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Ever since graduating from San Diego’s Crawford High School in 1973, Mark’s had his eyes on Aspen. On a lark, he and his then-girlfriend moved to the Roaring Fork Valley, settled in for a season of skiing, and the rest is history.
He wasn’t much of a skier when he arrived in the winter of 1973. In those days, ski passes were $200 a season, and as prices increased, everyone wanted to work for the local ski company, to earn a free pass. So, Mark caught on quickly, learned to ski by watching friends, and soon became an instructor, eventually earning full certification. This season is Mark’s 51st as an instructor for the Aspen Skiing Company – all of those years at Snowmass and Buttermilk. He’ll turn 71 in April, just as the season ends.
If you’ve been teaching long enough, your clientele often includes celebrities, and Mark is no different. He’s taught Marlon Brando’s kids, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn’s children’s, Don Johnson’s kids and Dionne Warwick’s.
Ski instructors often pick up nicknames, and Mark didn’t want to be known as an insect or reptile, so his friends and colleagues on the mountain call him “Mark Mark.”
In the summers and in evenings during ski season, he often worked at Aspen restaurants, including the long-departed Don Giovanni’s where he was a sous chef. Later, Mark drove a concrete truck, because as he put it, “restaurants come and go, but concrete is always around.”
As mountain resorts ramped up their summer business to become year-round profit centers, Mark worked at Camp Aspen Snowmass for 10 years, where he was a camp counselor. Today, as part of the Medicare generation, he’s cut back on his work schedule teaching part time in the winter, and living the good life the rest of the year.
For fun, Mark enjoys camping, riding dirt bikes, and boating on the Ruedi Reservoir and Lake Powell. He has a SeaRay Sundecker boat, and a passel of motorcycles, including a black Harley-Davidson 2007 Ultra Classic that he brought along on the 2023 ride. His first bike was a 250 Bultaco, which he got at age 17. At one time, he raced dirt bikes, and has had dozens of motorcycles over the years, often buying a new one every year. He ditched that habit as the machines got more expensive and more reliable.
After all his years working for the Aspen Ski Company, Mark has earned a lifetime pass for himself and his wife, Mary Ann, to whom he’s been married for 34 years. Together with their Cocker Spaniels, Hallie and Joey, they live in beautiful Woody Creek, right behind the famed Woody Creek Tavern.
Mark rode with me on the 2023 journey, starting in Carbondale, and ending somewhere in the Colorado Rockies — before heading to San Diego for his 50th high school reunion! He also joined me in 2024, and came along in 2025, as well.
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Mark Thompson Gallery
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Riding With Gary 