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Winter is just around the corner and we couldn’t be more ready. Unfortunately we first need to make it through the season of fall: inconveniently placed smack in between summer and winter.
But, Candide Thorox, the king of snow-less skiing, may have a solution for your autumn-antsies.
If you’ve ever looked at a pile of leaves and thought “I could ski that” - this video is for you.
With each additional child there is more gear to pack, more bodies to bundle into the car, and more pricey lift passes to purchase. And growing children frequently means dealing with rentals and ski lessons, all of which can get very expensive very quickly.
Visit Estonia via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
That being said, there are few things better in life than sharing a love of skiing and riding with your kids. Colorado understands why people live and play here. They know we want to share the incredible mountains and plentiful snow with the next generation, and they want to make it easy!
With a little pre-planning, you can capitalize on the amazing ski and snowboard deals available to kids in this state, and get them on the slopes for free this season!
That's a pretty monstrous deal. And it's available right now, for a limited time, through Vail's Epic School Kids Colorado Pack program.
All you need to do is to register at any front range Epic Mountain Gear location (except for the Frisco storefront). Bring your child and a form of ID for them (report card, student ID, birth certificate or passport). Once you are registered, you can pick up your free passes at the resort ticket window on your first ski day.
There's more too. Each child is eligible for a FREE first-timer lesson as well as free rentals for the lesson.
Registration is now open on the Colorado Ski Country website for their 2018/19 5th and 6th Grade Passport Program. The fifth grade ski passport gives registered students 3 free days at each of Colorado's 22 premier ski areas. That's 66 days of free skiing!! For 6th graders, this same deal is available for just $105!
The resorts that we ski and snowboard at in the winter don't disappear once the snow stops falling, and many of them are taking advantage of their infrastructure to transform themselves into outdoor playgrounds in the summer months. With plentiful lodging, quality dining and stunning mountain views, these resorts have a lot to offer a vacationer in the summer. Many offer kids programs, and activities for all ages and interest.
Check out our list of six ski and snowboard resorts that are worth a visit in the summer!
In the summer months Arapahoe Basin Ski Area turns into a hub for outdoor activity. With hiking, mountain biking, and sun-deck yoga all available, A-Basin is a great place to enjoy what the mountains have to offer in the warmer months as well. See their whole summer schedule here.
Check out: their Saturday concert series
Photo by Patrick Schneider on Unsplash
Aspen has a ton to offer in the summer. You can find a wide variety of outdoor programming that takes advantage of Aspen’s stunning scenery. From the Snowmass’ mountain bike park, to guided horse back riding and fishing, Aspen has something to offer for everyone, especially when you consider the world class culture on offer. Throughout the summer, Aspen hosts a myriad of cultural events that bring in talent from around the world. Learn more about Aspen’s culinary, musical, and intellectual events here, and read about all of Aspen Snowmass’ summer programming here.
Check out: the Lost Forest Ropes Course.
Photo by Jessica Fadel on Unsplash
Breckenridge really does it up in the summer. The town is surrounded by river, mountains and forests to explore, and they want to make them as accessible as possible.
“There are 100+ miles you can explore on two legs, 2 wheels, 4 wheels or horseback… our Breckenridge summer is packed with festivals, concerts, competitions and celebrations.”
Read about their summer activities, from mountain biking, to river rafting, here.
Check out: the alpine slide!
Photo by Daniel Spase on Unsplash
Crested Butte is one of the most scenic mountain towns in Colorado - which is saying something. Tucked into the mountains, it is a wildflower mecca in the summer.
There are many options to get out and explore the landscape in the summer, and town offers unique dining experiences, a summer concert series, and a quirky mountain town vibe. Learn more here.
Check out: their disc gold course, recently named one of the top 25 courses in America.
Killington Ski Resort is another mountain that puts in the effort for its summer programming. Explore the green mountains, on foot or on wheel, or simply relax and try some golf or sample some of the fine food and wine available in town - all within a cozy New England setting. Learn more about Killington’s summer program, here.
