So much news to share with all 410 of you ski touring enthusiasts now on this email list!

I’m doing my best to make this club, newsletter, and Discord group (86 members), valuable to you all, but I’m always open to suggestions on how to make it better, so please reach out if you have ideas or want to support the Club.

Thank you La Sportiva for sponsoring all clinics & demos.

WEEKLY CLINICS & GEAR DEMOS AT ELDORA
3 events in the books and more dates available!

All the work in making these happen has been worthwhile in hearing everyone’s feedback from the 20+ attendees of the last 3 clinics so far. I’m stoked folks, from novices to advanced, are finding these useful and learning lots!

Are you or someone you know interested in trying ski touring for the first time, learning more advanced techniques, or demoing new lighter gear? Sign up for upcoming clinics!

View recaps from Clinic 1 and Clinic 2.

All photo courtesy Cullen McHale & Eldora - please credit for use.

FIRST ELDORA ‘MORNING GRIND’ RACE
100 participants…on a Wednesday!

Looks like I wasn’t the only one stoked to have Eldora races back! Thanks Sam at Eldora for letting me course-set at 5am pre-race: I got positive feedback on my skintrack through the trees and the GS gates on the moguls descent. Hope I can keep advocating for you for new fun courses and new ways to explore the beautiful ski resort we’re lucky to have in our backyard. Sign up for future races here.

WELCOMING NEW SPONSORS
Keeping the Boulder Skimo Club alive!

Supporting the Boulder Skimo Club’s vision of uniting the Boulder ski touring community under a common voice to grow the sport amongst likeminded endurance athletes — by providing educational content, organizing community & training events, fostering the next generation, and advocating for access.

Want to sponsor the club? Get in touch!

A few weekends ago at the Heathen Challenge (the longest running skimo race in Colorado) with some of the La Sportiva pro ski team and Doug of Cripplecreek Backcountry (a long-standing supporter of the COSMIC race series).

”RACING IS SO MUCH MORE THAN A RACE RESULT”
Bi-Weekly Tip Sponsored by Hyphen Real Estate

With my professional racing days behind me, I try to race on the Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup (COSMIC) racing series as much as much as my schedule allows for a couple of reasons:

1) I get to visit some of the coolest, off the beaten path, underground, independent, soulful ski resorts still in existence. I have zero desire to visit the crowded mainstream resorts, and through racing I’ve discovered these smaller resorts that fit my style much more!

2) I get to ski tour. A lot. And aggressively. Most races take place in the side-country skirting in and out of resort boundaries, and encompass technical skin tracks, ridge lines, boot packs, couloir descends, and so much terrain & snow variety that make you a well rounded skier and test your full athletic & skiing abilities.

3) I get to push myself doing what I love with friends, and reconnect with cool people I wouldn’t see otherwise, enjoying a unique shared experience in some of the most beautiful natural settings, making the most of the cold Winter. Come the Spring adventuring season, I know I’ll have trusted fit & skilled partners I can rely on.

Colorado is THE place to be for ski mountaineering racing in the US, and although it might be easy to make fun of us straight-lining down couloirs in spandex, carbon boots & skinny skis, the racing and training will pay dividends in terms of fun and safety once the actual good backcountry spring season comes around.

SKI TOURING BASICS
Sponsored by La Sportiva

When you think of skiing, you might think of big crowds, expensive lift tickets, a ton of heavy and pricey equipment, steep and icy descents, or scary avalanches…But actually, there IS a way to enjoy the cold winter months and experience the thrill of sliding on snow, while getting a great and fun outdoor workout, away from the mainstream culture of traditional resort skiing!

In my latest blog for La Sportiva, read why I recommend every summer-based endurance athlete with access to a mountain get into ski touring in the winter and spring to give their body & mind a break from the routine, make the most of this time of the year in a natural low-impact way, and break through performance plateaus come summer!

“REDISCOVER THE ORIGINAL, SUSTAINABLE WAY
TO ENJOY THE SNOW AND KEEP FIT”
Boulder Lifestyle Magazine (February issue)

Find my story about ski touring in this month’s issue of Boulder Lifestyle Magazine, Boulder’s only direct mail magazine to 15,000 homes and 75,000 readers!

I do mean it when I say:

“Coming from an alpine ski racing-crazed family in the Italian Alps and having lived, trained and worked amongst the Boulder endurance communities for over a decade, I can safely say that the Boulder area is one of the best areas in the world for practicing ski touring and building a community of like-minded people around it.”

Some may call me crazy, but in these last few years as I’ve scoured nearly every inch of skiable terrain around Boulder (without ever getting on I-70 and barely scratching the surface on Rocky Mountain National Park), I’m convinced Boulder boasts almost unmatched potential internationally for the sport.

I founded the Boulder Skimo Club club as a way to get people together, be the go-to resource for the sport in Boulder and help break down its historically high barriers of entry.

“Ski touring is the way of the future for the ski industry. It’s greener, cheaper and more sustainable than traditional skiing. The learning curve is quick and it allows for not only a greater appreciation of the mountain terrain and one’s physical abilities, but also a new way to enjoy the mountain away from the crowds.”

“I find ski touring to be the perfect mix of so many cool aspects I and many other Boulderites seek: an inebriating concoction of full-body weight-bearing exercise, the thrill and excitement of downhill skiing and the joy of being out in the mountains with friends away from the crowds in an otherworldly magical setting.”

Questions? Comments? Want to help?
Get in touch!