It's fair to say the ADL evolved into a club, rather than started. The idea was hatched when a few fathers got together on weekends to take their kids skiing together, in a large neighborhood posse. We made the kids wax and scrape their own skis in the garage on Friday nights, which would later become the headquarters, and then we would hit the local Seattle resorts on Saturday. The kids would follow each other fearlessly down gate 4 at Crystal and anywhere else the fathers wanted to ski. Fearing only being left behind. they advanced quickly.

We live in a neighborhood high on a hill above Lake Sammamish, called Lakemont. The road up is long and steep and we called it Alp du Lakemont as an ode to the Tour de France, inspiring us when we attacked the clymb on our bicycles during the summer months. The name stuck and we started referring to our weekend ski adventures as the Alp du Lakemont Ski Club outings. There was nothing official about it until we had an ADL sticker made - the first black and white ADL oval created a monster.

That oval sticker gained popularity and spawned a second. We started playing Nageln in the secret hut in the Cascade Mountains and on thursday nights after our City League races. Inspired by the Raifiessen Bank logo, that adorns the best male and female Austrian racers helmets, we changed the horses to hammers to symbolize our strong bonds and dedication to the SchlagenHammer :). That sticker had a life of its own and spread while perking interest in this now unofficial club of sorts. Our founder, Kyle Watson was already deeply involved in the creation of EvoTrips with local ski store evo.com. After that successful endeavor, he felt it was the right time to create something new, different and unique in the ski and travel space for a bit older audience that still likes to shred. We also like to celebrate the retro/classic race heritage of skiings golden era in the 60s through early 80s. The ADL was the chosen vehicle for just such a journey. Please join us and always remember.... Apres is an attitude.

A Message From The Founder:

As passionate skiers, we survive the off season by obsessively day dreaming about the winter ahead. We imagine perfect days in knee deep powder, whooping it up with only our friends on the hill. The day ends at our favorite apres bar with shotskis, stories and laughter.

ADL Dream Trips strive to recreate that vision at some of the most incredible ski destinations in the world, only we like to take it to the next level. Our first trip of the year is to Wengen, Switzerland with legendary American Downhiller AJ Kitt as our guide. It's the ultimate Suisse skiing experience with the classic races combined with the big mountain skiing off the Schilthorn in Murren. Following Wengen, we return to Austria for the Superbowl of ski racing at Kitzbuhel. American Downhiller Daron Rahlves once said you can feel the energy of the Streif through your shoes when you walk in the village and we agree. Whether you're in the race or just a spectator like us ... its magical and should be on everyone's bucket list.

In February we have two trips back to back to Myoko, Japan. The country we call Japow, for obvious reasons, will change forever your definition of the word winter. We go there for the 'fukai yuki' (deep snow) and for the culture, food, local friends and onsens that we soak in morning and night.

March is for Chamonix and big mountain skiing in three countries in one week. We navigate easily from France to Switzerland to Italy eating and skiing our way down the huge mountains. In the summer we have our annual ADL Mahre Camp at Mt. Hood. Now in our 9th year, Phil and Steve have been helping us become better skiers and racers as well as creating great memories for everyone along the way. In 2020 we will go back to Chile for our final Dream Trip of the year in August, skiing Valle Nevado, Portillo and even some guided cat skiing at Ski Arpa. If skiing big empty mountains all day and finishing with pisco sours and steak on the deck in 70 degree weather is your thing then yes ... Chile is for you amigo.

The club has come along way since we fist started in a garage, with a bunch of dad's teaching their kids to wax their skis, so we could drink beer and play Nageln. Huge thanks to our partners Atomic, Flylow, Sidecut, Icebreaker and Pret for all the support as we strive to build the most unique ski club in the world. As the winter approaches your biggest problem should be deciding which trip to go on. It's a tough choice as they are all epic and if I wasn't leading them I wouldn't know which one to choose either. Luckily I don't have to.

Sweet dreams.

Sincerely,

Kyle Watson
Founder & CEO