In addition, Yuichiro's three children attended the Rowmark Ski Academy in Salt Lake City, and his two sons — Yuta and Gota — went on to graduate from the University of Utah

Filling out the fourth generation in the skiing procession was Yuta's daughter, Rio, age 4.

What brought people from all over the world to follow Keizo Miura on his 100th-birthday run, said his granddaughter, was that "everyone loves my grandfather. It's so amazing to see him skiing at 100. He has been a big inspiration to those who love to ski, especially as they get older."

The average age of the group who followed him to Utah, she said, is 65.7 years.

Another key ingredient to his longevity is his lifestyle, he has said. Miura rises at 5 each morning and does breathing and stretching exercises before heading out for a 40-minute walk.

He eats a lot of rice and bony fish, which he cooks in a pressure cooker to make the bones edible. Seaweed and soya are also a big part of his daily diet. He retires each night at around 9:30.

His only health problem to date has been his hearing, and he must wear hearing aids.

Following his skiing vacation here in Utah, Keizo Miura plans to return to Japan, where he has scheduled skiing trips to Teine Highland Resort in Sapporo and some mountain skiing at Hakkoda and Tateyama in Japan.

And after that, in the years to come, his plans are simple — more skiing.

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E-mail: grass@desnews.com