Ski Resort's Star Wars-Inspired Chairlift Signs Are Incredible

The ski lift whiteboard is one of skiing's most under-appreciated traditions.

While a chairlift whiteboard is usually filled with pertinent information such as trail closures, weather forecasts, and safety information, the lifties at California's Kirkwood Mountain Resort have opted for a creative, endearing way to connect with skiers.

Impressive drawings, which tend to reference Star Wars lore with a play on the word 'backside,' have been spotted at the resort throughout the 2025-2026 season.

The drawings are so good that the Epic Pass, the season pass product sold by Kirkwood owner/operator Vail Resorts, made the bold claim that Kirkwood's lifties "don't play" when it comes to sign art.

See below for some of the best whiteboard drawings spotted at Kirkwood this season. Keep reading for more.

The 2026 POWDER Photo Annual is here! Look for a print copy on a newsstand near you, or click here to have a copy shipped directly to your front door.

Like many western ski resorts, Kirkwood's terrain is split into backside and frontside zones. The backside lifts include Lift 3, Iron Horse, and Lift 4, Sunrise. The terrain on these lifts is varied, with a slight skew towards advanced and expert terrain.

Kirkwood's fabricated battle between the backside and frontside, using Star Wars references, is not only satisfying for the inner nerds in all of us, but also offers brevity and light-heartedness to a sport that is supposed to be about having fun.

Picture this: You wake up and drive three hours to the ski resort on a Saturday morning. You park early, but the lift lines are already stacking up. Annoyed, you hop in line looking forward to skiing, but a small cloud of despair begins to accumulate overhead as you realize that you'll spend a significant portion of the day shuffling through the crowds. Then, just as you're about to get on the lift, an impressively drawn Darth Vader invites you to "Join the Backside".

I can't speak for everybody, but it would certainly make me laugh, and perhaps change my tune on the day.

A similar thing happened when I skied Grand Targhee, Wyoming, last week for POWDER's annual gear test. The snow on the first two days was soft, but coverage was thin, and a dark, ominous cloud hung overhead.

I had a blast, don't get me wrong, but the sight of an alligator suntanning (not reading the newspaper) in a bikini on the Blackfoot Lift whiteboard was a moment of fun that I desperately needed. See below.

POWDER loves chairlift whiteboards so much, in fact, that we named the editor's note in our weekly newsletter, The Whiteboard.

Shane McFalls even drew an incredible original cartoon for us to celebrate the whiteboard's place in skiing culture.

Here's to the whiteboard, one of skiing's best traditions.