Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for clarity.
Excited to start skiing again? Some people never stopped.
“Summer tune” isn’t part of Doug Evans’ vocabulary. During the warm months, his life revolves around two jobs. As a landscaper, he plants perennials around Colorado’s Summit County. And as a committed snow slider, he skis.
Not every day, not necessarily every week. Like other passionate folks around him, Evans can most often be found running, camping, and rambling around his high-country backyard with a lightweight pack and not much else. But at least once a month, he hunts down a snow patch and makes turns.
It’s been that way for a while—238 months in a row to be exact.
With increasing numbers of skiers following suit and chasing turns year-round, Evans—a Powder7 ambassador—hopped on the phone to tell us about his “turns all year” pursuits. Spoiler alert: While that number may make you scratch your head, he knows several people working on longer streaks.
How did you get started skiing?
I grew up in Denver and started skiing at age six. My parents weren’t really serious skiers, so they would rent a condo up in the mountains and stick me in ski school at Keystone.
I really got hooked when I got my first ski pass to A-Basin and could drive up to the mountains myself. It was the demise of my high school career. I started skipping classes, skipping football practice to go skiing. So things went downhill in multiple ways.
I put that anxious energy toward skiing, and I think it worked out.
When did you get into backcountry skiing?
I’ve been skiing in the backcountry around the Loveland Pass area for 22 years. My first summer skiing was up in the Sheep Creek area. I just saw some snow patches from the highway and hiked my gear up there.
I just wore what I had. I used my school JanSport backpack. Stuck my boots inside and shouldered my skis up. I hiked in Vans. I was like a fish out of water compared to the traditional outdoorsy person.
When did you get into chasing turns all year?
My late-summer skiing really started up at St. Mary’s when I was 18. I had skied June and July on Loveland Pass. I was down at a house party in Boulder, and I mentioned something about going skiing and these guys said they were going. That was the first week of August. They introduced me to St. Mary’s. They’re good friends, and I still ski with them.
In those days, I was still hiking in Vans and had no backcountry ski education. I was on the Volkl Spatulas in summertime. I liked how they didn’t get hung up in the summer snow.
What has been the toughest month to make turns?
The toughest year was when I broke my leg. It was a catastrophic tib/fib spiral fracture in February 2007. I went against doctors’ orders and skied in my front yard in Silver Plume. That was March 31. There was 30 feet of snow out there, and I used ultra-fat 140mm skis. I clicked into one ski and had a boot cast on the other foot. I wiggled down 30 feet with crutches in one hand. My girlfriend thought I was a nut.
That was the toughest month. By April, I could squeeze my foot into a boot. Definitely still against doctors’ orders, I put on ski boots in living room, got a ride, and got in a run up at Loveland. Agonizing pain.
May was a little easier, and by June, the doctor actually cleared me. He said I could go skiing, so the next day I went up and skied Citadel with my buddy Eben Mond.
Are there months when you feel like you’re doing it for the streak, like it feels like a task? Or would you want to ski every month anyway?
I’ve had tough months with weather. Some years there’s fresh snow in September, but one year I waited too long. I thought snow was coming and waited until the last day of the month. It didn’t come. So I skied Mount Flora on 100 feet of 2 inches of snow on top of rocks. We hit a bunch of rocks and called it good.
Those are the tough days when I was definitely doing it to keep the streak alive. I didn’t want to see it end. I had gone through the leg break thing…
It’s gotten easier. I understand the mountains better and can find patches of snow easier now. The patches are where it’s at! Once you get up in there and make a few laps, it’s a nice ski day.
What’s your summer skiing setup?
Unless it’s a longer approach, I wear Scarpa running shoes, the Rush GTX. It’s a running shoe with an aggressive sole. A-frame the skis with the boots clicked in so there’s more room in the pack for stuff.
Early summer, I’ll bring a skinning setup if there’s a possibility of large patches of snow. June can be a tough one. You can expect to bootpack and then wallow in thigh deep snow. Or not.
I’m usually on the Liberty Origin 106 or Evolv 100 with a Shift. Once you get into late summer, August and September, it’s the Evolv 100 with regular Tyrolia Attack alpine bindings. It’s heavier, but I trust it more in weird snow that can toss you around. The worst injuries I’ve seen summer skiing are from people losing skis and sliding into rocks. I ski the bindings I trust.
Are most of your ski adventures solo or with a crew or partners? Do you prefer one or the other?
It really depends. I do like skiing with people. Sometimes the human factor is tough. Negative issues can come from group dynamic, having too big of a group, having people who haven’t skied in a while or don’t know what they’re getting into. Skiing is an ego-driven sport. Sometimes people ski bigger or faster because of the group dynamic, and that doesn’t lead to good things. Consequences are higher in the summer
I do more solo stuff during summer. Sometimes it’s a last-minute thing. Weather is a huge factor with summer storms. But It’s a grounding experience to be alone out there, to be responsible for yourself.
What weather apps or websites do you prefer for summer skiing?
I really trust NOAA. That is one go-to. I’m an amateur weather nerd, so I look at shorter range models, higher res. Another good one is the CAIC models page. Even in summer, it’s a good resource.
Specifically for summer, if I see any chance of even a minor thunderstorm, I really keep an eye on things.
Do you know anyone with a longer streak?
Quite a few people. My buddy Trevor is one of those guys I met in Boulder when I was 18. He’s two years ahead of me. Some older skiers, like Brian Wiens, are working on 300-plus months. And nowadays there are all these people on the internet with all these credentials.
I’ve got a buddy in his fifties whose been doing it for 340-plus months. I didn’t even realize it because he doesn’t brag about it or anything, doesn’t post it.
Advice for people who want to try to ski every month?
Well first, tone it back during those later months, August and September, when you haven’t skied for a few weeks. You haven’t been doing laps at the ski area. That first turn—take it slow. Most wrecks I’ve seen happen on the first turn. You’re stoked and you go in hot and the turn doesn’t feel like the snow you skied three or four weeks ago.
Check your gear. Summer skiing does take a toll on gear. Bindings break. Skis break. Snow is abrasive and tends to tear your bases up. I have a buddy who, when we were in our early twenties, had to go get his skis at his parents’ house. He drops in, and his dad had turned his bindings doing for the summer. He ended up doing the slide for life down Skyscraper. We had to put his shoulder back in on the glacier and hike his gear out.
When you’re not using it every day, things can happen to your gear that you don’t notice. I’ve noticed a big crack in my shells during summer.
Keep an eye on the weather. Lightning doesn’t discriminate.
Think about time. Things always take twice as long to hike to in the summer.
We ski all the time. We don’t summer ski all the time. Even the people skiing year-round—during summer, I’m skiing once a week. You’re not as practiced as during mid-season. Leave ego at home at stay humble out there.
