New Free Ski Game Recreates Over 25 Real-World Resorts From Jackson Hole to Killington

Need a little reminder of what you’re missing? A new free ski game that recently surfaced online features well over 25 real ski resorts recreated with surprising accuracy.

Called Lejup—that’s the Latvian word for down or downhill—the project is relatively bare-bones at the moment, but great for a toodle around your favorite haunt.

In the main menu, you can select a mountain and make additional tweaks to time of day, weather, and snow conditions. The ski resort roster is surprisingly deep. While it started with Oregon resorts, according to a Reddit post from Lejup’s creator, several more peaks from around the world have since been added. 

They include Jackson Hole, Snowbird, and Killington, to name only a few, with some international options in the mix as well. Fancy a trip to New Zealand without paying for a plane ticket? Lejup has you covered.

The accuracy of the game’s maps comes courtesy of various data sources, according to the post, including the U.S. Geological Survey, OpenStreetMap, and the Forest Service. 

With a mountain picked, you can select where you’d like to start from a detailed map, and then you’re off, skiing, exploring, and hopping on chairlifts to ride back up. Thanks to the settings, I found that I could recreate some of my favorite runs from the past. 

For one, I made it at night, with fresh snow and poor visibility. Then, I took a lap down Skibowl’s Upper Bowl lift. While I’d rather be there in, you know, real life—nothing beats stopping in the Skibowl warming hut for a drink—the approximation did get the ski season juices flowing. On another run, I attempted to hit a land speed record during a top-to-bottom lap starting from Crystal Mountain’s Rainier Express gondola. 

Plus, with a good tuck, you can straight-line, hit 70 miles per hour, and go unreasonably large off windlips (watch out for ski patrol, though! They’ll come after you if you go too fast or duck into a closed area).

Lift-served headlamp skiing in places that aren’t actually open at night is also an option, adding a sandbox element. You can even ski off the top of Mt. Hood.

The digital realm has some advantages, after all, at least in the wish-fulfillment department.

Related: Ski Injuries Suck. Why Am I Fond of My Beat-Up Feet, Then?