Shaking the Snowglobe

Nick and I awoke in our climbing gym hotel, and quickly shoved ourselves back in the car to head to Deer Valley. Fortunately the hotel had a 7am cafe, so we left with coffee in hand, smiling as we guessed at what the resort might be like. My understanding was that Deer Valley is where celebrities go to apres, but alex Lewis also told me about amazing powder runs he enjoyed a few weeks ago with zero lines so I wasn’t sure how this would all come together.

Nick and I arrived and walked into the snow park lodge to grab some breakfast. The resort’s bougie reputation was quickly on display: the breakfast grill line was slow moving as people ordered florentine eggs Benedict with some custom adjustments, workers (apparently named butlers according to one sign) were quick to grab guest’s trays and bring them to the bussing station, customer voices were shrill and impatient. The food was amazing though, a classic bacon breakfast hit the spot. Nick and I felt the long wait was worth getting to taste the flavor of the food and the culture of the cafeteria.

To the lifts we went, queued up alongside an elderly man to get into the four person chair called silver lodge (?) express. Two girls appeared in an alternate line, and our elderly friend moved ahead, beckoning for the two friends to sit together slash to sit with Nick and me. Given the crowd we’d observed to that point at the base of the mountain, getting on a chairlift with two girls who seemed normal/our age seemed like impossible odds. After a nice chat on the lift, they told us that they were locals and would show us where to avoid the crowds and find some good snow!

Our new girlfriends showed us around the sultan lift and perseverance bowl. During one of the lift rides they said one of the quotes of the trip: “I love not having snowboarders allowed here. It’s just a different rhythm.” I kept recounting this quote to Nick throughout the day, adding an increasingly Mid-Atlantic accent to it.

After a few more runs we parted ways with our girlfriends, now exes, and rooted ourselves in two Adirondack chairs as we waited for our friends Alicia and Olive to meet up with us. Prior to booking our climbing gym hotel room, nick and I checked our Find My Friends to see if any friends happened to be in Utah that we could simply crash with. Lo and behold Alicia was actually there! But after a funny FaceTime she informed us that the bachelorette party she was there for (congratulations Hallie!) wouldn’t be open to us sleeping on the floor of their Airbnb. However, she did know of someone else from northwestern staying in Utah that we should text. We were subsequently passed on to three different people, rejected by all, but accepted by the climbing hotel. Alicia did say that we should all ski together though, and this plan was born.

We had an awesome time shredding around with Olive and Alicia! We witnessed a few more instances of people being petty on the mountain – dramatic shrieks, cries of “you f***ing asshole!”, passive aggressive retorts of “well if you just turned your feet like I told you”, and stubborn exclamations of “I am NOT meeting up with them again” all echoed throughout the valley. We determined that the average clientele here actually has so much money that they’ve grown to be quite unhappy people.

After working up a sweat on some mogul runs, we deliberated early lunch and departure plans. Alicia suggested bloody Mary’s and food at St Regis. This closed out our lovely bougie day at Deer Valley. Rocking Pit Vipers and back in vogue fisherman sunglasses, we washed down lobster rolls with wasabi juice/ lava salt topped bloody marys. Everything was super tasty, including the four chocolate chip cookies we got for dessert.

It was great seeing Alicia and awesome catching up with Olive – a super rad person who I always looked up to at northwestern! Seeing them was true to this trip’s m.o. of spending quality time with great people in the mountains. We all felt satisfied with having done Deer Valley absolutely right – half a ski day and a delicious apres. Smiles on, we hugged goodbye and hit the road. 9 hours to Bishop.

Nick is driving now, taking care of the final two hour stretch like the great copilot he is. It’s been a beautiful drive though, with the never ending landscapes of “nothing nothing nothing nothing Mountains nothing nothing nothing Mountain” over and over again.

Fifteen minutes away from bishop now, a group hostel/co working space eagerly awaits our arrival. I’m not exactly sure how I’ll pass the time while my friends are working during the day: skiing Mammoth, riding a horse (riding a horse is my sole 2024 New Year’s resolution), and sleeping in seem like easy contenders.