On Wednesday, we complained about the poor communication from Vail Mountain concerning last weekend’s hideous lift lines; shortly thereafter, we got a statement from Beth Howard, the resort’s chief operating officer. It was too long a’coming but it did cover the bases: we’re sorry; here’s what happened; not our fault; safety first; we’ll try to...
Let’s begin by noting what was all over the news in recent days: the lift lines at Vail were appalling last weekend. Does it feel a little good to see a horde of wealth-signaling skiers at America’s most wealth-signaling resort being forced to line up like refugees fleeing a war zone? No, no, it shouldn’t....
Ski resorts are expensive to operate. Leases, insurance, lift maintenance, lift-operator maintenance, those groomers high up on the mountain with their lonely headlights casting shadows across steep runs as you stumble back from dinner and drinks. When you factor in all that’s required to keep everyone safe and happy, those shockingly dear lift tickets are...
Most ski villages—that space at the base as you approach the lifts—can be divided into three starkly different subgroups: places that look like a municipal building with swanky pretensions, places that look like they were a sleepy town before skiing boomed, and places that look like they were dropped in whole by crane over a...
If you’ve been going outdoors over the past few decades—whether once a season or once a week—there’s a good chance you’ve already got the gear you need. And some extra stuff you picked up at garage and clearance sales. Maybe, with the advance of years, you decided to upgrade your sleeping pad to something a...
Fast on the heels of our last dispirited post—on the reported decrease in the number of Americans willing to venture outdoors, leaving behind the comforts of fridge, recliner and screen—came two stories that provide an interesting nuance to the discussion. And maybe a reinterpretation. The first, from Colorado Public Radio, documents the strain placed on...
How did it happen that we—a once proud people, with our hands in the loam and our heads in the clouds—have devolved into a herd of shuffling, hunched wisps of digital consumerism? Why did we cast aside our inheritance—some of the most shockingly beautiful natural landscapes on the planet—to become grotesque, tech-necked screen addicts? Apologies,...
If you track information on aging and fitness…and if you’re here, you maybe do…you are probably frustrated by the research summaries that begin with: “1,000 volunteers, aged 25-30…” Our wholly unsubstantiated theory holds that fitness research focuses on younger people because much of it is funded—directly or indirectly—by shoe and apparel companies that see free-spending...
The typical drill here is to pick stumble on a topic, do the minimum of research, then pass it along to you with enough information so you can dig deeper into source material. Every so often, though, we’ll glom onto a single story that offers particularly good insight and just refer you to it. Seniors...
What does it look like when you confront your mortality but can’t afford a sports car…and don’t really care? “Trend” articles are sometimes built on notoriously slim premises, and trend articles on midlife crisis seem especially so. But at least some of the underlying elements of these observational pieces seem true: one ages, one stares...
No young person thinks about their arteries, nor should they. But arterial health looms large as one ages and larger with each year. That’s why Gretchen Reynold’s piece in the New York Times might be of interest. The details are fairly straightforward: Researchers tracked the arteries of sedentary people who, God knows why, decided to...
Some decades ago, a well-meaning mentor advised me to give my kids skiing lessons. “As they get older, they won’t want to hang out with you. But if you say you’re going on a family ski trip, they’ll be all in.” It worked out for my wife and me, sort of, especially when they were...
Retirement is traumatic so this might seem a bit frivolous…but why do so many retirement-related ads and articles show old people living out of a van? Granted, today’s oldsters probably invented van-life. While “KampKars” and “land yachts” have been with us since the start of motorized travel, Boomers made cross-country treks in a small, self-contained...
“The ski resort claimed they had six feet of snow,” a disappointed friend said. “I assumed they meant deep.” Welcome to the 21st century, where old passions (skiing, reef-diving, cuddly koala bears) go to die. Maybe the object of your desire will outlive you, which is lucky. (Sort of.) The point is, thanks to climate...
There are a great many reasons to stop skiing. The cost of a lift ticket. The risk to life and limb. Your lack of updated skiwear and your refusal to spend $949 on a jacket. But there are other, better reasons to stay on your sticks. Fresh air. Adrenaline. The satisfaction of slaying the...
This website is not known for its consistency. We have a bad habit of appearing with some truly excellent aggregation of other’s reporting, muddled with our own observations and complaints—and then disappearing for months or even years. Do you care why? Of course not. So no excuses. Let’s just say we’re back for as long...
Shoulder Season 2: (Supposed) Best Hikes in the U.S.
Mar 4, 2020
Shoulder Season 1: It’s soon time to hike
Feb 25, 2020
Klaus Obermeyer is a 100-year-old beast
Feb 22, 2020
The Soft Bigotry of Age Brackets
Feb 19, 2020
Ski North Korea! Also, Again: Climate Change
Feb 17, 2020
When obsessions collide: Pensions, skiing and climate change
Feb 15, 2020
Vail Speaks! Vail Speaks! (And More About Crowds)
Feb 14, 2020
Ski Passes Suck But Also Don’t
Feb 12, 2020
A mid-season reminder that (some) seniors ski free (or cheap) in (some) places
Feb 9, 2020
Every ski hill is Disney-fied
Feb 6, 2020