Ski Culture, Not Just Ski Gear: Why I Started Piste Out

Why I Started Piste Out

Skiing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started when I was just two years old, waddling around in a puffy snowsuit, barely able to walk, but already sliding downhill with a goofy grin on my face.

By the time I was a teenager, I was teaching others how to ski. My first job was as a ski instructor, cold fingers, early mornings, and all. And I loved every minute of it. Even the 4:30 AM alarms. Even the endless I-70 traffic. Even the ski boots clunking down gas station aisles during a pit stop. That’s all part of it, part of the culture.

Because skiing isn’t just a sport to me. It’s not just about carving lines and chasing powder. It’s a lifestyle, a community, and a shared language between people who willingly freeze their faces off for a few runs of pure joy.

It’s More Than Skiing, It’s the Culture

There’s something about the ski world that’s hard to explain unless you live it.

It’s the old timers tailgating in the lot at 8am, grill already fired up. It’s the retro gear day that somehow turns into a weekly tradition. It’s duct-taped gloves, blaring Lot 2 speakers, and someone always skiing in a costume (whether it’s Halloween or not). It’s beer at après and friendships that feel like family.

I started Piste Out to capture all of that, not the high-gloss, luxury resort version of skiing, but the real, gritty, gritty, stoked-to-be-here mountain life. The one where style is optional, but stoke is mandatory.

This brand is for the people who hike for turns, who know the snow report by heart, who eat lunch out of their jacket pockets on the lift, and who wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Designs That Mean Something

Piste Out wasn’t born in a boardroom, it started with a laugh.

My very first design was the American Gaper Tee. I made it mostly as a joke, just messing around in Photoshop with the little I knew at the time. I took the iconic American Gothic painting, slapped on some ski goggles, added the gaper gap, and thought, “Yeah, this is funny.”

It was rough. It wasn’t clean or polished. But it was me and more importantly, it struck a chord. That one tee turned into a late-night obsession. I wanted to make more. Not just because it was fun, but because it let me channel everything I love about skiing, the people, the quirks, the absurdity, and the unspoken camaraderie.

Since then, every Piste Out design has followed that same path: made with heart, made with humor, and made for the people who live for this life!