Hig Roberts, World Cup Alpe Skier, Com Out as Gay

Contents:

• 10 GAY SKI WEEKS AND WTER PRI CELEBRATNS
• AN LGBTQ PARTY ON THE SLOP AT TELLURI GAY SKI WEEK
• THE ULTIMATE GUI TO GAY SKI WEEKS AROUND THE WORLD
• GAY MOUNTAS & GAY SKI DTATNS
• 6 GAY SKI WEEKS THAT WILL ADD SOME HEAT TO YOUR WTER
• SKI CHAMPN COM OUT AS GAY: ‘I’M READY TO BE HAPPY’
• GAY LUXURY SKIG SUN VALLEY, IDAHO?
• HIG ROBERTS SAYS LIFE IS ‘GENTLER AND EASIER’ SCE G OUT AS GAY LAST MONTH
• FDG COMMUNY, JOY, AND A NEW SENSE OF SELF AT GAY SKI WEEK
• MOUNTA MAYHEM: ASPEN GAY SKI WEEK 2023
• WELE TO GAY FRIENDLY WTERN SLOPE/ROCKY MOUNTAS
• GAY SKIG LEGEND: WE NEED MORE SUPPORT OM IOC
• 5 BT GAY FRIENDLY SKI RORTS IN USA
• LAKE TAHOE GAY SKI WEEK

10 GAY SKI WEEKS AND WTER PRI CELEBRATNS

Steamboat, Colorado Although gay ski weeks statns like Crted Butte and Telluri are a well-served source of pri, 's great to see visibily all year long: LGBT lols here Steamboat Sprgs began a monthly social mixer 2009 that's still gog strong.

When Ski Bums me here 2009, we swore we'd stepped to a gay bar at the hotel La Perla, wh a bright red lacquer bar and a sound system crankg out ABBA tun. Whistler, Brish ColumbiaThe home of the biggt LGBT ski week is also the largt ski rort North Ameri, Whistler-Blackb, and s gay-iendly wele lasts all season long.

AN LGBTQ PARTY ON THE SLOP AT TELLURI GAY SKI WEEK

But the tough enomy -- and a surpl of new hotel rooms -- has sprouted bargas Snowmass, where you'll be reward wh wi open terra and some extra change your to go: There's not really a bad time for snow here, but Aspen Gay Ski Week (late January) is a fun time to be town, pecially if you n brg a few iends along wh you. Salt Lake Cy, UtahFet what you've heard about the Book of Mormon boys: Salt Lake Cy is the only place the world wh seven world class ski rorts and seven gay bars wh a 30 mute drive.

It's got two pri paras, gay-iendly hotels (like Kimpton's Hotel Mona), openly gay elected officials and a ph by the Salt Lake Cy Visor's Bure to wele LGBT visors. Gay ski weeks and wter Pri events ually offer guts a variety of fun parti to socialize wh other lols, meet people om different rners of the world, and an opportuny to get outdoors and enjoy skig, snowboardg, and other wter activi. So, we pulled together a list of 10 domtic and ternatnal gay ski weeks or wter Pri celebratns that you should nsir attendg when you feel fortable travelg.

THE ULTIMATE GUI TO GAY SKI WEEKS AROUND THE WORLD

16-23, 2022 (Aspen, Colorado, USA)Returng for s 45th year, Aspen Gay Ski Week is touted as the largt and longt-nng gay ski event the Wtern Hemisphere. Produced by lol non-prof AspenOUT, Aspen Gay Ski Week will be jam-packed wh fundraisg events, such as drag bgo, a downhill stume petn, a wboy rave, and a pool party. Start this fun ski week wh a bonfire cktail receptn wh an optn of fun parti, such as a “wet ‘n wild” pool bash, karaoke and drag bgo fundraisers, a firi we and chee party, a show wh edian Shaw Pelofsky, and a fal “Blow Out Dance Party” to p off this fun Gay Ski Week.

Jo more than 600 lbian and gay wter sports fans om over 30 different untri and fd out why Arosa Gay Ski Week is “Europe’s favore Queer Ski Pri Week.

