Right after college I worked for a winter at
Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe. Nowadays I drink coffee to get my mind started in the
morning. Back then, a buddy and I were the first ones up the tram and we’d hit the mountain from top to bottom in a
race where the loser was the one who had to make a turn. That was how we got our hearts started.
This little story comes to mind right now not only because I just ordered a double red eye (coffee with a shot), but
also because I was reading about a
guy named Guru Dave at Snowbird, and was reminded of another guy in Tahoe just
like him. I forget the dude’s name. Maybe it WAS Dave. The point, though, is that every resort has their Guru Dave. The
guy who has made being a ski bum an occupation, a philosophy. Guru Dave is the guy who knows a little bit about
everything, enough anyway to hold forth for long soliloquies on the Ottoman Empire or the
virtures of a particular guitar. Guru Dave’s can also be dangerous, because listening to them can often make you doubt
your own chosen path in life…which might very well be a good thing.
Anyway, on this lazy Friday, I thought it might be nice to read about Guru Dave, and all the folks out there like
him.