April 19, 2026, marked the 20th anniversary of Native American speed skier Ross Anderson’s record-setting run in the French Alps, when he was a member of the U.S. ski team, competing in the World Cup circuit.
It's a record that still holds today.
"Ross, we are proud of you," said Durango Mayor Gilda Yazzie (Diné), speaking from the gazebo stage at Durango's Rotary Park. Yazzie read a proclamation declaring April 19, 2026, Ross Anderson Day.
"We are proud of the barriers you broke. Most of all, we are proud that you represent the city of Durango," said Yazzie.
It’s hard to wrap your head around just how fast Ross Anderson traveled on skis in 2026: 154.06 miles per hour.
"I couldn’t even hear helicopters or the crowd, because I was so focused," Anderson said of the 2006 ski run that changed his life. "I was in that zone, where things in front of me were slower than normal. You are kind of out of (your) body. It took me a couple months to realize I actually broke that record."
Anderson’s ancestry is Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Chiricahua, and Mescalero Apache. He came to Durango as a baby, adopted by white parents, and while he absorbed skiing at a young age, he only started exploring Native American culture as a young adult.
"I was like a sponge," Anderson said. "I...learned a lot over at the Southern Ute Tribe...(from) the elders over there....(I) went to some of their bear dances, and powwows, and that’s how I learned."
There are just a few Native American competitors in the history of professional snow sports, and Anderson is the only Native American member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.
While he set his enduring record in 2006, recognition has come slowly. Anderson induction into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame two years ago has led to additional honors.
The commemorative ceremony at Rotary Park featured dancing, singing, and drumming from Southern Ute tribal members.
Some of Anderson's childhood pals also showed up on Sunday.
"Ross was always a daredevil," said Durango resident Adam Smith, who has known Anderson since the two were in elementary school. "He would ride his bike down our driveway, and launch himself off our driveway into trees looking for a landing spot....Go fast, take risks, be crazy. He’s always been that person."
Anderson has lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for decades. But in some respects, Durango will always be his hometown.
"This is where I learned how to walk, talk, ski, go fast, fall, fail, succeed," Anderson said on Sunday. "It feels like home to me."