It was a crisp and bluebird winter day two ski season ago when Chauncy Johnson had a revelation on the mountain.

He was carving turns with his then six year old daughter when it all went down.

“She took a tumble, and I was standing just above her, creating visibility while we got her back up ready to go,” he remembered.

“All of a sudden two late-20 year olds came flying by, each of them within three feet of us. I could tell they were having a good time, but my fight or flight reaction kicked in,” He said. “I got my daughter up, went down to the liftline and confronted them.”

This, he said, is where the revelation hit. “I went up to them, ready (to be honest with you) to go have a fight. I wanted to take them on,” he said.

He has a valid reason: On Christmas Eve 2020, he was skiing with his wife Kelli and five-year-old daughter Elise when a snowboarder collided with them, killing himself, their daughter, and leaving Kelli with a brain injury that would take months to come back from.

“But before I opened my mouth,” he remembered of that day two years ago, “I realized something: Fighting isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

So instead, he approached them as he would – and has – friends. “I said, ‘I know this is hard to believe, but I lost a daughter this way.” He briefly shared the story and encouraged them to not only remember it while skiing and riding, but share it with friends.

“They were like really? We didn’t even see you!” I encouraged them to be more aware, slow down and be caring of others out there. They agreed. So rather than this becoming some viral video of a fight; it became a learning moment; for them and for me.”

And thus, the mission Johnson adopted shortly after Elise’s death that he’s been building and tweaking since took on perhaps one of its most vital messages: Be unafraid to approach others about safety, and use Elise’s story as if you knew her to make things better out there.

That’s just part of the mission of the Snow Angel Foundation (https://snowangelfoundation.org/) a program dedicated to increasing safety awareness on all hills, from both a staff and guest point of view.

Johnson spends the winter season – and even off-season – doing things like staff trainings and guest events like the one they held at Killington Resort January 2025.

Johnson and his wife launched their mission in 2016 when they partnered with the National Ski Area Association to promote collision awareness. That morphed into the “Ride Another Day” national campaign that seeks to help people see that skiing and riding can be both fun and safe at the same time.

Then, in 2023, the Johnson’s launched the Snow Angel Foundation with a mission of increasing safety awareness on all hills.

To Johnson, the idea of using compassion, kindness, education and courage to speak up all at once just makes sense.

“The ski community as a whole is one of the best communities you can be part of,” he said. “We are here to share that love we have of the outdoors and being active there in the winter,” he said. “We have an amazing culture, but something needs to change. We all need to take better care of one another out there. “

Snow Angel Foundation does training and events with resort staff, helping them learn to speak up and take action when they see possible danger, and practicing how to change the tone of what could be contentious conversations.

They also hold events that get them face to face with the skiers and riders themselves, in a way that fosters that “friends in this together” vibe. At Jay Peak, they gave out free on-slope burritos and chatted safety. At Saskadena Six, they used a s’mores pit event. At Killington Resort they spend two days giving out goodies and interacting.

No matter the bait, they take the time to share Elise’s story and encourage the mountain community to not just remember it but share it when you see the need.

Johnson is encouraged with how it’s going. Copper Mountain, Colorado has had the foundation in for trainings, and he said, say it makes a difference.

“They said ‘we’ve tried it and it works,’” he said. “We are now able to de-escalate situations that were once contentious.”

They also meet with youth ski and ride schools and teams; racers, freestylers and the like. That, he said, is because sometimes, the most adept skiers and riders can make mistakes (the snowboarder who caused the accident that killed his daughter was, he said, one of the best on that mountain).

“Those good, strong skiers and riders? They’re the ones everyone looks up to. We want them to be leaders in safety out there,” he said.

The foundation plans to continue expanding their message, with cards folks can keep in their pockets with info, more public events and trainings.

Johnson admits at first, his goal was to get his family, so traumatized by that crash, back on snow. Now, he said, the goal is to keep making hills safer and safer via positive education.

“There is a huge gap in our general understanding of what our responsibilities are on the mountain,” he said. “And it’s not from lack of trying. But we’ve got to do more than post a bunch of rules. We treat skiing like we’re being dropped off at Disney too often. It should be a thrill, yes; but we need to remember we are not clicked in with a safety bar for this ride.”

As for the name of the foundation, it’s a nod to having fun on snow, but it’s also a nod to the memory of Elise. “I believe angels are real, and I do believe she is guiding this process.”