White Pass

It was the same as any Friday; sitting in a car, a Volkswagen of course, yes flicka was sitting on the dash, Ricky driving with mittens in the cold car, and we were on are way to white pass. It is not always the same car or same road.

Some times we even travel in Georges 69 bus packed with kids wearing strange close, because up there it doesn’t matter who you are or what you wear up there. The bus is the best though no belt buckles a bed in the back, as seen in the picture there is a Nintendo, old school, in the back that we play on the TV on the way. It is a familiar drive to me being that I’ve done it literally hundreds of times, every Friday that there is skiing to be had or even on a school day if it happened to snow a foot or two the night before.

When we hit Packwood we would stop and stay the night at The Cabin. It is cold when you first get inside and a fire is the first thing to do. We sit around playing card games or watching ski movies to get ready for the next day, listening to the crackling of the wood in the fire place as it gets hotter and hotter. What ever we do and who ever is there for the night it is always a good time, I mean tomorrow will be the best day of your life, it always is when you go to White Pass.

The next morning you wake up at the ungodly hour of seven, usually hung over from the night before, cold as the fire went out hours ago but its ok for the view on the way up. Gorgeous trees and mountains only further accentuated by the rising sun. Just depending on the driver the ride up could be half the fun of the day, snow and ice on the road. Watching all the gapers (public) try to drive in the snow passing them going 40 while they practically stand still.

Then you round that last corner, a long left hand turn, come over the crest of the hill and there it is, heaven. The big sign standing twenty feet tall Screams at you, White Pass. You unpack you things and hit the lodge to get ready.

When you get in side you sit in the same area you always do surrounded by every one you know, some times there are as many as 30 or more of us getting ready, blocking the line to the espresso as we consume this corner of the lodge, are corner. Just waiting for Louie to tell us to clear a path to the espresso for the public and try to convince a few of us to work in the morning, neither of the two ever happen. We sit and wait just hoping that the Pepsi clock will soon say 8:45 so we can hit the lift.

Then your there you and three other people sitting on a cold piece of black foam just waiting to get to the top. The first ride up, although in only takes five minutes, seems to take a life time but again, as it was on the drive up, its worth it for the view. Beautiful evergreens surrounded by the whitest snow you have ever seen, If your lucky the snow on the trees is being blown off by a gentle wind and looks like silver glitter as it passes through the rays of sun light.

Then what you have been waiting for forever, your skis hit the snow at the top of the lift and your there. The only thing left to do now is forget about everything and ski.

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