Alpine skiing - 24/25, any participants on SF?

A

againstthegrain

Senior Member
Location
Sun Valley, ID
Alpine skiing aka "downhill" is a sport that I've enjoyed now for about 50 years. It's also one of the chief reasons we live here in Sun Valley, ID. We are blessed to be able to get outdoors everyday and exercise in the winter. The hours of brilliant sun make the cold temps enjoyable. It's also about the only activity our family of 3 does together.

SV is not known for huge amounts of snow like the Sierra's or the Wasatch(Utah), or some other places, but we typically have cold temps and sun btwn storms.

Who else skis and where?

smile.jpg
 

As someone here a few years now, suspect we are the only two. EPIC Senior Tahoe Local Pass. Expect to get my first day in this season Tuesday at Kirkwood. Snow skiing in this era offers about the most visceral creature movement fun we humans might imagine. I tend to start slow as have not bothered to prepare much for this winter with exercise, so will gradually over my first few single days, ski into condition.

Rarely do seniors that have never skied try picking up the sport. Most middle aged folk tend to drop physical activities they enjoyed in younger years. Key is to not stop as in Use It or Lose it, because once one's body motor control and tissue degenerates, there is not much hope in rebuilding whatever back up like one can do when younger. For same reason, continue to backpack in summer, urban street walk all year, and freestyle dance during fall.

J-J-u_07-3222.jpg
 
David777: what is freestyle dance, specifically?

OP:

I personally prefer cross country skiing as I am too cowardly to downhill ski. I tore a left knee ACL playing volleyball and never want to tear another ligament again! Takes FOREVER to heal ligaments and muscles (pulled a hamstring once that took years šŸ˜­ to heal).

Was a high school track, and when I had to stop running two years ago I switched to two day on and one day off high intensity training (HIT). Really keeps us elders fit and in shape and at the proper blood sugar, blood pressure, weight, flexibility, et al. Plus the strength training. Use it or lose it is totally real. If I lay off more than five days...I know it.
 

I quit skiing about a dozen+ years ago. DH kept it up until his health made him unstable. Not worth taking a fall and breaking something. There are ski hills all over the southern half of BC. I doubt we could afford Whistler/Blackcomb anymore. A quick lookup suggests $300/day right now and itā€˜s likely higher in peak season.
 
Most Americans have always only pair danced dominant in our cultures. Here is a senior Fred Astair freestyle dancing with fluid skill at the Oscars at age 70. Go to the 3:30 minute point.

Yahoo Video Search

Tap dancers are almost always freestyle. Many of my dynamic movements are like his and other such dancers. Other freestyle dancers today are Hip Hop, Breakdancers, and twirling Grateful Dead fans.
 
Last edited:
I cross country skied and snowshoed in both Wisconsin and Nevada. I was in a bad car accident at 39 and have neck/back injuries so wasnā€™t about to take up downhill skiing.

I did take up hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains and really enjoyed it. At 70 I walk 3 miles at a fast pace daily. Keeping fit as long as I can is important to me. A friend of mine has been skiing here since she was 2. A year ago she broke her leg badly in a bunch of places and still isnā€™t back to normal.
 
Years ago I loved downhill skiing. I ā€˜ve been downhill skiing at blue mountain which was about hour from where we lived. Then I went skiing with western university students to montreale for a week. It was awesome. I went with a really good friend.

IMG_6980.jpeg
IMG_6979.jpeg
Now that Iā€™m older I prefer cross country skiing.
 
David777 said:
As someone here a few years now, suspect we are the only two. EPIC Senior Tahoe Local Pass. Expect to get my first day in this season Tuesday at Kirkwood. Snow skiing in this era offers about the most visceral creature movement fun we humans might imagine. I tend to start slow as have not bothered to prepare much for this winter with exercise, so will gradually over my first few single days, ski into condition.

Rarely do seniors that have never skied try picking up the sport. Most middle aged folk tend to drop physical activities they enjoyed in younger years. Key is to not stop as in Use It or Lose it, because once one's body motor control and tissue degenerates, there is not much hope in rebuilding whatever back up like one can do when younger. For same reason, continue to backpack in summer, urban street walk all year, and freestyle dance during fall.

View attachment 386868
Click to expand...
I'm guessing that picture is not recent since the moguls seem so widely spaced vs the short, knobby ones of the current day formed w short, shaped skis.

We have many, many old people skiing here in some cases on into their late 80's, and a few still winning local races in their early 80's. Some are still very fine skiers I seek out to imitate.

This year we are looking forward to the World Cup Finals in March when all the top skiers like Mikeala Shiffrin w a record 99 WC wins.

Here's a musical for your entertainment.

 
I have not been on snow skies since I left snow country. Those who know - close the grooves, reset the binding safety, wear jeans and a short top, shearing mitts. Know your doctor. Have fun. Run a range with a open fire torch at midnight. Have good furs to get places. Most important - know your guardian angel as there is no cell out there.
 
I used to LOVE downhill skiiing, but unfortunately my ex was not into it, and so I haven't been for years. We used to live in Nevada, only a few hours away from some great ski places in Utah, but we never went.

