These skiers are still looking for powder in the 80s and 90s
It was a bluebird morning at Alta Ski Area and Carol Bowling, 76, was looking for fresh powder.
Her husband, Nick, 83, and his cousin Bob Phillips, 84, shouted above the hum of the chairlift, deciding where to go. “Something like that is skiable,” Mr. Phillips said of the black diamond run below the lift.
Upstairs, the trio tightened their boots and waited for a few more friends. It was a Wednesday in late February at the Utah resort, one of the oldest in the country. The morning was cold and clear with a few inches of new snow.
It was time to ski. The group went over Devil’s Elbow, a winding intermediate lap. Mrs. Bowling found her powder and cut into the pine and spruce trees to the left of the path. The two men stayed together in the open air and made wide S-shaped turns.
When they reached the bottom, it was almost 11 a.m.: time to meet up with Alta’s senior ski club, the Wild Old Bunch.
“It’s not age that limits you.”
The Wild Old Bunch (with a lowercase “o” to de-emphasize the “old”) started in 1973 and has about 115 members. Every year a few leave, some to the deep powder snow of the afterlife and others to an old age without skiing. Jan Brunvand, 90, took a terrifying fall on his first day this season and decided that 85 years on skis was enough. But thanks to baby boomers, the group’s numbers remain strong.
“It’s hard to believe that 90-year-olds can ski so well until you see them doing it,” says Dr. Brett Toresdahl, an associate professor of sports medicine at the University of Utah, who sees many older skiers in his practice. and on the slopes. “You might think it would be foolish of them to continue skiing, but if done carefully and sensibly, it can be a great way for them to stay healthy and live in the community.”
Some unavoidable effects of aging increase the risk of skiing injuries. Bone density and muscle mass decrease; reaction time slows and balance falters. Dr. Toresdahl said when he treats an older skier, it is usually for a fracture.
But that doesn’t mean older skiers get injured more often. That doesn’t seem to be the case, Dr. Toresdahl said. A set of unspoken rules among the Wild Old Bunch contribute to this: Ski only on clear days. Skiing on weekdays, when the crowds are smaller. Ski on familiar terrain, where you know the hidden rocks and shady spots from decades of experience.
The Wild Old Bunch agrees on another reality of skiing with age: training is necessary. “The rest of the year we train so we stay in shape for skiing,” says Mrs. Bowling, who has purchased two trampolines for her local gym so she and her husband can bounce back and forth in the off-season.
Staying fit reduces some risks, but no one can ski forever. “It’s not age that limits you, it’s your cardiovascular health,” says Dr. Gina Fernandez, an assistant professor at Dartmouth Medical School who specializes in geriatrics. She directs older skiers to workouts for strength and stability, but her biggest advice is mindset: know your limits.
“It makes me live longer.”
On the slopes, members of the Wild Old Bunch ski in small groups or alone. Around 11 a.m. they gather in the middle of the mountain at one round table of Alf’s Restaurant for hot drinks, donuts and gossip. On a recent Wednesday, twelve skiers pulled up chairs. The friends talked about upcoming surgeries (one saw his orthopedist across the room) and bragged about grandkids’ visits.
They also talked about equipment. Fredi Jakob, 90, started skiing in 1951 in leather boots on straight skis made of hickory. He took out his phone and showed a black and white photo: a young couple in front of a mountain, beaming. “We went skiing on our honeymoon in 1957,” he said. “It was 28 degrees below zero, but we didn’t care.”
In the decades since their first runs, the group has witnessed changes in the sport that go far beyond composite skis and polyurethane boots. Many of them learned to ski before the high-speed lifts and shovel snow at night — or $189 day passes.
Alta is partly a favorite among older skiers because of its senior-friendly policy: everyone over 80 skis for free. Taos Ski Valley, in New Mexico, and Mammoth Mountain, in California, have similar rules, and some resorts offer steep discounts. For retirees on a fixed income, that can be a lifeline to the sport that still defines them.
When Matt Kindred, 82, worked as a landscaper and river guide at the Grand Canyon, he regularly took 45-mile backcountry treks on skis. He has slowed down in recent years, thanks to a long list of ailments: a massive stroke, prostate and colon cancer, two hip replacements. “The worst was the colorectal cancer, because I had to ski with an ostomy bag,” he said. “I had to try my best not to crash because if I did it would be such a mess.”
But the challenge is part of the point. “I have to work on it. It makes me live longer,” he said. “Besides, I have to keep up with my wife.”
Nowadays he sticks to the easy paths. He is weak on his right side and has carefully grabbed the safety bar of the ski lift. Over a grove of manicured greens, he waved goodbye to his wife, Becky Hammond, 61, who was halfway up the mountain on her way to the blues. Then Mr. Kindred’s hunched figure worked slowly and steadily down the slope
‘Without this group I wouldn’t be skiing much.’
Several other resorts offer clubs for older skiers: the Over the Hill Gang at Copper Mountain in Colorado, the Silver Griffins at Bromley in Vermont.
“Without this group I wouldn’t ski much,” says Fran Ando, 92 years old 70+ Ski Club, a national group that travels throughout the United States and beyond. Last summer she skied with the club in New Zealand; she joined them in Salt Lake City last February.
At home in Torrance, California, her agility makes her an outlier. “The people I started skiing with have all died or stopped skiing,” she said as she relaxed during a group happy hour after a day of skiing at Brighton, another resort outside Salt Lake City. “A lot of my friends are in this group now.”
Growing older often means isolation. And that can take a toll on our overall well-being, said Dr. Ashwin Kotwal, assistant professor of geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. “Our social connections are linked to all kinds of physical health problems,” he explained, from memory to heart disease.
So it is significant that older skiers describe a community version of aging that begins on the slopes and extends into the rest of their lives. Members of the Wild Old Bunch gather regularly for birthday parties and summer cookouts; and every Wednesday evening a rotating cast gathers for dinner at a nearby Olive Garden, where they are joined by former skiers and non-skiers.
The groups also offer members a way to stay true to their former selves: once a skier, always a skier.
“Inside every old, worn-out body on the ski slope is a 16-year-old kid,” said Mr. Phillips, who skis with hearing aids and a knee brace. “And while you slowly fall apart, the 16-year-old is still there.”