Outdoor Profile: Zack Giffin

You may have seen the Hollywood renditions: a ski bum heads for the mountains, sleeps out of a van, and makes it big time. Professional skier Zack Giffin is the real thing. Hailing from Gold Hill, Colorado (population 230), Zack was discovered as a young man living in the Mt. Baker parking lot out of a van with no chains and little in the way of brakes (although he did install a custom chimney). Over the years, he rose through the ranks to major sponsorships and the cover of Powder Magazine. Switchback Travel spoke with Zack about the good old days and how his life has changed.
 

What was your progression as a skier?

The major milestones were learning to ski at Eldora, graduating to Vail, ski trips with my older brother to British Columbia. After high school, I just kept graduating to bigger mountains.  Winter of 1999 was my first really big trip. I was 18 and we went to Mt. Baker in January during a world record snowfall. It was a perfect three weeks and a crazy, abstract experience.

Later I moved up to Mt. Baker with my brother — those were some of the best years of my life as a full ski bum, skiing absolutely every day, working in the terrain park and as a ski patroller, and living in a van in the parking lot.

One day the crew from Powder Magazine came up to Mt. Baker and needed somebody to hit the famous Mt. Baker Road Gap (an outcropping that launches skiers up to 60 feet over two lanes of traffic) in a storm. As they were checking things out my brother drove by in our van yelling out the window because he couldn’t stop without chains. They caught the whole sense of what was going on, the vibe and us being part of a core place. Powder Magazine ran a story about two brothers living out of a van and hitting the Road Gap. After that I got sponsored.
 

Where are some of the places skiing has taken you? Your favorites?

I recently took a trip to Alaska, which was epic. Japan, if you’re a skier, is hard to beat. Argentina and Chile. I’ve become attached to South America and have a lot of friends down there now. All over the continental U.S. and remote parts of Canada. I’ve been involved in heli-trips that without doing what I’m doing would be impossible to go on. These are experiences I never expected to have.
 

Tell me about the preparation for big lines and summit skis.

The preparation for big trips is like building houses in the summertime. In my mind I’m always thinking about those trips. Snow stability is crucial. I do the big skis enough that I know what gear I’m going to bring and have it laid out every day. Preparation for big lines is about patience and letting the snow get to the right point. Big lines can’t be forced. All you can do is be prepared and wait for the right day. I try to let the mountains call my shots. If the weather and snow are just right, that is your moment.
 

What is your life like now as a well-known, sponsored skier?

Everybody looks at what I’m doing and says I'm living the dream. What I’m doing now is a lot of work. Filming and traveling take away from powder turns. Living in a van at the Mt. Baker terrain park, I was probably getting the most powder of anyone in the world. I’m not trying to get sympathy points, it’s just that it takes a lot of time from skiing. Now you’re not skiing, you’re waiting for the cameras. But being a professional skier and making a living after the age of 30 is unheard of, and I’m very appreciative of all the things that have happened. I ski for the love of it, which makes everything that’s happening now so much better.