WILDWOOD, Mo. — If you head out to Hidden Valley in Eureka, you're bound to encounter a few different groups of skiers and snowboarders.
There's the young tykes just getting their ski legs, the slope savants speeding by for the cameras, the... well we'll just call them the "cautious crowd and then there are the "skizers."
Yep, the name is exactly what it sounds like. It's a group of retired and semi-retired St. Louisans who team meet up during the week to hit the slopes out at Hidden Valley.
Gayle Lutz and her husband are the de facto founders of the group, which sort of started by accident.
"As the years went by, more and more people joined us. And two or three years ago we decided to call ourselves 'the ski-zers'. Because it just seemed appropriate," Lutz said. "I think by now we probably have about 18 people who congregate during the week and we ski and socialize and just have a really good time. And we have some really great skiers in the group aged 61 to 79."
"It's great when I come out here because I know there's going to be people I know and like out here," 79-year-old skizer Gary Couse said. "Makes skiing so much better."
As for the group's name? For this lighthearted crew it fits like a glove.
"We laughed and said, 'We're not old geezers.. we're skizers'," Lutz chuckled. "Our common bond is our love for skiing, and I think being active at an older age is very important."
And in the middle of a pandemic, the skizers may have found the perfect past time.
"During the pandemic I do watch who I get with and everything. But I like it that this is outdoors and you can do it," Couse said.
"You naturally social distance. If you're not social distancing you're crashing into someone. You don't want to do that," 78-year-old skizer Phil Makarowsky said.
"I think it's a very good activity for seniors, particularly, because we're not sitting around playing bingo next to each other," Lutz said.
And even though the ages of the skizers continue to climb... don't expect them to leave their mountain any time soon. If they've got their health, you can count on seeing them in action at Hidden Valley.
"As long as I can, because I do enjoy it," Couse said about how long he wants to ski.
"Until the good Lord says, 'You're going underground'," Makarowsky said. "If you come out here on a regular basis, you'll stay young."