Is skiing an old person’s sport?
Young snowboarders were once considered the saviors of the ski industry. Without that influx of stoked shredders (the reasoning went), the mountains would have reverted to empty, windswept wastelands. Abandoned chairlifts rusting in the thin mountain air. The Boomers who had built the industry in the 60s and 70s were now too old and feeble....
If you love America, go skiing.
Remember after 9/11, when George Bush advised America to go shopping? For the good of the country and the economy. Because purchasing power is power, after all. And power should be exercised. Against the terorists. (Sidebar: You don’t need Don Draper to sell this message; most Americans accepted it intuitively. If your way of...
The season’s first ski story
New Zealand’s Otago Daily Times just ran a story about an adaptive ski program for disabled skiers and snowboarders, which is a pleasing piece to read if you like the idea of disabled people enjoying all the good things in life, and if you’re looking ahead to winter and are happy to see a ski...
Summer’s here and the time is right for dreaming about skiing
Included in the news that Colorado’s Echo Mountain was up for sale—we can’t give you a price because it’s going to be auctioned—was this nugget: the state has 140 abandoned ski areas. Turns out these ghost resorts have their own website…as do ghost resorts in other states, including Alaska and New Hampshire. And a book....
Vintage ski photos prompt nostalgia for a time we never knew
Some days skiing—especially resort skiing—seems to have no more connection to the raw mountain than a Carnival cruise ship has to the sea. If you snap into your bindings in hopes of engaging nature, you will be disappointed. The hills are mostly manicured and groomed, rendered comfortable and convenient and predictable. Most folks like...
This week, media find old skiers fascinating
We have a new favorite line of the week, from a story in the Edmonton Journal on octogenarian skiers: during the photo shoot for the story, 87-year-old Hanna Andersen “thinks about doing a jump, something she hasn’t done since she was 85….”* Andersen is one of 20 over-80 skiers in Edmonton’s 400-member Rocky Mountain...
Paraphernalia redux
We have become a nostalgic lot. This morning I was Googling, recollecting the back-of-the-calf supports that were slid into or otherwise added to old ski boots. All I came up with were Jet Stix, the lame supports that losers strapped to their Rosemount boots. (Who used Rosemount boots anyway?) I...
Rainer Hertrich takes a break: The run of runs comes to an end
It’s over. Rainer Hertrich, the 50-year-old madman who had skied every day for 2,993 consecutive days, has stopped. The run of runs that started in 2003 is at an end, which means that Hertrich can finally claim his Guinness record for “Accumulated Vertical Descent in Consecutive Days on Telemark Gear.” ESPN...
Thanks, Echo Mountain, for the 12 years of free skiing
Skiing is expensive and we are cheap, so we invest a certain amount of time tracking discounts, deals and freebies accorded gray-bearded customers by ski resorts around the country. (We also notice when someone dramatically increases the prices on olds.) Thankfully, online ski magazine First Tracks!! has put together a...
So much of a good thing: skiing 365 days a year for eight years
There’s a point where the guy with an awesome idea becomes the guy with the epic ambition. And another point where his epic ambition becomes his white whale, his Daisy Buchanan, his driving and terrifying obsession. We’re not sure where Rainer Hertrich lands on that spectrum. At the moment,...
Colorado’s Powderhorn Ski Resort tweaks the cost of its senior pass. By 400 percent.
The operators of Colorado’s Powerhorn Ski Resort used to offer older skiers (those over 70) a season pass for $75, which was ridiculously cheap. For the coming season, the price was bumped up…if 400 percent constitutes a bump. The new price will be $329 (although 75-year-olds can still...
Is it too early in the season to write about old people skiing?
No, it is not. We’ve seen some interesting changes in gear (which we’ll address in the near future) but for now we’re paying attention to the ever-escalating cost of senior tickets. Not that many years ago, ski hills would give a free ticket to any...
