My Buddy Gary

Theme music plays.

Announcer:  Welcome to Are you Ready for the Bar, coming to you live from Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont. 

Host: Hello from Vermont! Today I am joined by my friend, Frank Killilea.  Frank’s here today to tell us about his favorite chairlift ride.  Let’s get started.  So Frank, set this up for us.  Where were you, what were the conditions (trailing off)

Frank:  After I got out of school, I spent a season in Vail as a ski bum.

Host:  How did I not know this about you?  So, did you go out there with a group of friends?  And how did you pick Vail?

Frank:  Well what happened is that my cousins were out there and one of their buddies bailed and they needed help with the rent.

Host:  So you got the call (laughing).

Frank: Yea, and Vail sorta chose me.  

Host:  So tell us about the day.

Frank:  It was a powder day, and I had the day off (devilish laughter).  Everyone else was working, so I was riding singles.  And first ride up, I met this guy Gary.

Host: So you gotta pause here and tell us a little bit about Gary, was he your age, was he a ski bum, like who was this guy?

Frank:  He was definitely older, like my age now.

Host:  So, we’ll just say north of forty.

Frank: Right, and we just hit it off and had a great conversation.

Host:  Do you remember what you discussed?

Frank:  No, and it didn’t really matter.  

Host:  So what made it special?

Frank:  Well after that one lift ride, we skied the whole day together.  He was sick skier, and I did my best to chase him down the hill.  

Host:  Was it like a kid in a sand box thing?  Like,  how a little kid will have an awesome time with a new friend and leave the play ground not knowing their friend’s name or any other relevant info that seems so important to us adults.

Frank:  Only I do know his name (laughter).  But, ya, it was.  We were different ages living in different worlds, but we were ski buddies that day.

Host: That’s awesome.  How’d the day end?

Frank:  Well, on the last ride up, he said he was going to the pub to meet friends and asked if I wanted to join.  All of my friends were working, so I was psyched to share a few beers with this guy.

Host:  Did you end up joining them?

Frank:  Well, no.  Gary was a better skier than I was, and it had been dumping out all day.  We made the plan and then, poof! He disappeared into a cloud of snow.  

Host:  He was that good, ha?  

Frank:  He was a nasty skier, and he know the mountain so well.  It was an adventure following him around.  And, yea, he literally disappeared as I was trying my best to keep up.

Host:  Frank, I don’t know too many people who ski like you.  In fact, you’re the only person I’ve seen toss cartwheels down Stein’s.

Frank:  Not my finest moment.

Host: For the listeners, Stein’s is one of the steepest trails at Sugarbush and is a bit of a Mecca.  I skied Stein’s with Frank one powder day, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Frank shredding the trail (laughing) but then something went terrible wrong, and Frank was literally doing cartwheels.

Frank:  You know, you really didn’t have to share that story.  

Host:  But my point is not to tease you for falling, although that was really really fun.  My point was just to say that on the relative scale, if you’re saying Gary was an amazing skier, he must have been a one percenter.  

Frank:  Okay, now that is much more like it (laughing).  And, yea he was that good.  

Host:  Did you find him at the bottom?

Frank:  No.  And I was used to chasing after girls, they always seems to be running away from me, but I was really bummed  that I didn’t track down this guy.  

Host:  So he’s the one that got away (laughter).  Did you ever seem him again?

Frank: Yeah, I saw him the next day.

Host:  What did he say?  

Frank:  I don’t remember ever talking about the pub or anything.  I just remember that he yelled, “Frank Buddy!” when he saw me, and we skied another day together. 

Host:  Did you become friends?

Frank:  I never saw him again after that second day, but I know he’d remember me.  It’d be fun to run into him again.

Host:  Have you ever had an experience like that off skis?  

Frank:  No.

Host: What do you think it is about skiing that allows people to be that open.  You know?  It’s really unique that you would meet someone in such a different life phase and then spend two days together enjoying your sport.

Frank: I’ve never really thought about it, but I guess that’s why this day sticks out in my memory.  It’s really the type of thing that happens when you ski.  I don’t think it would happen anywhere else.  I mean, where else do you go out alone and enter a contraption with other people?

Host:  I know, I guess the elevator is one such contraption.

Frank:  But, it’s not social.  In fact, it’s weird if you talk.

Host:  I hate when people talk in elevators.

Frank:  But on the lift, the expectation is that you have a conversation.  Like, that’s the norm.  

Host:  So what you’re saying it that there’s something special about the chairlift that opens you up to connecting with other people.

Frank:  Yea, I guess I am!

Host:  What do you think it is?  The culture, the mountain air (trailing off).

Frank:  Maybe it’s the captive audience with people who like the same thing.  All I know is that it’s part of the experience and part of what makes it great.

Host:  So Frank, at the end of every show, we transition to apres by offering up a toast.  What would you like to say.

Frank:  To my buddy Gary.

Host:  To Gary!

Announcer:  Thank you for joining us for this episode of  Are you Ready for the Bar where the beer is always hoppy and conversation always flows.