Industry News
The slopes at Alta Ski Area, UT, will be missing one of their most well-known personalities next season following the passing of Dave Van Dame.
Dave Van Dame, aka The Farmer, had skied at Alta for almost 50-years. He never missed a powder day.
He lived the life most of us aspire to; a simple life using minimal resources and focussing on what was important to him––skiing.
He applied his ‘waste not, want not’ philosophy to skiing, lapping runs and skiing adjacent to his previous tracks allowing him to ski untracked powder all day. The images of his tracks are almost hypnotic.
This message below, posted by Alta, says it best. Rest in Powder, The Farmer.
Our hearts are heavy with the passing of David Van Dame—The Farmer.
Alta will not be the same place without you. You taught us all how to love every moment in the mountains, how to live a life worth living, with a focus on simple pleasures not material things.
Donning your faded red jacket, wool-knit hat and Pocket Rocket skis, you showed us how to effortlessly ski deep powder for 48 years at Alta.
You have inspired our entire mountain community with your calming demeanor, unwavering voice and gentile smile—almost always obscured beneath your frosty ice beard.
Thank you for spending your days farming snow in the upper reaches of Little Cottonwood. We will forever save a spot for you on the Wildcat double chair.
RIP Farmer.