Profile

Jann Wenner At Full Speed

It’s midwinter in Sun Valley, ID, 8:30 a.m., bluebird and cold. It snowed an inch or two last night. Snow squeaks underneath our boots as we walk to the lift, anticipation of those first turns quickening our stride. Our breaths puff crystalline clouds into the cold air. We drop our skis on the snow and step […]

Dan Marion on the Farm

Dan Marion sits atop his tractor in Cape Elizabeth, ME. Overlooking a picturesque coastal view, lighthouses watch over the Atlantic Ocean and the crashing waves collide with the rocky shore of his fertile farmland. Marion explains the potential massacre deer can execute on his farm, Fresh Pickins. He’s taken a break from installing a 3D […]

Daron Rahlves

Daron Rahlves, the most decorated male American downhiller and Super G skier of all time, can’t seem to pass the teenager ahead of him. Whenever he tries to sneak by on the inside, the youth’s loose cornering keeps blocking his line and slowing him down during the straight aways. The outside is risky, but the […]

Chris Benchetler

Chris Benchetler is looking a little unsettled. He’s 15 feet off the ground, fumbling with the controls of a scissor lift. His goal is a detailed section of a huge painting a few feet to his left, but the lift bucks and sways with every weight shift. It’s late September and Benchetler is currently in […]

Rudi Gertsch

If there’s one thing Rudi Gertsch does better than ski, it’s tell stories. After a half-century spent guiding in the mountains of central British Columbia, the legendary alpinist and owner of Purcell Heli-Skiing has a lot of them. Rudi’s own story is interesting enough to have inspired a book by the Alpine Club of Canada. No […]

Dean Cummings

How do you know when a ski guide walks into a bar? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you. It’s a mountain-town joke built on cliché. But there’s some truth to it. Ski guides need to be self-confident. Poor decision-making can be disastrous. When Dean Cummings walks into a bar in Valdez, AK, he doesn’t need to […]

Lexi DuPont

There’s really no escaping a name like “DuPont.” It’s a title with industrial weight, and it all goes back to firepower—gunpowder, to be exact. In 1802, shortly after the French Revolution, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont left France for America, where he began manufacturing gunpowder in Delaware. By the American Civil War, du Pont was supplying half […]

Total Rippie

Mark Abma is in his happy place. Retro skis and ski photos adorn the walls, alongside a 24-person shot-ski. Near the bar is the cab of a real snow cat, complete with controls, that doubles as a DJ booth. The TVs alternate between hockey and golf, and outside one of the chairlift engines burps a black […]

Michelle Parker

Michelle Parker was born with two teeth. Maybe it’s just a fun fact. But if you listen to certain folklore, it has deeper meanings. In Malaysia, it is said to predict good fortune; in some ancient European lore, it meant the child would become a great leader. But Michelle’s mother LouAnne’s summary of these superstitions is simpler: “Somewhere […]

Real Skifi

It’s hard to take anyone seriously when they’re wearing purple skinny jeans and ski boots. It’s even harder when they’re also making super G turns up a golf course, or juggling tennis balls while sliding a handrail in the Finnish suburbs. But, after watching the high-consequence hijinks in Real Skifi’s 16-part webisode series, it’s almost impossible […]

CLOSE

The Ski Journal Mailing List

We respect your time, and only send you the occasional update.