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Tips for advanced skiers over 50 planning to ski until 80+
- Thread starter marzNC
- Start date
SueBobTexas
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Do you go to the gym? A good trainer can recommended exercises to strengthen weak areas.
marzNC
Angel Diva
In general, hamstrings are important for supporting knees. Learned that during knee rehab about a decade ago. Also worked with a personal trainer during pre-season for several years, with an emphasis on ski conditioning and knee support. Often we used the TRX.
You might get some ideas from my fitness blog for seniors. No ads or anything, just a way I could have a resource for my own use when I found useful YouTube videos or articles about ski conditioning in general.
Over 50 Fitness For Skiing Adventures
over50skifitness.blogspot.com
My daughter became a tele skier in middle school. She was already an advanced skier for alpine. Since I could use her tele boots, I took a lesson and fiddled around with tele a few times. For me, I'll stick to alpine after becoming an advanced skier after 55. Not up for working on new technique when I'm pushing 70.
marzNC
Angel Diva
Guess this goes with the idea that "age is just a number." This man's home mountain is Timberline in Oregon. He became a ski instructor a long time ago.
September 5, 2023
https://snowbrains.com/74-year-old-skis-every-month-for-41-straight-years/
" . . .
. . . When it comes to snowsports, Gordon “Gordo” Garlock, a long-time ski instructor at Timberline Lodge and Ski Area in Oregon has an amazing streak of consecutively skiing every month for 41 years and 3 months that is still active.
This epic streak began on June 13, 1982, and has provided many great life experiences and challenges throughout its duration, said 74-year-old Garlock. Any streak that lasts four decades is sure to have its ups and downs and Garlock acknowledged that there were times when he was not sure if it would continue. He attributes his good health to his days in High School and college when he competed in track and ran long-distance-race events to enable him to keep the streak going throughout the years. Garlock continued to remain active throughout his life by lifting weights and also swimming which he said he loves to do.
. . ."
September 5, 2023
https://snowbrains.com/74-year-old-skis-every-month-for-41-straight-years/
" . . .
. . . When it comes to snowsports, Gordon “Gordo” Garlock, a long-time ski instructor at Timberline Lodge and Ski Area in Oregon has an amazing streak of consecutively skiing every month for 41 years and 3 months that is still active.
This epic streak began on June 13, 1982, and has provided many great life experiences and challenges throughout its duration, said 74-year-old Garlock. Any streak that lasts four decades is sure to have its ups and downs and Garlock acknowledged that there were times when he was not sure if it would continue. He attributes his good health to his days in High School and college when he competed in track and ran long-distance-race events to enable him to keep the streak going throughout the years. Garlock continued to remain active throughout his life by lifting weights and also swimming which he said he loves to do.
. . ."
skibum4ever
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm 70 and until recently I thought I would ski until 80+.
But my osteoporosis diagnosis and my recent injury have me wondering. I hope that taking Prolia improves my bones. I will have had 4 shots by the time I'm due for my next bone density scan in June.
In the meantime I am exercising and dreaming about the coming ski season.
But my osteoporosis diagnosis and my recent injury have me wondering. I hope that taking Prolia improves my bones. I will have had 4 shots by the time I'm due for my next bone density scan in June.
In the meantime I am exercising and dreaming about the coming ski season.
AdkLynn
Certified Ski Diva
I hear you, sister! I’m 73, don’t have osteoporosis yet, but am accumulating minor ligament injuries. Also exercising, focusing on general health, because skiing is life! I’m also hedging my bets by engaging more in cross country skiing, bought a pair of really good snowshoes, started kicksledding, just to ensure that if I can’t downhill ski as often as I do now in the future, I will still be active and having fun! You will still be in the game!
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
marzNC
Angel Diva
The NY Times has an article about the folks still skiing advanced terrain in their 70s and 80s. The "Wild old Bunch" at Alta is featured. I chatted with a few of them last April when I was meeting up at Alf's mid-morning with a schoolmate who is over 80 now. She's a regular attendee at our school's alumni gathering at Alta Lodge in April. Her ski/travel buddy is in his 70s. While she sticks to groomers these days, he does not.
March 16, 2024
These Skiers Are Still Chasing Powder in Their 80s and 90s (Published 2024)
For the Wild old Bunch of Alta, Utah, getting older means more time for the mountain. And anyone over 80 skis free.
santacruz skier
Angel Diva
Wait until you ski with Caroline!!!
The NY Times has an article about the folks still skiing advanced terrain in their 70s and 80s. The "Wild old Bunch" at Alta is featured. I chatted with a few of them last April when I was meeting up at Alf's mid-morning with a schoolmate who is over 80 now. She's a regular attendee at our school's alumni gathering at Alta Lodge in April. Her ski/travel buddy is in his 70s. While she sticks to groomers these days, he does not.
March 16, 2024
These Skiers Are Still Chasing Powder in Their 80s and 90s (Published 2024)
For the Wild old Bunch of Alta, Utah, getting older means more time for the mountain. And anyone over 80 skis free.www.nytimes.com
Half the people I meet on the chairlift at Sun Valley are over 70. Many are over 80.
