Closing weekend ski attire
In CB things seem to kick off with the AJ or the Al Johnson. In honor of Al, who used to carry the mail from CB to Aspen via the mountain passes, this race is now a reason to put on costumes, get drunk and telemark down one of the steeper runs at the resort. Gaper day (April Fools Day) is when the locals come out dressed like their favorite tourist. The locals do such a good job it can be hard to tell them apart sometimes. Several colleges visit for closing weekend and are fully clad in costume and given their 11 am (or later) arrival at the lifts they are no doubt hung over or on their way to being drunk again. Flauschink, the celebration to flush out winter, crowns a king and queen who are regularly seen in town or on the mountain in their robes. There is a pond skim and park competition, yes costumes are encouraged. A keg party on the peak. And even though one of the more famous celebrations, naked ski day, is officially banned there were several groups on closing day attempting to burn places which rarely if ever see the sun.
Gaper or Local?
Kegs on the Peak
For us the celebrations were more background noise. Do get me wrong, we did participate, but we were finishing up work and trying to get in the last morsels of skiing before the lifts were closed for the season.
A week before the season ended we skipped out of town and headed down to Taos. It's one of the resorts I've wanted to ski for a very long time. It happened that Jenn & Alex could meet us there with the kids and we'd have our own spring break with family. Our timing with the weather didn't quite line up with our ski expectations. The resort had seen too much sun and too little snow in many weeks and the night before our arrival everything got very cold. Instead of soft spring bumps we had refrozen conditions to contend with. It was so bad the ski patrol didn't open any of the steep terrain for fear that people would slide to the bottom if they fell. But that's how it goes. We went down to see family and had a great time with all of them. It was also a time for laying groundwork for the next chapter.
Looking for soft snow
We had a decision to make. Stay in CB or move to Hood River. HR was the original plan but CB is an amazing place and locals all say it only gets better in the summer. We are building a network of friends here and leaving just as we are getting settled seemed a bit premature. The other side of the coin is that Hood River is also an amazing place in the summer and we already have good friends and family there. After spending time with Jenn & Alex we made the call to stick with our original plan and head for Oregon.
When we returned to CB for the closing week I was a little surprised by the level of emotion. Every day someone would disappear. Everyone has their next gig lined up and most were not staying in the valley. We'd spent all winter making good friends and now we were losing them left and right. It was a transition I didn't expect to happen so quickly and wasn't fully prepared for. It's the nature of a seasonal workforce and soon we would be gone too. We said our farewells as best we could over a beer or dinner or sometimes just in the locker room. As the Germans say, not good-bye but auf wiedersehen (until we see you again)!
We finished the season at CB with style. The last day was sunny and a small storm had refreshed the hill. The skiing was as good as it had been all season. I skied in the morning with some friends then met up with Laurel. She hadn't skied the peak yet so with perfect snow we hiked the peak on the last day of the season. The rest of the day was spent going back to favorite runs and exploring still undiscovered spots. Ironically I was booked in a private lesson all day but they never showed up so I not only had an amazing day skiing with my wife, I got paid for it!
All smiles after bagging the Peak
Last Chair
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