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| Gay ski weeks, usually held in the glorious West, draw crowds of men and women looking to enjoy the cold weather, the slopes and each other. |
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HOME > ENTERTAINMENT > FEATURE
By: ZACK ROSEN COMMENTS
 
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which, according to Vail Gay Ski Week organizer Josh Harriot, is the preferred accommodation for a majority of guests.
“Most stay in condos which are very accessible to the lift,” Harriot says. “A lot of boarders come as well. People tend to come from all over the country.”
Given the rash of serious snowstorms in the western U.S., Harriot says, “Vail actually has excellent snow this year.”
Somewhere in the middle of the previous two events is the Telluride Gay Ski Week. Located in Telluride, Colo., the event has the same laidback attitude as the town itself.
“The best thing about Telluride gay ski week is how different it is from the typical gay ski weeks,” says the event’s publicist, Scott Barretto. “It’s very casual, not a party atmosphere. We leave time for people to do what they want to do. It’s much more laid back in that everyone’s not dressed up to go to things. It’s not high-energy events; it’s more a casual vacation that you go to catch up with your friends instead of going from one dance to another.”
Telluride is known for its locally owned bakeries, restaurants and shops as well as its top-drawer resorts. The town also has a free gondola system that transports people from the city center to the slopes, making traveling to the mountain as pleasurable as rushing down it.
Telluride Gay Ski Week is entering its fourth year and expects a crowd of about 1,500 people. Many are return attendees, and Baretto even knows a couple that met at the event who have been together ever since and are now planning on starting a family together.
All gay ski weeks create a whole host of memories for its attendees — some romantic, others exciting and some a little more tawdry — but the entire experience can be a remarkable way to escape the winter blues.
“My impression is that most people go to ski pretty seriously,” says Strange, who is not planning to attend a gay ski week this year. “They go to one or two parties but that’s not the prime motivation, at least not for the guys I go with.”
Strange added, however, that he “won’t deny that I have a certain amount of personal data on hooking up on ski weeks. There are dances, there are hot tubs. You do the arithmetic.”
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