Monday, January 27, 2020

Polar Bears and Ski Bikes at Sun Peaks Resort

Sun Peaks on Jan 22 - Courtesy of Polar Bear Club


Heading up Crystal Chair at Sun Peaks on Jan 22
Courtesy of Polar Bear Club
What a week of winter’s wonders! We went from frigid cold with wind-chills up to minus 40, to balmy zero in a matter of days. Wednesday was the breathtaking bluebird day of the season, with pristine powder in West Bowl making for hero skiing. I joined the all-women Polar Bear Club which meets each Wednesday, skis all morning in small groups, and then reconvenes en masse – around 40 strong - for lunch in the Cahilty Creek Kitchen. Loved the chance to explore West Bowl with an experienced local, especially since this wide and undulating area had been shrouded in zero-visibility fog and snow for most of the previous month. And it was a wonderful way to meet more locals, a couple of whom I’d been introduced to previously at an Art Zone Fibre Arts Collective meeting (this is fabric, wool and textile arts, just one of the creative specializations within the Sun Peaks ArtZone Collective – more on this in a future blog). It’s amazing how friendly everyone is in Sun Peaks and how easy it is to find new friends. Simon skied with the men’s version, the Grizzly Bear Club, ending up in Bottoms Bar & Grill. This was the second time he ‘hit bottom’ that day since he had a spill, presumably trying too hard to keep up with the more gungho guys in the group.

Our ski group at Sun Peaks on Jan 22 - Courtesy of Polar Bear Club

Me with Tennille on Jan 23 at Sun Peaks 
And then came Thursday: icy drizzle freezing up goggles to obscure all vision and layering thin cracking ice over everyone’s suits and helmets. The snow had a frozen rain crust on top, turning even the pros into blundering beginners. But, with hardly anyone out on the slopes, it was still great fun! The challenge was completing a turn – it felt as if your skis were stuck firmly in something like those cross country parallel ruts and you just couldn’t seem to get out of them. Once we figured out that the trails which had had the most traffic were much smoother, the day improved. We were glad we made the effort to ski when apparently yesterday’s fairweather crowds had all opted for a long lie-in, a big lunch, or a spa day! This was the day we skied with Tennille Southcombe who has just launched Snowlife Tours in Sun Peaks. It’s a concierge customized vacation planning service based from Sydney, Australia. More about Tennille’s innovative ideas for family and group skiing coming soon.

Ski Biking at Sun Peaks on Jan 24

Ski Biking: Coincidentally, Tennille helped assuage my fears about Friday’s frolic – going Ski Biking with Babo (Stefano Babich) who runs Ski Bike tours, instruction and rentals at Sun Peaks – and who, incidentally, lives in the apartment below us. I mentioned I was very apprehensive about it and she told me I didn’t need to be as it was easy, and, above all, it was great fun. Tennille, and her 13 and 15 year old daughters, managed to conquer the powdery bumps and jumps in Bug Out on their first day. Call me tentative, but I was happier on the Gentle Giant, Sun Peak’s easiest run. When the boys wanted to try the bikes out on Homesteader, which meant taking them up the chairlift, I wimped out, preferring to watch their very quick and fearless progress from the familiarity of my Rossignols.

Babo Ski Biking at Sun Peaks 

Getting fitted for the ski blades 
The basics of Ski Biking are not difficult to grasp: you have tiny blades on your feet which are just stabilizers and you turn, and thereby slow down, by putting pressure on one arm on the handlebar. Left arm turns you left; right arm turns you right. For safety, you learn a hockey-stop slide for steeper terrain. 

In retrospect, I would do it again but on my own next time – or with another equally wimpish beginner. Perhaps just on the Magic Carpet for a few hours, going up and down the runs there until I felt really confident of my ability to stop, change direction, speed up, and slow down.

There she goes.......

I’m not a mountain biker – 45 minutes slugging uphill and then white-knuckling down in rain and mud at the Canmore Nordic Centre finished off any aspirations in that direction - and therefore just sitting on the bike and steering downhill via handlebars was somewhat alien to me. 

Ski Biking would be a doddle for anyone accustomed to any kind of bike riding - road or mountain. The seat has a comfortable indentation, by the way, and is long - a bit like those Raleigh Choppers in the 70s.

