Latest published articles about life in lockdown:
March 2020 – Style Altitude
March 2020 – Style Altitude
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| Race training on OSV at Sun Peaks Resort - Photo by Cedar Line Creative |
For some skiing is a serene
solo sport but for many others snowsports are synonymous with group giggles,
sociable solidarity and mountain memory-making en masse. And there's growing evidence that group activities like this are good for your health and even longevity.
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| Peak Pride at Sun Peaks Resort - Photo by Louise England |
School groups,
university ski clubs, corporate confabs, National
Brotherhood of Skiers, family and friendship groups, racing and freestyle clubs,
Pride piste parties, festival frequenters – group activities of every kind
abound at most resorts. At Sun Peaks,
BC, for example, over 35 race teams from all over Canada, Japan and the USA
train at the Nancy
Greene International Race Centre in November and December each season. Other groups come from afar too – for example,
Rusty Bindings from California, dubbed
‘East Bay’s most active singles’ club’; S’no-Joke
Ski Club from Seattle; and Diamond
Dogs Ski and Snowboard Club from NYC. A new company, Snowlife Tours is bringing Australian
groups to the resort January-March. And every season corporate groups such as
the National Electrical Contractors Association and SkiBEEM (Best Evidence in
Emergency Medicine) organize jaunts to Sun Peaks. During school breaks, you’ll
see student groups from all over, including UBC Kinesiology and TRU Law
departments.
While advertising
stereotyping typically focuses on glamourous young people posing on the pistes,
it’s not always the young who dominate the downhill. Granted, many people drop
off the radical and ripping radar as they get injured, unfit or encumbered with
expensive overheads. But there are still plenty who ski on into their 70s and
beyond. There are many different ski clubs world over to accommodate this
generation, proving that seniors and skiing do go together! And, according to
JoAnn Grand, President of Rocky Mountain Seniors Ski Club, this kind
of outdoors sporty socialization is helping seniors live longer. “It’s an extended family really - as you get older
socialization is so important,” says Grand. “I think our members live longer
because of skiing and our tours make the winter fly by.”
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| Rocky Mountain Seniors Ski Club |
The RMSSC January schedule focuses on Sun Peaks where this over-55s club
has been coming for more than 15 years. Due to large numbers – membership has
now exceeded 700 – the club divides into three groups, each staying in the Nancy Greene Cahilty Creek Hotel during
consecutive weeks. “Over the years, it went from one week, to two, to three as
numbers increased,” Grand recounts. “The Sun Peaks tour just got more and
more popular, becoming our members’ favourite hill – it’s just a love affair.”
And, in fact, some members do actually fall in love with each other. In
Sunburst Eatery where members munch every morning on freshly-baked cinnamon
buns, I met Lang and Alan who both hooked up with romantic partners through the
club. “I had lost my wife to cancer a few years before, and I met someone in
the hot tub on one of our trips,” Lang told me.
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| Rocky Mountain Seniors Ski Club |
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| Rocky Mountain Seniors Ski Club |
This year their oldest Sun Peaks participant, at 84, was Edmonton
ice sculpturer Fran Cuyler. “She is an unbelievable skier,” says Grand. “She’ll
take Crystal chairlift and ski the trees and say ‘come on JoAnn, let’s hit the
powder’.” With around 75 octogenarians on their books, the club’s oldest member
is 94-year-old Muriel Watterworth
who still skis.
On every tour, club volunteers
organize the group into smaller, likeminded segments. “They might split people
up into greens and blues or blacks etc and arrange for newcomers to get to know
the right people,” explains Grand. “But by now most of us know each other and
we all wear badges and encourage everyone to have a ski buddy.” Many of the
group know the hill really well and their five day visits have encouraged some
to stay longer. “One member rents here for a whole month and another one came
for the whole season once,” says Grand. During the visit there is a group
reception and a private dinner party in the Cahilty
Creek Kitchen. Other social activities are set up ad hoc by participants. “They
are all so fun, so lighthearted,” says Grand.
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| Rocky Mountain Seniors Ski Club |
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| Rocky Mountain Seniors Ski Club |
With Snow Valley as their home hill, the club
also arranges group tours to Sunshine
Village, Marmot Basin, Silver Star, Big White, Whitefish, Panorama, Lake Louise and, more recently, Red Mountain. Towards the end of the
season, the RMSSC descends on Jasper for a costume race. “It’s a ski improvement trip with lessons and, as
we take a lot of members, we get a really good deal,” says Grand. “We get hilarious,
excellent costumes, all homemade – there was a guy in a pink leotard and tutu last
year even though it was freezing.” Over the years, club members have developed some novel ways to
overcome physical issues. For example, baby powder is used on socks to make
putting on and taking off ski boots easier. And one member uses a tampon to cushion
the tongue of her boots against her shins. “She was putting on her boots at Sunshine once and another elderly guy
saw what she was using and was horrified,” laughs Grand. “She used to ski with
Hans Gmoser and she’d been using this method for years.”
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| Rocky Mountain Seniors Ski Club |
In the
summer, activities focus around cycling, golfing and hiking as well as a pre-ski
conditioning program. “It is phenomenal how the club has grown and how
everyone supports each other,” says Grand. “It just shows what a
need there is out there that this fulfills. We seem to get new members every
day just through word of mouth. I tell people ‘you have to stop saying what a
great thing it is or we’ll get too many’!”
The RMSSC attracts members from all over
Alberta but there’s also another ski club based in Calgary – the Seniors Alpine Club.
Skiing weekly at Sunshine
Village, the club also includes Marmot
Basin and Sun Peaks on its regular
tour schedule.
I bumped into a few of the members on the Sundance chairlift during
their recent visit. “Our
club has been visiting Sun Peaks for over 25 years,”
says club publicity director, Marilyn Fedderson. “We typically have one or two trips a year,
consisting of about 50 people on each trip.”
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| Sun Peaks' groomed Main Street |
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| Seniors Alpine Club at Sun Peaks Resort |
“We
stay at a somewhat modest hotel which we love because it is right on the hill
and we can ski to and from the door.” I asked Fedderson what the 400-plus
members liked best about Sun Peaks: “The natural snow,
beautiful snow ghosts at the top of the Crystal chair, the exceptionally well
done grooming of the hills, the variety of runs for all levels of skiers, the
history and legacy of Nancy Greene
and skiing with her and Al Raine,” she replied. “Nancy is a member of our
club and makes a point of welcoming our groups and skiing with the members.” Based from the Cahilty Hotel & Suites, wandering around Sun
Peaks
Village is also a highlight for the group – “all the lights, charming buildings
and snow-filled, skiable streets and interesting cafés, restaurants and shops
to pop in and out of,” Fedderson enthused. Among the members’ top skiing spots,
she rates the variety of runs on Mt. Morrisey, the Three Bears glades, the long
and cruisy Five Mile run, and anywhere with fresh powder.
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| Cahilty Hotel & Suites |
And it’s not just about the skiing. “Many
members participate in other activities while at Sun
Peaks
and some partners who are not downhill skiers will join the group and enjoy the
beautiful groomed snowshoe and cross country trails,” she explains. “A
number have enjoyed the torchlight fondue night. And most frequent the
lovely variety of good restaurants and pubs in the village.”
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| Seniors Alpine Club at Sun Peaks Resort |
With ages ranging from 56 to 92, everyone is
attracted by the sense of belonging and joining in. As well as the camaraderie
of making likeminded friends in a similar age-group, Fedderson cites the affordable
group rates as incentives. Using buses for the away trips takes away the
burden of driving long distances on winter roads. “It is fun to ski with others
and to try new runs and techniques encouraged by others,” she says. “It is an
opportunity to connect with others who are still skiing after many of our
friends have given it up.” She adds that it is personally inspirational to see
people much older than herself, many with injuries and joint replacements,
still skiing, keeping fit, enjoying great conversation and having fun. Outside
of the ski season, the group organizes social
activities including a Christmas dinner dance, pub nights, potluck dinners and
parties, and a summer golf tournament. “The
club has become a highlight of my retirement years,” Fedderson concludes. “And
keeps me active during the winter months.”
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| Seniors Alpine Club at Sun Peaks Resort |
Thinking of skiing with your own piste posse next winter?
So, what actually constitutes a Ski/Ride
Group? At
Sun
Peaks as few as 15 people counts as a group which then requires one person
to act as coordinating liaison responsible for a single payment via the online
store for lift tickets. For groups
with over 41 people, email sales@sunpeaksresort.com. And for
accommodation and other info, contact info@sunpeakstourism.com. There are blackout
dates for peak periods - December 2; December 21 - January 5;
February 15 – 23; and March 14 – 29 for 2019/20 season. Savings are best for Monday-Thursday
visits.
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| Sun Peaks joie de vivre! (Wearing Alchemy of RIDE jacket and Obermeyer pants) |
