Kindergartener Skis All 33 Colorado Ski Areas

This post was written and submitted by SnowBrains reader Jordan Lipp

Following in the footsteps of his older sister, on April 3, 2021, six-year-old Maddock Lipp completed skiing all 33 ski areas in Colorado. The journey started when Maddock began skiing at age two and was completed at Aspen Mountain, where Aspen SkiCo management held a ceremony for Maddock in the gondola plaza.

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According to Maddock’s father, Jordan Lipp, the biggest challenge was making sure that Maddock was ready to ski Silverton. Silverton has no beginner or intermediate terrain and requires all skiers (even if they’re only six years old) to carry a beacon, shovel, and probe.  Maddock, however, spent many ski days practicing side slipping and other skills to navigate the easier double-black diamond runs at various ski areas.  And, he was up for the challenge of Silverton on March 31, 2021.  On the ride up Silverton’s one lift, Maddock announced that he wanted to do 5-10 runs.  After skiing down an almost 2,000’ vertical avalanche path double diamond run at Silverton (named Cabin), Maddock decided that one run was enough for the day.

Completing the final ski area a few days later on Aspen Mountain’s intermediate runs was far easier.  “I thought Aspen Mountain would be the perfect place to finish,” reported Maddock’s father.

Skiing all 33 of Colorado’s ski areas was no easy feat.  Certainly, many of the large ski areas are household names, such as Breckenridge, Steamboat, and Vail, and are relatively easy drives from the Lipp house in Golden.  However, there are many Colorado ski areas that few people know, such as Chapman Hill, Cranor Hill, and Lake City – none of which are close to Golden, Colorado.  Maddock’s father reports that one of the most interesting ski areas was Lee’s Hill in Ouray.  It is a half a city block ski area with one rope tow.  It has no lodge, no lift tickets, no grooming, and no separate parking lot.

Maddock’s older sister, Keira Lipp, finished skiing all of Colorado’s 33 ski areas at age seven in early March 2020 at Telluride, Colorado.  At that point, Maddock had joined Keira at all ski areas except when she skied Howelsen Hill and Ski Granby Ranch (when he was too young to ski) and the three Colorado ski areas without beginner terrain – Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, and Silverton (which he was not good enough to ski when she skied them).  So in 2021, Maddock, Keira, and Jordan made sure to complete skiing these last five ski areas.  “Colorado has such amazing skiing, and it was great to experience every single ski resort with my two kids,” explained Jordan.