What Babo has discovered is that even non-skiers can learn pretty quickly on the Ski Bikes. “I taught a Chinese girl and an Indian guy the other day who had both tried skiing and snowboarding but had not really got on very well with either, and they had a blast on the Ski Bikes,” he told us in his lovely lilting Italian accent. 

Made it off the Magic Carpet!

Babo on a board

An accomplished snowboarding instructor, Babo is now intent on giving Ski Biking a high profile in Sun Peaks, with plans to expand possibly by franchise to other resorts in the future. 

“It’s the next biggest snowsport,” he says. “It’s at the stage where snowboarding was 40 years ago, about to explode with new types of bikes being developed in the US which are catching on really quickly.”

Babo teaching a Ski Biking Clinic at Sun Peaks 

His enthusiasm is very infectious – I would never have thought of trying the sport without his charming coercion! I can envisage it taking off as a fun family experience or among non-skiers who are reluctant to spend weeks learning skiing or snowboarding and prefer the quicker fix – getting up on the mountain right away and feeling that exhilarating rush of speed from the very first lesson. Also, for tweens and teens, it would make the perfect birthday party on snow. It’s already attracting ski groups looking for fun activities to add to their vacation itineraries – such as Tennille’s Snowlife Tours. And it’s even, as Babo points out, appealing to older people for whom skiing is getting too much for their knees: “There are lots of orthopaedic specialists out there who are suggesting Ski Bikes for people who have had knee injuries and can’t ski any more,” he explains. “On the Type 1 Brenter Bikes, you are sitting down so there is no pressure on your knees, especially as you don’t really use the blades on your feet.” The sport is already progressing into the kind of dazzling tricks that experts do on bikes. “They’re doing flips and spinning on their front ski,” says Babo. “And it’s gradually developing as a competitive sport.” 

Type 2 Ski Bike action
Just like the early days of snowboarding, not all resorts are switched on to Ski Bikes yet. “There are around six or seven resorts so far in Western Canada that allow Type 1 bikes.” These include Lake Louise, Sunshine and Marmot Basin in Alberta and Sun Peaks, Whitewater, Kicking Horse and Panorama in BC. Traditionally, these bikes have been the easier Brenter ones, which I tried, but now there is a more advanced Ski Bike known as Type 2 with no skis on feet – the feet rest on pedals. “The most important thing is that I have convinced the resort to allow the new Type 2 Bikes, says Babo. “It took me two months of strenuous negotiations with emails, phone calls, meetings. So, I am already ‘ahead’.” He believes that the Type 2 bikes, with their potential for all-mountain terrain and even possibly terrain park use, will change the face of Ski Biking as a sport.

Babo loving his work!
 A resident of Sun Peaks for the past decade, Babo took over the existing business while working at the Sun Peaks Activities Desk: “I decided to jump in because they look fun and different and I like things that are ‘out of the box’!” Passionate about his new adventure venture, as he dubs it, he is determined to master marketing and business planning, taking a course this summer: “As a brand new business owner, I am going through a lot. But I love it. So much to do, so many things to learn... it's the classic ‘learning by doing’ scenario. But it's really exciting. And I will probably be able to define better my future strategy this summer.”

Type 1 Ski Bike

Part of Babo’s campaign to persuade me to try Ski Biking:
“A couple of basic videos I did the last year with the old bikes - I’m not a pro videomaker”:

“At the same time, I was also pushing the same kind of bike to do ‘cooler stuff’”:

Ski Bike Canada at Sun Peaks
After his first winter focusing on the Brenter Ski Bikes, Babo decided to look further into Type 2 Bikes being developed in the USA. “There are a bunch of brands, and I decided to get one or two bikes from three brands, because I didn't want to be like a ‘normal rental’ and get six or eight bikes of the same brand, maybe from the guy that could give me a good price,” he explains. “So, I contact all the brands, and I say: ‘I want to promote the sport, and be able to learn about the product. Send me a couple of demo bikes or similar. I wanna be able to have a fleet made by different bikes and let the local downhill bike riders try it out to make this sport evolve!’”

