club that sounds like it has a hardy mix of skiing and socializing. They call themselves the Gray Wolves Ski Club, and they are based at Wolf Creek Ski Area in Colorado. If you are looking for a model ski club to emulate, there are some ideas here for you.
Finally, correspondent Tamsin Venn shows us a really fine family-oriented ski area in New Hampshire that is the archetype senior-friendly area. Moderate-sized and modest facilities, Pat’s Peak has been a landmark since the early 60s. And check out the retro-style base lodge. What more do you really need, anyway?
That’s it. We’re off to Denver. In fact, we’ll be there when you read this! Thank you for reading SeniorsSkiing.com, and you know there are more of us every day, and we aren’t going away.
