Skiers pursue light on ‘the longest, shortest day of the year’

Nine hours and 25 minutes is not a lot of sunlight.

But for Spencer Bernhardt and McCarty Hudson, it might be enough time for nearly 12,000 feet of uphilling — seven laps on Buttermilk Mountain — as they celebrate the inaugural “longest shortest day of the year” for the winter solstice on Sunday. 

The two former local ski instructors will begin skinning at sunrise at the base of Tiehack Lift, embarking on a mission to complete as many top-to-bottom Tiehack laps as they can before sundown — and they’re inviting the Roaring Fork community to join them. 

“Bring a friend. Bring some noise,” Bernhardt wrote in a letter to The Aspen Times. “Bring the kind of energy that makes a cold morning feel a little warmer.”

He said he hopes the event sees a good turnout, as the larger a group they have, the less the laps hurt. 

“If 100 people showed up, that’d be absolutely nuts,” he said. “But it doesn’t take that many people to make a great day and to have a good time.”

The two spent a series of winters in the Roaring Fork Valley before more recently studying at University of Colorado Boulder and Fort Lewis College in Durango. McCarty graduated from Fort Lewis earlier this month.

Though they no longer live in the valley, they are always drawn back, she said. She said she’s excited for the Sunday event because of the local skiing camaraderie. 

“I love the community aspect of skinning in Aspen,” McCarty said “I think it’s so special and something the Roaring Fork (Valley) does so well.” 

Long days in the cold are nothing new for the two winter enthusiasts. They’ve completed the Power of Four more than once, a 24-mile endurance ski event spanning all four mountains and over 10,000 vertical feet. 

But as with all long endurance missions, the winter solstice skin-athon will pose its fair share of challenges for all those involved. 

“There’s so many different levels of tired,” Bernhardt said. “You go out for an hour run and that makes you tired, or you go out for a 10-hour bike ride and (at) like hour eight you’re tired of being tired. And then there’s also the tiredness of, ‘I didn’t have enough calories, and my body is tired of feeling the way it’s feeling.'”

He said he’ll likely burn 5,000 to 6,000 calories on a day like this and plans to bring “some waffles of some sort,” as well as lunch to account for the deficit. McCarty said she’ll probably bring a sandwich with tofu and veggies but said she still needs to finish designing her nutrition plan.

But most of all, the two are looking for community participation. 

“If you can make it, we’d love to see you. If you can’t, take a moment on Dec. 21 to notice the shift. After that day, the light starts coming back,” Bernhardt wrote in the letter. “We’ll be out there turning a short day into something a little bigger than it has to be.”

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.