Inside The Parlor: Libby Ellis
Meet Libby Ellis, the newest member of our pro team. Libby grew up in a very flat place called the "Midwest", Minneapolis Minnesota to be specific, where she excelled at something called "cross-country skiing." In all seriousness though, Libby has a super unique story coming from a competitive nordic background and only taking up downhill after college. Now based out of Utah, Libby has taken to this new form of skiing quickly, and you can usually find her somewhere deep in the Wasatch backcountry with a crew of friends. Along with being a badass skier, Libby is an accomplished photographer, and we could not be more stoked to have her join the family. Keep reading below for a quick interview and get to know Libby a little better!
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JH: How old were you when you learned to ski?
LE: Downhill? 24. I’ve been on skis since I could walk, I grew up Nordic Skiing and raced all through college. After I retired from Nordic and moved out to Utah it was only natural that I pick up alpine skiing. Luckily for me, most of my friends are incredibly talented alpine skiers and ski racers so my learning curve was “keep up or get left behind”.
JH: Tell us your life story as seen through skiing (skip all that boring stuff that doesn't involve playing in the snow)
LE: My whole life has pretty much revolved around skiing so I’ll try to stick to the important parts. As I already mentioned I grew up cross-country skiing. As soon as we could walk my mom started sending my brother and me to ski classes every Sunday. I hated it, it was cold and I wanted to be inside drinking hot chocolate so I protested by eating snow and refusing to move. Luckily, the older I got the more I enjoyed it. In 7th grade, I joined my local high school’s team (Go Lakers!) and that is when I really fell in love with the sport. I raced on the Midwest Junior National team for 6 years as well as representing the US over seas in the Scandinavian Cup Series. After high school, I moved on to ski for Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan. I loved cross-country skiing, I loved competing and I especially loved the feeling of pushing your body to its physical limit. But as I got older I kept feeling like I was missing something, that I needed to get out and explore. My last year of racing found me unhappy and unmotivated and I knew I had to make a change. I retired from racing, moved west to Salt Lake City, bought a downhill set up and haven’t looked back. Skiing was always my greatest love but it never felt completely right. Who knew all I was missing was a little bit of downhill?
JH: Favorite resort/mountain/backcountry zone?
LE: Favorite backcountry zone is the Wasatch (I might be biased) but Teton Pass area is a close second. Favorite resort is Revelstoke Mountain Resort
JH: Tell us about the most epic ski day of your life.
LE: A powder day at Powder Mountain Resort in Eden, Utah. It was dumping all day and the resort was relatively empty so every run was first tracks, not to mention that everything would fill in after a run or two. We skied straight from 9 AM to 4 PM no breaks, it was heaven.
JH: Favorite Apres beverage?
LE: Homemade margs. No question.
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Well now that you know exactly how bad ass our first female team member is, want to be exactly like her, etc etc.... you can ski on the same planks that she does!