Athletes Begin Epic Ski Trip By Train

With winter temperatures freezing nearly half of the U.S., a team of free skiers is venturing to western Montana to experience the trip of a lifetime.  Despite the historic lows and grounded air travel, six thrill-seekers are setting out to give you an inside look at what it’s like to be a professional athlete in a special web series called Storm Cycles.

TJ David, Trent Bona, Caleb Brown, Hayden Price, Whit Boucher and Thayne Rich are traveling from Chicago through West Glacier, Mont., Leavenworth, Wash., to Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.–all by train– to ski some of the best terrain in the country. Even more awesome? All of it is being captured on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #AmtrakSeason for your viewing pleasure.

“I love how skiing is so much more than just sliding skis around on snow,” says TJ, the creator of Storm Cycles and one of the two men filming the two-week ski trip by train adventure. “It’s trips like this. The people you meet and the experiences you have while traveling that make this sport so special to me.”

TJ came up with the idea for the series last ski season when he was skiing in Glacier National Park. He and friend Brody Leven crossed train tracks while in the park and even saw several trains pass through the mountainous terrain during their trip. “The trains traveling up and down through the mountains created a really beautiful contrast between natural landscape and manmade machine,” he says.

“Later that day we stopped in to the West Glacier Amtrak station and the pictures of the trains in the old station were really quite remarkable,” TJ says. “The seed was planted, and after a little research I began to formulate an idea in my mind about how amazing it would be to take that same train, straight into West Glacier, unload, cross those tracks and head right into the mountains.”

So that’s exactly what they’re doing this #AmtrakSeason. Six travelers, four trains and six buses all so you can get the rush of traveling in a Storm Cycle.

“I’m really excited to portray what life is like for professional skiers traveling via train to access world class skiing,” says TJ.

To follow their ski by train adventure and talk to the athletes directly, use the hashtag #AmtrakSeason on Instagram and Twitter. Stay tuned to Amtrak’s social channels to see the finished webisodes!

Have you ever taken a long-distance train to go skiing? Let us know in the comments below!

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