College credit for snowboarding? To me (Ashley) it was a no-brainer. Sign me up. Easiest credit I’ll ever get. Figured I might as well get a season pass to Bridger Bowl for the first time. Move some classes around to max out skiing opportunities. I mean, no need to take this semester too seriously.

I ended up in the advanced section because, well, daughter of ski patroller- obvi. There were two notable characters in that class that became longtime friends and were witness to THE BEGINNING. The first was JWilly. An optimistic smiley guy, his coat sleeves took on a Mary Poppins quality and seemed to have an endless supply of PBR. They might still. The second was Toad, a moniker earned for freestyle skills and green coat, and probably other things, but you’d have to ask him about that.

Our instructor only taught one class before blowing out his knee. (Thank you Kevin! Sorry Kevin!) The new instructor was cute. Bonus! Best college class ever. And then he opened his mouth…

Kidding. Sorta. But there was a moment of ‘oh, this guy’.

But this guy grew on me in a way that was hard to ignore. I tried really hard to not like him. No really. I was not looking for someone. I was going to transfer to U of M next semester. I was just here to snowboard.

But every week I got to know him better. He was funny. And talented. With moments of unexpected sweetness. We played Foosball at the Griz, and that’s when I learned “Mackays are the best at all sports”. And we played board games like ‘Guess Who’ which was thoughtfully hidden like a treasure under his bed. He stopped mid conversation once to throw on a wig and jean jacket, grab his board, shout “I’m late for a competition!” and dart out of the room only to run back for a kiss and take off like again like the road runner, leaving me in a cloud of dust. I went to watch him compete, wearing a shirt I helped myself to from his closet, hoping he would want it back. Luckily he did.

His laugh was beyond infectious. Even if the joke was on you. His thirst for life was contagious. He’d scream down the hall at his roommates at 6 am “YOU DID NOT MOVE HERE TO MISS A POWDER DAY!!!” And sure enough, sleepy eyes started to put on boots and follow the pied piper down the stairs. Bridger Bowl became a home, and the Bridger homies, family.

For him, all of life was a great game, a boundless adventure and it was impossible to not want to come along. And with that, I fell in love.

As for Calder, he-

“You were a babe.”

I swivel around in my desk chair. “I’ll sidestep the use of past tense for a minute, to say family is reading this? I can’t say that.”

“Ok, I like your cookies.”

Eyebrows raise. “Is that a euphemism for something?”

“Specifically snickerdoodle. Which I have had to bear without for many a YEAR!” Dramatic swoon onto couch.

“Oh come on. I made cookies last week.”

“Not snickerdoodle. YEARS I TELL YOU!” His face scrunches up in pain.

My eyes roll. One of his peek out to assess the effect of the performance, clamping shut again. Lower lip begins to quiver.

Sigh. “UGHHH…. Ok ok. Just help me finish this and I’ll make snickerdoodles. You fell in love with me when…”

Jumping up from the couch with a shout for snickerdoodles, he leans down with a kiss and wink. “Oh, you know.”

And I do know. Some things are just hard to describe.

Adventure buddies for life.

C&A

Meet Us in the Mountains