Small, but mighty: A community of uphillers takes off at Eldora ski resort

For many Front Range mountain adventurers, there is the before uphill era at Eldora, and the after. 

Before uphill skiing was allowed in late 2016, there was a lot of groaning about how Boulder’s local resort was stingy and stuck in the past. Today, as some 3,000 Eldora uphill pass holders have experienced in the after era, there is a gradual embrace of a sport that has been slow to catch on in the United States. The sport is now set to gain a slot at the 2026 Olympics, either reflecting a growing trend or driving it. 

Uphilling has a lot of pseudonyms — skinning, ski mountaineering (skimo), alpine touring (AT) — and has deep roots throughout Europe, where Davide Giardini was born. Giardini is a top-tier athlete who grew up competing in downhill ski races in the Italian Alps, site of the 2026 Olympics, and went on to become a professional triathlete in the U.S. He is now on the La Sportiva ski team, living in Boulder, and says he found “a new fire in life pursuing uphill skiing and mountain endurance sports.” 

Part of that fire drives his effort to bring more people into uphill skiing through the Boulder Skimo Club, which he founded in 2021, and now reaches about 450 subscribers. The club is a way for members to access skills clinics, gear demos, training partners and community. It has a goal of becoming nothing less than the leading ski touring club in the country. 

“Boulder Junior Cycling is one of the best in the country. CU is a hotbed for young athletes. And some D1 runners have joined our club,” said Giardini. “Since skimo is new, there’s a big opening.” 

Whether the Olympic spotlight has driven more people to the sport or not, Eldora has made a 180-degree turn (or “kickturn” in uphill parlance) to embrace it, even though financially, it doesn’t really make a dent in the resort’s revenue. 

Giardini believes that Boulder, being a hotspot for endurance and mountain sports, is the perfect place to drive more people into the sport and also establish a competitive race team to represent the U.S. internationally. This marks the inaugural season for the team, although it was for a short time due to Giardini’s travel schedule. Giardini says his real passion lies in coaching youth, and wants to develop a team that can be a pipeline into the Olympics. 

Before Powdr Corporation bought Eldora in 2016, some diehards would sneak onto the slopes for unsanctioned uphill sessions, which was considered trespassing.

“I think a lot of people just poached it,” said Eldora’s marketing director, Sam Bass, who has been an avid uphiller for 25 years. “Every once in a while someone would get caught, and waves would ripple through the community.”

Now, according to Bass, on a really good day they might clock up to 500 uphill skiers on the slopes, and never fewer than 100. But with access comes responsibility, and Eldora has been careful about allowing unrestricted uphill traffic. 

“Being next to Boulder, the endurance capital of the world, we could easily get overrun if we left it open,” he said. 

From least uphill-friendly to paving Olympics aspirations

The Wednesday Morning Grind uphill race this week attracted 120 registrants to Eldora’s slopes for a 7 a.m. start, proving a unique demand for high-intensity output on a weekday before work. 

“When I tell my Italian counterparts they don’t believe it. They say, ‘What? 7 a.m. and 120 people?’” said Giardini, who won the double lap race this week after arriving at 5 a.m. to help set it up.

According to Bass, when Powdr took over Eldora, there was a townhall style meeting for employees, many of whom were pushing for an uphill policy. At the time, Eldora was one of the few resorts in Colorado where climbing up the hill against traffic using skins, rather than taking the chairlift, was shunned. Aspen, Arapahoe Basin, Winter Park, Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper were all open for uphill access. Although each resort had its own rules and restrictions,  they were welcoming to the small uphill community, and skiers from Boulder would drive an hour and a half to A-Basin for a morning workout. 

But at the townhall meeting, Eldora employees heard a hopeful message from the owners. 

“[They] were super receptive, but there were operational limitations that didn’t allow them to offer uphill unlimited,” Bass said. “They wanted it to happen, but they had to mitigate risk.”

In the first generation of uphill policy at Eldora in 2016, standalone passes were about $150 for the season. They went up to $199 by 2020, and then suddenly dropped to $99 for the 2022/23 season, a rate expected to remain for the foreseeable future. And while other resorts started by offering uphill for free, they all seem to be converging on the price of around $100 for the season, though all Vail resorts restrict access to non-operational hours and offer it for free.  

According to Bass, Eldora is in a unique position, situated on both private and U.S. Forest Service land. As such, any lawsuits arising within federal land fall under the the government’s jurisdiction, but incidents on private land are Powdr’s burden. This gives the company incentive to stay somewhat conservative on route offerings and, as a policy, always have medical support on hand in the pre-opening hours of 7-9 a.m., when a lot of uphill visitors partake. 

Since 2016, Eldora has gone from being the least uphill-friendly resort, to one of the sport’s best friends in the Front Range. 

By formalizing uphill access at Eldora and leveraging Giardidi’s vision and expertise to help beef up competition, Boulder is in a position to become a top contender for U.S. representation in ski mountaineering at the Olympics. This could mirror the success of Boulder’s elite climbing infrastructure, which has already produced three new Olympians for the U.S. climbing team since the sport’s entrance into the games in 2021. 

For the uphill-curious, Eldora’s community uphill Friday’s offer clinics, demos, coffee and treats to whet your appetite.