Susanne skis Marx off of the Lone Peak Tram
THIS WEEKEND I was a dinner guest at my local friends John and Nici's slopeside home. They were also hosting a dozen close friends from Virginia for the weekend, and we all gathered to cook a hot meal after a long ski day. Nici showed me pictures of skiing Moonlight, The Gullies, and everything in between. Her friend Susanne, who cooked an amazing sauerkraut, had just skied her first run down the Big Couloir and couldn’t stop grinning. While hand-rolling Apple Strudel, another friend, Kathy, swore she would live in a ski town someday. Some of these people I had just met, and as skiers, we became friends quickly.
But besides the great friends and food, there was another reason that all of us came together. We were there to celebrate the life of a lost friend: Dave Stolze passed away last year from heart failure while skiing in Big Sky. This was the first annual memorial weekend, and friends came together from far away to remember Dave by doing what he loved and what we all love. They came to ski.
As we ate and laughed over ski stories from the slopes that day and days past, it became clear that skiing is more than a sport. Skiing is a conversation tool, an athletic adventure, and a friend-maker. It brings us together, it helps us heal. Skiing is how we celebrate life.
There's a lot of dry, wind-buffed powder out there. I hope you are celebrating too.
- Victor DeLeo, Big Sky Resort Senior Sales Manager and TWISI guest writer
