Summer can be hard for a skier. At first the break from the cold crispy mornings and unrelenting storms is a warm and inviting reprieve, but for me, after a month or two, I start to sense that something is missing. As a professional ski racer on the US Ski Team, summers also mean countless hours grinding away in the gym. Our “off season” is actually the hardest part of the year with our bodies in a constant state of soreness and our schedules for fun summer time activities limited due to the rigors of training-a lot of that inside a gym. Don’t get me wrong, the time that you put durning the “off season” to get strong is absolutely necessary and leads to results in the winter, which makes winter even more fun…but it is still hard.

Every year right around the end of July, the light at the end of the summer grind tunnel starts to illuminate bright with mid-winter conditions taking hold in the Southern Hemisphere. For the last 18 years of my life, I have made this annual pilgrimage to chase winter. Nothing quite compares to the excitement of digging out ski gear, checking bindings, and fitting boots in 80 degree summer weather. This year for me it didn’t quite hit until the last minute when I checked the forecast one last time and saw that it was going to snow a few feet in La Parva, Chile upon my arrival. I decided to throw in my Atomic Backland 117 powder skis in anticipation. This got me fired up. It was time to go, the skis were packed, and after one last jump in the lake, I was ready. While I hoped for a great camp with great training conditions like always, I had no idea I was about to embark on the best summer ski trip of my life.

Landing in Santiago, I swapped my flip flops for winter boots and slipped into my Alps & Meters anorak. While there is never snow down in the city, the early morning alpenglow shining off the Andes showed a healthy snowpack blanketing the range. The storm clouds were also building from the South West with the promise of snow. The amount of like-minded skiers escaping the sweltering summer heat milling around the International airport was comical! Our team, the American Downhillers were finally back to together after the long summer break, and there was a collective excitement to get started. We loaded the vans and navigated through the metropolis of Santiago and then up the countless switchbacks climbing the wall of mountains just to the east of the city. The snow-line was lower than in previous years and the conditions looked great. It is truly amazing to me that with one airplane ride you can take off from the heat of summer and hours later land in a mid-winter paradise.

The next morning was day one back on snow. Even as a veteran on the US Ski Team, there is always a hint of doubt bordering on anxiety when clicking into skis after such a long break from skiing. Feeling the bindings securely lock me into place and even just standing on my skis sliding them back and forth brings me joy. The first Poma ride up, I keep flexing my boots remembering the subtle moments and feelings of skiing. Buckling my boots at the top and pushing myself forward and down the slope finally brings me home. This is my identity, this is what I do. I am a skier. The first carved turn, bending the boots and skis into the perfect mid-winter corduroy is one of the best feelings in the world. Picking up speed, I get to test our all my new summer muscles and my body feels great. There is nothing that quite compares to the feeling of flying down a mountain on a pair of skis.

That night the storm hits. As a ski racer, fresh snow creates a soft surface for race training and is not ideal, but lucky for me, I am so much more than just a ski racer. Growing up in Lake Tahoe at Palisades Tahoe, powder skiing is part of my identity, and I believe that skiing in every condition makes me a better skier, so contrary to a lot of other racer, I love when a storm hits. Just like the feeling of carving a turn on corduroy, my first powder turn the next day feels so good. The silent swoosh of gliding through a foot of fresh snow with contrails of cold-smoke following me down the hill puts a big smile on my face. Conditions are all time.

That night after skiing I get a text message from Reggie Crist, an ex-American Downhiller and owner and operator of Stellar Adventure, a Heli-skiing company. They were set up just down the road in Farrellones with with a Helicopter and guides. Their Heli-skiing season was about to start, but for now they were setting up the zones and testing the snow pack. The text that night was exactly what I was hopping for- they had three open seats for an afternoon Heli-ski the following day, and he was wondering if I could join. The conditions were as good as they get, and I easily committed to an afternoon Heli-skiing mission the next day after downhill training with the team.

After an early morning downhill glide session, which was insanely fun, going fast again for the first time in months, I excitedly skied back down to the condo at the bottom, ate a second breakfast, changed my speed suit for my Alps & Meters free skiing kit, packed my airbag backpack with everything I would need for the afternoon, and headed down to meet the guides and the helicopter. We flew three valleys to the east of La Parva barley climbing over 15,000 foot passes with still higher 20,000 foot peaks looming above, the helicopter struggling in the thin high revelation air. The third valley, just on the border of Argentina next to the massive 20,000 foot volcano Tupungato was the zone. Called “The Library”, the aesthetic face we were about to ski had rock ridges forming couloirs one after another like books in a bookshelf. I feel like I was transported to Alaska. This place is the real deal. Just like downhill training that morning, I push off gaining speed into the first couloir ripping perfect recrystallized powder top to bottom under a brilliant blue sky. These are the moments I live for as a skier. We get bumped up with the Heli four more times skiing one couloir after another.

To hop on a plane in summer, and to get mid-winter corderoy, lift accessed powder skiing, perfect downhill training, and all time Heli-skiing conditions all within the first four days was a dream start to the ski season, especially when looking at the calendar and remembering that it was mid August!