Utah youth ‘Ski and Share’
Richmond, Utah – Six churches from Utah and Idaho sent their teens to Cherry Peak Resort near Richmond, Utah, for a regional winter break “Ski and Share” Feb. 20-21.
“It was like a little glimpse of heaven,” Dustin Carpenter told UI Connections. Carpenter is pastor of Roosevelt (Utah) Baptist Church. One church was predominantly white; another, black; another half-Asian (Karen, from Myanmar); and two, Hispanic, Carpenter said.
The youth groups were from Iglesia Bautista El Calvario in Idaho Falls, Idaho; Primera Iglesia Bautista in Burley, Idaho; Roosevelt (Utah) Baptist Church; Second Baptist Church in Ogden, Utah; Emmanuel Baptist Church in Hyrum, Utah; and Valley Baptist Church in Smithfield, Utah; plus Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cartersville, Georgia.
“Ski and Share provides an event for our youth to enjoy the fellowship of other believers and a place for them to bring their lost friends to hear the Gospel,” said Don Woody of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Hyrum, Utah.
This was the fifth annual Ski and Share, an event that started after a state convention-led winter youth retreat ended with the suggestion that regional groups would draw more youth. This year’s gathering saw at least 110 youth on Friday night, with even greater participation on Saturday.
Co-sponsored by Golden Spike Baptist Network in northern Utah, it is the only remaining regional winter event for youth.
“Ours started in a unique God-designed way,” Woody told UI Connections. “Valley Baptist and Emmanuel Baptist both have wonderful partnerships with several Baptist churches in Georgia.
“We had a college team from there coming out a few years ago; they wanted to do a youth event. Valley and Emmanuel joined together to have them bless our youth groups,” Woody continued. “Well, I got a call from Roosevelt Baptist Church. They wanted to know if they could use our church to host some youth worship times as they were bringing their youth up to ski.”
The Hyrum church invited the Roosevelt church to join in the Georgia-led weekend, which happened to be the same weekend the Roosevelt church wanted to use the Hyrum church’s facilities.
“It just keeps growing,” Woody said. “We already have it planned for next year. It was Kyle’s idea to call it ‘Ski and Share’ and we laughed because that is what our winter youth event for the state convention was called.”
This year’s event featured a partnership with Tabernacle Baptist Church from Cartersville, Georgia, led by Youth Pastor Kyle Ruff. For the third consecutive year, Kyle brought high school seniors to lead small groups. This included Wyatt Bradley, who led worship alongside students and leaders from Iglesia Bautista El Calvario in Idaho Falls.
Trinity Baptist Church in Calhoun, Georgia, sent its student pastor Tate Tipton to also gather information about Utah to take back to his church. He served as MC, bass player, and games leader at Ski and Share.
The weekend’s curriculum, “Hold Fast: Truth You Can Trust,” was developed and taught by Ruff. It provided a practical approach to apologetics, offering students effective tools to share their faith, reported Dennis Spraggins, pastor of Valley Baptist Church in Smithfield, and “heavy lifter” for this year’s event, according to other leaders.
“The purpose of Ski and Share remains twofold: fostering fellowship through winter activities and deepening discipleship through Bible study, worship, and evangelism,” Spraggins said.
Enrica Molina from Primera Iglesia Bautista in Burley, Idaho, said the event’s value lies in “hearing God’s Word, growing closer to Him, and fellowship with others outside of our home area.”
Ski and Share’s agenda included worship services, shared meals, and time on the mountain for skiing, snowboarding, and tubing.
“We had about a foot of new snow the week leading up to Ski and Share, which was glorious!” Spraggins noted. “Saturday the snow was good in the morning but slushy in the afternoon.”
Monica Cortez-Oclair of Iglesia Bautista El Calvario in Idaho Falls, Idaho, told UI Connections, “The purpose of Ski and Share is to spread Christ culture to the youth, sharing life-changing testimonies, fellowship, and sharing Christ with one another; strengthening our faith and getting to share the gospel.”
Several students and adults gave their lives to Jesus Christ during the weekend.
The next Ski and Share is set for February 19-20, 2027.
