Unlimited Passes in Hand, Retirees Make ‘Off Peaking’ an Art Form
A 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found
that group exercise classes focused on flexibility and relaxation in retirement villages can prevent debilitating falls “and maintain physical functioning in frail older people.”
When Joanna Mezzatesta, a retired newspaper copy editor living on Staten Island, was choosing Medicare plans, a top priority was one
that included unlimited exercise classes for no extra charge.
“I used to have back problems,” she said in a telephone interview from her home in Amagansett, “And they went away.”
Unlimited passes can be good for you.
“And I always have my pass in my wallet.”
Mr. Miller, 63, buys one of Vail Resorts’ unlimited Epic Passes, priced this year at $859 for adults who purchased it before Labor Day.
“I keep a lot of my gear in one of my vehicles,” said Mr. Miller, an avid skier
and a retired oral surgeon in Colorado who owns a cabin near Breckenridge.
Not only can the retired use passes more than those with jobs and other responsibilities,
but they can use them better — hitting gyms, golf courses and the slopes at off-peak times when there is space to breathe — and plenty of steep trails begging for sexagenarians to lay fresh tracks.
As a result, sales of the passes — good at 2,000 federal recreation sites including national parks, wildlife refuges and other lands — tripled
