Photos by Cliff Pinto
What do LEGOs and backcountry skiing and snowboarding have in common? A lot more than you might think. To assemble a LEGO set, you have to follow the instructions. To ski or snowboard in the backcountry, you must take direction so as to stay safe and minimize risk. Both LEGOs and backcountry touring require patience—to safely ski a fresh line or complete a complex LEGO project, you can’t be in a rush. Sometimes you have to turn back or start over. Both activities require independence—who wants a parent putting their LEGOs together for them or telling them exactly where to turn on as they descend? And just like it’s important to keep your LEGOs organized and in good working order, you want to return backcountry equipment to its proper place, dry out recently used gear, and replace beacon batteries. Most of all, LEGOs encourage creativity and outside-the-box thinking; so does making turns off the beaten path, exploring, and creating your own line.
In Silverton, Colorado, a remote town above 9,000 feet in the San Juan Mountains, 11-year-old Griffin Pinto loves both backcountry skiing and LEGOs. He estimates he’s assembled around 300 LEGO sets since he was three years old. The biggest? A 1,771-piece Yoda that took him six hours. His skiing stats are arguably even more impressive: last year, Griffin skinned 800 miles and 265,000 vertical feet.
Griffin got into backcountry skiing by necessity. His local ski area, Kendall Mountain, has only one chairlift and is just 300 vertical feet, and nearby Silverton Mountain only offers guided skiing most of the winter. Durango Mountain Resort has more to offer but is 20 miles and two mountain passes away. While in kindergarten and first grade, Griffin skied with international heli-skiing guides, Sallie and Mike Barney, at the town hill. And in second grade, he started heading into the backcountry with his dad. (During winter, when the Pintos’ bike shop Pedal the Peaks is closed, Cliff homeschools and skis with Griffin.) Now, Griffin and his dad often meet up with ski partners who, this being Silverton, are avalanche forecasters, ski guides, or search and rescue volunteers. (Griffin also trains with San Juan County Search and Rescue twice a month.) In a town with fewer than 700 year-round residents, most people in town know Griffin and his brother, Talon (5), by name.
Cliff and Griffin’s exploits began on Red Mountain Pass, a famous backcountry destination above Silverton. Griffin was too small for touring equipment, so they bootpacked to their lines. The following year, when Silverton Mountain closed for the season, they hiked into Velocity Basin. Eventually, in 2021, Griffin started skinning up, using CAMP USA’s Startup Ski Touring Adapter. He’s always carried his own avalanche equipment (sometimes his pack weighs 85 percent of his body weight).
When Griffin was nine, a sports-marketing manager at Oakley saw footage of him skiing Silverton’s Grande Couloir—a 1,500-vertical-foot line with a 30-to-35-degree slope—and was impressed enough to offer him a sponsorship. “Now, at 11, he skis in the backcountry more than most professional skiers or snowboarders,” says Oakley’s Greg Strokes. “He’s a very motivated kid, and he can build a LEGO set faster than anyone I know.”
Griffin skis five or six days a week. Not fair, right? He does most of his schoolwork on Mondays so that from Tuesday to Sunday he has flexibility in his schedule to ski. Each week, he skis a minimum of three days in the backcountry and an average of 20,000 vertical feet. A typical ski day starts after he and his dad drop off his younger brother at school (often via snowmobile). They mix bigger objectives, 40-50-degree couloirs that require 4,000-to-6,000-vertical-foot climbs, with playful days in pillow and jump zones. One of Griffin’s first big lines was Turkey Chute, a 45-degree couloir that starts above 12,000 feet. A highlight of the 2023 season was a powder-filled couloir that took Griffin on an almost-12-mile journey round trip from the highway. At Silverton Mountain, he ticked off high-altitude lines like the Gnar Couloir and Pequeno 1 Couloir. One particularly challenging morning last season, Griffin and his dad headed out to ski from their house to Telluride, but had to be picked up by mom on Ophir Pass, less than halfway there.
“He’s a very resilient kid, extremely focused and determined, but not competitive,” says Cliff. “He has no interest in racing or competing—just big, unique adventures.”
Micro Grom Avalanche Course
Living amid one of the most notorious snowpacks in the world, Griffin is constantly adding to his avalanche education. Last winter he joined a handful of kids for the first-annual Micro Grom Avalanche Course offered by Silverton Avalanche School (SAS).
SAS is the oldest continuously run avalanche-education and snow-safety program in the country, and its Micro Grom Avalanche Course is a two-day camp for kids ages 9–11 who want to learn about snow science and avalanche safety. The course involves mornings in the classroom and afternoons on snow (plus an option to bury yourself and have an avalanche dog dig you out).
“It’s important for young skiers interested in the backcountry to instill good habits, conservative decision-making, and terrain awareness early on so it becomes default,” says Michael Ackerman, executive director of SAS. “We don’t believe there’s a floor that should preclude entry into that stuff.”
February 17–18, 2024
To register, contact SAS ([email protected]; 970-387-8329)
SAS offers two Recreation Level 1 programs each year, custom-tailored to young adults ages 12–17 with a lower student-to-instructor ratio.
Micro Grom and youth Level 1 scholarships are available.
Visit avyschool.org for more information.