 Poster: A snowHead
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I definitely intend to ski until i can get the free lift pass - 75 years in La Plagne now, but could rise.
Most of my ski friends are in the 65 to 75 year bracket.
And all still skiing well (according to us  )
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I ski with a 74 yr old dude with Parkinson's disease. He's still getting it done; probably needs some heated gloves.
I'll go as long as I can buckle my boots, and while I don't need 'em yet, I think Nordica has a good idea with those new rear-entry ones.
If I had to guess what ends my career, I suspect I'll fall in the parking lot and shatter!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The oldest person that I know of currently doing Masters races is 89, there are several more who are a couple of years younger.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I think the older you get the more you hope to go on a bit further.
I will be 74 in a few days and am still skiing off piste. I remember some years ago when Engelberg was my favourite resort, when I must have been in my mid fifties, I had a target of skiing Engelberg at the age of 65. It was as much a hope as a target. As it happened I last skied there four years ago at 70.
As well as staying fit and hoping to keep free of major injury, I think modern skis have helped my skiing longevity. If I was still on my skis of fifteen years ago I might not be skiing off piste as I do now. Possibly but I am not sure.
Your peer group in terms of age obviously diminishes rapidly the older you get but I have skied with a few that are older than myself and they have helped inspire me to carry on. I tend to look about two years ahead but I would like to go on longer.
What I ask myself is what will happen when I realise that I am no longer really up to off piste skiing. Will I pack in altogether or would I enjoy just cruising around on piste and enjoying the ambience of the mountains? I think that actually I might do that although I would probably not ski the usual four weeks a season I aim for now.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I also disagree with @Whitegold, I started at 4 & I’m still improving at 55.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@rungsp, I read your story about your godfather yesterday and it stayed with me : I was mulling it over at breakfast and still it keeps coming backto me. As others have said it's very touching. I love the thought of such thoughtful and respectful camaraderie.
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@Whitegold You just knew yu were going to get all us old farts going didnt you? 
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Well at 70 I have no intention of stopping yet - although whether or not I will be able to obtain (or afford) insurance once we lose our reciprocal health care rights in the EU is another matter, particularly in the current circumstances 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
Well at 70 I have no intention of stopping yet - although whether or not I will be able to obtain (or afford) insurance once we lose our reciprocal health care rights in the EU is another matter, particularly in the current circumstance
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A big worry. My friend uses the Austrian Alpine Club annual insurance, but I think that is reliant on EHIC for medical matters as opposed to moutaineering matters.
It will probably be insurance that stops the over 70 british skiers not health or fitness.
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I'm very conflicted on this one, as a result of being on the periphery of two recent ski accidents. The problem I see isn't so much adjusting how you ski, but recovery from an injury - You just can't get over the fact that the older you are, the longer it takes to recover, in particular from breaking a bone or a dislocation. And this isn't anything to do with the aggressiveness of your skiing: we've probably all been hit by an idiot some time or other, even 'though we were standing still on the piste. Many of the accidents I've seen have just been bad luck: like catching an edge on a blue run done a hundred times before etc.
Of the two older people I know who had a fall this last season, one had about the most benign broken arm (if such a term can be applied) but probably won't be able to swim her favourite crawl ever again, and the other (dislocated shoulder) still hasn't get any feeling back in her lower arm and fingers and may never fully recover. The former would have had to have the arm pinned with metal inserts if the break hadn't been in the 'right' place and very clean so at least two bouts of surgery, if not more. So both are asking themselves, "Is it worth returning to skiing next season, or are the potential downsides now too great?".
Of course, you could take the view that recovery from injury is no more or less a problem whether you are at home or up a mountain. Or in summer vs winter: I've seen as many heli-evacs of walkers and VTT riders in the summer as of skiers the winter. You could just as easily trip up on the pavement outside your home and do significant damage to yourself.
Perhaps it's worth letting the insurance companies have the last say on this, inasmuch as they're good at estimating risk, using actual hospital and claims data? And if they judge that the downsides are so great that they won't insure you, or only if the premium is excessive, then perhaps it is time to call it a day.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Blimey, if we go by Whitegolds answer, my husband and should never have bothered starting, we were both 37. We loved it from day 1. We've no aspirations to be the best on the slopes, we just go for the pure enjoyment of it. We would have both loved to have started younger, but that simply isn't the background either of us come from. Our children are lucky, we can give them that opportunity, and they will have a lifetime of enjoyment.
And I'm rather looking forward to retirement and the opportunity to ski more often over the season and not be tied to school holidays. Bit depressing to consider that it's almost over for me at that point really.
In fact, just this week I've been researching locations in France with easy access to both the sea and the pistes for us to retire to.
I agree with previous posters, if I can walk, I'll be skiing.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I think you've got about 25 years from when this first person suggests you think about hanging up your skis
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You know it makes sense.
