It was a blue-green morning at Alta Ski Resort and Carol Bowling, 76, was looking for fresh powder.
Her husband, Nick, 83, and his cousin, Bob Phillips, 84, shouted over the hum of the elevator, deciding where to go. “Something like this can be skied,” Mr. Phillips said of the black-diamond run down the lift.
At the top, the trio strapped on their boots and waited for a few more friends. It was a Wednesday in late February at the Utah resort, one of the nation’s oldest. The morning was cold and crisp with a few inches of new snow.
It was time to ski. The group headed to Devil’s Elbow, a winding intermediate course. Mrs. Bowling found her powder by cutting left off the trail into the pines and firs. The two men stayed together in the open, carving wide S-bends.
By the time 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 will limit you.”
The Wild old Bunch (with a lowercase ‘o’ to emphasize ‘old’) started in 1973 and has about 115 members. A few depart each year, some for the deep dust of the afterlife, and some for an old age without skiing. Jan Brunvand, 90, suffered a terrifying fall on his first day this season and decided 85 years of skiing was enough. But fueled by baby boomers, the group’s rolls remain strong.
“It’s hard to believe that 90-year-olds can ski so well until you see them do it,” said Dr. Brett Toresdahl, associate professor of sports medicine at the University of Utah, who sees many elderly skiers in his practice. and on the slopes. “You’d think it’s silly for them to keep skiing, but when they do it carefully and sensibly, it can be a great way for them to stay healthy and be in the community.”
Certain inevitable consequences of aging increase the risk of skiing injuries. Bone density and muscle mass decrease. reaction time slows and balance falters. Dr. Toresdahl said that when he treats an elderly skier, most of the time it’s for a fracture.
But this does not mean that older skiers are injured more often. It doesn’t seem like it, Dr. Torresdal said. A set of unspoken rules among the Wild Old Bunch help to see it through: Only ski on clear days. Ski on weekdays, when the crowd is smaller. Well-known ski area where you know the hidden rocks and shady patches from decades of experience.
The Wild Old Bunch agrees on another reality of skiing with age: Training is essential. “We work the rest of the year to stay in shape for skiing,” said Ms. Bowling, who got two trampolines for her local gym so they can jump back and forth in the off-season.
Staying in shape reduces some of the risks, but no one can ski forever. “It’s not age that’s going to limit you, it’s your cardiovascular health,” said Dr. Gina Fernandez, an assistant professor at Dartmouth Medical School who specializes in geriatrics. She guides older skiers in strength and stability workouts, but her biggest piece of advice is about mindset: Know your limits.
“It makes me live longer.”
On the slopes, members of the Wild old Bunch ski in small groups or on their own. Around 11 a.m., they gather halfway up the mountain at a round table at Alf’s Restaurant for hot drinks, donuts and gossip. On a recent Wednesday, 12 skiers pulled up chairs. Friends shared updates on upcoming surgeries (one spotted his orthopedist across the room) and bragged about visits from grandchildren.
They also talked about equipment. Fredi Jakob, 90, started skiing in leather boots on straight hickory skis in 1951. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through a black-and-white photo: a young couple in front of a mountain, glowing. “We went skiing on our honeymoon in 1957,” he said. “It was 28 below zero, but we didn’t care.”
In the decades since their first runs, the group has seen changes in the sport far beyond composite skis and polyurethane boots. Many of them learned to ski before high-speed lifts and nightly snow grooming — or $189 day passes.
Alta is a favorite of older skiers in part because of its senior-friendly policy: Everyone over 80 skis for free. Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico, and Mammoth Mountain, California, have similar rules, and some resorts offer deep discounts. For retirees on a fixed income, this can be a lifeline to the sport that still defines them.
When Matt Kindred, 82, worked as a landscaper and river guide in the Grand Canyon, he regularly made 45-mile backcountry trips on skis. In recent years, he’s slowed down, thanks to a long list of ailments: a major stroke, prostate and colon cancer, two hip replacements. “The worst was colon cancer, because I had to ski with a colostomy bag,” he said. “I had to try really hard 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.”
These days, he sticks to the easy paths. He is weak on the right side and carefully grabbed the safety bar on the ski lift. Over a grove of manicured greens, he waved goodbye to his wife, Becky Hammond, 61, who was heading for the mid-mountain blues. Then Mr. Kindred’s bent figure slowly, steadily worked his way up the slope
“I wouldn’t be skiing much without this group.”
Many other resorts host clubs for older skiers: the Over the Hill Gang at Copper Mountain in Colorado, the Silver Griffins in Bromley, Vermont.
“I wouldn’t be skiing much without this group,” Fran Ando, 92, said of the 70+ Ski Club, a national group that takes trips across the United States and beyond. Last summer, he skied with the club in New Zealand. this February, he joined them in Salt Lake City.
At home in Torrance, California, her agility makes her stand out. “The people I started skiing with have either died or stopped skiing,” he said, relaxing at a group happy hour after a day of skiing in Brighton, another resort outside Salt Lake City. “A lot of my friends are in that group now.”
Aging often means isolation. And that can affect our overall well-being, said Dr. Ashwin Kotwal, assistant professor of geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. “Our social relationships are linked to all kinds of physical health conditions,” he explained, from memory to heart disease.
It is therefore significant that older skiers describe a version of aging in community that begins on the slopes and extends into the rest of their lives. Members of the Wild old Bunch get together regularly for birthday parties and summer cookouts. and every Wednesday night, a rotating cast gathers for dinner at a nearby Olive Garden, joined by ex-skiers and non-skiing spouses.
Teams also offer members a way to stay true to their former selves: Once a skier, always a skier.
“Inside every old, battered 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’re slowly breaking down, the 16-year-old is still there.”
