Skiing 2021-22: It Went Downhill Fast

A report from the steeps of Colorado and Utah

My Ikon app tells me that, this season, I have ridden 134 lifts, explored 304 trails for 165 miles, and plunged down 174,469 vertical feet in 38.9 hours on skis. My maximum speed was 37mph, which is terrifying. Those stats don’t even include a supremely weird experience (documented below) when I skied along a ridge at 11,000 feet at Alta, in Utah, swiped my pass at an untended gate, and gained entrance to Snowbird Universe. It was such an ethereal a moment, I forgot to track it on my app. I kind of expected St. Peter, as the heavenly gate attendant, popping out to say “Welcome to ski heaven, duuuuude! Chase the stoke!”

There were other high points, leading to low points, as well. My season’s award winners are…

1. Best burrito in a Supporting Role. When I gather momentum down Floyd Hill, gateway to the Rockies on I-70, I begin salivating for the ‘Squatch. It’s a gas station in Idaho Springs that sells a) gas, b) enormous breakfast burritos, and c) Bigfoot souvenir items. And I Brake for B…