100K of Skinning

Vermonter Peter Wadsworth sent us an email the other day with a link to a great video slideshow of his season. Peter set a goal of skiing 100,000 vertical feet in the backcountry to push himself this season, and came away from it with a lot of adventures and an awesome record of them. Congrats on hitting your goal, Peter, and thanks for inspiring the rest of us.


(Video courtesy of Peter Wadsworth)

Thinking back on this season I realize that making this seemingly superficial goal got me much more than an arbitrary number. I skied in a way, in places, and at times that I may not have otherwise, and because of this the experience was neither superficial nor arbitrary. Nearly half of the days that I headed out I went to a place I had never been before, as opposed to lapping the same old hill under the lifts. More than half of the days weren’t “days” at all, but were dawn or dusk patrols that accompanied a full day at the office – some including skiing in the dark to earn my vert. Because of the inherent risks with this I also sought out ski partners that I might otherwise have gone without, and developed friendships with some great skiers that I learned a lot from. Now the question is: what is my goal for next season?

-Peter