Contrasts and Other Commentary!

     Amazing how the day on the slopes can change from one day to the next.  My geezer plus group at Greek Peak yesterday was skiing in a bit of rain. Temperature wasn't too bad, but it was a short day getting soaked by late morning.  However, the skiing conditions were quite good with frozen granular providing good edging.  For this old guy, however, the visibility was a bit challenging to read the surface.  

    What a contrast today!  Bright sunshine greeted us this morning and remained for the entire morning with only a few clouds scudding by.  One would expect that this would provide premiere delight in our skiing. However, it was not so for many of us. I will confess to doing a lot of skidding today on the hard groomed corduroy surface.  It was to the last run of the morning when things softened up enough that I was able to put down nice grooves in the slope.  A wonderful way to end a day for me when I was feeling out of sorts with my skiing ability.

    A bonus for this day from yesterday was the appearance of two of our long time geezer skiers for a day of fun and coffee with the rest of us. Gene Wexell who has challenges with vision was happy to join us.  He is basically ahead of me a bit on the age thing since he is past 90 by a bit, and I will reach that milestone in April, 2025.  We also welcome our good friend Dick Botoff, for his first day back this season,  delighted to see his return.   My endnote is that it was great to have an expanded geezer skier group on the slopes today and to toast the memory of our recently passed founder Pat Ryan, of the Tough Old Geezer Skiers of Greek Peak Resort at our day end coffee time.

Know When to Hold Them

    As a very senior geezer skier I am still learning to give in to my limitations.  Perhaps that is true for all skiers, but is especially important in the latter years.   This has become apparent to me in the last few days.  A few days ago upon returning from the hill I hit a patch of ice while walking in my ski boots and took an unexpected tumble!   Fortunately it was on my butt with some padding but gave me quite a jolt and a pretty good contusion on my left hand.  I guess anyone can fall on ice, but I think for me it was a momentary lapse of concentration on the conditions of the footing in the area.   

     Regrettably the fall caused  a whiplash injury to my neck.  The last few days I have been making a recovery from strained muscles in the neck and am now anxious to get back to the slopes. That leads me to ponder whether I should hold off for another day or head back to the slopes tomorrow. The decision will be made tomorrow when I get up and my neck with a few rotations and stretching.   

    I am guessing pro athletes often have the same kind of decisions to make.  Are they fit enough after an injury to pursue their craft? For those of use who are recreational athletes,  erring on the cautious side is the better part of intelligence.  What about that my readers? Do any of you have any moments when you have to decide to hold back?

Reflections on Transitions in the Geezer Skier Community

    I started this blog in December of 2009; at least 15 years ago!  At that time our Tough Old Geezer Skier group at Greek Peak in Virgil New York had been self identified for several years.  Founder Pat Ryan had labelled many of us as such.  Even giving us badges to wear with our name and the Geezer designation.  Many of us have continued to wear such badges with pride as the years go by.  I have lost a few, but have replaced them almost immediately to keep the tradition going.

    Sadly, our founder Pat Ryan recently passed away.  We deeply mourn his passing and miss his presence on the slopes. Pat was an exemplary person, a fine skier and model of integrity that we will not forget.

    In the ensuing years following our founding, there have been many changes.  Membership was always quite open and in the early years there may have been 30 or so that would identify with our group.  Some ardently, and others casually.  We even would have an annual season ending meeting for lunch with gag awards and invited spouses.   Basically we were more or less young geezers in late sixties and early seventies.  As time has passed many of the original group have either given up skiing or have passed away.   Fortunately there has been an infusion of a few new geezers.  It will be a challenge from now on to recruit replacements  for the inevitable departure of some of our more senior members.  To the best of my knowledge I am the most senior geezer skier at Greek Peak regularly on the slopes each week.  Gene who is a bit older is less frequent due to health issue.  

    A word about my geezer skier experience currently.  I now recognize I do not have the stamina I once had as I approach my 90th birthday this April.  Essentially on an every day basis I am skiing with "youngsters".  My definition of youngsters is now anyone in their seventies and younger.   Many of my companion skiers are  now in their sixties.   My companions now seem to think they need to take care of me!  Of course, I tolerate that, but in some ways I feel like I may be holding them back by my somewhat slower pace!    However, my wife does appreciate that my friend Tim Russell has taken on the role as my guardian angel!  In this vein, I must say that many of the Greek Peak ski community have both admired me for still being out and are keeping an eye on me.

    As I rest up on the weekends, I find it recharges my batteries for the coming week and it gives me a chance to reflect on how lucky I am to be pursuing downhill skiing in my most senior years.  I look forward to passing the torch of leadership of our group to the next generation when the time comes.  A shout out to the the geezers who might be reading this blog!  Keep on moving and enjoying every day we are blessed with!