Check out: the “Wrecktangle” a Ninja-Warrior style ropes course.
Photo by Fredy Chavez on Unsplash
Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows has more to offer in the summer than most ski and snowboard resorts, because it has something most others do not: proximity to beaches! Whether you want to go geocaching in the Sierras or read a book on the beach, Lake Tahoe has you covered.
Squaw organizes yoga, disc golf, slacklining and an outdoor music series. Learn more about their programming, here.
South Tahoe itself has even more to offer from adventure sports to cultural events. Learn more here.
Check out: Squaw’s Outdoor Summer Movie Series
Photo by Cristofer Jeschke on Unsplash
The Craftsbury Outdoor Center has been storing snow since the winter as part of an experimental "snow farming" project working to see if snow can be stored from one season to another. Many, around the world, are hoping to use this technique in the future to help build early-season bases, and alleviate some of their dependance on natural snowfall as climate change makes weather more variable. Several major events from the Iditarod to the Hahnenkamm World Cup ski races in Austria, now depending on the technique.
It will be really interesting to see the capabilities of snow storage technology and its impact on the future of winter sports as the technology develops, but for now, it's fun to watch people fool around in a pile of snow in the middle of summer!
It's been so hot at our headquarters in Denver over the last couple weeks that it's difficult to believe it will ever snow again.
Jesper Tjäder and Emma Dahlström with GoPro have one idea on how to get your turns - and even hit kickers and rails - without waiting for the white fluffy stuff. Watch these skiers hike up and then shred the Cerro Blanco dune in Peru!
Undoubtedly rad, but all I can think about is the SAND IN THEIR BOOTS!!
Did you know that if you strap on a pair of cross-country skis just east of the Deerfield River at Vermont’s southern boarder and head north, you can ski on uninterrupted trail until you arrive at the Canadian boarder 300-miles north?
The Catamount Trail, which began in 1984 as the thesis project of Steve Bushey, Paul Jarris and Ben Rose when they were students at the University of Vermont, is now the longest uninterrupted cross-country skiing trail in North America. Its 300-miles of trail, between Vermont’s southern to northern boarders, were painstakingly pieced together by the Catamount Trail Association (CTA) over 20 years. The trail connects vast wilderness areas to old timber roads; it crosses farmland and protected forests, and caters to skiers of a variety of levels.
Unlike many aspects of the winter sports world, especially those associated with Nordic skiing’s brasher alpine cousin, the Catamount Trail is explicitly designed to be accessible and inexpensive, where skiers are drawn by the state’s stunning natural beauty rather than by high speed trams, luxury accommodations, or glitzy off-slope shopping. The trail is the result of a rugged culture that is increasingly absent from a skiing world dominated by corporate giants Vail and Alterra.
But in Vermont — and it’s eastern neighbor New Hampshire — you can still find trail systems maintained by passionate volunteers, mountains where the owner personally greets their customers each morning and, occasionally, lodge beers for less than $5. It is a land that respects rigorous exercise and bone chilling winds, where winter sports are part of a time-honored way of life.
Ben Rose, one of the Catamount Trail’s founders, and the Executive Director of the Green Mountain Club, describes the project’s unique vision: It’s a “very intimate way to see the landscape. Like hiking the Long Trail, skiing the Catamount Trail is a way to see Vermont from its heart.”
Although few people actually ski the whole trail — as it’s always not easy to camp along the route in winter — few people have actually skied the whole trail, each winter it’s estimated to support over 8,000 skier days.
Photo by Simon Matzinger on Unsplash
On their website the CTA states that their goal “is to create a future in which Vermont is home to a world-class network of locally-supported winter back-country trails and terrain accessible to outdoor travelers of all abilities and means.” As winter recreation is becoming increasingly corporate across the US, organizations like the CTA will play an increasingly important role in ensuring that winter sports like cross country skiing and snowshoeing remain accessible and inexpensive as they have been for centuries.
