“When I was [in Aspen] practicing [for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games], I stayed with some friends who showed me the local lifestyle. These people were really the opposite of that term ‘ski bum’—like, ‘I’m going to get my exercise in, and then I’m going to focus on my work, on my business, on my goals.’ We would wake up early in the morning, before the sun came up, and track up to the top of the peaks before riding down. There’s nothing better than the silence when you’re the first out in the morning. The sun’s coming up over the mountains, and there’s this glow to it. This was the routine: get on fresh powder, run down to town to grab a tea or coffee, put in some work hours on the computer, order lunch at White House Tavern, then go hit the slopes again. Our friends would have snowmobiles waiting to go beyond where the main gondola reaches on Aspen Mountain. There’s a whole backcountry area you can access that way. You can’t take the chair lift [out there], so locals ride their snowmobiles out from behind their homes all the way up to the top. That’s where we were doing these incredible laps. It was magical to see what the locals see. This [trip] was about seeing the town from their perspective. And, you know, it was all about enjoying time with friends, health and wellness, and then, like, ‘Yeah, let’s go out and have a blast tonight.’ The city is this melting pot of people, and the après parties and all that stuff happening really celebrates the culture of the sport. I was just like, Oh, wow. This is how I want to live my life. I’m going to wake up early, I’m going to do something for me, and then I’m going to do something for my future, and then I’m going to go find something else enjoyable to do. Since I retired I’ve been able to go back to get that full scope of Aspen and experience how magical it is.”
Shaun White will be in the NBC broadcast booth at the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina on February 6, and is the founder of the snow league, which hosts its next event at Buttermilk at Aspen Snowmass on February 27 and 28. This article appeared in the January/February 2026 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
