April 11, 2024 | NEWS | By Lilly Asano
Disclaimer: the author of this story is a marketing coordinator at Outdoor Education but was not assigned to any Snow Day-related material. All provided trip statistics on registered students were accessed through Outdoor Education’s staff or leader Summit page.
Written by Shauna Farnell, the SKI Magazine article “Top Five LGBTQ+ Inclusive Ski Resorts in North America” included two popular Colorado winter destinations, Aspen Snowmass and Telluride.
The resorts bookended Farnell’s rankings, with No. 1 Aspen Snowmass and No. 5 Telluride. Farnell, a freelance outdoor journalist, wrote in an email she selected the mountains for their long-standing “pride events and their presence of LGBTQ+ – supporting organizations and outreach.”
On Instagram, responses were mixed.
“Nice. TOP 5 ski resorts to not go to,” @jarek44z commented.
@josephinlauren wrote, “Yeah. No one cares, we are here to ski… dear lord.”
@elliotsheehan joined the conversation, writing that “the comment section shows exactly why LGBTQ+ friendly spaces are necessary.”
“Oh hey, that’s me! And since this is Instagram, I’m off to the comment section to clap back at homophobes,” @ozskier commented, who was pictured in the post.
“The fact that everyone in the comments doesn’t want to talk about it is exactly why it’s pointed out. Just because you don’t care doesn’t mean people feel welcome and comfortable,” commented @seffery_96.
The heated Instagram comment section points to a larger conversation within the ski and snowboard industry: the importance of inclusive spaces in winter sports.
Telluride and Aspen Snowmass host annual Gay Ski Weeks celebrating slope-side pride and community members early in the calendar year. The events are well-attended, touting parties, film screenings, costume contests, galas, fundraisers and educational panels.
Aspen Gay Ski Week (AGSW) began as an unofficial gathering of local and visiting gay skiers in the 1970s before becoming an official event in 1977. Two years after AGSW’s official conception, Aspen became the first multiplicity in Colorado to pass an anti-discrimination policy protecting members of the LBGTQ+ community in 1979.
However, Colorado earned the nickname the “Hate State” when in 1992, state legislation ratified Colorado Amendment Two, which prohibiting local governments from protecting gay rights.
Four years later, in May of 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Amendment Two as a violation of the 14th Amendment.
Telluride hosted its first Gay Ski Week in 2002. The week includes a fashion show fundraiser for HIV/AIDs prevention and care programs.
However, Gay Ski Week comes at a price. An adult individual seven-day lift ticket in Aspen costs $1,358, while a week in Telluride reaches $1,505, tacked onto taxes, travel fees, event tickets, and lodging expenses, according to the mountains’ official reservation pages.
Skiers and snowboarders have criticized season passes like Ikon and Epic, arguing the passes have resulted in overcrowding at provided mountains. In 2021, Washington skier Jeremy Rubingh created a petition titled “Hold Vail Resorts Accountable,” which has now gained 46,470 signatures.
The petition not only called out the organization’s mismanagement and dangers of overcrowding but also how passes — like the Epic Pass — create borders on winter sports.
“We would also prefer to spend our free time celebrating our sport and creating more equitable access rather than fighting with large corporations,” Rubingh wrote.
The introduction of the Ikon and Epic passes has raised the prices of single-day lift tickets, housing, ski schools, resort fees, and even travel expenses. Overcrowding and long lift lines are becoming harder to avoid, and traffic on roads like Colorado’s notorious I-70 frequently deters skiers from day trips.
Not to mention, winter sports are predominantly white.
Vail Resorts, Professional Ski Instructors of America-American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI), and other organizations point to the lack of representation within ski schools and instructors.
While their 2021-2022 annual report doesn’t note any racial or gender demographics, it expressed an urgency in addressing race within the organization. PSIA-AASI has yet to release a more recent annual report to the public.
Vail Resorts CEO Robert Katz recognized his shortcomings in 2020. Teamed with the Epic by Nature podcast, Katz narrated the “We Are Part of the Problem” episode, addressing how Epic Pass and Vail Resorts have contributed to systematic oppression and racism.
“There is always a risk of tokenism when doing a podcast like this that by highlighting a handful of stories of people of color in our company, we are absolving ourselves of our past and current wrongs,” Katz stated in the podcast. “We’re suggesting that because if these people have succeeded in our company, it suggests that anyone of color could succeed, or asking these people to bear the burden of this journey for us.”
In 2020, Colorado College’s Outdoor Education program proposed Snow Day, an affordable day trip for students who haven’t had the opportunity to ski before or come from underrepresented backgrounds.
According to a 2020 Catalyst article, the program’s inaugural trip hosted 75 students at Monarch Mountain. Now in its fifth year, Outdoor Education took 76 students on March 2 and 3. Students are able to choose between downhill skiing, snowboarding, and tubing/snowshoeing.
Outdoor Education covers all approved students’ equipment, transportation, lift tickets, and food for the day. Registered students are responsible for a $25 refundable deposit, which is returned to students after students attend Snow Day.
Echo Mountain’s website lists lift tickets starting at $59 for a full-day pass and reaching up to $77 on weekends or holidays. An adult ski or snowboard rental package costs an additional $45.
While organizations have recently begun attempting to increase diversity and inclusion in winter sports, the need for these spaces is critical.
One Instagram user summed it up perfectly:
“Wow, this comment section is a shameful display of intolerance,” commented @maryvancenc.
“Why would you unfollow a page just because of an article promoting inclusivity? Marginalized groups everywhere continue to face adversity, esp. in white bro-dominated sports, and a little tolerance and welcoming goes a long way.”