By Dick Butler
Sharing the Experience

August 14, 2005
(photographs courtesy of SKI NEW HAMPSHIRE)

It may not take more than a logo on a shirt or a bumper sticker, a single chair ride together, a vanity plate, or a ski rack still on in July. It could be just sitting at the same table at mid-mountain over lunch. And we can’t leave out “bar talk”. Strangers can meet by chance and a conversation starts as soon as it is apparent that we have a common interest in snow activities. The circumstances develop. We joke and laugh, and pick on our friend’s yard sale of the day. It matters not which season or the location, on snow or off. Skiers and riders need only the slightest opportunity to share their enthusiasm for their favorite sports. There is instant commonality when we realize that another has the same interest: enjoying the outdoors in winter. It bridges social and economic barriers, makes instant friends including kids and families of all ages, and starts the heart pumping even when there is a total absence of snow on the ground.

Equipment, individual ability, travel, resorts, and of course the white stuff, all provide a great foundation for the sharing of a snow sports story. That trip to Europe in ’88 still rings clear in a mind that is in love with winter. The storm in ’94 that lasted three days and left snow up to the condo’s doorknob is as vivid today as it was then. A high traverse that was more difficult to handle than the ski run down through the woods. It matters not that the person listening will never be seen again. We have to share the story. We can’t not share our experiences. A bad fall, a slide for life, tree skiing in a blizzard, a risky drive to catch first tracks; the ski lesson that put the missing components of our style in place, or the horror stories about missed airline flights. They are all clear memories we can not erase.

“There is an instant commonality when we realize that another has the same interest: enjoying winter.”

I enjoy informing clients and other visitors to my office that I don’t take summer vacations. It gives me an opportunity to tell them I go north for my time off, not south in winter. Jaws sometimes drop. Then I show them my gallery of photographs, lining the walls of my office, each one eliciting a response, even if the person does not ski. A panorama at Big Sky , Jackson Hole with my son, backcountry with guides in Wengen Switzerland, Switzerland scenery, a steep chute at Taos, and tandum hang gliding at Tigne France, they are all images that make my life more enjoyable, with every glance, every day. They put a smile on my face when it should not be there. A rough day at the office is suddenly forgotten. And passing the moments glory to another makes me feel more alive and somehow satisfied.

My love of skiing is a large part of my life, summer and winter. But it means little, if it can’t be shared. My wife says I smile only when I’m skiing. It’s true a great deal of the time.