Daron Rahlves Rips Alpine on Closing Day

Closing day at Alpine was yesterday, but it wasn’t all beers and BBQs. Well, there definitely were some, but that didn’t stop the local crowd from absolutely ripping the mountain top to bottom.

Daron Rahlves, one of the most decorated American downhill ski racers, Red Bull Athlete, and overall ski legend (among many other things), was there to show everyone else how they should ski.

Check it out below.

Rahlves racked up an astonishing 28 World Cup podium finishes and three World Championship medals in downhill racing across 13 years of competing at highest level.

He then switched his focus to freeskiing and filming for movie parts including, Warren Miller, Matchstick Productions, and Teton Gravity Research films.

Closing day didn’t disappoint, and the corn harvest was in full effect.

Many are disappointed that the Alpine closing day was so early after a 4th of July closing date last year. The snowpack is still good and there’s plenty of coverage, but at the end of the day it comes down to a heap of things.

Powder writer, Ella Boyd, was able to catch up with the operations team to understand better why the closing date is so early this year.

They said that Alpine stayed open late last year because they had to close the Funitel to install a new rope, so it just made sense to keep Alpine open rather than Palisades.

The late closing last year pushed back other maintenance and forestry work at Alpine, and they have to catch up on it this summer. They also said it’s easier to maintain the snow on the upper mountain at Palisades, and they can focus all their attention on keeping it safe and rideable for as long as possible.

Closing day at Palisades will be on Memorial Day weekend.