First Runs
Tom and Toby with Jilly at the wheel left for A-Basin early the next morning. She had some business to take care of and offered to give them a ride. What her business was she never mentioned.
“It was a birthday present from Daddy,” she remarked.
It must be nice Tom thought as he admired the deep blue Jeep Cherokee, to have all this laid at your feet. He knew she didn’t appreciate the things she had been given. The car wouldn’t last long the way she drove it.
“No matter, Daddy will buy her a new one,” he thought to himself.
She had been nice enough to give them a place to stay. She also gave then a ride to the mountain everyday. Tom was grateful. You can’t have everything. How well he knew this to be true. He could have had all these things, if only he had given up his mountain dreams. Instead, he had chosen to give up his neat secure family plan. He couldn’t equate cubicles and sterile business environments with being happy.
“There’s something wrong here,” he would say to his girlfriend, “There’s got to be more to life.”
“If you don’t stop your dreaming Tom and start living your life, you’ll never amount to anything.” It was her standard reply. He took her advice. He started to live his life, started it all over again.
“I’ve got no regrets at all Toby,” he said, “This is where it all begins.”
“Where it all ends,” Toby added.
They slid sideways into the parking lot, barely missing Joe’s Mercedes, Jilly locked the breaks and came to a halt.
“Thanks for the lift,” Toby said smiling.
They both jumped out of the car. Toby leaned over after getting out.
“Maybe we’ll see you later for a drink at the Moose.”
“I might go,” she replied casually, “I’ve got some things to take care of. I might stop in later to see Sara.”
Toby was smitten with her. He was so mesmerized that he didn’t notice her flippant attitude.
“See you later Jilly, Bye,” he slammed the door.
She sat there for a second, the car idling. She took off the tires spinning and spraying Toby with loose gravel. It had been spread over the packed icy snow.
“Hey, whatta ya tryin to do?” he yelled.
“Wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” Tom said.
“Any sides fine with me,” Toby watched her drive away.
“Come on I want you to meet the man who made all this possible.”
They started for the Lodge. Reaching the first step, Tom glanced up to see Joe sitting, sipping a cup of coffee. He filled the picture window. Holding the cup between his hands, he was idly starring up the mountain. They pulled open the large glass doors and walked across the Main Lodge.
“Morning Joe,” Tom called out.
“Right on time,” Joe glanced at his watch. He admired punctuality.
“Toby White, Joe Jacobason.” The two shook hands.
“All ready for work, Boss” Tom said enthusiastically.
“Today the mountain, tomorrow the work,” Joe proclaimed. “I’m gonna give you boy’s the grand tour. Are ya interested?” Joe started toward the exit.
“Alright!” Toby yelled as the boys fell in step with him.
“Thanks Joe, I was hoping to get a few run’s in today,” Tom grinned.
He felt the familiar rush of adrenalin, at thought of the powder. They walked out the door.
“Here you go Toby,” Joe handed him a lift ticket.
“Thanks Joe,” Toby said, “I’ve heard a lot about the Basin. I’ve heard there’s a lot of heart stopping trails up there.”
“Yes we have. There is 18 inches of new today.”
“The storm seemed to move out as fast as it moved in. I have never seen storms like these before,” Tom remarked.
“It isn’t uncommon for us to have to spend the night in the lodge, they are so intense. The Professor has to be bombed or it could Avalanche and close the Pass and the Parking lot. It is the top of America here!”
A few cumulus clouds drifted over as the sun shimmered off the crystals.
They bypassed the line of skiers and Joe led them through the ski patrol entry. Tom was happy he didn’t enjoy waiting in line with other skiers. He enjoyed skiing right on the lifts.
“Single?” Joe asked a pretty young girl standing alone in the lift line.
“My pleasure,” she replied as they lined up and waited for the next chair.
Tom recognized the woman loading the skiers on the chairs. The chairs had to be slowed as they came rushing around the bull wheel to scoop up the skiers. She had a small straw broom that she brushed and punded the chairs with to rid them of their snow.
“Hi Tom,” the attendant smiled.
“Hi, beautiful day,” he said returning her smile.
“Sally,” she laughed loudly. She knew Tom didn’t remember her name.
“Hi Sally, this is Toby.”
“Nice to meet ya.” Toby said.
“Same here,” she replied as she released her grip on the chair and the boys sat and pulled the safety bar down over them.
The chair swung silently back and forth as they were being drawn from the base of the mountain toward the top. It bounced slowly up and down in between the towers. The world dropped away into silence as they rose above the treetops. The evergreens were heavily burdened with the snowfall from the previous evening. They began to thin out and the jagged rock ledges and cliffs became more pronounced. The trails white swaths cut through the pines were thick with the light dry powder snow. The rubber shiv wheels squeaked and squealed as the heavy stranded wire bounced the boys across the lift tower. Tom caught his breath. He had ridden hundreds of lifts. It was always the same. The quick little bounces across the towers scared him. The air began to grown noticeably thinner and the sun’s rays seemed to bore down more intensely from the pristine blue sky. The wind began blowing stiffer, stronger as they rose above all cover. They became small specks amidst a vast sea of whiteness. They were dwarfed by their smallness and insignificance against the silence and strangeness of the massive mountainside. The boys looked at each other and back out across the distant horizon with out speaking. The unspoken thought of seeing, seeing for the first time further than the naked eye has ever seen, the deep blue of the sky, pierced by the ragged snow capped peaks. A wilderness in all directions, the lift continued its ascent toward what appeared to be a small brown dot on a far distant peak. The dot taking the shape and form of a shack, a tiny slab wood miner’s shack as the lift drew closer.
