Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Unless you live in Crested Butte, you likely haven’t heard about Rob Dickinson. He’s a former big mountain competitor who moves like a ninja through the Butte’s scary steps. You really only catch glimpses of Rob … a flash in the trees, a splash of snow on a rocky face, a blur beneath impeccable tracks. He’s coming up on 20 years skiing Crested Butte and is one of the mountain’s handful of inspirational soul skiers.  

Rob doesn’t have a sponsor. He runs his own painting business. But he’s got skills and style for miles. Tune in and hear the 45-year-old Rob riff on how CBMR has honed his skiing, how to ride the clutch in technical terrain, and why you should never drop your uphill hand in gnarly steeps. 

Topics: 

2:20: From upstate New York to New Hampshire to Steamboat 

4:15: Crested Butte keeps you honest 

7:10: Ride the clutch to stay fluid in technical terrain 

11:10: Competing in big mountain comps from 2009 through 2014 with a CB shred posse 

18:30: Injuries, replacing body parts, and shifting your mindset  

24:15: How steep creek kayaking hones ski skills, risk assessment 

26:10: Taking vanity out of the equation. 

28:00: Check in with yourself 

31:00: Finding happiness in healthy, sustainable places 

33:00: Gear adjustments and added protection for steep skiing 

36:30: Don’t change anything on race day 

37:30: Play, don’t work, in the ski industry 

Photo credit: Garrett Grove 

Quotes: 

“All I did was chase skiing and kind of got the feeling that maybe I was chasing skiing from too far away.” - Rob Dickinson 

“Trying to get better and trying to pull better results at, at freeskiing competitions, like, you just learn how to, I always say, ride the clutch, learn how to instead of like jamming on the brakes to see what's coming next.” - Rob Dickinson 

“Crosstraining is really, really valuable.” - Rob Dickinson 

“You have to steel  your mind and  you have to make yourself present and you have to check in with yourself.” - Rob Dickinson 

Resources: 

Precise Painting CB 

Wagner Custom Skis 

Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Lou Dawson is a ski pioneer who has been setting the skintrack for countless skiers for decades. Since he arrived in the Roaring Fork Valley as a teenager in the mid-1960s, Dawson has helped shape backcountry skiing. From being the first person to ski all of Colorado’s 14ers — finishing in the early 1990s — to meticulously documenting nearly every technological advancement in ski gear, Dawson has shepherded backcountry skiing from its nascent roots in the 1970s to today’s global juggernaut. His recent memoir, Avalanche Dreams, traces his life from a hard-charging skier to a thoughtful father, husband, and alpinist.  

Tune in to hear Lou talk about his first ski tour, the 1982 avalanche that nearly killed him, leaning on his spirituality, penning more than 3,000 posts at his WildSnow.com site, the evolution of touring gear, and the art of setting a skintrack. Topics: 

2:30: Life in Aspen in the 60s as a teenager with hippie parents. 

7:40: First-ever touring up to Conundrum Hot Springs at age 16. 

9:40: The “radical sensibility” of progressive adventurers in Colorado 

10:50: The 1982 avalanche in Aspen Highlands Bowl. 

13:40: The Peter Pan Syndrome challenges many ski town men.  

16:10: The spiritual awakening after the avalanche. 

19:00: Finishing all the Colorado 14ers in 1991. 

20:40: Writing posts for Wild Snow, tinkering and modifying backcountry gear. 

24:50: The role of alpine tech bindings in ski mountaineering. 

26:40: How gear and improved education have helped protect backcountry skiers. 

35:40: North American versus European skin tracks. 

36:40: “A beautiful combination of technology and athletic ability and a mystical awareness of the environments and the mountains.” 

40:40: The fun of low-angle touring 

Photo credit: Lou Dawson skis Long's Peak in 1990. Photo by Glenn Randall 

Quotes: 

“I started on wooden Bonna skis without edges and I literally would take those up and go powder skiing on those things back behind Aspen Mountain and places like that.” - Lou Dawson 

“The difference between the 60-something millimeter skis we were skiing back in the 1970s and 80s with these with say an 80-millimeter ski or a 90-millimeter ski is like night and day.” - Lou Dawson 

“In a lot of ski posses, people would look at you and think, ‘Well, I wish he or she had taken an avalanche course.’ And, you know, the avalanche course might not serve you to be able to predict whether a slope is safe or not, but it just makes you more aware of the danger.” - Lou Dawson 

“I've always applied my craft to just anything I do. And I think one of the crafts of ski touring is the skin track. It's how you create it.” - Lou Dawson 

