Austin | Virtika

AUSTIN PORZAK

Austin Porzak- Born with alpine skiing and mountaineering in his blood. Following in his father’s footsteps from a very young age, he quickly developed an intense passion for all outdoor snow sports. Growing up, Austin traveled the world with his father and family, constantly in search of the next big adventure. His travels took him to Mt. Makalu and Mt. Everest where he became the youngest American to traverse these two 100+ mile treks. The early exposure to the mountains and the corresponding lifestyle peaked his interest in the outdoors and has led him to creating his own mountain oriented lifestyle. Since then, Austin has successfully skied all 58 of the 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado. In addition to his vast ski accomplishments, Austin has successfully climbed Mt. McKinley, Khan Tengri, Zinalrothorn, Matterhorn, Cotopaxi, Cayambe, the entire Snowy Mountain range in Australia, and hundreds of other technical mixed alpine ski/climbs.

Instagram: @aporzak1
Inspiration: Those that came before me in the mountains like my dad, Anselme Baud, Patrick Vallencant and Jean-Marc Boivin
Carreer Highlight: Skiing all of Colorado’s 14ers
Hobbies: Photography, building swing bikes, climbing and traveling
Started Skiing: Because of my dad. He would take me to Vail every weekend and eventually I got on a ski team at Copper Mountain.
Favorite Ski Spot: East Vail. It has so much to offer and I have spent over 12 winters skiing back there. It was a place where I fell in love with backcountry skiing and it offered me progression and discipline. Its sort of like a playground that opens up different options to you as you progress as a skier.
Hates: Onions
Next Goal: Ski the 50 highest peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park. My dad was the first person to climb them all so this is a way for me to honor his hard work in the past. Besides that I dream of skiing 8000m peaks in the Himalayas.
Why Virtika? They make the only gear I’ve ever ridden in that can handle the abuse of real mountaineering!