Park City Skids

Park City Skids. What does it all mean? I have to be completely honest and admit I didn’t think it up all by myself. The borrowing of the idea can be traced back to a moment in time a few years ago, a dreary October day in Park City. Too warm for snow, too wet and cold for mountain biking. I had just cracked open the latest edition of the Cloudveil winter catalog and read a beautifully written piece describing the spirit of mountain town locals like the ones in Cloudveil’s hometown of Jackson, WY. This mountain town local spirit personified was alluring, distantly romantic yet lonely at the same time, full to the top with all sorts of struggle and hardship, and yet full of rewards. The writer affectionately referred to the crew of locals who worked all summer to fund their winter pleasures  ”The Skids.” In other words, living on skid row in a mountain town meant  you may not live in a big fancy house and drive a pimped out Range Rover, but you were still living large if you were dawn-patrolling untracked lines in the powder while the out-of-town guests were sipping fresh squeezed in white terry robes. I don’t know. It kind of struck a chord, started a riff, and now I am trying to get the song out. I hope Cloudveil isn’t pissed, but I can’t imagine there being a patent out there on hard-working locals who have somehow figured out a way to eke out a living and still bag 50 plus days a year on the mountain. That’s what Park City Skids is all about.