Taking the whole “pray for snow” bit seriously. Photo: Breckenridge Distillery
Ski trips, not unlike any good surf trip, can be made or broken by the quality of conditions. At least that’s what we convince ourselves of before booking any flight. No snow? No waves? No, thank you. But powder days? Barrels? Yes, please. Turns in chest-high fluff or into head-high waves are the things I’ve spent much of the past two-plus decades daydreaming about and building most of my adult life around in one way or another.
I know that’s not unique. Anybody reading this has something they love just the same.
The ironic part of it all, though, is that those peak conditions are rare and the moments we experience them are fleeting. We say they keep us coming back, and we plan trips around the world chasing them like our first hit of the drug du jour, but deep down we all know the things that stick the longest are — and here’s all the fluffy, sappy truth — the people, the new stories, a chance to hit the reset button because we went out and saw something fresh and new.
This, of course, is my long-winded way of setting the table for a trip at the onset of a winter that felt like it was never going to come. It’s been well known for several months now that this would be a La Niña winter and that usually (not always) means places like the Southern Rockies stay a bit drier and warmer. It’s not a good recipe for snow, but it did set the perfect pretext for joining an age-old tradition in Breckenridge, Colorado: a prayer for snow.
Those three words (“pray for snow”) are said tongue-in-cheek throughout any mountain town in the U.S. but in Breckenridge it’s something the locals actually do at the beginning of every winter. I’ve written about the rivalry between Breck and Park City, Utah and their annual battle to pull off the world’s largest shot-ski, and it wasn’t until sometime in 2024 that I learned Breckenridge’s yearly world record (unofficial) attempt is just one moment in a much larger celebration to welcome winter.
So, what goes into a week dedicated to praying for snow (when it’s definitely needed)?
The Main Event
Ullr Fest is a decades-long tradition here. When Breckenridge had a brand-new ski resort in the early 1960s, the locals wanted to create something that would help the town stand out among other nearby thriving ski towns like Aspen or Steamboat Springs.
The people of the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance actually tell a funny story of the original Ullr Dag (Day) Festival being tied to a tongue-in-cheek idea of the town seceding from the U.S. and establishing the Kingdom of Breckenridge. The town saw itself as a No Man’s land. Literally, the locals for a brief period of time held a claim that Breck was sovereign land, and even when a historian offered evidence disproving that, they ignored him and partied to the No Man’s Land concept for years.
Later, with a significant population of Norwegian employees at the ski resort, they concocted a plan of celebrating in tribute to Ullr, the Norse god of winter and patron of skiers, and crowning a king and queen of this kingdom of Breckenridge. The first festival included a ski parade and demonstrations by ski-school instructors, and they threw Christmas trees into a massive bonfire in the middle of the town afterward. It was all pieced together with the town collectively praying for snow.
A few original locals had hoped to create something no other ski town had, and after 62 years now that handful of traditions endure as one of the most unique celebrations in ski culture.
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Many of the people in Breckenridge know these details inside and out. They share stories about going to the parade as kids, they talk about years when Ullr bombed them with snow during the massive bonfire, and when my wife and I showed up on Main Street in the days leading up to it all, everybody fed off of a buzz as if it were the only place in the world worth being that week.
There’s a reverence and joy around the old traditions and in the spirit of how it all started — creating something no other ski town had — this generation’s Breck locals started a whole new tradition. Nowadays, everybody knows about the rivalry and…
The Shot-Ski
Just a few of the 1,400-plus people taking over a (unofficial) world record. Photo: Breckenridge Distillery
You don’t get 1,420 people lined onto a city street while holding one long ski and throwing back a shot of whiskey together if you’re not the hospitable and welcoming type. It’s fitting then that the whole “let’s just get together and celebrate winter” energy of Breckenridge’s festival was exactly what gave birth to skiing’s best, good-spirited rivalry.
I wouldn’t have been at this winter’s event myself without following the back-and-forth world record swaps between Breck and Park City, Utah, the past few years. I’ve always found the rivalry refreshing and lighthearted because it embraces the whole après ski spirit, and we all owe ourselves a break from taking things too seriously. But while I’ve been in my own world chuckling about the Park City versus Breckenridge tradition for a few years now, what I didn’t expect once this winter’s reigning shot-ski attempt arrived was just how many people come from all over to participate. The rivalry may be between two towns but it’s clearly not exclusive to locals.
My wife, Lauren, and I met a lot of people who’d driven in from Denver for the party and bought tickets to the shot-ski. We talked to people on our shuttle into town who were flying in to ski and check out the days-long event. And at one point at the main event itself, just as they were getting ready to crown the 2025 Ullr Fest King and Queen on Main Street, my wife heard a familiar voice calling out our names. A friend who lives in another state had come to Breck too. Her group of friends was a mix of people from California, Las Vegas, Arizona, all with tickets to join the shot-ski world record. There are young people. and people who have stories of celebrating on Main Street for decades — an eclectic mix.
