Next Level Skiing S5, E1 | Chris “Tats” Tatsuno: A Lot Less Ego, A Lot More Amigo

by Wagner Skis / Jan 02, 2023

S5: E1 – Chris Tatsuno: A Lot Less Ego, A Lot More Amigo

New boot goofin. Tats at Silverton Mountain. Photo: Jason Blevins

There’s an old adage that the best skier on the hill is the one having the most fun. By that measure, Chris Tatsuno is the top skier around every time he clicks in. The Aspen ski instructor wears an ear-to-ear grin every minute he’s on snow. He hoots through fields of ice as if he’s plowing billowing powder. Tats skis like a cat, floating delicately through all conditions, seemingly hovering above the snow.

And as an added bonus, the father of two is an incredibly kind dude, happily sharing his stoke so every skier can hoot, holler and rip like him.

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Topics

[1:20] The son of a Sun Valley ski instructor and a figure skater
[2:20] Sun Valley ski area as daycare
[3:40] Skiing is the connective tissue that binds everyone on the mountain
[4:20] Fun is what we do
[6:20] Dabbling with the snowboard[8:00] Snowboard is “a significant influence on my skiing.”
[10:50] More of a three-dimensional experience on a snowboard
[12:00] CU Boulder Ski Team
[13:40] The first big-mountain ski comp at Snowmass
[14:10] “Huck. That word really stood out to me that day.”
[16:20] Shepherding the Aspen Ripper Factory
[17:40] Local ski fame, “let the skiing doing the talking.”
[20:10] Aspen area ski gangs, dating back to the 1960s
[24:50] “A lot less ego, a lot more amigo.”
[26:10] The bubbles of excitement when skiing
[28:50] Why are Aspen ski instructors the best skiers on the mountain?
[30:50] Andy Docken’s Field of Dreams
[33:00] Protecting style while honing technique
[34:20] The evolution of PSIA teaching
[38:00] Talk less, ski more
[41:00] Be the watcher
[42:20] Less is more