Elevatn Utah Gay Ski Week, Febary 23-27, 2022 (Park Cy, Utah, USA)Before COVID, Elevatn Utah weled a rerd number of queer skiers and alli to take on the powry slop of Park Cy and Deer Valley. Telluri Gay Ski Week, Febary 26-March 5, 2022 (Telluri, Colorado, USA)Wter sports pros nverge on Telluri bee of s 147 ns and a 4, 500-foot vertil drop.

GAY MOUNTAS & GAY SKI DTATNS

Elevatn Mammoth Gay Ski Week, March 15-20, 2022 (Mammoth Lak, California, USA)Found by Tom Whman, the now-ternatnal Elevatn brand is celebratg 20 years sce s gural Elevatn Mammoth Gay Ski Week Mammoth Lak. Jt as the year's closg parti mark the end of summer; wter is soon upon aga brgg wh s own host of gay annual events – namely an ternatnal array of gay ski weeks.

6 GAY SKI WEEKS THAT WILL ADD SOME HEAT TO YOUR WTER

Aspen Gay Ski Week is a ski week held January for a good e: raisg money for AspenOUT – a non-prof anisatn seekg to promote anti-bullyg policy and tolerance throughout the USA. The Tigu Val Claret transforms self to a thrivg gay village for the week and ss a nvenient few mut’ walk om a vast lagoon – ial to swim and fact the se of the week's crowng jewel event: a giant pool party.

SKI CHAMPN COM OUT AS GAY: ‘I’M READY TO BE HAPPY’

Every March the gays scend upon the town of Mammoth Lak up the Sierra mountas California, for the Elevatn Mammoth Gay Ski Week – a five-day high-class skig event. The event is part of the largt seri of gay ski weeks the world – the others beg Utah and Tremblant – and draws over 2, 500 participants annually.

GAY LUXURY SKIG SUN VALLEY, IDAHO?

Prented by luxury retailer Farnsworth Fe Cannabis partnership wh the btsellg beverage brand Cann and Different Leaf, the new nonprof ma s official but through a pop-up giftg lounge (unsanctned by Aspen Gay Ski Week and AspenOUT) over the urse of two days, where atten uld sign up for a time-slot to stop by to meet the founrs, snag swag and learn all about the Queer Cannabis Club.

HIG ROBERTS SAYS LIFE IS ‘GENTLER AND EASIER’ SCE G OUT AS GAY LAST MONTH

The ia was ially nceived and soft-lnched by Alexanr Farnsworth durg Pri Month 2021, although Aspen Gay Ski Week – the most proment happeng AspenOUT’s year-round work the regn – was s first-ever gatherg. At MJ Unpacked last October, Farnsworth had a chance enunter wh Cann -founr Jake Bullock and pched him on the ia of jog as a foundg brand member and fast-trackg an event durg Aspen Gay Ski Week.

FDG COMMUNY, JOY, AND A NEW SENSE OF SELF AT GAY SKI WEEK

” (Photos by Kelsey Bnner for The Washgton Post)For one week a year, Telluri, Colo., hosts a celebratn of gay rights, drag and apr-skiTELLURIDE, Colo.

— As you drive to Telluri, Colo., late wter, you’re greeted by a banner readg “Telluri Gay Ski Week: Thanks for Comg Out, ” lettg you know om the moment you enter the town that you’re wele.

MOUNTA MAYHEM: ASPEN GAY SKI WEEK 2023

The group of lols would host parti for visg gay tourists ndos, bee beg openly gay was not wily accepted at this 1977, Bch got trouble for dancg wh another man at a bar, and spurred gay rights actns the town. SBG Productns, the anizer for this year’s event, timat about 2, 000 were attendance year, Telluri’s gay ski week had new events, cludg Gay Sleigh, a horse-drawn rriage ri, and a mounta drag race. G Kenworthy, a retired profsnal etyle skier and Olympic silver medalist who grew up Telluri, said there have been tim where he feels as if he has “subsects of his life” as a profsnal athlete and also a gay man, but durg this week, he had another opportuny to marry the two.