What stops many of my older friends is vision. They can't ski in any type of flat light or snow. So take care of your eyes! Other than that, many of my friends between 75 and 85 ski at least few runs almost every day. And they work out at the gym year round and do things like hike in the summers.
What stops many of my older friends is vision. They can't ski in any type of flat light or snow. So take care of your eyes! Other than that, many of my friends between 75 and 85 ski at least few runs almost every day. And they work out at the gym year round and do things like hike in the summers.
Unfortunately those drugs don't really help bone strength. They appear to by bone density tests but the density is all at the outer part of the bone and the inside is more brittle. Must better is Vit D+K, weight training, vibration plates, etc.
such an awesome article!
The NY Times has an article about the folks still skiing advanced terrain in their 70s and 80s. The "Wild old Bunch" at Alta is featured. I chatted with a few of them last April when I was meeting up at Alf's mid-morning with a schoolmate who is over 80 now. She's a regular attendee at our school's alumni gathering at Alta Lodge in April. Her ski/travel buddy is in his 70s. While she sticks to groomers these days, he does not.
March 16, 2024
These Skiers Are Still Chasing Powder in Their 80s and 90s (Published 2024)
For the Wild old Bunch of Alta, Utah, getting older means more time for the mountain. And anyone over 80 skis free.
Have any of you read this? It's from SeniorSkiing.com:
The aging process does weird things to the mind. We remember days of yesteryear winding down through moguls on a steep run all day, thinking it was fun. Or floating through knee-deep powder all day from when the lifts open until they close. Today, in my dotage, when confronted with a steep pitch full of knee-high, well-rounded moguls, I go around. Or, after two long runs through knee- or thigh-deep powder, my legs say we’re done for the day. The mind is willing, but the body says, “Hell no.”
Unfortunately, I don’t live near a ski area where I can ski seven days a week. Each year, I work hard to get in less good shape than the previous year. And, what trainers tell me, getting into good skiing shape gets harder with every coming year. The message is that you can’t beat Father Time.
So why ski? Given the image the marketing folks want to portray, if one is not blasting through the trees in deep powder, or bouncing through the moguls, or leaping off rocks, one right after the other, why do I ski?
Because I love it. At 78, my ego no longer needs to be fed by a run through knee- deep moguls or skiing fast down a double diamond. Instead, I enjoy making a round carved turn that controls my speed on any pitch. I now only ski on groomed runs no matter how steep and stay out of trails that look like a hockey rink, bumps and now, even glades unless they are wide open. Nor do I ski in soft, mushy, clumpy snow. So what?
Now I take my time, stopping more often. Each run is precious because it may be my last – not because of death, but because of injury. Like most senior skiers, I am most afraid of being injured by an out-of-control skier who is either stoned, inebriated, skiing
way too fast for the conditions, on a run well beyond his/her ability, or a combination of all the above.
My bones no longer break; they are more likely to shatter. A simple fracture that will heal in a 40-year-old body in a month or two may take major surgery and heal in six or more months if it ever does. So, yes, I am careful where and what I ski and in what
conditions.
I even find myself taking in the vistas around me. There’s not a photograph that does justice to the majesty of snow-covered mountains, whether in Vermont, California, New Mexico, British Columbia, Austria, or New Zealand. There’s nothing like breathing in the cold, crisp air while giving your thighs a breather and admiring the work of Mother Nature.
Double diamond, expert, intermediate, beginner, if it is groomed, I’m in. To me, the degree of difficulty of the trail is irrelevant.
My ego is in doing what I must to keep skiing for as long as Father Time allows. My ego is the simple act of being able to turn a pair of skis and carve a turn in any condition I choose.
My ego is in the fact that I am skiing, not what I am skiing.
My Ego As A Senior Skier
Marc LiebmanThe aging process does weird things to the mind. We remember days of yesteryear winding down through moguls on a steep run all day, thinking it was fun. Or floating through knee-deep powder all day from when the lifts open until they close. Today, in my dotage, when confronted with a steep pitch full of knee-high, well-rounded moguls, I go around. Or, after two long runs through knee- or thigh-deep powder, my legs say we’re done for the day. The mind is willing, but the body says, “Hell no.”
Unfortunately, I don’t live near a ski area where I can ski seven days a week. Each year, I work hard to get in less good shape than the previous year. And, what trainers tell me, getting into good skiing shape gets harder with every coming year. The message is that you can’t beat Father Time.
So why ski? Given the image the marketing folks want to portray, if one is not blasting through the trees in deep powder, or bouncing through the moguls, or leaping off rocks, one right after the other, why do I ski?
Because I love it. At 78, my ego no longer needs to be fed by a run through knee- deep moguls or skiing fast down a double diamond. Instead, I enjoy making a round carved turn that controls my speed on any pitch. I now only ski on groomed runs no matter how steep and stay out of trails that look like a hockey rink, bumps and now, even glades unless they are wide open. Nor do I ski in soft, mushy, clumpy snow. So what?
