Senior citizens stay on the slopes

ALTA — Dick Arner left his home early one summer day, hopped on his bicycle and rode 18 miles to Alta. Uphill. Pedaling high into the oxygen-thin air and stunning scenery of the Wasatch Mountains, he finally arrived at the ski resort village, 8,500 feet above sea level.

There, he purchased a season's ski pass.

Not bad for a guy who's 71.

But it's par for the course for Arner, who's been picking up his annual pass that way for the past 12 years. In fact, among his longtime skiing buddies — and growing ranks of senior skiers nationwide — Arner is a mere spring chicken.

"People think when you get older, you have to slow down," Arner says. "Yeah, maybe that's true. But a lot of people my age are dead, too."

Here, every day at 11 a.m. through ski season, Arner and other members of the Wild Old Bunch meet at Alf's Restaurant, a slope-side eatery reachable only by skis. The group bills itself as a "a happily disorganized collection of senior Alta regulars readily dispensing hospitality, youthful enthusiasm and sage advice."

Rush Spedden, 89, with two practically brand-new artificial knees, was the most senior skier on a recent day. Last season, he skied 38 days.

But Spedden scoffs at any special mention. The club includes active members into their early 90s. Alta allows anyone 80 or older to ski for free. And so far this season, at least 118 octogenarians have taken up the offer.

What's happening at Alta isn't unique in the ski industry.

Skiers, as a whole, are getting older.

Those 45 and older now make up one of the market's fastest-growing segments. According to the National Ski Areas Association, 31 percent of downhill skiers in the United States were older than 45 in the 2004-05 season — compared with 21 percent in 1997-98.

Last year, 12 percent of skiers were 55 or older.

Keeping them on the slopes is critical in the highly competitive ski industry, where nationwide skier days dropped by 1.2 percent last year from the record 2002-03 season.

Michael Berry, president of the NSAA, credits the increase in older skiers to a general rise nationwide in healthier seniors who stay fit and active well into retirement. Improved equipment — especially a new generation of shorter, shaped skis that make turning easier on aging muscles and creaky joints — also helps keep skiers on the slopes longer.