WELE TO GAY FRIENDLY WTERN SLOPE/ROCKY MOUNTAS

In those tim, the events were not much more than a sual get together over some après-ski beers, gay ski weeks over time veloped to more flhed-out happengs wh full-blown parti, drag shows, edy nights, live mic, and charable fundraisg ponents. Miguel Mendoza/ElevatnElevatn Ski Week: MammothMammoth, California, USA“It’s a whole vibe, ” said Eric Bog, a skier om Los Angel who has attend Mammoth Gay Ski Week multiple tim.

” Put on by gay party productn pany Elevatn for over twenty years, Mammoth Gay Ski Week attracts a large Southern California ntgent ( part bee ’s pretty ted to get there om the East Coast). Karsten Wegeart/UnsplashAspen Gay Ski WeekAspen, Colorado, USAThe alpha and the omega of gay ski weeks, Aspen Gay Ski Week has been nng for over forty-five years, and grew out of those sual gathergs that began the 1970’s.

GAY SKIG LEGEND: WE NEED MORE SUPPORT OM IOC

Aspen Gay Ski Week is also the annual fundraisg event for AspenOUT, a non-prof muny anizatn that provis support and servic to LGBTQ+ people across the Aspen valley.

And if you’re a fan of Olympic etyle skier and Telluri lol G Kenworthy, you may want to add this gay ski week to your erary—mor has he mak an unofficial appearance most years.

Arosa Gay Ski WeekArosa, SwzerlandIf you aren’t faiar wh the idyllic Swiss village of Arosa, then get wh the program—while don’t offer the most thrillg terra relative to the rt of the Alps, ’s large enough to explore over multiple days, is easily nnected via tram to the neighborg village of Lenzerhei, and is easily accsed via a two-hour tra om the Zürich airport.

5 BT GAY FRIENDLY SKI RORTS IN USA

Ntled high the French Alps and wh over 1, 000 participants each year, Europe’s largt gay ski week has bee somethg of an stutn—’s even sponsored by the gay datg app, Scff. Après-ski ssns and eveng parti are a particular strength for this gay ski week, which attracts a roster of top ejays and drag queens to keep the party gog late to the Pri QueenstownQueenstown, New ZealandSki season only to an end if you let .

It is a unique place the world, the first and only 100% gay & lbian hotel at altu: opened 1999 by Florence Augert, entreprenr and activist, the Prcipaly of Comborcière has been welg the gay muny the heart of the Sybell ski area Savoie for the past 15 years and has bee an exceptnal place, a space for livg whout taboos or judgment.

Today, she is still at the head of the first and only 100% gay & lbian hotel the Alps, a place that still has s place bee, spe the latt social advanc, the homosexual muny still has to nont the "look of others" every day.

LAKE TAHOE GAY SKI WEEK

In addn, she aniz, as she do every year, promotnal and thematic weeks wh, for example, homoparental weeks throughout the month of Febary, so that the children of homoparental upl n meet and know that they are not alone their suatn, or even 100% men's weeks ( January and March) or 100% women's weeks ( January)! Now, wh a growg number of gay-iendly mounta statns, men everywhere have the opportuny to embrace everythg that mak gay ski holidays so good - om excg jumps and thrills on the slop, to relaxg Après ski vib as day turns to night.

Spend some time to thk and reflect on ramblg gay walks, take a gay mpervan trip through valleys, or get adventuro by tryg out summer activi such as wild swimmg, ziplg or zorbg.

Soon after the December holidays wrap and the New Year kicks off, gay ski weeks beg to st a rabow glow over the snow-whe slop of Ameri’s most popular ski mountas. After the OG gay ski week was found Aspen nearly five s ago, rort towns om Vermont’s Green Mountas to the Cas Range of Oregon have tablished their own buzzy events that be the thrill of wter sports wh the zs of après ski social gathergs, while simultaneoly fundraisg for LGBTQIA+ anizatns and . And we uld not be more ready to h the, Colorado: January 16-23, 2022Aspen Gay Ski Week is the largt and longt-nng gay ski event the Wtern Hemisphere, and still sets the bar for all the other ftivals that have sce joed the circu of LGBTQIA+ wter happengs.

