Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich, a member of the federal appeals court based in Denver, spoke last month about his 20-year tradition of taking ski trips with his clerks — some of whom have since become judges themselves — and about the ski-themed gifts they created for him in that time.

“We had, I think, something like 60 or 70 people last year. It’s a mini-reunion every year,” said Tymkovich, a 2003 appointee from Colorado to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

Tymkovich spoke on Dec. 17 as part of “SOC! SIDEBAR,” a virtual discussion series sponsored by the student division of the Federalist Society. The group has played a dominant role in the conservative legal movement, with President Donald Trump appointing scores of judges in his first term who were members of the Federalist Society. Tymkovich has been heavily involved, and helped found the University of Colorado’s chapter in 1982.

During the presentation, Tymkovich elaborated that he owns a condominium unit in Summit County, just outside of Breckenridge and immediately adjacent to the ski slopes. He showed pictures of various items his former clerks created as themed gifts for the ski retreats, including coffee mugs, wine glasses, a bobblehead of himself and a 20th anniversary bottle of rye whiskey. Tymkovich said one of his former clerks had represented the distillery that supplied the commemorative whiskey.

Tymkovich also shared a photograph of skis gifted to him. The skis were emblazoned with a map of Breckenridge trails and accompanying labels of personal significance, including “Federalist Society,” “CU Law,” “303 Creative” and “Hobby Lobby” — the latter of which were U.S. Supreme Court cases touching on religious freedom that Tymkovich handled at the 10th Circuit.

In response to questions from Colorado Politics, Tymkovich said he either paid for the commemorative items or they were not subject to disclosure because their value was not high enough.

As for the skis, Tymkovich pointed to a provision of the federal judiciary’s code of conduct permitting judges to accept gifts from a friend or relative “made in connection with a special occasion.”

“The skis (and whiskey) are not reportable as a memento because they were part of a ‘special occasion’ (a reunion dinner attended by most of my former clerks) commemorating 20 years on the bench and are ‘fairly commensurate with the occasion and the relationship between the judge and former clerks,'” Tymkovich wrote in an email.

This summer, the reform advocacy group Fix the Court calculated members of the U.S. Supreme Court received $3 million in gifts over two decades, with unreported hospitality likely bringing the number even higher. Earlier this year, nearly five dozen Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation to generally cap the value of gifts that federal judges may receive to $50. The bill has not received a vote.

In response to the question of whether Tymkovich recuses himself from cases involving attendees of his ski retreats, Tymkovich wrote: “I make recusal decisions on a case by case basis, including any relationship with a person, firm, or entity.”

Clerks-turned-judges

Tymkovich told attendees of the virtual discussion that when he joined the 10th Circuit in 2003, three of his four clerks were proficient at skiing. Consequently, he spent a long weekend with them at his Breckenridge condo, then repeated the tradition annually with each new cohort of clerks.

“In 2007, Judge Gorsuch joined our court, and he’s a fantastic skier,” said Tymkovich, referring to now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. “So it branched out into a two-judge/clerk ski weekend.”

Tymkovich added that two of his own clerks have gone on to be judges — Daniel D. Domenico of Colorado’s federal trial court and Patrick J. Bumatay of the Ninth Circuit — and their clerks have also joined the retreat. Like Gorsuch, both were appointed to their current positions by Trump.

Tymkovich displayed a picture from around 2006, in which Senior Judge Carlos F. Lucero, a Bill Clinton appointee on the 10th Circuit, joined Tymkovich for a ski trip.

“I like to ski with a team, with a group. It’s more social for me. So, if you’ve got a collegial aspect ot it, that’s important,” he said.

Memories and mischief

Tymkovich described the close connection between his mountain condo and his work as an appeals judge. During the early COVID-19 pandemic, he interviewed one clerkship applicant at the property, before breaking to ski with her. He once invited the director of the federal public defender program to ski and discuss the office’s resources.

On the other hand, Tymkovich acknowledged some instances of mischief. In 2023, one of his attendees placed a commemorative sticker on directional signage, which was still in place a year later. Tymkovich and a large group of other attendees also received a warning from ski patrol after crossing into a roped-off area.

Tymkovich said he and his clerks will return in early March for the next retreat. In his email to Colorado Politics, Tymkovich clarified that since becoming a judge, Domenico has “only attended a ski dinner but has not skied.” He added that it has “been years” since Tymkovich skied with Gorsuch.

The Harvard Law School Chapter of the Federalist Society also sponsored Tymkovich’s discussion. The virtual series has hosted three other talks, all by Republican-appointed judges. Judge Elizabeth L. Branch of the 11th Circuit spoke about guns; Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the 11th Circuit spoke about college football; Judge Amul R. Thapar of the Sixth Circuit spoke about classic rock.