A lonely stretch along the Catamount Trail is about as far as you could get spiritually from, say, Aspen’s glamorous Little Nell’s bar, but for many, the former encapsulated the soul of winter sports in a way the latter new can.
The makers of the Tusk claim it's the ultimate survival shovel, with four tools in one: a shovel, a steal digging spade, an extra-wide scraper, and a squeegee. It's built for those freezing morning when it's dumped two feet of snow and you just want to get to the mountain. It's designed to save its users from ever having to handle one of those double-sided scraper-brushes - that are never quite long enough, or break just at the wrong moment - again.
They've got several different packages and color option, and they promise delivery to their backers by this coming winter.
There's only two days left in this kickstarter so check it out by Friday (6/29) if you're interested in backing the project!
This short film was created by Carbondale students as a part of the Lens on Climate Change (LOCC) program. LOCC is a project run by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), that helps Colorado middle and high school students tell the stories of climate changes' impacts on their lives and communities through film.
The students who made this film chose to illustrate the very real threat that climate change poses to the future of skiing and snowboarding - an essential part of their Colorado mountain town lifestyle. They begin with a spoof advertisement for "Grass Skis" - no snow, no problem, just strap on some grass skis this winter!
Then some local experts share some pretty alarming data on climate change in Colorado: "The climate science that looks at this particular region will tell you that in 100 years the climate of Aspen will resemble the climate of Amarillo, TX" - Matthew Hamilton, Sustainability Director for Aspen Ski Co.
We hope that grass skis will not have to become a reality... and that butter won't be replacing ski wax any time soon!
"I support a 100% Renewable Energy future because fighting climate change is not only essential for global stability, it is an opportunity for our global community to come together to achieve the impossible. We can achieve a 100% renewable energy future and along the way we can eradicate hunger, poverty and opportunity inequality. Together we can form a compassionate, thriving and sustainable global community. I have had the privilege of travelling the world as a professional skier, and along the way I have seen that anything is possible when we work towards a common goal."
-Noah Hoffman, Olympic X-Country Skier 2018
"Global warming is having a huge impact on the winter sports that we love. As a winter sports athlete, I have seen many events get canceled in recent years in due to lack of snow. This is happening in places that are known for having huge amounts of snow throughout the winter. In order to protect our planet and the sports we love, we have to move forward towards having a 100% renewable energy future. I hope that future generations will be able to enjoy the winter activities that we have been lucky enough to grow up with."
-Mick Dierdorff, Olympic Snowboarder
"Honestly, everything that I enjoy doing in this world is made possible because we have a lot of snow, clean water and healthy mountains. As soon as those things stop being true, everything I love to do in this world will be gone, and I really just don’t want to wait around watching until that happens. It isn’t a matter of if we should change anymore, but how do we change. Each and every step we take, it is important that it is in the right direction. Because hey, we all want to go ski some powder right?
"If we want to keep doing the things we love, and using the earth as our playground, there has to be a change. I want to go skiing for the rest of my life, and I want the next generations to be able to ski. I want to be able to surf in a clean ocean, and I want it to stay that way for everyone who graces this earth. It's as simple as that."
- Casey Andringa, Olympic Freestyle Skier 2018
"I have spent over a decade traveling around the world to the same snow destinations to compete in World Cup competitions. Over the course of my career, I have seen first hand how climate change has affected many of these places. What were once "winter wonderlands" are now the only places that can host an early season world cup. Places that typically had normal winters now are forced to battle rains, warm temperatures and little to no snow. Without trucking in man-made snow or machines that can make snow above freezing, these venues could no longer host a competition. All this has happened in just the past decade, imagine how it could be if we continue on this path for another decade! We need to treat ourselves and our environment better and that's why I support 100% renewables."
- Bryan Fletcher, Olympic Nordic Combined Athlete
