Luke Smithwick is Skiing 500 Himalayan Lines

Gripped February 4, 2020

Luke Smithwick is an alpinist, ski mountaineer and photographer in the Himalayas. He began his climbing and skiing career in the mountains of southwest Colorado climbing fourteeners and skiing the resorts of the Rockies.

The Rockies brought him to Alaska where he spent many years climbing and backcountry skiing in the Chugach, Alaska and Brooks ranges.

Luke’s first trip to the Himalayas was in 2001 while on a break from completing his university degrees in archaeology and biology at the University of Colorado – Boulder. In 2010 after a climb on Denali he packed up his belongings in Anchorage, Alaska and moved to the Himalayas permanently.

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A dream is coming true for the approaching summer, two personal projects in conjunction with each other, ski mountaineering and alpinism. Dreams do not come true by magic alone, realization of lifelong goals and completion of weekly tasks require one and the same, hard work, sometimes sacrifice and always dedication. This is going to be hard yet I think that’s why we’re here on Earth, to pursue a greater good for humanity, to further one another and to always keep a diligent mind through the challenging times. Relevance. ?: Guilhem Vellut

A post shared by LUKE SMITHWICK (@luke_smithwick) on Jan 23, 2020 at 5:42pm PST

Since that August he has completed at least eight expeditions every year in the Himalayas on his own skiing and climbing pursuits. He founded Himalaya Alpine Guides (himalaya-alpine.com) in 2012, a brand focused on the unexplored, unclimbed and unskied terrain in the Himalayas.

In July 2019 Luke completed his 71st Himalayan expedition. Many come to the Himalayas each year to climb or ski on an expedition, and some for far longer than Luke has, yet no one has moved there and fully immersed themselves in the pursuit. Visit his YouTube below to subscribe to the series.