FRISCO — While much of the world has its eyes focused on the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Italy, a group of athletes gathered in Summit County last week to compete in a Winter Games of its own — one for competitors ages 50 and up. Most of the athletes sported silver in their hair. Every one defied the stereotype that older folks are weak or frail.
“This is inspirational,” said 31-year-old Janese Caldwell, who recently moved to Summit County from Memphis and volunteered to help with the event at the Frisco Nordic Center on Tuesday.
Stationed at the biathlon shooting range, she was amazed to see folks more than twice her age — including 87-year-old Zlatko Rauker — ski up on skinny cross-country skis, lie down on the ground (with skis still on their feet) to take five shots at a target using a laser rifle, before pushing themselves up from the ground to ski off for a second lap.
“These people are vibrant. Health is wealth out here,” Caldwell said.
“Some of these people are doing things I can’t even do,” agreed Willow Plachta, 29, who moved to Summit County this winter from St. Petersburg, Florida.
Formerly known as the Summit Seniors Winter Games, the annual event — which typically spans several days each February — was recently rebranded to the Summit 50+ Winter Games.
“A lot of people up here want to deny they’re a senior,” said Guy Gadomski, who took over as event director last year.
This competition has been happening for 30 years or more. Gadomski, who will turn 70 this year, remembers first hearing about it when his parents bought a house in Dillon in the early 1990s. At one time, the games included judged figure skating, he said. They were scaled back after COVID. Gadomski is working to revive them.
This year, the games stretched over three days, at three venues: the Alpine ski and uphill races at Keystone ski area, a hockey shootout and speed skate event on Keystone Pond, and a full roster of Nordic events — 3K, 6K and 9K skate and classic races, a biathlon and a snowshoe race — at the Frisco Nordic Center. Some events were modified due to the lack of snow.
Approximately 70 people participated in the Winter Games this season — many competing in multiple events. The uphill and biathlon races were the most popular. Participation in the Nordic races was down this year, likely due to limited training opportunities with the sparse snow cover, Gadomski said. He is determined to double the participant numbers next year and hopes to add new events in the future.
“I want to try curling,” said Nancy Nicholson, of Boulder, as she and fellow racer, Pasi Virta, chatted after the biathlon races, the same day Ben Ogden won silver for the U.S. men’s Nordic team in Italy. Watching the Olympics inspires Nicholson to try new sports.
“Let’s push for it!” Virta replied.
Gadomski, a longtime competitive athlete who began skimo racing in his late 50s, added the uphill event to the roster of events last year. (Also known as ski mountaineering, skimo competitors race on skis up and then back down the mountain.) The Summit Skimo Club loaned equipment for participants to use for the race.
Just before 7 a.m. Monday, as the rising sun threw pink across a few clouds above, 20 racers lined up at the base of Keystone Mountain by the River Run Gondola. Local competitive skimo racers, Eric Broecker and Mike Hagen, lined up with folks like Virta, who had never skied uphill before.
Broecker, 51, completed his fourth lap (approximately 3,300 feet of vertical) by 8:13 a.m. Meanwhile, Virta focused on taking one step at a time up the mountain. When the pace became too intense, he slowed down and enjoyed the quiet beauty around him.
“Uphill was very, very hard,” he said. “I just enjoyed myself while my heart was beating 158 beats per minute. Life is good.”
Nordic skiing is Virta’s winter passion, but he was also excited for the opportunity to compete on the ice later that day. Originally from Finland, Virta played professional hockey until he was 30. Now, he splits his time between Summit County and Bellingham, Washington.
Some of the athletes in their 70s and 80s still compete at national and international levels. Sharon Crawford, 81, of Frisco, for example, just returned from the Masters World Cup in Sappada, Italy, where she won third in her age group for the 5K, 10K and 15K Nordic skate ski races.
“A lot of people look at the Olympics and say ‘I can’t do that,’” Crawford said. “But here you can. It’s not necessarily about winning — it’s about skiing, competing and seeing what you can do.”
Others use the Winter Games as an opportunity to compete in events from their youth. Broecker, who left the uphill race Monday to head to the office for a full week at work, was already contemplating signing up for giant slalom next year.
“I haven’t raced gates since high school, so that would be fun,” he said.
While some come to the games with their eyes on the podium, others use it as an opportunity to train for bigger or new events, as motivation to keep in shape, or simply to have fun on the snow.
“I’m here for the fun of it,” said 80-year-old Richard Greene of Yarmouth, Maine. Greene has participated in the games for a decade. This year, he raced giant slalom and the 6K classic ski race. “It gets me to work out more than I otherwise would.”
Cheryl Duckworth traveled from Park City, Utah, to participate in the games with her friend, Mary Engelstein, who moved to Summit County from Massachusetts in July. Engelstein heard about the event last winter.
“It sounded fun and unique,” she said.
The two friends competed in the uphill, 9K classic and biathlon races. They had one goal: To have fun. By the end of the races, they were already planning for next year, debating which new events they will try. The downhill obstacle course? Giant slalom? The hockey shoot?
John Bowyer volunteered at this year’s event. The 75-year-old Frisco resident was inspired by the athletes he watched.
“They are an inspiration — when I get older, I want to be just like them,” he said and laughed. Bowyer is contemplating participating next year. He’s especially intrigued by the biathlon race.
Biathlon combines Nordic skiing and shooting — two very different skill sets. Skiers, who shoot at targets both lying prone on the ground and standing up, are penalized for any missed shots at the shooting range.
Glenn Cain fell in love with biathlon, here at these games, nearly 10 years ago. He has competed in biathlon ever since.
“I was really interested in biathlon just from watching it in the Olympics,” Cain said. “It’s such an exciting sport.”
Now 61, Cain is among those working to promote the sport by hosting “Try It” events, where folks can try their hand at shooting, using the rifles and targets. He coordinated the timing of the Frisco “Try It” event to coincide with the Summit 50-plus Games. The laser rifles and targets used at this week’s event were on loan from the U.S. Biathlon Club out of Soldier Hollow, Utah.
Typically, biathletes ski with and shoot their own .22-caliber rifles, he said. The Summit event was modified so participants instead skied up to one of three stations, each with a laser rifle waiting. They shot at five targets, first lying down, and then after their second lap, standing up.
Zlata Rauker cheered her husband from the sidelines. “Go, Zlatko, go!” Originally from Croatia, she and her husband grew up on skis.
“He loves competing,” she said. “I hope he keeps doing it as long as he’s capable.”
The Summit 50-plus Games are affordable: This year it cost $30 for members of the Summit 50-plus group and $50 for nonmembers. The flat price included entry to any and all events, as well as lunch at the awards ceremony.
“We’re not trying to do this as a moneymaker,” Gadomski said. “We’re doing this to provide a good opportunity for people to get outside, get active and maybe try something new.”
“It’s fun,” said Chris John, 70, of Silverthorne. “This whole county is kind of a bubble. Look at these people — holy mackerel! I talk to my flatlander friends and they just can’t imagine what we’re doing.”
This year’s awards included a King and Queen of the games, to recognize those who participated in the most events. Thomas Kullman, 67, of Keystone, completed in eight events — more than anyone else.
Regardless of whether they walked away with a medal this week, every athlete wore a smile at the end of the races. Athletes and spectators alike were inspired — some to try new events or races, some to participate next year and some, simply to get in better shape.
“I am the youngest of a lot of my friends,” said Nicholson, 61. “I get inspired by them, and I try to inspire my younger friends. You’re never too old to try something new. It’s going to keep you young.”