Reason #2: I skipped school all the time to ski-- but the stories aren't that cool-- my parents are big skiers and didn't really mind too much when I missed classes on powder days. What they did mind though, was when I missed church (strict Mormon family). So, in my mind, skipping church for skiing was a much bigger deal. My Grandma who lived close, used to teach clinics for new instructors the weekend before the first lessons started, and it was the one Sunday she ever skied each year. So, when I was 14 or so, We got an early dump at Alpental, and the instruction clinics landed on the same weekend as opening day. Saturday night, I weighed out the consequences with the idea of skiing fresh pow on opening day, and packed my gear in a bag and stashed it wish my bike in the bushes down the street Sunday morning, I got all ready for church, put on a suit and tie, ate breakfeast with my family, and said I was getting a ride with another family to church because I had to help out setting up chairs. I walked out the door, found my stash bag, and rode as fast as I could to my Grandma's with skis in one hand, and a backpack full of gear. I pulled up, and she was already pulling out. She was a little confused, but I explained that I decided I was teaching skiing that year, and I had to be at the new instructor clinic, and my parents said it was ok.
Luckily my grandma didn't have a cell phone, and I had one of the most memorable days ever, skiing powder by myself. It was even one of those days when the snow was coming down lightly and sun was shining through it. At the end of the day, I told grandma that my clinic, taught by someone other than her, went great. Needless to say, the wrath of the parents was unleashed that night. I knew it was coming, and I knew the punishment could never outweigh what I had just experienced. I was grounded for a couple weeks, my grandma found out I didn't go to a clinic, and was super pissed-- but it was definitely one of the best ski days ever.
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Eric Leone
Pico, VT
21 yrs old
“Vote to Ski”
I love skiing. I also love not failing out of college. Going to school in Connecticut doesn’t make it very easy to have spontaneous skiing days so I had never actually skipped school before to go to Vermont. The story takes me back to the day of a historic presidential election two years ago. It was a big day because it was my first presidential election I’d get a chance to vote in; it was also the day that Mount Snow had opened up in November and was the only place on the east coast to have a chair running. College is supposed to teach you how to properly manage your time and use your time wisely. So obviously the logical choice at the time was to skip class, leave campus on a Tuesday morning at 7 and head to mount snow for the day and be back in time to vote by that night. It was all going to plan as we were about to cross into Vermont on a back road until we heard the siren. My friend driving got pulled over for speeding, but it turned out my friend hadn’t renewed his registration and the penalty in Massachusetts is impounding the car. We were about 30 minutes from Mount Snow and it was only 9 in the morning. We were on a back road with no cell phone service while we were waiting with the cop for the tow truck to come and we had no idea of how we were going to get out of there. The cop was “nice” enough to give us a ride back into the main town, so all three of us piled into the back of the cop car and drove in the opposite direction. Keep in mind all of our skis were in my friend’s car that was getting towed. So now we’re 45 minutes from Mount Snow and we’re 2 hours from home, sitting outside of a taco bell. We had no options for rides except only one I could think of. My hometown friend’s mom was at Mount Snow hanging out for the day and I knew if I could get to Mount Snow I could find a ride from friends there to get back to school. I had no choice but to call her and explain the situation. Of course she wasn’t thrilled but she was awesome about it all as long as we paid for her gas and I also bought her dinner after that as well. She picked up my friends and I, drove us to the impound lot where we got our skis then brought us to Mount Snow. By the time we got to the mountain it was around 2:30. I got to see all my friends who had been there since 10, got to get my first turns in for the season, and hit some rails. We only skied for about 2 hours because we were lucky enough to find friends driving back to CT and had to take their ride. So we all crammed into the back of a tiny sedan with our skis and I had the most uncomfortable ride home. I got back around 9, had no chance to vote, and had been gone for over 12 hours that day to ski for 2 hours. On top of that the mom network was in action as I got a nice call from my own mom asking me why I was in a cop car that day and why I wasn’t in school. That was probably the most hectic day I’ve ever had regarding skiing but all of that craziness resulted in the best 2 hours I had all semester. It’s amazing what skiers will do for just a couple turns or rail slides. I skipped my first class for skiing ever, rode in the back of a cop car, got stranded hours away from home, asked for my friend’s mom’s help that she has every right to make fun of me forever, somehow got lucky enough to find a ride home, got busted by my mom, missed the presidential election and I don’t have a single regret. I made my choice and I voted that day to go skiing.
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