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Mother’s 79 & planning to ski this season. Father retired from skiing about 4 years ago due to breathing problems from emphysema. He’s 80 btw.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I also didn't know that there was a free lift pass. That'll definitely incentivise my husband. He loves a freebie!
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'm now 65 and didn't start skiing until I was 62. I'm hoping I have many years ahead of me.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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You are looking at this through the optic of survivor bias. My neighbour, who works in geriatric care, says old people are like cats - 1 of our years is 7 years of aging for them.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Owlette wrote: |
| ...if I can walk, I'll be skiing. |
Actually when I was a whippersnapper I would often find myself unable to walk through too much snowboarding, and yet still able to snowboard.
Walking is harder, once you have the knack of riding snow.
| Owlette wrote: |
| ...Perhaps it's worth letting the insurance companies have the last say on this, inasmuch as they're good at estimating risk, using actual hospital and claims data? ... |
I see where you're coming from. However insurance companies deal with population level statistics, not individual risk. Age is certainly a major driver for risk, but Long Term Conditions and obesity are also major factors which mean many old people are less risky than some remarkably young people. I'm thinking of risk of an unscheduled hospital admission, not death.
That may be a pragmatic approach if you can't afford the potential costs, but if you can then it's not actually a logical reason to give anything up.
Don Wildman died at 85. I'd ridden with him a fair bit in his 60s and 70s. He'd slowed down a lot in his 80s, but that may have been a consequence of his 27-year-old wife.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
You are looking at this through the optic of survivor bias
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I think this is very true. As people signed up to a ski forum you are clearly not the general population. Also if you spend time in ski resorts you see the outlier old skiers, not the many more sitting at home because they stopped.
I suspect whitegolds numbers are not too far off for the average person that skis one week per year. Look at the studies into exercise participation by age group - there is a continual drop off as people get older, for those 55 and older 70% exercise less than 3 times per month (https://www.statista.com/statistics/592929/distribution-of-exercise-and-sport-frequencies-by-age-group-and-gender-eu/)
I will continue to snowboard as long as I enjoy it. At some point aging is going to have an effect on performance, which I suspect will take away some of the enjoyment for me. If I get to the point where my limit is pottering about on groomers, I would drastically cut down my days per season to probably just a couple.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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A problem for the sport though is that as the baby boomer cohort starts to fall out of skiing it loses an active and wealthy sector. It doesn’t look as though that is going to be replaced, certainly not in the UK anyway. If participation drops significantly elsewhere in Europe, because of lack of interest or money then it will affect infrastructure and we might see more closures.
I Certainly hope not, but combined with poorer climatic conditions things could change quite quickly.
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@Peter S, you must be an economist!
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I'm 74 and I am going for 3 weeks again this winter whatever with my friend who is at least 3 months younger than me....even if I have to quarantinewhen I get back I aim to catch up the 100 year old skier ..Thats why I keep myself fit
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Peter S wrote: |
A problem for the sport though is that as the baby boomer cohort starts to fall out of skiing it loses an active and wealthy sector. It doesn’t look as though that is going to be replaced, certainly not in the UK anyway. If participation drops significantly elsewhere in Europe, because of lack of interest or money then it will affect infrastructure and we might see more closures.
I Certainly hope not, but combined with poorer climatic conditions things could change quite quickly. |
another few years and they'll be shuttering snowheads
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I started skiing when I was 34 and I'll be 36 in a few days, I gotta say it's REALLY inspiring to read the story of many 50+ people here that are going strong on skis, specially that now I'm (slowly) starting to feel the weight of age, specifically when it comes to joints and hangover 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I am 52, and 9 years in with a hip resurfacing implant op.
Missed one season due to the op, but apart from that have skiied every year, including a lot in Scotland. My surgeon said I could do one week a year but I see that as advisory, as long as I dont touch off piste or moguls in case of dislocation  .
My other hip gives me a wee bit of gyp occasionally, I ignore it because I really cba with another op and rehab etc.
When you see blind / one legged people on skis / bikes etc, it reminds me how fit I actually am........even if I am not 20.
When you get to my age onward, there is always the occasional twinge esp if you have been active - but keep the weight down, and use it or lose it.
I would be distraught if I couldnt ski any more and intend doing it til I drop.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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My mother in law has her 75th birthday in a few weeks and still does a couple of gentle weeks a year on skis. She is massively active and travels like a maniac (in normal times).
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Greenday , we are the same age, and I thankfully have no problems ( well big ones) I do have parts that have old injuries, dislocations etc, but I am fit, and skiing doesn't give me any problems. Last year we ran into some of our younger neighbours, ( 30s) and we offered to ski with them for a bit as we knew the resort, one of them said well we might ski too fast for you, I said no worries, just ski correctly the speed doesn't matter. He was a bit red faced at the end of the day when he could hardly walk into the bar and we whizzed in without a problem. He did more milage that day than he had ever done on a day skiing. ( serves him right cheeky begger).
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You know it makes sense.
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@biddpyat,
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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FAQ
