Not too old to hit the slopes

Industry sees changes as baby boomers keep skiing

By Joan Verdon | The Record (Hackensack N.J.) • Published February 03, 2009

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HACKENSACK, N.J. - The ski industry around the country is responding to a new demographic that’s hitting the slopes in increasing numbers - senior skiers.

Baby boomers, part of the generation that first propelled skiing to mainstream popularity in the United States, are staying on the slopes for far longer, and in greater numbers, than anyone imagined possible a decade ago.

According to an annual study conducted by the National Ski Areas Association, the percentage of people ages 55 to 64 on the slopes has more than doubled to 9.2 percent since the 199798 ski season. And the number of skiers 65 and older has been inching up every year as well.

“Back in the 1980s and even the 1990s, people got to be 50, 60 years old and they just figured they were old and they stopped,” said Troy Hawks, spokesman for the National Ski Areas Association. Now, there are so many 70-plus skiers that many ski resorts have stopped offering lift ticket discounts for that age group.

Advances in ski technology are allowing skiers to stay active well into their 70s. And the demands of older skiers are shaping the industry’s products and services.

Ski Barn, a four-store retail chain based in Paramus, with stores in Paramus, N.J., recently invested in a $3,000 boot press that allows it to custom-shape ski boots to create extra space for bunions or other ailments of aging feet. The stores also can outfit older skiers with remote-controlled boot heaters; custom insoles for fallen arches; and shorter, hourglass-shaped skis that can make a 50-something skier feel like he or she is 20-something again.

On the slopes, “50 is the old 40,” said Ski Barn owner Ray Fallon. “There’s definitely plenty of 50-, 60- and 70-plus skiers out there.”

Fallon can relate to the needs of his over-50 customers. He’s 50, he’s been skiing for 30 years, and these days he doesn’t head for a day on the slopes without his custom-boot insoles and heated boot liners.

His father, Dick Fallon, 82, the founder of Ski Barn, skied throughout his 70s.

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