Please don’t think for a second, that I mean a polar bear dip on a frozen morning. I’m a life-long swimmer, but outdoor swimming in the winter requires a heated pool. The kind of plunge that I am advocating for is one on snowshoes. Let me explain. A recent Saturday found me, along with 21 Senior Rippers and 2 dogs, at a trailhead in the Uinta Mountains as part of an organized trip through The Park City Mountain Sports Club, an all volunteer group of like-interested Parkites. It had been several days since the last snow fall so there were tracks up an old Mine Trail, the sky was blue,…

Just a quick post to celebrate the fact that I’m BACK ON SKIS!!!! I have had a smile on my face since Monday morning, when my PT gave me the green light to go for it. After a weekend in Palm Desert, where I played 18 holes of golf, pain free, and climbed a small mountain, also without pain, I had a feeling I had made significant progress from my injury (see Senior Ripper…Ripped), but I was surprised the “all-clear” came so soon. Mind you, I am confined to greens and blue groomers, but hey, I’ll take what I can get! And I’ve got many weeks left to try to…

I am pleased to offer our first Senior Ripper guest post. We’ve been asking our audience to contribute, and at last, we have a volunteer! The following was contributed by our good friend and neighbor, Breke Harnagel, who ventured to last weekend’s local Skijouring championships with a group of fellow Senior Rippers. Unfortunately, Gail and I were not able to attend, but I think you will enjoy Breke’s story. What is Skijouring, you ask? Read on! The annual Utah Skijoring competition took place last weekend, February 21 & 22. Being vaguely familiar with similar competitions in Colorado, I took notice of an advertisement for last year’s Utah event but sadly…

Let me qualify that title by saying I’ve only been to one spin class…ever. My conclusion after that one experience was that it may not be the right activity for me. For the few of you who aren’t familiar with the term, spinning is a form of indoor cycling, on a specially designed stationary bike, typically in a group class with an instructor who faces the class and offers encouragement (badgering?), often accompanied by loud, pulsating music, and sometimes visuals projected on a screen. The term “spinning” is actually a trademarked term, the rights to which are owned by a company called Mad Dogg Athletics that tried to enforce its…