Best Friends On A Powder Day?

The only thing better than a day spent hunting fresh tracks in the snowy alpine and hot lapping the perfect run is sharing the bliss with a few choice friends. The ideal ski buddy is different for everyone but generally relies upon a fine balance of evenly matched ability, riding style and personality. Below, we run through some important things to consider when looking to round up a posse of best friends on a powder day.

First and foremost, be honest when talking to friends about what you’re hoping to get after. Lay it all out there in terms of how much, how hard and how fast you want to go to avoid frustration if the day gets away on you later. If you want to work hard for your turns, for example, hiking and boot packing to the far reaches of the resort, this is important information for a potential joiner who’s got blisters from yesterday’s mission and just wants to slide downhill for a few hours. Don’t assume that your ideal day looks exactly the same as the next guy’s.

Powder days can be particularly disappointing when ski groups are mismatched and the pace is set to the lowest common denominator. Riding deep, fresh snow is incredible if you know how to do it, have the right gear and are in relatively decent shape. If any of those key components is missing, however, it can be a very challenging day for everyone involved. For this reason, it’s really important to consider the conditions when lining up your crew. Just because you had a ton of fun ripping afternoon groomers with someone last spring doesn’t mean they should be the first one you call when it’s 20cms fresh and still falling. Check the weather before you get together!

Speaking of getting together, this post would be incomplete if we didn’t address the issue of skiing with your significant other. A day of skiing can be SO ROMANTIC: mountaintop panoramas, the rush of adrenaline, wine in the hot tub – it’s a corny, beautiful thing. A day of skiing can also bring couples closer to the edge of mutual loathing faster than any other activity I know of, including assembling furniture from Ikea. I have seen breakdowns and/or breakups on everything from bunny hills to skin tracks to the top of a ridiculously steep and narrow chute with a ski out into your choice of rocky cheese grater or 20 foot drop. (This last one may or may not have been me…) The point is this: it is not a given that you and your partner will ski well together, no matter how you get along in all other aspects of your relationship. Set yourselves up for success by heading into the day with an open mind, and commit to checking in with each other frequently to see how things are going.

Finally, let’s touch briefly on the joys of skiing by yourself. There is something so liberating about lining up a playlist, putting some snacks and a couple of beer in your backpack and letting the day unfold exactly how you want it to go. This is obviously not recommended if you’re heading into the backcountry and downright impossible if you’re heli skiing, but there’s a reason they make bumper stickers that say No Friends On A Powder Day. The more is not always the merrier. While I really do prefer sharing my best day ever with a handful of really awesome people, if it comes down to going out by myself or with a random crew that may or may not ski how and what I want to ski, I’m flying solo every single time. And I’m loving it, every single time.