Most of us feel more pleasantly relaxed following strenuous or even mild physical activity. The act of play — be it volleying a ball with friends, darting across a court, jogging into the woods or, for many, carving turns in powder — leaves our bodies feeling fulfilled, which also quiets our minds.
Erik DaRosa, a ski instructor known to his students as “Yoda,” is combining his two passions, mental wellness and snow sports, to offer a new program in association with Aspen One. U-MOST stands for “Unlocking Minds on Snow Together,” an acronym his wife and business partner, Amy, coined. Beginning next ski season, U-MOST will offer a three-day retreat which combines journaling with yoga, songwriting and, of course, skiing.
“I would love to see U-MOST as something that takes hold globally,” DaRosa said, pointing out the international mix of coaches involved. “When it comes to emotional wellbeing, that doesn’t stop at the border. This is something globally people could benefit from.”
Surprisingly, given his passion and prowess on the slopes, DaRosa didn’t try skiing until he was 33 years old, at the suggestion of a therapist and his wife. His first time was at Stratton Mountain in Vermont. “I remember standing on top of the mountain,” he told The Sopris Sun. “I just looked out and the view was breathtaking.” From that moment on, skiing has played a pivotal role in DaRosa’s life, bringing him from New York City to live in Snowmass in 2011.
DaRosa created the “From Survivor to Thriver” podcast in 2021, alchemizing his personal mental wellness struggles to empower others with tools for self-care. This show’s tagline is: “It’s perfectly ok not to always be ok.” Over the course of more than three years, 167 episodes were produced. Well on the journey as a behavioral health advocate, DaRosa contributed a chapter to the book “Scars to Stars” detailing a dissociative episode he experienced in 2004. He first envisioned the U-MOST retreat last winter.
On March 7, a handful of folks, including this reporter, were treated to a one-day sample of the retreat. The day began with yoga guided by Dana Theresa. Instructors Ailin Saiz and Chloe Merry, internationally renowned ski racers from Argentina and Australia, respectively, helped lead the group on a fresh powder, blue bird day adventure across Snowmass Mountain with plenty of activities to invite presence and connection into the experience. The day concluded with Mack Bailey, a professional music therapist, guiding everyone in a songwriting exercise. Participants were treated to breakfast, lunch and a gift bag which included a travel yoga mat.
“My choice to be a part of the program, it has to do with, first of all, feeling very inspired by ‘Survivor to Thriver’ [the podcast] in a moment in life when I was struggling a lot,” Saiz explained. She had recently lost her sister and found encouragement to maintain a meditation practice. DaRosa’s idea to integrate music, yoga, snow sports and mindfulness wove together many of Saiz’s own life joys as well.
Riding the chairlift between runs, conversational prompts were offered by the U-MOST team. Prompts like “What’s the most magical day of skiing you’ve experienced and what made it so magical?” Or, “Describe a time you felt isolated, disconnected, not belonging.” For the real deal retreat next season, local therapists will be employed to accompany any internal processes that may get triggered.
“I feel like this program, U-MOST, is helping people to feel more connected holistically, not just focusing on the physical aspects of skiing, but the mental part of it, the emotional part of it, the energetic part of it,” described Theresa, the yoga instructor from Vail. “When we can bring all these aspects of ourselves — all of these facets of our being — together, then we just create more health and wellness in our whole system.”
“I think it is a breath of fresh air for the ski community to bring mindfulness and whatnot onto the mountain,” stated Gabby Gawreluk, one of the invited guests at the sample retreat. “I’ve always separated my yoga practice, or mindfulness in general … I never translated that to endurance sports or going outside, although both are used by me as forms of meditation.”
At $6,000 per person, the retreat is an investment (with a $200 per day discount if you already have a ski pass) and it will initially be limited to intermediate and above skiing abilities. In the future, there’s the desire to offer scholarships and a version for less experienced skiers, as well as for teenagers.
“Once we’ve had success with growth for the for-profit arm of U-MOST, I would love to create a nonprofit arm off that and put a portion of the profits into the nonprofit to be able to grant scholarships to people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to do that kind of experience,” DaRosa said.
A U-MOST retreat can also be customized for a select group, requiring a minimum of eight participants and 60 days advance notice.
For more details, visit: www.u-most.com