The Ski Bum Dirt Bag Shuffle
Mark Ortiz
The life cycle in a ski town is short--initially the name of the game is party hard and ski harder. I love that lifestyle but as I grow older I have to take the perspective of, "I've been there and done that." But unlike a lot of my peers, I'm not giving up the ghost. I genuinely enjoy being a ski bum dirt bag and consequently I'm seeing most of my friends transition into the mainstream world--getting 'real' careers, opening their own businesses, getting full time jobs with the government. They're moving forward with their lives and I am genuinely happy for them. The crew I've skied with for years is largely dissolved and I'm predominately skiing with people that are fresh to the area and this puts me in a new position. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this season has really been punctuated by realizing I'm no longer the low guy on the totem pole and people are looking to me for beta, for insight on what to ski in given conditions. That is the driving force so far this year. That, and the general lack of snow, I guess. So this edit is pretty close to the heart because most of the people featured in it are new friends--people I met during the low tide of December who were ready to send it any day of the week once the snow finally fell.
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