Up at A-Basin, it's 'shredtastic'

Cast of 1,000 characters ushers in the ski season

James B. Meadow, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 11, 2007 at midnight

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ARAPAHOE BASIN - Talk about a day that was absolutely Ullr right.

Whether they were offering up hosannas to the Norwegian god of snow, testing an artificial knee for the first time, shredding, schussing, or sporting everything from a bunny suit to a corduroy sports coat to a leather jacket, the 1,000 or so zealots, zanies and marginally sane skiers and snowboarders who flung themselves onto the chairlifts of the first ski resort in North America to open were of one mind.

"Steezy," said Noah Rector, 22, of Lakewood - which, when translated for the benefit of at least one hopelessly uncool man, means "freakin' awesome."

It didn't matter that only half a run - High Noon - was open Wednesday.

Didn't matter that the slender tendril of snow ("The white ribbon of death," laughed one boarder) that stood out against unwintry slopes of green and brown called to mind a man who sprays his bald spot with colored dye.

It didn't matter that the tenuous 18-inch base was largely composed of man-made snow destined to turn slushy.

It didn't matter because - artificial flakes, shmartificial flakes - this cast of characters wouldn't have cared if they were traversing corn flakes as long as they could strap on skis and yield to gravity.

"Who cares about the snow as long as it's white?" said Nick Karaberis, 58, of Boulder.

"This is what we do," added his friend, self-professed "ski bum" David Evans, 48, of Silverthorne.

Do? Oh no. The start of the ski season went way beyond just offering Wednesday's worshippers something to do.

"This is, like, our life," said Tyler Hutchinson, 17, a Grand Junction high school student who started driving to the resort at 10 p.m. Tuesday with buddy Matt Clark, 18.

After catching a few hours of sleep in Vail, the duo continued on to A-Basin, arriving by 7:30 a.m. because, said Clark, "This is what we live for."

"You've just got to be here; no other option," insisted Austin Taik, 34. He may live in Summit County but, as the button he wore proclaimed, his real home is the "Republic of Shred."

And he wasn't the only citizen.

"Four months is just too long to wait," said Breckenridge's Kris Carlsted, 26. "You wanna ski."

Even if you're a little bleary.

For as long as they can remember - as in the last 13 years - "Trailer" Tom Miller, 25, Nate Dogggg, 26, Jeff "Go Fast" Meyer, 24, and Reed "Spacecraft Bunny" Silberman, 32, have been the first folks to usher in the season in Colorado. Wednesday was no different as the quartet of snowboarders arrived at A-Basin at 5 p.m. Tuesday. They set up sleeping bags and a space heater and then proceeded to party until 3:30 a.m.

"It wouldn't be the start of the ski season without us," said Trailer, immodest but unbowed.

"This is our heritage," added Go Fast.

"Of course, it's important to us," said Spacecraft who, by the way, was swathed in a rabbit costume. "I mean, I'm wearing an effin' bunny suit today. How sad is that?"

Well, maybe not sad, but certainly, as A-Basin spokeswoman Leigh Hierholzer observed with a smile, "kind of wacky."

Curiously - or maybe not - just before Hierholzer made that observation, the song blaring over the loudspeakers was the Doors' People Are Strange, volume loud enough to trigger an avalanche. If, that is, there had been enough snow for an avalanche.

Instead, on a toasty October day at 10,780 feet, the only avalanche would be the human kind. Three hours after the 8:54 a.m. opening arrived and 200 early birds had hit the lifts, the crowd had swollen beyond 1,000.

In that fivefold flock was Roy Leckonby, 30, of Boulder, hot to board because "You can't fight it, you have to be here today." Wearing a pumpkin suit because, "Uh, it's nearly Halloween?"

Not far away was Mike Stone, 50, of Fairplay, who showed up to ski in shorts because, "C'mon, it's not cold." Because, "It's tradition. It's in your blood. Being able to do this helps make up for living in a red state with evil Republicans."

Meanwhile, looking fashionably libertarian was Billy Mackey, 17. Sheathed in black leather jacket and tight jeans ("Girls like it"), Mackey peered out from behind his shades and said, "Snowboarding is my life. My life."

Sixty years ago, when he was 17, Jay Brossman may have felt the same way about skiing. Certainly nothing in the the intervening six decades cooled his ardor, an ardor that brought him to A-Basin eager to "to test my new left knee. Had it replaced this spring."

Maybe 60 years from now, Carmelo Rivera III will be saying the same thing. But for now, the 7-year-old border from Fort Lupton was content to shred with a style and attitude.

It's likely A-Basin's pioneers didn't envision this motley assemblage when they opened the place in 1946. It's likely they didn't see the spirited rivalry that would arise with nearby Loveland to be the first Colorado resort to open the ski season, a rivalry that prodded A-Basin to not only beat Loveland to the punch this year, but best its own record by three days.

And what might the A-Basin founders say today if they could see they could see what they helped wrought? What might they have uttered about this spectacle of color, verve and snow-blind loyalty to the sport of going downhill fast?

What else but . . . steezy.

In their own word(s)

We asked some people to describe the experience of opening day at A-Basin in one word. Maybe two. OK, no more than three.

• "Kismet"

• "Exhilarating"

• "Steezy"

• "Holy cow"

• "Immaculate"

• "Heaven, baby, heaven"

• "Funnnnnnnnn"

• "Huge"

• "Imponderable"