Resources: 

Avalanche Dreams 

WildSnow.com 

Wagner Custom Skis 

Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Mike Hattrup has moved from bump skiing boss, to ski movie star to gear designer, covering smooch ground on snow that his work has touched just about every skier in the sport. From chasing his four siblings on the slopes of Alpental to winning mogul medals to hanging with Stump, Schmidt, and Blake in the seminal “Blizzards of Aahhh’s” to building backcountry skis and gear for top ski shops, Hattrup’s career has covered a lot of ground. Today, he’s the director of skiing for Eleven Experience, helping folks plunder powder in Alaska, British Columbia, Chile, Colorado, France, and Iceland. Listen in as Mike traces his extraordinary career from pro skier to guide to gear builder. 

Topics: 

3:05: Growing up skiing during the freestyle rage of the 1970s 

4:00: Athleticism of mogul skiing 

6:30: Training for mogul competitions 

10:00 Filming with Greg Stump in “Time Waits for Snowman” in 1985 

11:20: Filming “Blizzard of Aahhh’s” in Europe 

14:00: Why “Blizzard” resonated so deeply with skiers 

16:00: Moving over to K2, helping the company transition from race 

22:50: The emergence of the transformative K2 Four 

26:00: Moving into telemark ski design, flexible ski boots, and backcountry gear 

34:00: Working at Kastle, Fisher, Black Diamond, Marmot 

40:30: AMGA guiding on Mount Rainier 

46:00: Improving through technique as we age 

Quotes: 

“I never thought that skiing was a career. Not like now, I mean, you can go be a film skier, right? But back then it really wasn't an option.” - Maike Hattrup 

“We'll for sure look back on that era from early to mid-90s to the mid-2000s as the golden era of ski design.” - Maike Hattrup 

“I learned to tele purely from a touring standpoint.” - Maike Hattrup 

“In terms of fitness, that certainly becomes more of a challenge as you get older and I think you just gotta find a way to, I mean, find a way to keep training and make it fun.” - Maike Hattrup 

Resources: 

Maike Hattrup, LinkedIn 

Maike Hattrup, Instagram 

Eleven 

Wagner Custom Skis 

Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Amie Engerbretson grew up ripping Palisades Tahoe, the daughter of a pro skier and filmmaker. She has starred in dozens of ski movies, highlighting a grace and flow honed from years of training as a dancer. Now she’s making her own movies, advocating for climate action, and helping women hone confidence on and off snow. Tune in and hear Amie about how dancing influences her skiing, how films can reveal the emotional challenges and rewards of skiing, and how to foster confidence for improving our time on snow.  

Topics: 

1:20: Pro skiing is the family business. 

6:10: Grace, rhythm, and flow. 

7:20: Years of competitive dance influencing skiing. 

10:00: Dance, skiing, and filmmaking as performance art 

11:00: “Hypocrite” and “Blue Hour” ski films revealing “the full gamut of emotions in the human experience.” 

12:20: The changing business of ski films as storytelling. 

13:10: Advocacy work with Protect Our Winters. 

14:20: “Knowing it’s OK to be scared and do something anyway because it’s important.” 

17:00: Life happens in the in-between; savoring the moment of transition between turns. 

19:40: How skiing changes as we grow. 

21:30: Being mindful of the choices you make as an individual. 

23:00: The wisdom of Roy Kent in “Ted Lasso.” 

26:10: The power of the ski community. 

29:30: The importance of recovery days in training regimens. 

30:00: Ski camps for women at Palisades Tahoe 

31:00: Growing confidence through mind-body connections 

Quotes: 

“I was super into dance and ballet also when I was younger and both ski racing and ballet became quite serious and intensive to the point where they kind of have to become your only thing at some point.” - Amie Engerbretson 

“What I'm doing is telling stories, trying to somehow communicate the joy and the ineffable awesomeness of skiing to people through a screen or through a photo or something like that. That's my job is, in a way, it is like a performance, like a ski performance, like a film strip is performing, I think.” - Amie Engerbretson 

“What I do as an individual absolutely matters, but the most important thing I can do as an individual is be part of a collective. To change the system so that then all of us as individuals can make better choices in that system.” - Amie Engerbretson 

“What I've learned as an athlete is to understand my fear, understand when it's rational, irrational, all those things, but also know that it's okay to be scared and do something way because it's important and you want it.” - Amie Engerbretson 

Resources: 

Amie Engerbretson Official Website 

Wagner Custom Skis 

Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Today’s guest is Kristen Ulmer, who is one of the most accomplished big mountain skiers ever. She is now a fear and anxiety expert, helping her clients overcome disabling confusion or chaos. After studying Zen concepts for more than a decade, she authored “The Art of Fear” as a guidebook for improved mindfulness. Her three-day Fear Ski Camps at Alta are renowned for helping skiers improve their athletic performance and bury the fear and anxiety that can hinder, not just skiing, but living. Take her Fear and Anxiety Assessment on her website. 

