Retirees: what's your skiing schedule?

[VickiK]

Winner winner chicken piccata dinner

 

[Tricia]

How did Phil make it so that only he was in focus?

He was using his fancy new phone camera. It made him crystal clear and the rest of us fuzzy, ....much like IRL

 

[Rod9301]

When i was working i used to ski 60-70 days a year. Now, retired, around 100.

My days are 4 hours or so.

I also backcountry ski a couple of days a week, then come late April or May, 5 days.

 

[Tom K.]

Also, if it's a powder day, I want to beat the idiots who will attempt to get up the access road with inadequate illegal tires and slide sideways, blocking the road.

You know these people are called "best friends" if you are ahead of them on a powder day, right?!

Simple rule: When in doubt, go skiing.

QFT. I like to say: "If you don't go, you won't REALLY know!"

I still work part time, but with a nearly infinitely-flexible schedule, so manage to get out locally 2 or 3 days a week, and 1 or 2 XC.

Our local area has gotten so crowded on midweek powder days that my favorite morning report is 4" and snowing. If there has been 8 inches overnight, it's going to be pandemonium until noon.

 

[Philpug]

How did Phil make it so that only he was in focus?

Sorry, camera was in portrait mode.

 

[4aprice]

Love this thread as we are in the early stages of planning our retirement including moving our main skiing west of the Mississippi.

As far as winning the lotto. I did that almost 30 years ago and it's still paying off.

 

[DanoT]

My ski chalet is a 5th wheel trailer setup at a friend's 40 acre place overlooking a lake, 18kms from the mountain.

I ski 5-6 days/week and usually start early and finish early. I like skiing alone as I can pick my spots to go fast, or not. "Top to bottom non stops" are not a thing any more, and while I am now in my early 70s, skiing long non stop stretches is still a good way to strengthen the legs but I just don't need to do it for 2 or 3 miles non stop.

I try not to over do it on a powder day. Or I could say to myself: might as well over do it today and just not go skiing tomorrow.

 

[Jim Kenney]

@DanoT is a true blue senior ski bum in the funnest sense of the word. I drove past him and his RV rig on the access road to Big Sky last year and regretted not getting a photo so I could post it every time a relevant thread pops up.

 

[KingGrump]

As far as winning the lotto. I did that almost 30 years ago and it's still paying off.

Is it still paying off or you are still paying it off?

 

[OldJarhead]

The weather at Ski Santa Fe yesterday was great a little cold at 2° but with a lot of sun and not too much wind at the top!

I met Vern at Ski Santa Fe. Vern’s the old one to the left - he’s 80 while I am 74. Vern drives his truck from Kansas 3 or more times a winter to ski the areas of the southwest and Colorado.

This was Vern’s first day wearing a helmet (his daughter bought it) in 40 some years.

He enjoys poetry and has a long ode about Sony Bono. It’s long and he hasn’t written it down since he’s old school and doesn’t use a computer. If you run into him on the mountain he’ll gladly recite it for you or any other poem in his repertoire.

When I met him he had just skied 5 areas in the last 3 days and today he was planning on going back to Ski Santa Fe or on to Taos again.

He reinspired me to continue my quest of skiing 60 times this winter and chronicling my adventures on my little blog The Old Man and the Mountain.

I think I am going to just ski at Ski Santa Fe until after new years. Then it’s off to either Vail or Crested Butte.

 

[applecart]

May I ask: what is the app you use to get this ski data? i have a Garmin I use for running and have been looking for something so that I can use it for skiing, too.

 

[aveski]

It's Ski Tracks.

 

[Tony]

I will have been retired for 9 years in January, but have been too busy to add to this thread until now where I am posting from a casino in Lake Tahoe, NV. I have spreadsheets of all my ski days starting a few years before retirement. Last year I skied 65 days which was a significant increase from preceding seasons of 56, 51 and 52 days. The first five years I was retired, I averaged 38 days. The last 6 years I worked, I averaged 21 days. I could ski every day as I’ve never gotten enough. Since I don’t get enough days, I try to ski as long of a day as possible and have averaged 22-23K vertical per day for the last 8 years. Last year was 21.5K from some short days when I had time constraints. I think I get stronger skiing every day including leg strength, vision and wind. I like to ski steep and smooth slopes. Powder is best, but windsift and corn also can be fun. Groomers are OK, but not as challenging. Low-angle powder on big skis is also fun. Moguls are not my thing although I can ski them.

