For most people, skiing 100 resorts might be a lifetime goal, but for Steve Fisher of the Maui Ski Bus, the goal is to do it in just one season.
“I’m a frustrated ski bum living on a tropical island,” Fisher said. “I decided to have the ultimate ski adventure and try to ski 100 resorts in one season, because I couldn’t figure out which one I wanted to go to.”
Fisher, a Guinness Book of World Records windsurfer, started his trip in November of 2011 in Southern California, and this past Friday made Panorama his landmark 75th stop of the trip after touring through much of the United States over the past several months.
Fisher said he first decided to do the trip last year when he read stories about how much snow there had been, and said he has been thoroughly impressed with the conditions on Canadian mountains so far.
Fisher is also making the trip on behalf of two different charities: the Maui United Way and the Livestrong Cancer Foundation. Twenty per cent of all donations and money received during his trip will be divided between the two charities.
“I want to inspire people to get out and be active,” Fisher said. “So many people don’t want to go to ski resorts in the winter because they can’t ski, and my answer to that is that you don’t have to ski to have a good time.”
Fisher has been driving and living in a colourful yellow bus with his two dogs, Franklin and Gykaiya. His normal routine is to arrive at a resort the night prior, so that he can experience each location during the next day. He says that all the ski resorts he has visited have been extremely receptive to him so far, and that he’s had a wide range of experiences, from training with an Olympic skier to having a five-year-old give him ski lessons. The toughest part, Fisher says, is probably the toll it has taken on his body, as he prefers skiing moguls to coasting down the mountains, and living in a bus doesn’t afford much opportunity for regular stretching and yoga.
Fisher says while he hasn’t yet picked a specific resort that he’ll finish on, he has a general time frame (after Easter) and general area in Tahoe. For more information and regular blog posts detailing his trip to each resort by Fisher himself, visit mauiskibus.com.