Sometimes I have a knack for buddying-up with strangers on chairlifts. I guess the conversations have been good, but the runs shared after the initial ride were even better
Here are a few cool folks I've met over the years from a chairlift ride:
1. In March 2014 I befriended Bob from New Jersey on a chairlift ride at Hunter Mountain, NY and we skied together for about 90 minutes in the morning. Bob was 75 years young and a good, strong skier who’d been making tracks at Hunter since 1962. He had some rowdy tales from yesteryear and expressed especially fond memories of cofounder Izzy Slutsky. While younger brother Orville (1917-2013) kept Hunter’s books, Izzy (1914-2006) was the real hands-on manager, frequently seen skiing the hill while checking on lifts, conditions, and all aspects of mountain operations.
Bob on Jimmy Huega Express trail, Hunter Mtn:
2. It was Jan 2013 at Sierra at Tahoe ski area on the run-out from Castle Creek Trees that my son and I met Gordon “The Kid” Goddard from nearby Placerville, CA. I was babbling on about what a cool glade we’d just skied and he said something to the effect, “if you like that, follow me.” On a subsequent chairlift ride Gordon introduced us to Ed Dillon, a Sierra at Tahoe mountain host, and then the fun really began! It was a powder day, yet they asked for nothing in return and for several hours led us to a bunch of great stashes like this one:
3. It was also 2013 when I was at Sugar Bowl, CA and caught a ride on the Mt. Lincoln Express Quad with a cheery gentleman named Jan. I joked with Jan that we were both riding antiquated Volant skis, but I also found him very inspirational. He had immigrated to San Francisco from Czechoslovakia 50 years before. At age 77 he was still making long day trips to ski Sugar Bowl, a favorite of his because it’s one of the closest major resorts to the Bay area with good access via I80. Jan’s wife didn’t ski, but accompanied him on this day to paint landscapes near the base lodge and make sure he didn't fall asleep on the drive home.
4. In late April 2019 I was wearing a PugSki vest and
@P-Ute picked me out of the crowd waiting to ride the Mineral Express chair at Snowbird, UT. We'd never met or communicated before, but he recognized me from PugSki.com We went on to have a bunch of good ski days together over the next three weeks. Nice guy and excellent skier.
5. In Feb 2019 On my first day ever at Crested Butte, CO I was skiing solo and immediately glommed onto a friendly local named Jerry. We skied about five early runs together. Jerry was quite a bit senior to me and skied beautifully. Jerry's been a Crested Butte homeowner for 24 years and through a few chairlift conversations I determined that he was generally pleased with the recent acquisition of the resort by Vail, hoping it will keep Crested Butte on solid financial footing. Jerry and Paradise Bowl at Crested Butte:
6. In Jan 2006 I made a weekend trip with two of my daughters to Timberline, WV. We were joined on the slopes one afternoon by
@jimmy . Previously, I'd only known Jimmy in cyberspace by our mutual enjoyment of the DCSki website. I was a little leery of this shady character approaching my daughters and I, but he gave us a tour of the ski area and he turned out to be mostly normal
It's hard to believe I met this great friend 14 years ago!!!
Maybe later if I think of some more lift ride conversations/encounters I'll post a part two?
better than my Spanish. She had been on Holiday for a month and skied all over Chile, it was her last week before going back. This was fun because we managed to pass the time in conversation without really speaking the same language.
