Meet the Retirees Who've Become the Ski Bums They Always Wanted to Be

30.03.2024 - 12:25 / cntraveler.com

This is part of a collection of stories celebrating the many shapes retirement travel can take. Read more here.

Henri Rivers, 62, has been skiing since he was 8. It all began when he snuck up to the attic of his parent’s hotel in Big Indian, New York, and found a pair of boots and skis that a guest had left behind. He took them out to the nearby Belleayre Mountain, and even though the boots were ill-fitting and the skis six feet long, he managed to hurl himself down the hill, mimicking what he saw other children doing.

“[It] was the Abbott and Costello movie, Hit the Ice,” Rivers, who now lives on Long Island, says, referring to the film's constant hijinks on skis. Despite the rocky introduction, Rivers eventually got the hang of the sport and it would become a major part of his life. By adulthood, he’d mastered skiing and begun coaching in his free time.

Rivers could never fully commit to his favorite pastime while working as a renewable energy consultant in New York City. That all changed when he retired—and the same is true for others who, during their career lives, relegated skiing to weekends and the occasional trip. Like Rivers, they discover a sense of freedom after clocking out for the last time. Finally, they have an open agenda to explore new trails, and spend weeks visiting some of the best slopes in the world. Another perk: accessing fresh powder at off-peak times, when everyone else is at work or school.

Rivers isn't the only one skiing into his golden years. The average age of skiers is increasing, which means people are staying on the slopes longer than ever. According to the National Ski Areas Association, there's a “gradual aging trend" as record numbers of skiers take to the snow (the 2023 season ended with a whopping 65.4 million people visiting US ski resorts). Resorts are catering to older visitors, too, with “Ski Free” days for those over 70, 80, or 90.

These retirees are not flying south for the winter.

Rivers is now the president of the National Brotherhood of Snowsports (NBS), an organization that encourages Black people to take up skiing and other cold-weather sports. He never misses the annual NBS summit (this year at Big Sky; last year, at Vail) which brings together chapters of snowsport enthusiasts from around the country. Skiers of all ages, even into their 80’s, come out for the days of kinship and camaraderie, he says.

But outside of NBS summits, Rivers is always chasing that fresh powder. His favorite destination is “any mountain that has snow,” he jokes, though he's regularly beelining from New York to Snowmass or Aspen. “I make sure to ski at least 50 days a season, as long as I’m injury-free.”

“There was a time in my life in my 20s where the only furniture I had