Her decades-long reign as one of the top female skiers in the world has transferred over to expertise in helping people foster stronger mindsets, find flow states, and improve their health and happiness.  

Topics: 

2:00: First full season skiing in Little Cottonwood Canyon after growing up in New Hampshire 

4:00: Skiing all day, working in banquets at the Cliff Lodge, competing in moguls comps 

5:00: Transitioning from moguls to big-mountain in the early 90s 

6:20: “No girls were doing that back then.” 

7:50: Studying the Eastern approach to fear and readjusting relationships with fear 

09:45: Finding flow state through fear. “We are stronger together than apart” 

11:50: Interviews with top action sports athletes 

16:00: The problem with resisting fear 

18:25: Intimacy with fear manifests as focus 

21:30: Performance-enhancing relationships with fear 

27:40: Ski camps at Alta 

34:50: Three themes in why we love skiing 

Quotes: 

“I was just trying to hang out with friends and have a good time with friends and go on the trips with them. And I really didn’t have any goals in skiing, but the next thing you know, I wound up on the US ski team for moguls.” - Kristen Ulmer 

“We probably should define that [extreme sports] mean that the consequences of failure are death or injury. That’s what makes something extreme.” - Kristen Ulmer 

“What he has is, he has a willingness to feel fear. He’s young, hungry, and talented. He’s stepping 4% out of his comfort zone every day, connecting the dots. This is how y ou become better at anything.” - Kristen Ulmer 

 Resources: 

Kristen’s Instagram 

Kristen’s Website 

Wagner Custom Skis 

Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis!  

A few years ago I got to join Kim Beekman on a ski trip to the San Juans. We skied at and around Telluride and all over Red Mountain Pass. I don’t think she ever wondered why everyone always wanted to ski those backcountry lines before her. It was because we all wanted to get down and watch her ski.  

Few ski with more grace, ease, and power than Kim. She is a flawless skier. And an incredible writer. As the editor at Skiing and a longtime ski journalist, she has shepherded years of ski reviews, charting the evolution of ski design for decades. She’s raised an amazing daughter who rips and has all sorts of insights into making the most of our time on snow. Tune in and learn from a master.  

Thanks for listening to Next Level Skiing.

Topics: 

3:40 Growing up chasing her older brother 

2:50 The secret sauce of being a good skier: having a ripping older sibling 

3:55 Honing her writing chops at the Jackson Hole Guide in the 1990s 

6:36 What makes a good ski story? 

7:50 Her new children’s book about Hilaree Nelson 

11:10 The emergence of rocker and shape in skis 

18:30 Her favorite ski designs 

21:50 Raising young rippers. Candy bribery. 

26:00 When ski skills spill over into life 

30:30 Hands up! 

Resources: 

Kimberly Beekman 

Wagner Custom Skis 

Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis.  

I love watching Aaron Blunck ski the pipe. The Crested Butte native has spent 26 of his 27 years on skis and it shows, with amazing airs and unrivaled style. Earlier this season I got to see Aaron ski in the Copper pipe and he was throwing this ridiculously cool pipe-grinding, snow-spraying slash in the middle of his run, and the crowd loved it. 

This is a fun chat with the three-time Olympian who grew up dreaming of competing in the X Games, which he won in 2017. He spent his younger years chasing his older brother Nolan around the steeps of Crested Butte Mtn Resort, where he honed his aerial prowess in gnarly cliffs and trees. 

Listen and learn from one of Colorado’s best as Aaron shares insights into bouncing back from injuries, the relentless pursuit of new challenges in skiing, celebrating every turn, and embracing gratitude on snow. Thanks for listening to Next Level Skiing. 

Topics: 

2:00 - Copper performance 

4:49 - Skiing at 18 months 

5:24 - Chasing his older brother 

7:21 - Unlocking a new wave of younger rippers at Crested Butte 

9:10 - Big mountain laps with pipe and terrain park to finish 

11:00 - Still living the dream 

13:40 - Not just skiing: hockey, baseball, soccer 

17:25 - Pay to play: injuries and recovery 

22:00 - Mind over matter to bounce back from injuries 

24:24 - Overcoming the life-changing injury 

26:00 - Why not go skiing? 

