Now Stempler is technically retired, but she keeps busy. She volunteers as the executive director of Women of Winter, a nonprofit that offers scholarships for women of color to learn to be ski instructors. Plus, she’s a children’s ski teacher herself, a prospect that always excited her.
“As a retiree, I am now able to follow my passion of instructing children,” says Stempler. And it’s not just about skill-sharing. “Since most [instructors] aren’t people of color, I am able to provide an opportunity for [students] to see someone who looks like me—a person who is kind, empathetic, and caring—which hopefully will make a difference in the lives of that generation,” she says.
Stempler originally asked the resort if she could volunteer, but had to take a paid job due to regulations around instructing—so, she saves her paychecks and donates them to Women of Winter. Her job perks include daily access to the slopes, where she is known as the guide with gummy bears in her pocket.
This hack is a known one among retirees: work or volunteer at ski resort, get free lift tickets. Ontario-hailing Bob Lingman, 76, also works and skis at Big Sky resort. Instead of instructing, though, he volunteers as a mountain guide. Aside from the pure enjoyment he gets from helping visitors find their way around, he’s most certainly a fan of the unlimited ski access. “Prior to retirement, I had a 14 hour drive to get to Big Sky,” says Lingman. He has since retired to Bozeman, which is one hour away by car, and “skiing is more rewarding than ever,” he says.
Lingman starts his day by putting on the signature green guide jacket and arrives to Big Sky around 8 a.m. “I go into the Hungry Moose and have a bagel and coffee, chat with friends, do some meeting and greeting,” Lingman says. “Then at 10, I head up the mountain for my tours.” His day ends around 3 p.m.—on off days, he is still up early tackling errands, spending time with his family, and unsurprisingly, strapped into his skies.
While he once opted for 50,000 vertical feet a day at resorts around the world, he now enjoys more relaxed skiing at Big Sky. He does have to perform a yearly skills test, which he manages just fine. He has no intentions of retiring from the slopes anytime soon.
Lingman is the kind of skier Eric Ascalon hopes to be one day. At 52, Eric Ascalon might seem too young to fit in with the retired ski bum crowd, but in his current phase of semi-retirement, he knows what he’s working toward. Mid-pandemic, Escalon explored the work-to-ski lifestyle while operating a lift at Sugarbush in Vermont. “Sugarbush is a real skier’s mountain,” he says, with lots of variety and a down-home feel.
Ascalon got his start skiing in college—and once he stepped back from corporate law in his 40’s, he began to ski even more, all over North America. But he’s most fond of the snow he learned on, on the East Coast. “Most of my skiing has been in the Poconos and even to this day, it’s where I go most.”
When he’s finally ready to stop working, he wants to build a cabin in northern Vermont or the Adirondack region. And he knows exactly how he’ll spend his days. “When I worked at Sugarbush, there were quite a few octogenarians who were regulars. Some had a pronounced gait when they walked. But when they donned their skis, they sailed down the mountain with grace and pose. When I grow up, I want to be one of them.”
