Current Issue / DU Alumni

Alumna Tamara Hoppes attempting to snowshoe up every Colorado ski run

Tamara Hoppes is attempting to snowshoe up every one of the thousands of ski runs at Colorado’s 23 ski resorts.

If you were one of the skiers or snowboarders carving Colorado’s slopes this winter, you may have passed by Tamara Hoppes, BA business and marketing ’87, who is attempting to snowshoe up every one of the thousands of ski runs at Colorado’s 23 ski resorts.

Hoppes has been preparing for the adventure her entire life. “Winter is my favorite time of year, and I have been snowshoeing since I was very young,” says Hoppes, who has completed climbs at seven ski areas since she began her quest in spring 2003. “To my knowledge, no one else has ever done what I am attempting.

“I have snowboarded down every run in Colorado, and the idea to snowshoe up each run came to me as I was snowboarding down the last run I needed,” Hoppes explains.

In January 2004, Hoppes quit her full-time job in transportation and marketing at Vail Resorts to snowshoe full time. She now supports herself with part-time work.

“Quitting my job gave me more time to snowshoe, remaining connected to the mountains and the resorts I have fallen in love with,” Hoppes says. “It’s all tied to being outside in the winter time.”

Hoppes keeps track of the runs she has finished by marking and dating them on trail maps. Hoppes also is working on landing a global positioning system sponsorship to help her better document her climbs, which she also records in her journal.

She has her work cut out for her. Resorts like Vail have hundreds of runs that branch off for miles. “If I’m  able to survive financially not having to work during the winter, it is possible I may finish in 10 years,” Hoppes says.

“Twenty years is more realistic, though.”

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