Now I take my time, stopping more often. Each run is precious because it may be my last – not because of death, but because of injury. Like most senior skiers, I am most afraid of being injured by an out-of-control skier who is either stoned, inebriated, skiing
way too fast for the conditions, on a run well beyond his/her ability, or a combination of all the above.
My bones no longer break; they are more likely to shatter. A simple fracture that will heal in a 40-year-old body in a month or two may take major surgery and heal in six or more months if it ever does. So, yes, I am careful where and what I ski and in what
conditions.
I even find myself taking in the vistas around me. There’s not a photograph that does justice to the majesty of snow-covered mountains, whether in Vermont, California, New Mexico, British Columbia, Austria, or New Zealand. There’s nothing like breathing in the cold, crisp air while giving your thighs a breather and admiring the work of Mother Nature.
Double diamond, expert, intermediate, beginner, if it is groomed, I’m in. To me, the degree of difficulty of the trail is irrelevant.
My ego is in doing what I must to keep skiing for as long as Father Time allows. My ego is the simple act of being able to turn a pair of skis and carve a turn in any condition I choose.
My ego is in the fact that I am skiing, not what I am skiing.
MaineSkiLady
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
^^^ I read it (member), I bookmarked it, I embrace it. And I'm not far behind him in years (alas).
TrixieRuby
Certified Ski Diva
this is beautiful...and at the age of 69, is exactly how I feel. Every run is beautiful, and a gift...I love carving turns on groomed trails, taking in the views from the summit, biting into a great sandwich at lunchtime with truly earned hunger, and zooming with my friends. I'll be skiing for as long as I can!
That was a fun article!!! I retired last fall and I’ve celebrated this winter by doing 3 ski camps! (Alta Lodge and Jackson Steep & Deep + Lady Shred—-all were terrific).
The NY Times has an article about the folks still skiing advanced terrain in their 70s and 80s. The "Wild old Bunch" at Alta is featured. I chatted with a few of them last April when I was meeting up at Alf's mid-morning with a schoolmate who is over 80 now. She's a regular attendee at our school's alumni gathering at Alta Lodge in April. Her ski/travel buddy is in his 70s. While she sticks to groomers these days, he does not.
March 16, 2024
These Skiers Are Still Chasing Powder in Their 80s and 90s (Published 2024)
For the Wild old Bunch of Alta, Utah, getting older means more time for the mountain. And anyone over 80 skis free.
My biggest takeaway is it’s all about control. Sounds trite, but really, take a look around and you will quickly notice that there are loads of skiers who toggle between in/out of control. Control + flow = ski the rest of your life!
marzNC
Angel Diva
Junior Bounous is still skiing . . . at age 98.
April 3, 2023
www.cityweekly.net
" . . .
"He skis better than he walks," Steve Bounous [Junior's son] says. "Get him on skis, and he's 50 years old again."
. . ."
April 3, 2023
At 98, skiing legend Junior Bounous is still carving up the powder with a smile.
Singing Down the Slopes
"He skis better than he walks," Steve Bounous [Junior's son] says. "Get him on skis, and he's 50 years old again."
. . ."
dloveski
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
COVID took a toll (in that we missed so many days on the mountain).and at our ages (70+ and 80+ DH), it made a difference the next season.
My goals have changed, I'm enjoying the holistic aspects of skiing, less need to ski all day and all runs:
--I love to ski with my grandkids--the 13 years old is a tree, powder, bump skier and it's fun to ski with him). And the younger ones like to play in the trees and get hot chocolate and just ski with granny.
--I go for the good snow, ski some powder and go home early, no longer can or want to stay all day.
--I am happy to focus on technical aspects, less on conquering the hill (DH is my ski mentor/nagger) though I accept I will never have his form
--I go with gal pals and enjoy catching up on life updates, skiing is just our social vehicle.
I plan to ski long. I still like some challenges---but have dialed back the adrenaline rushes of Honeycomb traverse adventures of my 60s.
My goals have changed, I'm enjoying the holistic aspects of skiing, less need to ski all day and all runs:
--I love to ski with my grandkids--the 13 years old is a tree, powder, bump skier and it's fun to ski with him). And the younger ones like to play in the trees and get hot chocolate and just ski with granny.
--I go for the good snow, ski some powder and go home early, no longer can or want to stay all day.
--I am happy to focus on technical aspects, less on conquering the hill (DH is my ski mentor/nagger) though I accept I will never have his form
--I go with gal pals and enjoy catching up on life updates, skiing is just our social vehicle.
I plan to ski long. I still like some challenges---but have dialed back the adrenaline rushes of Honeycomb traverse adventures of my 60s.
marzNC
Angel Diva
A bit of inspiration from the Grey Wolf Ski Club for Wolf Creek Ski Area in southeast Colorado. It's from their newsletter. One of the older members is 95 and still skiing. The club has over 1000 members, and not all of them are locals. Membership dues are $15 and the qualifying age is 65+.
April 2024
From an article about Will James' 95th birthday party held mid-March, 2024:
April 2024
From an article about Will James' 95th birthday party held mid-March, 2024:
