Senior citizens stay on the slopes

ALTA -- Dick Arner left his home early one summer day, hopped on his bicycle and rode 18 miles to Alta. Uphill. Pedaling high into the oxygen-thin air and stunning scenery of the Wasatch Mountains, he finally arrived at the ski resort village, 8,500 feet above sea level.

There, he purchased a season's ski pass.

Not bad for a guy who's 71.

But it's par for the course for Arner, who's been picking up his annual pass that way for the past 12 years. In fact, among his longtime skiing buddies -- and growing ranks of senior skiers nationwide -- Arner is a mere spring chicken.

"People think when you get older, you have to slow down," Arner says. "Yeah, maybe that's true. But a lot of people my age are dead, too."

Here, every day at 11 a.m. through ski season, Arner and other members of the Wild Old Bunch meet at Alf's Restaurant, a slope- side eatery reachable only by skis. The group bills itself as a "a happily disorganized collection of senior Alta regulars readily dispensing hospitality, youthful enthusiasm and sage advice."

Rush Spedden, 89, with two practically brand-new artificial knees, was the most senior skier on a recent day. Last season, he skied 38 days.

But Spedden scoffs at any special mention. The club includes active members into their early 90s. Alta allows anyone 80 or older to ski for free. And so far this season, at least 118 octogenarians have taken up the offer.

What's happening at Alta isn't unique in the ski industry.

Skiers, as a whole, are getting older.

Those 45 and older now make up one of the market's fastest- growing segments. According to the National Ski Areas Association, 31 percent of downhill skiers in the United States were older than 45 in the 2004-05 season -- compared with 21 percent in 1997-98.

Last year, 12 percent of skiers were 55 or older.

Keeping them on the slopes is critical in the highly competitive ski industry, where nationwide skier days dropped by 1.2 percent last year from the record 2002-03 season.

Michael Berry, president of the NSAA, credits the increase in older skiers to a general rise nationwide in healthier seniors who stay fit and active well into retirement. Improved equipment -- especially a new generation of shorter, shaped skis that make turning easier on aging muscles and creaky joints -- also helps keep skiers on the slopes longer.

"Ten, 20 years ago, if you saw someone on the slopes who was 70, it was a pretty big deal," Berry says. "Now, it's nothing out of the ordinary."

It's not that senior skiers are taking up the sport for the first time, but that longtime skiers are, well, true die-hards these days.

"It helps keep you young," says 81-year-old Bob Murdoch, who began skiing at Alta in 1938. "Without sounding corny about it, when you're skiing through fresh powder and the trees, there's almost a spiritual quality to it. It's something special that keeps us coming back year after year. And you never want to lose that."

Another member of the Wild Old Bunch, 88-year-old George Jedenoff, is an anomaly: He started skiing at the age of 40. He bought a lifetime pass to Alta in 1968, and hasn't stopped skiing since.

"I drop about 10 years in age when I ski with these guys," says Jedenoff, who travels from his home in Orinda, Calif., to spend weeks at a time at Alta.

In fact, members of the Wild Old Bunch seem to drop 50 or 60 years when they come to the mountain. Mostly men, the two dozen or so members who congregate at Alf's every morning sound and look like schoolboys, with ruddy, frost-nipped cheeks, sparkling eyes and plenty of good-natured, mischievous banter over cups of hot cocoa.

"We may look mild, but we're wild," says 75-year-old Bruce Sherman.

Later, they prove it on the slopes, forgoing easier runs for expert terrain and deep powder. An ideal day, Sherman says, is filled with top-to-bottom runs through untracked powder. Several times during the season, more hardy members will pass up chairlifts altogether and hike high into the mountains to find virgin snow away from groomed trails. At the top of one such peak last winter, Sherman delighted in surprising some skiers about half his age.

"You can just tell from the look in their eyes," Sherman says, laughing. "They're looking at us and thinking, 'What the hell are you old guys doing up here?' "

Savvy resorts are picking up on the trend. Seniors, they say, have even more spending money than 20- and 30-somethings, and resort developers recognize they're critical to supporting slope-side amenities such as vacation homes, posh restaurants and resort shopping centers. Many resorts also nurture active year-round retirement communities, offering skiing in winter and golf, hiking and boating in summer.

"Any time you see a base village go up at a mountain in response to the aging baby boomer generation, it's generally something that's catering to the older, more affluent skier," Berry says.

The increase in older skiers is so sharp that some resorts are scaling back on discounts for seniors. This year, Park City Mountain Resort in Utah stopped handing out free tickets to those 70 and over, and offered them season passes for $249, still a 75 percent discount.

One benefit of attracting senior skiers, resort representatives say, is that they also tend to bring their children and grandchildren along, not just to the slopes, but to second homes, restaurants and other attractions.

"They are a viable, vibrant market and we definitely are paying attention to them," says Katie Eldridge, spokeswoman at The Canyons in Park City.

On the Net: National Ski Areas Association at www.nsaa.org

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