Here’s some video footage from the three brands Babo chose:

SKIBYK is one of the most recent, that probably revitalized the entire market,” Babo explains. “But I am also carrying TNGNT and SLEDGEHAMMER. And I am looking to get in touch with the other brands too. These new bikes are basically a completely new sport! They are a lil’ bit more challenging that the Brenters bike, but their potential is huge, especially considering how big the summer downhill biking is in British Columbia.”


BTW, you wear your ski outfit and ski or snowboard boots which are clipped into the blades. You need a lift ticket and helmet. And, due to the size of bikes, kids can only start this sport at 12. Babo starts each tour with an instructional video and coaching session before launching on to the ski slopes. Offering three two-hour Intro Clinics per day at $49 per person including Type 1 bike rental (max of 8 people), he has discounted group rates, too - for example, four people can take a class for $149. Type 2 Clinics are $69 per person. If you’re experienced, and want to rent a bike for the whole day, it’s $39 per person.


Whether you opt for Type 1 or 2, it looks like something everyone will be trying soon. And if I can tackle the Magic Carpet and Gentle Giant on my first attempt, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. Unlike me, you could be a natural!!

Links:

Phone: 250 578 5542

Email: activities@sunpeaksresort.com










Monday, January 20, 2020

Sun Peaks Update and America’s Richest Retirement Retreat


Courtesy of Sun Peaks Resort
Another snowy week at Sun Peaks but also our coldest so far with temps plummeting to minus 30 C (with windchill) on several days. Shortlived though - it was only around minus 12 by the Thursday and as I write this, on Sunday, it is ZERO!! As well as enjoying warming stop-offs in the Sunburst Bar + Eatery, the frigid days were a great opportunity to try out some of my cold-conquering gear. My new Swany mitts were perfect with a hand warmer in the zip-up pocket on the top of the hand. 


The reason I had been so keen to try them was that I had met a skier a few weeks before who swore by them - you know, that FOMO feeling. Sandra, a Sun Peaks devotee from Ontario, was still wearing hers in their 10th season. "The leather is still in almost perfect condition," she showed me on the chairlift. "I just polish them occasionally and I always wear a hand-warmer with them". The zipped pocket is multi-purpose, says Swany Sales Manager, Collin Weaver. "It's chiefly to put in a carbon-activated heat pad for extra warmth and not have it stuck to your hand but you can also use it for chapstick, tissues, money or a small key." He confirms my belief that mitts are warmer than finger gloves.

My son tried out a new pair of VOLT heated gloves and these are ultra warm, which meant he was able to ski much longer days than previously. He had been wearing a beaten up old pair of gloves covered with duct tape that were barely water or windproof before the Avalanche X arrived - this glove is VOLT's flagship model of the extreme collection. The rechargeable battery, tucked in the sleeve part high up on the forearm, sends heat throughout the hand to the very finger tips (and thumb tips). There are three settings for varying temps. Just remember to recharge them every night, Rupert! 


Loved this pic from Sun Peaks' Facebook page
Funny FedEx scenario last week: I discovered that deliveries to Sun Peaks are not always straightforward! Companies like FedEx use local couriers (including Canada Post) for the last leg of the journey to what they call "this remote location". The village is set right on the slopes at 1255m (4116 ft) above sea level, around 45 minutes uphill from Kamloops. The road is cleared regularly and cars, trucks and vans full of skiers and deliveries make it up here all the time, so not exactly all that remote. I'd been awaiting parcels for weeks and wondering why they weren't getting delivered on the days they said - I'd done the usual tracking but no joy on each delivery day despite staying in all day long - missing skiing but at least it was an opportunity to write! 


