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Aging Americans Ripe for Snow Sports

On any winter weekend 55-year-old snowboarder Mike Freeman is a fixture at Aspen’s mountains, either hiking Highlands Bowl to ride the 45-plus-degree steeps, launching off rocks or sliding rails in Buttermilk’s terrain park. He wears the latest Burton gear, listens to an iPod and shames riders half his age. “It’s so much friggin’ fun! I even got an X-box,” admits the father of a 31-year-old daughter. “Snowboarding keeps you young.”

At 56, Jim Weede was just trying to keep up with his youngsters. “When my daughters and grandson started taking ski vacations in Colorado, I figured it was time to join them. When I offered to pay for the condo, they let me,” says Weede, now 59, who takes at least one ski trip a year with his family.

Skiing and snowboarding are life-long activities, largely because there is so much variety today. Beginners find non-intimidating gear, terrain and teaching methods that virtually guarantee they’ll be making turns in a day. New chairlifts and gondolas even make it easy to get to the top. Intermediates encounter performance products and learning styles that accelerate their abilities and push past plateaus. Advanced enthusiasts face freeskiing, terrain parks, telemark skiing and resorts opening lift-access extreme terrain to challenge their honed skills and thrills. Because of the diversity, extended families can play together on the mountain, and age is no barrier to having fun. According to the National Sporting Goods Association, alpine skiers aged 45 to 74 increased in numbers from about 1.1 million to 1.3 million between 2002 and 2003.

“We have a way to spend family time that everyone enjoys,” says Weede. “Granted some of them are skiing backwards to keep my pace, and the snowboarders take off into the trees along the way, but we can all ski together. Now I’m calling them wondering where we’re skiing this year.”

Sheila Dierks, a 61-year old publisher in Boulder, Colo., used skiing and snowboarding to overcome life-long fears and beliefs that girls can’t do certain physical things, and to stay young and active for her kids. Ten years ago, she learned to ski and two years ago she started snowboarding. “A huge driving force was being more afraid of my youngest son having a worn-out, used-up mom more than of falling down the mountain.”

After seeing peers stuck in their skiing, Daphne Chick, a 57-year-old Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) certified ski instructor at Monarch Ski and Snowboard Area, started the Monarch Masters program to teach old dogs new tricks.

“One of the great misnomers is that when you’re this age you can’t launch out and do new things,” says Chick. “In fact, you can overcome boredom, super-charge your skiing, advance your skills, empower yourself and have more fun at any age.”

Monarch’s master’s program meets weekly to aid 50-year-old-plus skiers in having more fun on snow. The group breaks into groups based on ability levels where skiers learn new tricks and techniques, make friends, breathe fresh air, take in scenic views, and ski.

“The best part is teaching someone a technique that they can add to their toolbox that allows them to ski new terrain successfully and safely,” says Chick. “They end up comfortably skiing runs they wouldn’t have otherwise and it opens up more of the mountain for them to play on.”

Shaped skis and modern snowboards encourage turning with less effort on the part of the driver. Improved technical clothing keeps you comfortably warm and dry in cold, snowy weather. Modern teaching techniques debunk the Austrian ski racer whose only tip was “Bend zee knees!” by focusing on individual, experiential learning. Resorts opening new terrain including steeps, chutes, trees and park and pipe features and exceptional instructors capable of taking them there beckon athletes who have been skiing or riding all their lives. Professional instructors at all levels help skiers of all ages step up their on-snow skills, prevent injuries, dispel fears and amplify enjoyment.

“Having never been on skis before, I had the sense to take a lesson rather than let my kids teach me how to ski,” says Weede. “By the third day, I was skiing from the top of the mountain with my daughter.”

Dierks agreed that instruction was key. “The big breakthrough for me was Women’s Wednesdays at Eldora in Colorado. All of the sudden there were women who understood and taught women superbly, and built confidence as well as improved skiing ability.”

It’s never too late. In fact, many resorts offer free passes to skiers and riders over age 70.

As Abraham Lincoln advised, “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

Courtesy of ARA Content

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