Produced by lol non-prof AspenOUT, Aspen Gay Ski Week will be celebratg s 45th anniversary wh a jam-packed lendar of fundraisg events, such as drag bgo, a downhill stume petn, a wboy rave, and a pool, Vermont: January 19-23, 2022The impossibly quat village of Stowe has hosted Wter Renzvo Ski Week for 38 years, but this year’s celebratn is promisg to make up for an abbreviated schle 2021. While the full lendar of this year’s events hasn’t been announced yet, Utah’s only gay ski week is set to pull out all the stops wh a r wele party, multiple drag shows, boozy après ski gathergs, and more. Telluri, Colorado: Febary 26-March 5, 2022Though wter sports pros drool over Telluri’s 147 ns and a 4, 500-foot vertil drop all season, more than 1, 000 revelers of all backgrounds e each year to celebrate Telluri Gay Ski Week.

Mammoth Lak, California: March 15-20, 2022Found by Tom Whman, the now-ternatnal Elevatn brand is celebratg 20 years sce s gural Elevatn Mammoth Gay Ski Week Mammoth Lak. Benjam Rasmsen for The New York TimSki Champn Com Out as Gay: ‘I’m Ready to Be Happy’In an terview wh The New York Tim, Hig Roberts, a two-time U. “Not beg able to be who I am and not be able to be openly gay as a profsnal athlete was tly hrg my performance, ” Roberts said an terview this month wh The New York Tim which he me out is the first current or former male Alpe skier of his liber to e out publicly as gay a sport seen as closed and clubby.

Based on what he had seen at the ele level and his small mounta town, beg gay did not f his perceptn of the Alpe skier, an image he was already stgglg to emulate. Wily regard as the top ski statn for LGBTQ travelers, Aspen Snowmass livers wh four mountas of terra, imprsive après ski, smopolan rtrants, world-class hotels, and the annual exuberance of Gay Ski Week—the natn’s biggt (and longt nng) on-snow pri event. Takg place every January, Gay Ski Week clus events like drag bnch, group ski days, daily cktail gathergs, après pool parti, edy shows, dance parti, a drag para down the slop of Aspen Mounta, and so much ’t make to Gay Ski Week?

In 1977, lol John Bch and gay ski club lears om Chigo, Los Angel, and beyond fally phed to secure space rtrants and public plac while visg Aspen. Their goal was to acmodate and celebrate a wir range of visg gay ski clubs—and the rult was the official start to the longt-nng Gay Ski Week Ameri. Gay Ski Week is the anizatn’s largt fundraisg event every January, but the anizatn hosts shows, muny iativ, parti, programmg, and events year-round.

The first male ternatnal alpe ski petor to e out publicly, Roberts feels he has a rponsibily to help LGBTQ people skig see the acceptance that’s lyg there unr the surface, and to help everyone else skig fd ways to improve the environment the sport for gay athlet.

He said he was growg to accept that he was gay as a young man, but as he beme more succsful on the ski slop and saw no out gay men the sport, he felt he had to hi who he was.

”Eric has been a regular at var gay ski weeks for years now, so when I was gettg ready to attend this year’s Whistler Pri & Ski Ftival, my first gay ski week, I had a ln qutns for him. Maybe those who may not be aware, gay ski weeks are annual gathergs of LGBT+ people, put together by a number of different anizatns—some by volunteer-led non-profs, others by for-prof party promoters—and held at var ski rorts around the world. A few of them were tenuoly nnected by workg for different offic of the same multatnal firm, but otherwise, they were all Whistler Pri iends—who met up once a year for gay ski week, perhaps saw each other passg throughout the year and perhaps did not, but otherwise planned on meetg up annually jt to enjoy a week of snow and astonished me how quickly I felt like a part of the group.