My wife and I dropped my daughter off for her hour lesson at Mount Snow just before 11 am on Saturday and immediately hopped on the lift. For some reason we had lost our travel companion, Steve, who was decked out in a bright yellow and pink one piece from Tipsy Elves and was probably off having a conversation with yet another person who had stopped him to inquire about the cost, the technical features or just snap a photo with him. It was insane to think that 'one' article of clothing could create such a stir, but yet it did. Nonetheless, our intention was to get some laps in for the brief period of time we had while my daughter was in her lesson so we had little time to wait for him to pull away from his raving fans and rejoin us. So we immediately hopped on the lift with two other young guys we met in line and headed up.
Within seconds of lowering the bar down, I noticed the one guy reaching into his bag and pulling out a PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon).
"PBR's, Nice!" I exclaimed.
"You want one?" he responded.
"I'll definitely take one."
So he cracked one for me and his buddy we began to down these delightful beverages. PBR is known for its cult like following around the mountains has become an official beer of sorts in the ski world. They are a good refreshing beer when served at a normal beer temperature. However, they become even better when ice cold which was certainly the case this time around from having been in this guy's backpack, outdoors in the 20 degree weather. The colder temps enhanced the crisp refreshing taste of the day's first beer and I commented on how great they were ice cold. Promptly after finishing my statement, the one guy holding up his can and looking at the blue ribbon on its side pronounced agreeingly, "Look, it's won and award." Surprisingly, after all these years, I had never heard that one and we all had good laugh while we continued to drink. Having gotten side tracked in our comedic chatter, we realized that the end of the lift was approaching so we quickly pounded what was left of our PBR's, wished each other a great day and headed off.
Fast forward 23 hours and my wife, daughter and I were boarding the lift. This was once more done without Steve who was somewhere off tending to his adoring fans, again leaving an open seat on the lift. We slid up, hopped on with a single from the line and as I looked over to my left to make sure everyone had gotten on the lift safely, I exclaimed, "Got any PBR's?!" The same guy from yesterday responded with a huge smile, "Hey, what's up? You bet I do. Want one?" "Absolutely," I said. Within seconds we cracked open two more frosty cold PBR's and enjoyed the ride, while my wife just shook her head and smiled at the off chance we would be riding the lift up again with this same guy. The whole time up, we reminisced about the "award winning joke" and how both he and I used it a few times since yesterday to the delight of those we told. As we got off, his buddy was waiting at the top and he yelled as he slid off, "Hey look who I rode up with!?" We smiled, laughed and waved then headed off down the trail in our own directions.
It's times like this that remind me why I love skiing. Not that I recommend drinking on the lift or in the morning but because it is such a social sport. Where else can you meet new people, swap stories and make memories over a few "award winning" beers on the lift rides? Nowhere.
