Colorado and the PNW
Travelling Between
Travelling Between and how it has benefited my life and passion for the mountains as a freeskier.
Skiing in New Zealand is amazing, with some epic terrain parks and epic big mountain and back country terrain to enjoy, but the ski season is short and the powder days are scarce, in comparison to that of the Northern Hemisphere.
My first trip to Colorado blew my mind - the mountains are huge and the seasons are so much longer than NZ. There are so many different mountains to explore and so many more features than NZ, like trees, moguls, and hundreds of phenomenal terrain parks to choose from. Colorado is also the mecca for freeski competitions, with super pipes outside our front door, so naturally it was the best place for us to train during the North American Winters.
Outside of competing, I fell in love with the fresh, high altitude rocky mountain air and the endless powder days. So once I hung up my competition skis, however, it was a nice progression to check out other great areas to ski North America.
Moving to the Pacific North West has been an awesome experince, it is like an awesome combination of Colorado and NZ, with the coastal vibes that make it so green and lush like NZ, and the massive mountains, diverse terrain selection, and long seasons like Colorado.
As I continue to explore the PNW, I realized Ive got it pretty good! As well as well-known resorts like Whistker, Revelstoke, Stevens Pass, and Mt. Bachelor, there are also a lot hidden gems in the backwoods with a great local vibe and amazing terrain to shred.
And the very best part is that the fun doesn’t stop when the snow melts – exploring the mountain on a downhill bike in the summer makes for year round fun!
Learning how to surf the dirt on a bike has been humbling and invigorating, and it makes me feel like a kid again!
