The Slopes Are Open

Most of us love the warm glow of the summer sun but there is something to be said for the colder months of the year.

For most, winter is known for back-breaking shoveling and dangerously icy commutes.  Yet, here in Chicago, winter is a way of life.  To Chicagoans, the glories of winter weather are indeed bountiful.  We get to partake in winter delicacies such as soup in a bread bowl, see lacey snowflakes serenely fall through the light of streetlamps, and, of course, watch football.  In Chicago, WE LOVE FOOTBALL.

However, for our more topographically diverse neighbors, the start of football season is nothing more than a drum roll leading up to the real winter sports event – the grand opening of ski season.  And, for many, that day is today.

In mountain towns across the world, young men and women are donning their ironic hoodies, hopping on skateboards, and wheeling through the village yelling, “The slopes are open, the slopes are open.”

Over 25 major resorts in the U.S. have started the lifts and are whisking avid ski and snowboard lovers away to powder heaven.  Whistler, Winter Park, and Vail are scheduled to open within the next week to round out North America’s ski offering.  And, for the more recreational of us, inboxes across America are filling with attempts at group plans for holiday weekends and cheerful ribbing about last year’s ski-tacular mishaps.

In celebration of the upcoming ski season here is a bit of video inspiration brought to you by Moji.  (Full disclosure:   by “brought to you”, we mean scavenged and embedded as we are sadly not cool enough to have shot the video or done the tricks.  If we train really hard, maybe we can rock that out for opening day next year.)

Related posts:

• Salute to Treadmill Warriors
• Undiscovered Running Surfaces
• That’s Snow Fun!
• The Disney Rundown
• “When the Race is On, All Bets Are Off”