Now I live in one of the flattest states in the union. There is a small ski hill nearby. It's not great, but it's better than nothing. I managed to infect my two daughters with the ski bug, but my son never took to it.

I'm so envious of you, @againstthegrain, being in Sun Valley! I've heard the skiing there is fantastic.
 
KSav said:
I used to LOVE downhill skiiing, but unfortunately my ex was not into it, and so I haven't been for years. We used to live in Nevada, only a few hours away from some great ski places in Utah, but we never went.

Now I live in one of the flattest states in the union. There is a small ski hill nearby. It's not great, but it's better than nothing. I managed to infect my two daughters with the ski bug, but my son never took to it.

I'm so envious of you, @againstthegrain, being in Sun Valley! I've heard the skiing there is fantastic.
Click to expand...
Skiing is very good, but it's not Mammoth, Whistler, Jackson Hole or Alta by any means in terms of the mountain or amount of snow. We have it pretty good w excellent snowmaking and grooming. Many of the trees are dead from drought and various insects or dying so there is lots more tree, and glade skiing than ever.
 
This is the bunny hill with Bald Mtn in the background w trails visible.


dollar.jpg

They are getting Dollar Mtn ready to open this weekend. You can see snowmaking in progress and the perfectly groomed runs. Ski patrol was practicing w their sleds today. In the days prior to snowmaking there were no trees or shrubs on the mtn.
dollar 2.jpg
 

Attachments

  • dollar 2.jpg
    dollar 2.jpg
    109.9 KB · Views: 0
  • dollar.jpg
    dollar.jpg
    104.8 KB · Views: 0
againstthegrain said:
This is the bunny hill with Bald Mtn in the background w trails visible.




They are getting Dollar Mtn ready to open this weekend. You can see snowmaking in progress and the perfectly groomed runs. Ski patrol was practicing w their sleds today. In the days prior to snowmaking there were no trees or shrubs on the mtn.
Click to expand...
That looks fantastic!
 
Bailed on Tuesday given bony conditions with 2 weeks of dry weather firming surfaces as the incoming snow storm this week is now forecast to add 2 feet. I'm patient. Dollar Mtn looks fun.
 
David777 said:
Bailed on Tuesday given bony conditions with 2 weeks of dry weather firming surfaces as the incoming snow storm this week is now forecast to add 2 feet. I'm patient. Dollar Mtn looks fun.
Click to expand...
Let's hope it happens. Dollar Mtns main purpose is teaching the absolute beginner skier and boarder. It keeps the novices off the big hill and out of harms way. It can be fun powder skiing in that it doesn't draw the powder day mobs.
 
At one time in my life skiing was my biggest passion, and while I've had plenty of passions, none have been as intense as skiing, but it only lasted 30 years, when in my 50s I was carried off the hill in the toboggan. It wasn't a broken leg, but I lost a week's worth of work, and I decided it was time to hang it up because the fall I took was so unspectacular that I became vividly aware of my immortality.

Yes, I still miss it. My God, I had some wonderful days on the mountain. Excitement, contentment, and friendship. One thing that did start to bother me were the crowds. In the early years, I could find solitude on some of the runs, but the parking areas were becoming monstrously large, with a quarter mile hike in ski boots just to get to the ticket window. I dealt with those inconveniences for years, but they took their toll.

But back to the good memories. One day, midweek, at Schweitzer Basin, I had the whole place literally to myself. When I would get off the lift at the top of the mountain, they would stop the lift, and only start it up when I got down to the bottom of the hill. That was in the morning. In the afternoon, I shared the hill with some doctor from Sandpoint, but the lift was still stopped most of the time.

That was back in the days when everyone worked Monday through Friday, except for me. I was waiting for college classes to start. I slept in my car in the parking lot, and in the morning, I would go to the cafeteria, and the guys behind the counter would ask me if I was the one sleeping in my car in the empty lot. I said, "Yes that's me," and they would give me a free doughnut under the pretext that it was left over from the day before.
 
Schweitzer Basin and eastern Washington were our 2nd choice for a retirement home. Lots of snow, but lots of grey, cloudy skies as well. Northern Idaho has attracted many "extreme conservatives" from CA, WA and OR who've found a safe space among the militia's, racists, and retired LEO's that call N Idaho home.

The Epic and Icon ski passes have radically changed the ski industry leading to crowding every day, all season long. The single ski pass to 1 mtn and high daily ticket prices prevented people from visiting so no longer is it just 2 weeks around Christmas and New Years and Presidents Week that one needed to tolerate crowds, now it's seemingly packed all the time. Of course working from home and remote learning also sent us a deluge of new residents and skiers. Powder days are a complete chitshow.

I'm generally on the lift at the opening bell and seek the best snow and least people. Tomorrow it will be snowing all day so I'll probably go around 2pm to catch a couple hours of powder skiing. Hopefully it will be dumping so every run is on untracked powder - "free refills" on every run as they say

I do have fond memories of being on the mtn btwn Thanksgiving and Christmas w maybe 20 or 30 other skiers on a giant mountain.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top