‘Aligator Alley’ will be located on Extreme Double-Black East Ridge
Sunlight Mountain Resort celebrated its closing day weekend with a special guest appearance and trail dedication to World Cup skier and two-time Olympian Alice McKennis. McKennis is fresh off one of her best seasons ever, taking fifth in the downhill at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, followed by a third-place finish in the downhill at the final World Cup event of the season at Are, Sweden.
McKennis, a native of New Castle, Colo., first learned to ski from her father who took her to Sunlight before the age of 2. She went on to race in the local Buddy Werner league and later the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club.
McKennis’ handle on Instagram is @thealigator, hence Sunlight decided to name the dedicated run Aligator Alley. At KcKennis’ suggestion, the run will be on Sunlight’s extreme East Ridge, home to 14 double-black diamond runs.
“I have memories on pretty much every trail, although maybe something on the East Ridge would be cool,” she wrote. “As a kid, a lot of time our last run of the day would be down Defiance or somewhere in that zone. I have a vivid memory of tomahawking down one of those steeper trails, but whatever trail is fine with me, this is so cool, what an honor!”
