Crystal Wright

Website: www.crystalbwright.com
Birthday: 1-14-82
Hometown: Jackson Hole all the way!
Sponsors: Head, Scott, Arcteryx, Hestra, Probar, Teton Village Sports, Icebreaker

Skiing has been a huge part of my life ever since I was born. My parents have been ski bums in Jackson for 32 years. They are not still ski bums, but still love to ski. I have been on skis ever since I could remember. I ski raced for the Jackson Hole Ski Club and then went on to race internationally all over the world. Through such intense training and skiing all the time a lot of my friends and teammates lost their love for skiing. I have always loved to ski and when I was traveling a lot I could not wait to get home to go ski powder at the resort. Skiing makes me so happy and has been and will continue to be my main passion.

I have always lived in the mountains and have always loved the mountains. I could never see myself away from the mountains or missing a year of skiing in the mountains.  I love to ski and I love to share the love of skiing with other people and try to introduce more people to the mountains and how amazing it is to live in a mountain town. I will always have a strong connection to this place I have tried to move away, but have always ended up back here, because this is the only place I can see myself living.

My ideal day would be getting in tramline with a few of my good ski buddies and having a long day skiing either inbounds or out of bounds. I really love the backcountry in Jackson, because it is so accessible and so amazing.  I love to hike for my turns, because you release endorphins and then usually have a really long run. Just a long day of good skiing with good friends is an ideal day.

I have so many amazing memories in the mountains, but probably my best memory was as a child when my coach Jonathan Selkowitz took myself and a few other ski club racers to ski Four Shadows. This was when the gates only opened in the spring and no one skied the backcountry. I remember it so well, because I was only 12 and was not a big fan of hiking.  Once we got to the top I remember watching Tommy Moe ski “Once is Enough” and thinking “wow that was crazy.” Now it is one of my favorite runs. I then remember skiing Four Shadows in perfect corn and being able to rip big turns. I think I must have been completely fearless, because it is a pretty steep pitch. Ever since that day my love for skiing big steep mountains has never left and I continue to pursue my passion all over the world.

Thanks to Focus Productions and Jonathan Selkowitz for image use!