Piste and Village layout at Sun Peaks
After much investigation I resorted to Twitter to get speedier customer service - by the way, this is a good way to get any company to take notice of your issues or complaints. The outcome of much tweeting was that one parcel had been dropped at the wrong address, another had stopped at the post office half an hour's drive away and would stay there until I picked it up (and you know by now that we don't have a car this season) or be returned to FedEx, and a third was just ominously 'pending'. After much hassle knocking on doors myself along our street in freezing temps and pitch darkness, to no avail, I finally managed to get FedEx to retrieve the parcel delivered to the wrong address and they amazingly conjured up the pending package, too. And then reaching out on the Sun Peaks Survivors Facebook site I managed to get my third parcel, stalled at the Heffley Creek post office, brought up by a very helpful local (and new friend) - well worth the price of a beer in the Cahilty Creek apres-ski bar later that day. So I now have some very warm Obermeyer ski pants to try out which I will report on soon. The fit is perfect - one thing they are very good at is having different lengths: short, regular and long. This is quite unusual in ski brands and vital for me as I'm only 5ft 2. And they also have very ingenious waist altering tabs so you don't need a belt to keep them up - and they can be adjusted depending on how many cinnamon buns or fondue you eat at Sunburst! Obermeyer are masters of warmth, too, as I know from my black/white suit. The jacket hood is particularly effective as it easily goes over a helmet, has two poppers to prevent it falling off, and cuts out wind/cold completely from the sides and back of the neck. 


Lynne Harrison wearing 'The Sky The Sky' design from her ski brand Alchemy of Ride




Highlights of this week include meeting many fabulous local people on the slopes and around the town - Marj Knive from ArtZone who is picking me up tonight to attend a meeting of the Fibre Arts Collective, for one. I'm going to take my apres-ski tops (my own designs) and the magical mountainscapes on skiwear that are Alchemy of Ride. The designer, Lynne Harrison, is coming to Sun Peaks at the end of the month and I've been helping set up a Pop-Up Shop for her at the Sun Peaks Grand. More on that later..... 


But the most exciting news is that I am going to be a freelancer writer for the Sun Peaks Independent News (SPIN), the outcome of a meeting with its publisher and editor-in-chief Brandi Shier. Looking forward to meeting the team this week and starting work on my first assignments. 


Here's another article from our latest book, A Worldwide Guide to Retirement Destinations


Aspen Snowmass

Aspen, Colorado may not be the top of everyone’s retirement list due to lofty real estate prices, but it is nevertheless a popular retirement destination for high flyers seeking top quality outdoor living.

Aspen Snowmass

Downtown Aspen prices are the steepest in the area, with Snowmass Village coming in second. As you move further from the centre of Aspen, homes can be less expensive but still in the top ratings for Colorado and the USA. It is almost double the average US cost of living, with higher health care costs, and house prices averaging $1,026,324 in 2017. However, groceries rate average, and taxes, utilities and transportation are below average. The state imposes no tax on Social Security and pension income up to $20,000 for retirees under age 65, or on the first $24,000 for those 65 and over.

David Wood (right) with TV presenter, Justin Leonard at the Golf Shrine

David Wood at Aspen Snowmass
The beautiful, historical and remote Rocky Mountain region is an attractive destination if you have had a lucrative career, like David Wood who was Chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo Financial from 1995 until early retirement in 2001. Now clocking up around 100 days skiing every winter, Wood has reinvented himself as a writer while living in Snowmass Village. The former banker recently wrote a book about the Aspen Snowmass Shrines—memorials dotted around the four ski slopes in the area—as a charity fund-raiser. “The charity awards college scholarships to needy and deserving high school students in the Roaring Fork Valley. So far over $1,500,000 in scholarships have been awarded,” says Wood. The shrines are hidden in the trees off the ski runs and, although there are no maps showing the locations and there are no official shrine tours offered, visitors can sometimes get directions to a shrine from one of the mountain ambassadors. 

David Wood's book about the sanctuaries of Aspen Snowmass
Early retirement at the age of 56 has enabled him to dedicate quality time to the sport he has always loved: “I have been a long-time skier, and had always wanted to have a ski place, but I never had the time for it when I worked. So, as soon as I retired, we went for it and, yes, my wife Rosalie was 100 percent on board.” Having skied all over the western US and Canadian slopes, he had already put Colorado at the top of his list. After scouting both the Keystone and Breckenridge areas, he focused on Aspen Snowmass where he bought a 4-bedroom home in Snowmass Village right on the slopes. “We like being in Snowmass Village because Snowmass is our favorite ski mountain of the four that we have (the other three are Aspen, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk) and, although we ski all four of them, we ski Snowmass the most. The total skiable area of Snowmass is more than the other three combined.” Their mountainside home is really close to the skiing: “We have a Snowmass slopeside parking pass which is very convenient for us. We can park in a lot that is a 10-minute drive away from our house, and then walk less than 100 yards to get on the slopes.”

