Out there always; How one Eugene ski club continues to support its members to stay, regardless of age
By Hanna Kalan
EUGENE, Ore. —Gregg Fuller is a realtor and skier. Now 68, he finds himself skiing more cautiously. “I don’t have those young years of going so fast down the mountain, I want to be safe,” Fuller said. Fuller joined Altair 12 years ago after many of his friends stopped skiing due to health reasons or just generally losing interest in the sport. “I’ve been in Eugene almost all my life and I had a lot of people to ski with, but I noticed about 12 years ago either some of my ski friends couldn’t ski anymore or they didn’t want to,” Fuller said.
In 2019 Snow Sports Industry America conducted a survey searching for the most common demographic of skiers. It showed that 3% of Skiiers in America were over the age of 65.
Eugene’s Altair Ski and Sports Club started as a singles club called Parents without Partners in 1987. The club organized many outdoor sport-related events and then transitioned to being a social outdoor recreation group. Members who joined in when the club began 40 years ago make up the majority of those active in the club. Altair provides access to the mountain through interpersonal bonds. “Friendship is really the key to making it more accessible..having people you feel comfortable with,” Genie Siedler, co-coordinator of skiing for Altair said, “We are friends first and skiers second.”
The club is open to adults aged 21 and older, but most members of Altair are older than 50, with their eldest member being 90.
In addition to coordinating ski trips, downhill and cross country, Siedler was recruited to help create the new and improved Altair website.“My job now is to help people have access to the website if they don’t know how to use it,” she said, “I’m not labeling older people as not capable but, they haven’t had the life experience yet.”
Siedler is in her 60s. “I'm ready to ski till I'm as old as I can be,” Siedler said.
During Altairs skiing events, members organize carpools where they meet at a specified location and caravan to the mountain.“There's a gas station on West 30th, near I-5. That's our spot,” Siedler said. Many of the club's skiing days take place at Willamette Pass, a ski resort an hour away from Eugene. The club typically takes at least two trips to the mountain a month. This year, the resort will host the club for a “free day,” where the resort will provide passes and rentals to Altair members.
Other than skiing and other sporting events, Altair hosts many gatherings surrounding food and community, “Just about everything we do comes with a coffee or a meal afterward or a glass of wine,” Siedler said.
Laurie Steinbruck is in her 60s and has been part of Altair since she moved to Eugene in 1993. She found the club through a friend of a friend. “They used to do a big ‘pray for powder’ event and that was my first meeting, I was like ‘I’m going skiing,’” Steinbruck said. The event was typically held in November before snowfall. Members of Altair would gather for a dance to celebrate the upcoming season.
Originally from Southern California, ski culture was not a huge part of Steinbruck’s life. It was not until she was 18 that she learned to ski at Big Bear Mountain, about two hours east of her home. Steinbruck said it was watching skiing on television that originally inspired her to try. Steinbruck and her best friend took a less “We were terrible, the teacher felt so bad he gave us a free lesson after lunch,” she said.
After learning how, Steinbruck did not ski for about 10 years, family and work responsibilities took priority during this time. Additionally, expensive lift tickets and long drives to the mountain made hitting the slopes inaccessible.
Now retired, Steinbruck plans on hitting at least 20 days on her skis this season. She enjoys skiing at Willamette Pass because it's a “nice neighborhood place.”
“I’m not in skiing for the speed, I’m one of those skiers that really like turns,” Steinbruck said. Steinbruck said her favorite part about riding down the face of a mountain feels like flying.
Being of a certain age, Steinbruck has become more focused on the conditions of the snow. When the snow is icy and stiff if the skier falls, they will land on hard-packed snow. “I am more likely to be out on a stormy day with good snow than I am a sunny day with very firm snow,” Steinbruck said.
Other than skiing, Steinbruck enjoys hiking and generally working out. “As I get older I need to be able to get up and have upper body strength, skiing motivates me to stay in shape,” she said.
Kira Flowers lift operator at Mt. Hoodoo ski resort said they typically do not slow their lifts if a person appears to be older. “We don’t assume anything, if someone walks up to the lift, looks like they might need help, we will just ask if they do,” she said.
“The group experience changes the game,” Steinbruck said, “I’m so sorry I didn't know what I now know about ski clubs.”