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It’s funny to take a step back and soak that all in when you’re on Main Street gearing up to shoot whiskey off of 507 interconnected skis. While people don’t come to Breckenridge just for that one moment, it’s a headliner for just about every conversation around town in the days before. But it’s also over in a flash. The countdown to lift that ski up to your gullet begins and is over within seconds. People cheer. People clap. And then the crowd disperses and dives right into a parade, then the night’s bonfire, and so on.
Outside of that seconds-long highlight though…
Breck Loves Their Après
The whole “après is earned, not given” mantra isn’t something we think much of when snow is as scarce as it was to start this winter. But for as gratifying as cocktails or beers are after a full afternoon of pillow lines, there’s a whole other charm to mellow laps in the early season.
My wife isn’t an experienced skier. She didn’t grow up with family ski trips, and it wasn’t until we’d been dating for a few years that I dragged her out for her first snowboard lesson one spring. She fell in love with it right away (who honestly enjoys snowboarding their first day?), but she’d been excited to switch it up for this season and join me on skis. That played out perfectly for a trip like this.I wasn’t expecting backcountry hikes and powder days knowing Peak 8 and Peak 9 were only partially open. So instead, I came into the trip just looking to get my legs back under me for the season while enjoying those mellow laps with my favorite person.
As predicted, she came off the hill that first day as excited as I’ve seen her about anything else. “Dude, this is way better than snowboarding,” were the exact words she yelled at me after her morning lesson. “We’re a ski family now.”
I might have taken two runs by myself to get some wind in my face, the rest was spent on bunny slopes laughing and having the time of our lives. Truthfully, you’re no less hungry and cocktails or a beer don’t suddenly sound less amazing when you’ve been in cruise mode on the slopes all day instead of bombing through every nook and cranny of untouched powder. A full day in your gear is still a full day in your gear.
After that first day of skiing, we were taken to meet our hosts at Breckenridge Distillery for a tour, cocktails, and dinner. The whole world’s longest shot-ski actually started with two residents drinking the local distillery’s bourbon one day in 2013 before deciding to collect skis from friends and area shops. They glued shot glasses to 60 skis, bolted the skis together, and Breckenridge Distillery made a special release peppermint schnapps for that first world record (193 people and a 313-foot shot-ski). This year, the distillery made a mushroom-infused whiskey packaged in little pouches rather than bottles so it could be portable, and it was poured into those 1,420 shot glasses for Breck’s newest world record. They’re big on celebrating après at the local distillery, and we were shown how those special blends come together on our own tour with founder, Bryan Nolt.
Nolt was a doctor who really loved whiskey before he took a chance on himself and went all in on starting Breckenridge Distillery. And “really loved whiskey” can’t be overstated. The man is a true encyclopedia of his favorite spirit, and collecting had become a hobby he invested heavily in as a medical professional working long hours.
Anybody whose passion for something is that strong is tough to ignore, and it really showed when he brought us into his “Founder’s Lab” and “Dark Arts” room. If “chesterfield chair” was a vibe, that must’ve been the inspiration for the interior designers of the small, two-room space. Dark wood, leather armchairs, and a cigar-lounge energy that looked like it came out of a classic Hollywood film really did set the tone for a night of blending different whiskeys pulled from the barrels. This is where Nolt sat a group of guests down and walked us through a tasting as well as invited us to concoct different blends from each barrel. Lauren and I spent at least an hour playing mad scientists until we came up with something we liked — a bourbon blend we called 7-7-7 because A) we’re Las Vegas nuts, and B) our first accidental version of the blend was seven milliliters each from three different barrels. The distillery bottled it up, labeled it, and shipped one to our home in Los Angeles.
Ten out of ten, this might be the best room to kick back in after a full day of skiing or riding. Photo: Breckenridge Distillery
Truthfully, for as much as we all enjoy the simplicity of a slice of pizza and a beer after a full day of runs, enjoying good whiskey, learning about good whiskey, and blending your own bottle alongside the person you enjoyed all those runs with is truly peak après ski joy. Really, doing anything with the person you enjoyed runs with is what the post-skiing or post-riding tradition is all about. I just learned that Breckenridge is a really special place because the people who live there and play host to thousands of visitors every winter get that.
For perspective, the town only has about 5,000 residents. It’s the very definition of a small town and the personalities and the energy the locals bring is unique. I’d guess because they’re eager and happy to share the local lore. They dance around burning Christmas trees asking a Norse god for snow, house music blasting throughout downtown. They invite more than a 1,000 people out to throw back shots of whiskey on Main Street and many more gather to watch. And all of this to kick off a winter where praying for snow couldn’t be more appropriate.