28:00 - This is my purpose 

30:00 - Never stop learning new things 

32:00 - Little-kid cruising and embracing gratitude 

Resources: 

Aaron Blunck Instagram 

Wagner Custom Skis 

Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis.  

Reggie Crist keeps turning the page on one skiing’s most illustrious careers. A decade on the U.S. Ski Team. Pioneer in the Olympic spot of Ski Cross. One of the first to helicopter skiers into Alaska’s Chugachs. And now a globe-trotting ski guide whose Stellar Adventure brings skiers to Japan, South America, Alaska and the backcountry of Idaho. 

Tune in as Reggie tells us where he would take us if we win the lottery and want to spend an entire year crushing powder. 

Topics: 

2:30 - Raised in California and Idaho 

3:30 - Earning a PhD in skiing on the U.S. Ski Team 

5:10 - Ski Cross and a second ski racing career 

6:20 - Ski Cross is more intense than downhill racing Kitzbuhel 

7:00 - Stellar Adventure 

11:00 - Bringing ski racing technique to the big mountains of Alaska 

12:30 - A year in powder 

16:49 - Best way to prepare for a month in Alaska 

18:30 - Alaska off the couch 

22:32 - Catching the Santa Rosa storm in the Andes 

26:50 - The rewards of helping people find their best ski day 

29:30 - Follow your passion and be a stoke broker 

Resources: 

Stella Adventure Travel 

Wagner Custom Skis 

It’s difficult to overstate the role of Scot Schmidt in big-mountain freeskiing. He pretty much invented the niche with his explosive, airborne exploits. His signature tucked-knees hop turn and high-speed hip-check smear on 223 downhill skis defined a style that changed skiing. Scot’s style inspired untold hordes of skiers in the 80s and early 90s, before skis got wide and rockered. His breakout role in Greg Stump’s seminal “Blizzard of Ahhs” ushered in a now 30-year-old era of ski porn. 

Scot at age 62 is still skiing 100 days a year on big, stiff skis, spending his winters in Montana as an ambassador for the Yellowstone Club. In this episode of Next Level Skiing, the legend himself shares insights into his longevity, his ski style, starring in a movie that captured entire generations of skiers, and “flowing like water” on skis. 

Topics: 

2:00 - Growing up in Montana City, Montana 

4:30 - Moving to Squaw Valley, melding with ski racers and speed skiers 

9:30 - Idolizing Ingemar Stenmark 

11:00 - About that smear turn 

14:40 - Put your turns in the sweet spot 

19:30 - Still riding a 195 115mm-underfoot Stockli 

23:40 - Never been smoother than now 

25:30 - The impact of “Blizzard of Ahhs” 

28:50 - Keep it smooth and flow like water 

Resources: 

Master the Smooth with Scot Schmidt 

Wagner Custom Skis 

There are a lot of great ski movies out there. But only one ranks as the most important. In a year when U.S. suicides reached record highs and many mountain towns are reporting the highest suicide rates in the country, Drew Peterson’s “Ups + Downs” exposes the professional skier’s anguished struggle with suicidal thoughts. 

Mental health is at a critical crossroads in mountain valleys and Peterson’s willingness to step up and reveal his own battles with overwhelming darkness is one of the most consequential moves in the history of ski movies. Skiing is awesome. It can help people learn how to be mindful and present. It can recharge weary souls. But it cannot heal mental illness. Drew’s turn toward therapy and the hard work required to deflect demons is a guiding light for people who can’t escape the darkness. Drew’s upcoming movie details his turn toward 100-mile ultramarathons as he continues his journey. 

This is a special Next Level Skiing podcast where Colorado-born Drew shares how skiing is only one tool for rebuilding a life. If you or anyone you know is in need of immediate help, call 988 to reach trained crisis workers at the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or text HOME to 741741.  

Topics: 

2:00 - The 20-year overnight success story 

6:40 - Ski the Wild West 

11:00 - Raw expose with “Ups + Downs” 

12:30 - The falling rock that “changed the track of my life.” 

18:00 - Skiing can’t be the only thing 

20:40 - Let skiing just be skiing and find childhood joy 

21:40 - The destination fallacy 

24:45 - Finding mindfulness and presence on skis 

28:05 - Shining the light in a darker corner of mountain culture 

33:35 - Ski and enjoy 

Resources: 

Ups + Downs 

If you or anyone you know is in need of immediate help, call 988 to reach trained crisis workers at the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or text HOME to 741741.  

Wagner Custom Skis