Ambassador Stories: Aaron Rice
The difference between the possible and the impossible lies in a person’s motivation and determination. Recently we’ve teamed up with an exceptionally focused individual who possesses this type of raw fortitude. His name is Aaron Rice and he’s committed to skiing 2.5 million self-propelled vertical feet this year.
Aaron grew up in New England where he fell in love with skiing at a young age. In high school he raced and instructed at the 240′ vertical Nashoba Valley. In college he began exploring the backcountry and started to learn about avalanches. After graduating from UVM in 2012, Aaron moved to Alta where he has been backcountry skiing ever since. Year over year Aaron pushed himself to hike more vertical feet and ski harder, faster lines. Last year he completed 726,000 self- propelled vertical feet and this year he plans to more than double that.
Aaron is currently at day 49 with 472,000 vertical feet under his belt. A recent broken hand has held him back a little, but overall he has skinned and skied 764 miles, and has been out skiing for nearly 400 hours.
There are a lot of factors into deciding where Aaron ski’s each day. There have been elevated avalanche dangers in Alta for much of the season and that has often dictated where he skis. Aaron likes to ski big technical lines, so when conditions permit, he tries to ski steeper and more aggressive lines. His favorite place to ski is in Alta, UT, where there’s an average of 550″ of snow per year and easy access to unbelievable terrain.
Aaron uses a Garmin epix for all of his adventures. The watch is equipped with auto-calibrating ABC sensors to provide relevant real-time information. The built-in altimeter provides elevation data to accurately monitor ascent and descent, while the barometer can be used to predict weather changes by showing short-term trends in air pressure. Garmin epix has helped Aaron push himself to go longer and faster.
“Pushing through physical pain is easy, but convincing yourself that it’s worth pushing through on any given day is hard.”
Join the adventure and follow Aaron’s 2.5 million self -propelled record attempt here. Don’t forget to share with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and use #HaveNoLimits.
