Former Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon spent his entire 14-year career with the franchise before retiring after the 2024 season.
Despite living in one of the skiing capitals of the world, Blackmon, a native of Dallas, Texas, had never hit the slopes before or during his playing career. Now that he's retired, however, he took advantage of his newfound freedom and gave the beloved winter sport a try.
And he absolutely loved it.
Blackmon spoke to reporters after his first skiing experience at the ripe age of 38, and he sounded thrilled about the sport, even expressing his desire to return to the mountain soon.
"It was in my contract, (I'm) not supposed to ski. I haven't been skiing. I tried it this week, and it's awesome. I want to go back, I've been missing out," said Blackmon. "Rockies should not be skiing."
Charlie Blackmon went skiing at 38 years old for the first time in his life last week in Vail.
— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) January 25, 2025
“You can’t ski. It was in my contract… Rockies shouldn’t ski.” pic.twitter.com/CuzlcBOmOo
Vail Mountain is just a two-hour drive from Coors Field, but because of contractual obligations and safeguards, Blackmon was prohibited from ever venturing onto the slopes. Now that his career has concluded, he wasted no time giving the forbidden winter sport a try.
Blackmon manned the outfield at Coors Field from 2011 to 2024. The former second-round pick hit 227 career home runs and boasted a .832 OPS across 1,624 games as one of the franchise's all-time greats.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Longtime Rockies OF Charlie Blackmon Detailed His First Skiing Experience After Retiring.
