The Denizens of Winter - an Introduction
In Which We Meet the Crew and Find Out Just Who They Are

By MK Alan
Illustrated by Jim Gregory

Let us first set the scene. We ski (or ride, if you must differentiate) at AnyResort USA. It’s a fine place, offering all the amenities any snowsliding winter lover could possibly ask for: fast lifts, great snowmaking, fastidious snow grooming, excellent terrain parks, a superpipe, hotels, condominiums, restaurants, and a base village that fools you into thinking you’re in the Alps.

Perfect, yes?

So say some of us.

But, as much as we love to slide, we, the Denizens of Winter, are particular. Some might say peculiar. Passionate, yes, to be sure. Maybe overly attentive to the nuances of our passions, it must be admitted. Still, we slide regularly and feel free to express our joy when the adrenalin flows and the thrills merit it. Or to convey our righteous indignation when there’s an itch we can’t scratch. Like how come a crappy burger costs nine bucks in the damned base lodge? Or, why is every slopeside condo or hotel priced only for Wall Street millionaires? You know what I mean.

We ski (and ride, okay?) all over the world. When we can. And we set our standards high.

Who are we? Let me introduce us.

	Boots - Our chief curmudgeon and general all-around complainer, Bootsie is also The Man. He can ski anything, knows everything, can fix all things and refuses nothing. He suffers neither fools or stupidity in any form.
	Saddles - Boots’ adoring (or shall we say tolerant?) spouse, so-named for her warm-weather love of riding the ponies.
	Jenny Ride - Our snowboarder chick, Jennifer rides.
	Freek - Got his named for his love of freesking. Whether it’s railsliding in the park or over base area picnic tables, this man is all dude.
	Johnny Bumbster - a man who will knock his knees in mogul fields run after run until he finally feels he's earned a break and will then disappear into the trees. He never met a groomed trail he liked.
	Carrie - Mom to Amy and Arnie and inveterate intermediate slider, Carrie keeps the crew grounded whenever we get too full of ourselves (which is often).
	Killy - A former competitive racer, married to Carrie, Killy lives in the larger-than-life GS style.
	Amy & Arnie - Kids (twins 8) of Carrie and Killy, they’ve been trained since an early age to two-plank it, but the call of the board is beckoning them, especially Arnie.
	Gramps - Our resident sage. Gramps started skiing way back, so far back, we can’t even call it "back in the day." But, he keeps on going, an inspiration to us all.
	And, Me - I’m your narrator, just a guy who strives to get in his 40 or 50 days on snow just so, if nothing else, I can minimize the daily cost of feeding my ski habit.