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NOT OVER THE HILL

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By BILL PENNINGTON, The New York Times

Published: January 3, 2008

Updated: 01/02/2008 03:44 pm

With the snow already falling up North (and especially after last year's disappointing accumulations), Floridians have begun their treks to the slopes.

We're as fond of a good powder and a cheek-burning schuss as any Yank. In fact, the Tampa Bay Snow Skiers and Boarders ( www.tampabaysnowskiers.com) is one of the biggest ski clubs in the country, with 3,500 members.

And yet, when we head to the major resorts, we're among the 80 percent of skiers using only 20 percent of the mountain: the easy, blue-square groomed trails as opposed to the double-black-diamond runs.

Part of the explanation is that the youngsters (a relative term) are abandoning slopes for terrain parks and half-pipes. But the bigger reason is a cringing baby boom generation.

The same outdoorsy types who created the American ski craze of the 1960s and '70s have grown averse to risk. Resorts ought to rename every intermediate cruising trail in the country the 401(k) because the more you have invested in a retirement account, the more likely that's the trail you'll be on.

Joe Nevin, a 61-year-old ski instructor in Aspen, Colo., knows the story. He has heard it over and over on Aspen's lifts talking with middle-aged skiers.

"It's kind of the forgotten society of skiing," he says. "They look in the ski magazines, and the stories and pictures are about cliff jumping. They don't want to fly in the air. They don't want to end up in physical therapy.

"And if they see somebody in the moguls, it's always some 20-year-old banging through the course with his knees in his face. They know that's not for them, either."

Five years ago, Nevin decided to do something with all the information he had acquired on chairlift rides. He devised a pioneering instruction program aimed at those born from 1946 through 1964 called Bumps for Boomers.

In three days of lessons, Nevin erases the fear and, without demanding young, quick reflexes or extraordinary agility, teaches his students to confidently ski black-diamond, even double-black-diamond, mogul runs.

And it works. Nevin's program, which costs $840 for a three-day session, has turned hundreds of former boomer groomers into mogul and glade skiers.

Several Resorts Offer Programs

It's now one of the most popular specialized instruction programs offered by the Aspen Skiing Co., with students flying in from around the country weekly from mid-December through March. Reservations are required (1-800-456-0897; www.bumps forboomers.com).

"It's not a gimmick," says Rose Ries, a 51-year-old psychiatrist from Philadelphia who has taken the Bumps for Boomers course.

"I was the classic devoted skier who, nonetheless, had no chance in the moguls. Now, tree and mogul runs are the only place I go. I don't even bother with groomers."

Nevin's program is one of several sprouting around the nation.

Others include Mermer Blakeslee's Power Learn programs at Windham Mountain in New York (www.windham mountain.com) and the Prime Time classes at Breckenridge ( www.breckenridge.snow .com) in Colorado, which are aimed at those 50 and older. Vail Mountain (www.vail .snow.com) offers masters camps.

The programs are finding a following because they offer hope to a generation searching for something to rejuvenate their skiing.

"There are a million kids' instruction programs, but they're not the only people we should be helping get better," says Nevin, a former Silicon Valley executive and longtime weekend ski instructor.

Coaches Are Middle-Aged, Too

Perhaps to prove that his techniques are suitable for any age, Nevin employs only middle-aged coaches, who work in groups no larger than four. The connection is obvious. The program also attracts a lot of couples.

"Typically, the husband calls and after a lot hemming and hawing says, 'I'm an expert skier, but my wife isn't, so can we take the program together?'"

Harvey Federman, 71, enrolled in Bumps for Boomers with his wife, Carol, 59.

"We both got better, and it's going to extend how long we can keep skiing," says Federman, who lives near Boston. "I have so many friends who have just given up skiing because they're afraid to get hurt. We are more brittle and the trees are intimidating, but you can learn to slow down. You ski better, and it's fun, too."

Federman says he was recently skiing with his 46-year-old son when they came upon a massive mogul field.

"My son is a great skier, and he blazed down the trail, but after about 20 turns he had to stop," Federman says. "Using the technique Joe Nevin taught me, I just kept making my controlled turns, and I went right past him until I stopped at the bottom.

"My son just looked at me and said, 'Wow.'"

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