VIDEO: Connor Ryan Connects his Passion for Skiing with Cultural Obligation

“If I don't live in good relation with the land, I feel it creates a hurt in me that I can't heal.” It’s easy to get caught in seeking that first line on a fresh powder day, forgetting the culture of the mountains that lay below and the people who have stepped foot on them before you. In “Spirit of the Peaks”, Hunkpapa Lakota skier, Connor Ryan, dives in on understanding the value of the sacred land and water we ski on. Growing up at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Connor consistently seeks how to be a better relative to the mountains in the Ute Territory and to the Indigenous people who once called them home. Through this film, Connor illuminates the Ute’s culture to encourage all mountain enthusiasts to preserve the land they step on and the dissipating snowpack.