The Idaho Ski Areas Association (aka Ski Idaho), the Central...
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The event consisted of seven marathons in seven days across all seven continents from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6., 2025. Sheridan and another 68-year-old woman who competed in the event share the honor of being the oldest women in the world to accomplish the feat. Molly Sheridan crosses the finish line in Antarctica.
It’s a beautiful day at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, with blue skies and fresh snow. A group of skiers pause and huddle midway down an intermediate slope, then follow a ski instructor as she makes beautiful, tight, dynamic turns down the mountain. The people in this group are learning how to ski, but they’re a few decades older than their counterparts in the children’s ski school. They’re all in their 50s, 60s, and 70s — part of Mammoth’s Ripping Over 50 ski and snowboard camps, a program based on the belief that skiing is an activity someone can do at age 2 or 92, from their first steps until their last.
These camps are no average ski lessons. They are the brainchild of Mammoth ski instructor and fitness expert Suzanne Nottingham, who designed a research-based curriculum for people over 50 who want to enjoy years — even decades — of movement on snow.
Nottingham, 67, is a personal trainer, motivational speaker, and pioneer in the fitness and group exercise world, with published books and a career as a professional fitness athlete for Nike. As a ski instructor with a Level 3 certification (the highest degree from the Professional Ski Instructors of America), she also teaches people how to ski at Mammoth.
Her Ripping Over 50 camps reflect both of her professional paths and are grounded in her philosophy on aging. She not only wants to open the door to snow sports for an often-overlooked demographic of aging yet active people, but also believes skiing promotes exactly the kind of healthy lifestyle this group needs at this stage of life.
“Pat Goldberg, Suzanne Nottingham, and Bryan Hughes stand in front of Mammoth Mountain at the wrap-up party for the Ripping Over 50 ski camp in March 2025.
Courtesy of Mammoth Mountain”“Ripping is not an ability level or a specific place to ski,” Nottingham said. “Ripping is 100% a state of mind — having faith to trust us as the best in the world. It’s a way of being where you feel exuberant in the moment. I teach people to live happily in the moment.”
Nottingham’s views challenge stereotypes about aging and the idea that skiing and snowboarding are only for young people. Hundreds have joined the camps since the program launched in 2021. The oldest participant so far was 92. While many have experienced physical changes — some with hip or knee replacements, others recovering from injuries — that hasn’t stopped them from making comfortable turns on the mountain.
Nottingham believes this is a new generation of aging adults. These are the same people who redefined fitness in the 1980s and 1990s, and she aims to continue that legacy today.
“I’m not just breaking but shattering the glass ceiling of what aging looks and feels like by today’s standards,” she said. “It’s not the image of an old person feebly walking across the road. It’s a new way to see aging populations — something the winter sports industry hasn’t embraced yet.”
On Tuesday morning, March 18, Nottingham stood before several dozen skiers and snowboarders who had just finished breakfast inside a conference room on the third floor of Mammoth’s Main Lodge. Small in stature but with a commanding, confident presence, she began organizing the participants into groups ranging from beginners to advanced skiers capable of tackling steep slopes.
One thing most participants have in common, Nottingham noted, is an active lifestyle. Regardless of skill level, the core belief of Ripping Over 50 is that snow sports should be physically comfortable at all levels.
She emphasizes benefits like neuroplasticity, bone density, balance, and posture — all of which are positively impacted by skiing.
“There are so many qualities of sliding on snow that improve your everyday movement,” Nottingham explained.
She collaborates with some of Mammoth’s most experienced instructors, each holding top-level certifications. Still, she trains them specifically on how to teach older adults.
According to Nottingham, teaching someone in their 60s is different than teaching someone in their 30s — not because of decline, but because of different needs and learning styles. She strongly rejects the stigmas associated with aging.
A study highlights significant improvements in the physical and mental functioning of older adults in England compared to previous generations. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, researchers found that advancements in education, nutrition, sanitation, and medical care have likely contributed to better health outcomes.
For instance, a 68-year-old born in 1950 exhibited similar capacities to a 62-year-old born a decade earlier. Parallel trends were observed in China, though with a shorter study period. However, researchers caution that these trends may not continue, with factors like rising obesity potentially reversing progress. The findings emphasize the modifiability of intrinsic capacities, offering optimism for healthy aging.
Older adults today display significantly better physical and mental functioning than those from earlier generations at the same age.
Improvements in education, nutrition, sanitation, and medical advances contribute to these trends.
Rising challenges like obesity could potentially reverse these positive trends in aging.
Columbia University
A new study from the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at the Mailman School of Public Health reveals significant improvements in the health of older adults in England when compared to previous generations.
Rather than considering health through the presence or absence of disease, the study, published in Nature Aging, applied a new approach that examined trends in people’s functioning – their cognitive, locomotor, psychological, and sensory capacities.
Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, the study found that older adults today experience higher levels of physical and mental functioning than previous generations did at the same age.
“These improvements were large,” said John Beard, MBBS, PhD, Irene Diamond Professor of Aging in Health Policy and Management in the Butler Columbia Aging Center of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and author of the study.
For example, a 68-year-old born in 1950 had a similar capacity to a 62-year-old born a decade earlier, and those born in 1940 had better functioning than those born in 1930 or 1920.
Beard noted, “If we had compared someone born in 1950 with someone born in 1920, we would have likely observed even greater improvements.”
eard and his colleagues undertook similar analyses in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). They found similar trends, although this analysis was limited by the much shorter follow-up period in the Chinese study compared to the English study.
Beard says that improvements in education, nutrition, and sanitation over the course of the twentieth century are likely to have played a key role. Medical advances—such as joint replacements and better treatments for chronic conditions—were also likely to be contributing factors.
The Idaho Ski Areas Association (aka Ski Idaho), the Central...
Read More
The Idaho Ski Areas Association (aka Ski Idaho), the Central...
Read More