Ups + Downs: Drew Petersen Brings Conversation About Mental Health Front + Center In Mountain Communities

Photos courtesy of Drew Petersen.

When traveling into the backcountry with the mission of skiing steep terrain, it’s imperative to dig a snow pit. One deep, unstable layer could trigger an avalanche and cost a life. This is common knowledge among backcountry winter travelers. But, what’s not often talked about is the striking metaphor between avalanches and our mental health. Layers of instability, buried deep, affect the surface and can cost a life.

While conversations around mental health translate to our society as a whole, Drew Petersen, a professional skier and year-round mountain athlete from Silverthorne, uses skiing as an entry point to bring this topic front and center in our communities.

“Talking about it is what’s going to bring out what’s inside,” he says in the opening of his film Ups + Downs. Before he could share his story publicly, Petersen had to dig through the layers that kept him feeling completely alone for 27 years of his life.

When Petersen first opened up publicly in June 2021 through Outside’s article, “We Need to Talk About Mental Health in the Mountains,” he was at home in Silverthorne. He turned off his phone, put on his shoes and went running.

Running, especially ultra-distances, is away for Petersen to experience the lesson of impermanence and “an opportunity to live the highest volume level of the full spectrum of life’s experience,” he shares.

In August, Petersen completed the Leadville Trail 100 Run, a childhood dream of his. He’d spent his lifetime building a relationship with the surrounding mountains, and in the months leading up to the race, he intentionally skied couloirs in view from the course.

To Petersen, the mountains provide him an opportunity to find a sense of place and a sense of home in this human experience that isn’t just about a geographical location but a relationship.

“Often our experiences outdoors are angled at exploits which are very one-sided. Forming a relationship is also about appreciation, and to appreciate a place, you first have to know it,” Petersen believes.

Through the seasons and years, he’s witnessed snow he’s skied melt into creeks and rivers. Drinking from that source of water, “the mountains quite literally become a part of me,” he says. And through that, “I’m able to tap back into and be fully present in my own life force.”

He’s planning on running the course again next year and is working on a new film, diving deeper into his mental health journey through the thread of his experience in that race and the deep, intimate connection with the mountains that furthered his relationship to self.

A powerful anecdote in the coming film is Petersen’s ability to use his painful experiences of the past to fuel his greatest strength in a physical capacity and on a physical plane. While running, he visualizes and recalls the feelings of everything from a shoulder dislocation to contemplating suicide as a way to transcend those experiences and move through what he’s currently feeling.

“It’s available to me because of the work I’ve done to process those struggles in my life and be able to see them with perspective,” he says.

In August, Petersen completed the Leadville Trail 100 Run, a childhood dream of his.

For Petersen, running Leadville was a way to come full circle — a chance to connect in the running community in a way that held a lot of meaning and direction for him. In 2018when Petersen was at a low point, he watched as Rob Krar won Leadville in sub-16 hours and then went public with his battle with suicide and depression. Hearing Krar’s story inspired Petersen to commit to finding a therapist; he says the honesty about his own suicidal thoughts from that first session was a huge turning point.

Now, Petersen gets to connect his own journey with ski communities and beyond. In October 2021, Petersen’s Summit County hometown hosted Ups + Downs through Salomon’s Quality Ski Time film tour. He received a standing ovation that was started by his old ski coach and followed by his childhood teachers, friends, family and local kids he saw himself in. “That’s what home should be. That’s what home should feel like,” he recollects.

The following year, he returned to Silverthorne and closed the film tour saying,“ Ups + Downs was made for our community. The conversation of mental health and suicide is one I want to bring out of the shadows and back corners and to the front and center in towns like ours.” He adds, “Ski movie premieres in ski towns are not where you’d expect that and it’s in the communities that need it the most.”

Since sharing his story publicly, Petersen has had thousands of messages streaming in, all saying something to the effect of “thank you, I feel less alone now.”

“This is a conversation that every community in our society as a whole, and weas human beings, want, not just need,” he says undeniably. What’s moved him more than the number of messages he’s received is the people he’s met in person, the people whose eyes he’s looked into and the stories he’s heard.

The conversations he’s had at local schools, such as Snowy Peaks Jr. and Sr. High School, give him the most hope for the future. “Kids are way more capable of and better at having these conversations than anyone gives them credit for. I’ve learned so much from them,” he says. He was also able to present his film during a ski tech class at his alma mater, Summit High School.

“When I was a kid, if a professional skier talked about mental health or suicide, my entire life would be different. I would’ve gotten help way sooner and known that my experience was valid,” shares Petersen. The 2018 Summit County Youth Risk Behavior Survey estimated 17.7%, or 3,543 Summit County high school students seriously considered suicide. He went on to say that “the greatest hope I have is to be a positive influence on those kids.”

“On every level, it’s a deep human need to connect and be seen by others,” he adds. “The ripple effects of storytelling are what it’s going to take to totally shift the tide.”

Going public with his story through Ups + Downs was only possible because of his stubborn tenacity to say, “No, this is the story I want to tell,” regardless of how many people said, “This isn’t a good idea,” or “Our community’s not ready.”

“Somebody’s gotta do it,” Petersen states, with tears in his eyes. “A big part of why I tell this story and why I’m still alive is the stories of other athletes and their influence to make me feel less alone and take those big steps to ask for help for the first time. I knew if their stories could have an impact on me that my stories could have an impact on others.”

Learn more about Drew and watch his film Ups + Downs at drew-petersen.com.