The boy’s raised the tips of their skis as they approached the summit ramp. They raised the safety bar and stood quickly as the chair pushed them along to where they could skate free of the lift. The chair resumed its endless journey around the turn style and its descent back to the base. Toby and Tyler skied up next to Joe.
“Four o’ clock by the fireplace then,” Joe said. The young lady began skiing away.
“Careful,” Tom said.
“Don’t go there,” Joe said quickly, “I’m good friends with her dad. Ready to go skiing?”
“We’ll follow the leader,” Toby said.
“I thought we’d start traversing the headwall. You’ve got to tuck it and gather as much speed as you can. If you don’t you’ll wind up climbing passed the seven cornices. It’s a difficult herring bone hike up the front side to the top of the Palavachini then over into the chutes of Lover’s Leap.”
The conditions are pristine Tom thought as he slid effortlessly through the soft powder and crouched down into his tuck. He picked up his poles and tucked them under arms as he began rushing along the giant headwall. His goggles flattened out the light and mountain, but would protect him from the rushing wind. He was slicing through the snow silently on his skis, except for an occasional clacking as they would come together and touch. Tom found that if he would sit back on the tails of his skis the tips would rise out on to the top of the snow. If he leaned forward on them they would sink down into the snow, as if he were riding on a roller coaster. He was gathering momentum as he raced faster and faster across the massive headwall. The heights were dizzying as the inside of his thighs began to warm and burn slightly. It was a comfortable warm feeling. Tom was suddenly drawn down and compressed by the force of the gravity as he hit the transition. He held his skis straight and separated by about four inches. He didn’t dare cross his tips or catch and edge now, if he did he’d have a giant yard sale. Tom quickly shot up the opposite side of the hill, and skated the last few yards up to Joe. The sweat dripped from his forehead and the blood throbbed in his temples, his lungs labored heavily, trying to extract every particle of oxygen from the air at twelve thousand five hundred feet.
Joe had stopped alongside a young skier who had climbed under a roped off trail marker to his left.
“That trails been closed for a good reason,” the veins in Joe’s neck stood out pronounced by his anger. “We’ve had some major slides down those chutes. The trail is roped off for a Damn good reason. We can’t let anyone risk skiing them today with the conditions. We’ve already bombed this area and finished our avalanche work. They were determined not to be safe. The skier slipped back under the ropes and took off down the open trail. He didn’t say a word.
“I used to do stupid things like that,” Toby admitted breathlessly.
“I don’t believe how brazen these kids are these days,” Joe shook his head. “They have no conception or fear of death. They think nothing can hurt them. They are invincible.”
“Oh come on Joe,” Tom challenged. “You can’t stand there and tell me that you never did anything crazy or daring. You wouldn’t be here today, if you didn’t crave a thrill. You need the slim chance of defeat to get your blood pumping.”
“You always have an answer for everything, don’t you Tom. Just because I survived my mistakes doesn’t mean you will my boy,” Joe spat out. He abruptly skied away.
The two men stood there shocked by his anger.
“Well excuse me,” Tom snapped.
“He’s right you know,” Toby defended Joe. “One mistake up here and you’ve made your last.”
“They’re my mistakes to make,” Tom skied off down into the evergreens.
The rest of the morning was spent in relative silence. They made several runs. Each man reflecting his own feelings against the start of another winter season, where you have been, who you are, and where you are going is inconsequential to the mountains. You are just a visitor for the moment, a visitor with a vast world at your feet.
“How about lunch, I’m starved.”
“Sounds great to me,” Toby patted his stomach.
“Last one down buys,” Joe challenged skiing off toward the base.
The boys started skating and polling. Toby was the winner, Tom finished second, and Joe trailed the boys.
“Isn’t that Jilly over there? What’s she doin?” Joe pointed to the lower parking lot. “It looks like she is taking pictures. There’s something strange about her.”
They all kicked off their skis.
“No! She’s nice,” Toby protested. “She gave us a place to stay. Besides, she’s cute.”
“Bet she’s charging you well,” Joe said. “You can do better and she doesn’t need the money.”
“It sure is a nice place to live,” Tom added in support. “So what if she Daddy’s little girl. Somebody has to be.”
“O.K. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt,” Joe gave in. “I’d keep my eye on the lookout for trouble.”
“Always do,” Tom had to have the last word. There was always something more that had to be said, if he wasn’t the one to say it, he felt cheated. He’d have to be careful, though. Joe had already seen it and he would hate to loose his respect. He admired Joe. All that Joe had worked for and achieved left him in awe of the man behind the mountain. He was living proof that great men still existed. If you look hard enough you can realize your dreams. Luck is man made Tom thought.
This left Tom feeling the frustrations of life on the ski circuit. Next to Joe, he was a worthless drifter with nothing but a pocket full of snowflakes and memories of ski towns to call his own. Someday I’ll stop chasing snowflakes and sunsets and settle down and collect my rewards he promised himself. Except with that thought came the flashback of all the promises he had already broken, the promises of someday that never came.