Limelight Lounge, Snowmass

Limelight Snowmass Climbing Wall
One of the top après-ski spots in the Aspen area is The Limelight Hotel, long known for its affordable, and extended, “happy hours” with a casual living room ambiance. Great breakfasts and daily live music help make it a true community hub, attracting local workers, residents and retirees as well as tourists throughout the winter season. A new ski in/ski out Limelight opened during the 2018/19 ski season, bringing the same atmosphere to the centre of Snowmass Village. “As far as us hosting the retiree market we do have a lot of guests that are no longer in the work force and are introducing their families and multiple generations to their love of the mountains,” says Limelight Director of Sales, Connie Powers. “Skiing is truly one of the best family activities as everyone can go their own speed and enjoy while catching up for lunch and hot chocolate. The local senior community definitely enjoy the Limelight après scene.”


Limelight Snowmass skating rink
Retaining a family home in Iowa has eradicated any thoughts of homesickness for the Woods: We spend about half our time in Iowa and half in Snowmass Village, so we still see everyone. We love to have friends and family visit us. It is rare that we are in Snowmass Village without either family or friends staying with us.” Although Aspen is four and half hours’ drive from Denver, it does have its own airport which enhances its accessibility. The Woods spend Christmases back in Iowa to celebrate with family and old friends. It also means they miss the peak holiday period at Snowmass: “It is about the only busy week of the season when there can be liftlines. We ski the first three weeks of December, go back to Iowa between Christmas and January 1, then back to Snowmass in early January and ski the rest of the season until mid-April. There are hardly any liftlines any other time of the year (sometimes one week in March can be busy because of spring breaks), as opposed to busier ski resorts.”

Aspen Snowmass
Aspen attractions include world-class Rocky Mountain skiing and snowboarding from November to April and the balmy, non-humid climate and outdoor lifestyle around picturesque areas such as the Maroon Bells in summer. “We ski almost every day in the winter and I have skied over 100 days a season the last five consecutive years. In the summer we like to hike and bike and do other outdoors activities, floating the rivers, golf, etc. And now, after having been in Snowmass Village for almost 20 years, we have a number of local friends there, and we do lots of things with them.”


Me with hubby in a little-known golfers' shrine on Snowmass Mountain
Although Wood’s wife, an accomplished downhiller, no longer skis due to the condition of her knees, she still loves the mountain lifestyle. The community is diverse and eclectic, a combination of seasonal workers, younger locals with families, retirees and visiting tourists of all ages. “I don't really think of Aspen Snowmass as a retirement area. There are a lot of young people here,” says Wood. “It is great for everyone, both retirees and non-retirees, because Aspen Snowmass has it all: A great town, excellent ski terrain, perfect snow, and no liftlines.”

David Wood (left) with me in the
Hunter S. Thompson Shrine

With excellent restaurant choices in Snowmass Village the Woods are happy to base their social life around their immediate locality but they do drive the 20 minutes into Aspen itself for dinner occasionally. The city also boasts a thriving and wide-ranging arts culture year-round. 

Highlights include The Aspen Ideas Festival, a world-renowned gathering of some of the brightest and most innovative minds in the world; the Food & WineClassic; Jazz Aspen Snowmass which draws the biggest acts in the music world; the Aspen Art Museum, a globally recognized leader in contemporary art; the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet; and Theatre Aspen.


Ski resorts all over the USA offer discounted season passes to seniors and Aspen Snowmass is no exception with special reduced rates for ages 65-69 and even better deals for 70-plus. Something unique to Aspen, though, is BUMPS FOR BOOMERS ®, ­a ski instruction course geared entirely for older skiers to foster skiing longevity. The innovative program was founded by Joe Nevin who moved to Aspen to launch his own encore career after retiring from Apple in California. Choosing Aspen was key: it is one of the most luxurious ski resorts in the world.

Aspen Snowmass

Links: