The first chair equals first tracks on a powder day, and there is nothing like it. You would have to be a skier or a border to get it I guess. The energy and the buzz you get in the line up on a powder day with the sounds of avalanche bombs going off is epic. People are hooping and hollering with huge grins on there faces. And when that first chair gets loaded, it's officially on, and there are no friends on a powder day. If you got a buddy who might not be as good as yourself, and can't keep up, you tell them I'll see you at the bar at the end of the day.
********, I can't wait till tomorrow.
Remember: there are no friends on a powder day
Riding with friends is great, but if it’s dumping you must follow your inner Yeti and remember this sacred commandment of the ski bum:
there are no friends on a powder day.
As any powder hound will tell you, if you wait for your friends to get their sh!t together in the morning, the trails will all be tracked out by the time you get your
posse rounded up. Fresh pow is a perishable commodity!
Practicing the proverb on a deep day at Winter Park, Colorado. Photo: Mitch Tobin
I love my friends and there’s certainly nothing wrong with skiing or snowboarding in a group on a powder day. But the adage does capture some mountain wisdom. Powder days often mean slow roads, big traffic delays, long lines, and other obstacles, all of which conspire against a
wolfpack converging.
If you wait for your friends to show up, get dressed, put on their boots, buy their ski pass, go to the bathroom, get a snack, readjust their boots, go back to the car — the powder day may be over before it starts!