I live about 3 1/2 hours from Kirkwood, where I have done a one-day trip each of the last three Decembers, and where I ski the most. I prefer to go for at least three days, often skiing Kirkwood on way up and way home, then skiing Heavenly in between, where CA base is a mile from cabin that has been in our family since the early 1960s. I also have friends I can stay with a couple of times a years around Truckee when I want to brave I-80, where accidents often lead to road closures and long delays, and ski Northstar and Squalpine, both free besides blackout days on my passes. I had a Squaw pass the year I retired and skied more powder at N* that year. Since then I’ve had some version of Vail pass (never full Epic) plus added MCP for 5 years and replaced that with Ikon last year and this year. I skied one full day and one half day last year that were not on my passes, plus one day day where I got a discount from pass.

I’ve gotten my day count up by taking road trips to Canada the last 5 years, skiing in OR,WA, BC, AB, MT (and a little ID at Lost Trail), UT and CA on the way there and back. I try to ski every day on these trips, which is easier if someone shares driving, More than once, I have skied in UT one day and CA the next with an 8 hour solo drive across NV and less than 8 hours sleep in between. Last year’s trip was 28 days and I skied 26, with only off days for long solo drive from Calgary airport to Bozeman airport where my wife flew to join me and the Gathering, and four days later when we snowmobiled from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful while relocating from Big Sky to Jackson. I like to try new places, even if they are not top-tier, well-known places. Unless it is raining, I usually can have fun wherever I go skiing and if it’s not challenging enough I can board assuming it’s not too firm.

My wife retires at the end of January. She has not skied much at Tahoe the last few years as she does not like the hassles involved in being a Weekend Warrior from the Bay Area. (She preferred to take long weekends to Tahoe in Summer.) Besides joining me on road trip for almost a week last year (after 3 days at Jackson we drove to Evanston, skied Deer Valley and she flew home from SLC that evening), she has flown to Vancouver twice where I picked her up. Both times we stopped for Dim Sum and the first time we spent a night in Vancouver before Whistler and a night in Seattle after as my wife had never been to the Pacific NW. She also joined me in UT a couple of years ago and attended the entire UT Snowbasin/Alta/Snowbird Gathering, staying at Goldminers two or three nights. It works better with her being slopeside or walking/shuttle distance from lodging at she does not have any experience driving in snow and does not usually ski as full of a day as me.

It will be interesting to see if I can get as many days this season and in future years. We both have Vail Tahoe and Ikon base passes and should be able to do some Sun-Thu Tahoe ski weeks. We have not yet nailed down our plans for mid-Feb/mid-Mar skiing except I am going to Mustang Powder, most likely driving there. Tomorrow I will have six days in this year (3 behind last year’s pace) while her first day will probably be 1/1/2020. People have asked how I get away (with) so much. My answers is pick the right person - I have a great and very understanding spouse who realizes what skiing adds to my life - and do a lot to make her feel appreciated, both while I’m there and when I’m gone. I got on road to skiing at 6:20 AM yesterday, the same time my wife left for work. I’d gotten up at 4:20, emptied dishwasher, cleaned up kitchen, fed and put out dogs and put stuff into her car she needed to take to work including coffee for the drive. I also call or text her every morning to make sure she is getting up as she is a much better sleeper than me and left her with two dozen roses that should last well past my return. We’ll celebrate our 30th anniversary next month in Puerto Vallarta.

 

[DanoT]

. We’ll celebrate our 30th anniversary next month in Puerto Vallarta

Congrats.

 

[raisingarizona]

The weather at Ski Santa Fe yesterday was great a little cold at 2° but with a lot of sun and not too much wind at the top!

I met Vern at Ski Santa Fe. Vern’s the old one to the left - he’s 80 while I am 74. Vern drives his truck from Kansas 3 or more times a winter to ski the areas of the southwest and Colorado.

This was Vern’s first day wearing a helmet (his daughter bought it) in 40 some years.

View attachment 87556

View attachment 87557

He enjoys poetry and has a long ode about Sony Bono. It’s long and he hasn’t written it down since he’s old school and doesn’t use a computer. If you run into him on the mountain he’ll gladly recite it for you or any other poem in his repertoire.

When I met him he had just skied 5 areas in the last 3 days and today he was planning on going back to Ski Santa Fe or on to Taos again.

He reinspired me to continue my quest of skiing 60 times this winter and chronicling my adventures on my little blog The Old Man and the Mountain.

I think I am going to just ski at Ski Santa Fe until after new years. Then it’s off to either Vail or Crested Butte.

Help old Vern out and give him the tip to put his day tickets off his pants pocket zipper. That way those tickets won’t keep blowing up into his face while skiing.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Help old Vern out and give him the tip to put his day tickets off his pants pocket zipper. That way those tickets won’t keep blowing up into his face while skiing.

 

[Guy in Shorts]

On schedule to complete a decade of ski days. Over 2100 so far, less than 1550 to go. Gives me a reason to get up everyday. Only promise I asked from my wife before we wed is that she will ski everyday with me. She has kept up her end of the deal.