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No mountain too high for senior skier
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Saturday, February 9, 2008 9:53 PM EST
OWOSSO - Skiing has been a part of Jeri Steck's life since her daughters were young.
Friends introduced the Steck and her husband to skiing many years ago. Now in her 70s, Jeri is determined that skiing will remain a part of her life. She has been a part of the 70-plus Ski Club for several years.
“We were looking for something our family could do together in the winter,” said Steck, whose husband passed away several years ago.
Skiing became something Steck looks forward to each winter. She often joins a daughter for skiing ventures in California.
The friends who introduced her family to skiing also talked Steck into joining the 70-plus Ski Club, a club with very specific membership. Every member is at least 70 years old, and the members gather at various ski resorts for events throughout the winter.
“You can bring a guest who is not 70 yet,” said Steck. “But they're not allowed to do the races.”
Races are scheduled by age category, beginning at 70. Steck does not take part in the races, but still skis with the club.
Patches are available for those who continue membership through their 70s. Patches for those over 80 and 90 respectively are proudly worn by those who are eligible.
A newsletter and Web site share upcoming schedules with members. For more information and membership instructions, see www.70plusskiclub.org.
Steck recently returned from the club's ski event at Nub's Nob in Harbor Springs. Other events are scheduled for this winter in New York, Massachusetts and Utah.
The club began in 1977 with 37 members. It now boasts more than 17,000 members, including residents of New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Italy and Canada, among numerous other countries.
Members must be at least 70 and downhill skiers. Members are eligible for discount lift tickets at club skiing events and at participating ski lodges.
Steck has skied with the club at Nub's Nob several winters since she became a member. This year's event was canceled on Wednesday when the resort was closed to skiers due to blizzard conditions.
Steck said she skied Tuesday and Thursday before she returned home.
“I didn't mind the storm a bit,” said Steck. “Except that we missed skiing that one day, but they needed the snow.”
Steck emphasized that she does not plan to stop skiing with the club any time soon.
“You ski at the level you want,” she said. “You can ski on the elementary or the intermediate slopes and still have a good time because you are outside. I'm so happy to be out on the hill, on the slopes.”
Steck enjoys the camaraderie of the club events as much as the skiing itself. This winter she met a friend at Nub's Nob who had only been skiing a few weeks. Both of them had been together in the fall for a bike and barge trip in Europe, but neither knew the other would be at the ski event.
Steck said that she has met many friends through the ski club that she looks forward to seeing each winter, although some friends don't always return every year.
“Some don't ski any more. Some live in Florida and others don't want to run the risk of an accident,” she said.
But others, like Steck, look forward to returning to the ski events each winter.
“I just really enjoy skiing,” said Steck. “It gets in your blood.”
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kay White wrote on Feb 12, 2008 8:24 PM:
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