Floatin' on the freshies - 2.25

The quest for first chair.

On a powder day, there's a quest for "first chair". The first chair of skiers to de-flower the trackless mountain. You've either got to be early, or aggressive to get it.

I arrived this morning with about thirty other people in front of me. There was only 7 inches new reported, so I wasn't going to impose to make my way up to the front. I slid in line with local renowned landscape photographer Willie Holdman and made small talk.

Just before the chair opened, my buddy Scott walks up to the first people in line and asks if he can slide in with them. I want to heckle him, but he's a bit too far away. Almost instantly, a lift operator buddy of ours opens the lift, and Scott just bolts on the lift solo. Willie sees this move, and breaks out of line to slide in with the original couple that was first.

This is too much for me to take, so I too break out of line and find a couple to slide on with. I'm riding the fourth chair.

Those who ski Sundance know that it's faster to ski off the top of the first lift and skate down the cat track to the bottom of the second lift rather than ride the first lift to the second. Scott is in the lead, and I see him skate off followed by Willie. I get off my chair and skate after the two as hard as I can shocking my heart into a racing beat. Everyone else stays on the lift, and I miss hooking up with Scott and Willie by just two seconds getting on the next lift. I get the second chair by myself, with only one more solo rider in the chair behind me. The rest who rode the chair all the way, are a few more back.

At the top I see Willie bolt down the ridge, not taking Bishop's Bowl, which is trackless. I know what's up. Scott skates to the top of Bishops and I skate up to him. Willie has gone down the ridge to pull out his camera and shoot us making first tracks in the wide open bowl. The solo skier behind me skates up next to us and we ask him to wait a few more seconds before Willie waves us on. The three of us hoot as we make wide turns down the trackless face.

The snow was dense, and after half a dozen runs, me and the runs were skied out. I was home by 11am.