Cable-Car-Packed

Last week Squaw posted a press release "Silverado to open this weekend". Overhearing a friend reading the news from an iphone, I smiled. At the same time I wondered just how many skiers would innendate the mountain that weekend?

8:15 am opening day of Silverado, I approached the cable car building. Getting into the line I realized there were very few familiar faces.

Instead of keeping to myself as I usually do in the cable car or on a lift, I decided to chat with some strangers. I made it a point to talk to the guy with the original North Face Steep Tech jacket, a lady with AC 50's and a family with three kids in the race program. I tried my best to hit a wide demographic. Here are some of the highlights.

One gentleman standing next to me spoke of Squaw Valley as having a "ski stoke". He then told me he lives in the mission district of San Francisco, working three days a week for twelve to fourteen hours per day. After his work week (if you can call it that), he bee lines it to Tahoe for the next four days. Another gentleman (about age sixty) had moved from Boston to the Bay area after one trip to Squaw ten years ago. His explanation was simple, "I would rather ski here". About two hours of chatter on various lift rides and I had meet two families and eight individuals who make it their personal goal to commute to Squaw every weekend.

My conversational survey was far from sophisticated. But I do believe it proves that San Francisco attracts a special kind of "die hard" "city dwelling skier". People that love their sport to the extent of shifting their lives, rearranging their schedules and bending the rules of society. They are perfect examples of the dedicated Bay area skiers that fill the parking lot every single weekend.

Now are they as dedicated as East coast ice shredders? That is to be determined…

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