Always smiling, Alison showing the Boys how it’s done.
er run of some nicely spaced snow- covered trees that Schweitzer locals call snow ghosts. Many of these snow ghosts resemble characters out of a Dr. Seuss book. On average most runs are about 1,000-1,500 vertical feet, and by noon we’ve hammered out about five runs. With each run we were all jockeying for those first tracks. And just like the old days, nothing is held back as Barksdale snakes those first lines by duping us that he’s just checking out a line and then pushes off laugh- ing the whole way. You can’t blame him though. I have a saying when I’m skiing powder with a group, “It’s not your line …. until you’re looking back up at it.” By noon everyone is on their game and charging hard. The 10-to-
through the trees,” he said. “I push off, and the first few turns through the trees were a little sluggish. Then it starts to open up, and by the time I’m 15-20 turns into the open pow field, I’m feeling the flow.” With Goldsmith down, Grollmus says over the radio, “Send the next one.” Witt is second, and as soon as he hits that wide-open pow field all you can hear is hooting and holler- ing. “Yeah Baby!” in his thick New York accent. That first run was fairly easy as the guides always evaluate the cli- ent’s ability on the first run. They don’t want to put guests in situations where it’s over their ability. With our crew passing the powder-skiing test, Grollmus brings us to anoth-
15-minute cat rides back up are just long enough to rehydrate and get in a snack provided in the cat.
“What I like about cat skiing is there is no waiting,” Goldsmith said. “The cats are there at the bottom of the run, and BAM, you’re on your way back up in a warm comfy ride.”
These short rides back up were filled with lots of old stories, laugh - ter and the constant, relentless ban- ter you can only get with buddies who’ve been friends for over four de- cades. Nothing is sacred, especially with Witt on board, and with Mur-
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