These Centenarian Celebrated Their Birthdays by…Skiing?
How do you typically celebrate your birthday? Maybe you have the family over for a barbeque and some birthday cake. Perhaps you make a day of it and go see your favorite baseball team play their division rivals, followed by a nice meal at your favorite restaurant. If you’re the quiet type, you might prefer to keep your birthday to yourself.
Photo Credit | Deposit Photos |Gazette.com
If you’re Elsa Bailey and you’re celebrating your 100th birthday, you’ve decided to ski on some wintry slopes.
Bailey, a resident of Colorado Springs in Colorado, had been skiing every year on her birthday since she turned 25. Just because she turned 100 didn’t mean she was going to let tradition slip away from her.
“It was something that I planned years ago,” Bailey told Good Morning America. “That on my 100th birthday I’d have one last ski, then hang up my skis. I’ve done it for 75 years. That’s a long time.”
Bailey is a member of three different ski clubs, two of those groups being the Silver Streaks Ski Club (for skiers over the age of 50) and the Visually Impaired and Blind Skiers of Colorado Springs. That’s right – legally, Bailey is considered to be blind.
Bailey isn’t the only centenarian to celebrate turning 100 years-old by skiing. She’s joined by Charles Elliot, also of Colorado. When his big day came, the U.S. Ski Team went above and beyond by making him an honorary member, even going as far as to present him with an official U.S. Ski Team jacket.
When the Huffington Post asked Elliot how he felt about turning 100, he responded with exactly the wit and charisma you’d expect from a 100 year-old skier. “I guess it’s special,” he said. “It only happens once every 100 years.”