Photo: Screenshot 9 News // YouTube
There are many ways to make a name for yourself in adventure sports. You can win competitions, invent tricks, discover new lines – each one requires its own type of skill. One of the most unique and grueling ways to do it, though, is to go on a streak. To do something every day, or month, for years on end is a tall order – one that requires dedication, grit, and ultimately a touch of madness. One Colorado man proved he had all three in spades, recently, when he managed to accomplish the feat of skiing every month of the year for 30 years straight.
In his own inverted version of the Endless Summer, Colorado skier Brian Wiens has skied for 360 consecutive months, as 9 News Colorado reports. Remarkably, Wiens still has the same enthusiasm for the endeavor as he did at the start. “The biggest piece of advice I would give people is to follow your soul. Follow what turns your crank. Follow what makes you happy,” he explained in an interview when he hit the 25-year mark. “Because I never set out to do this. This just organically occurred from a number of experiences, way back in my lifetime. I don’t ever want to wake up and go ‘Oh I have to get a month in.’ I can’t wait to go. If you have to force yourself to do anything that you don’t want to do, then don’t do it. Find out what your passion is. When you find that passion, follow it like there is no tomorrow.”
In that time, he has also developed somewhat of a cult following. Though he spent the beginning of his streak skiing mostly alone – especially in the summer when he had to hike deep into the backcountry, as time went on, he developed a cadre of fellow streakers who share his obsession (think Forrest Gump running across America). Many of them joined him as he hit the 30-year milestone and celebrated the accomplishment.
“Streaks are cool, whatever they happen to be,” said Wiens’ brother David. “They’re really fun and they’re hard to end. It gets in your blood. It’s obviously in his blood, and I don’t see this thing ending any time soon.”
