Most interesting person you shared a lift with

**hawkgt** · 09-24-2018, 03:51 PM

thought about this thread over the weekend and remembered the skiing rancher few years back. rode lift 1 at loveland with a rancher from Nebraska. decked out in what a rancher would wear. redneck to the bone but he LOVED to ski. he spoke of his only real vacation all year was the couple weeks mid winter when he could get away from the ranch. stayed at the cheap hotel in georgetown and brown bagged it every day. i try to remember that stoke level when i am bitching about conditions or some other random bs

**CazMan26** · 09-25-2018, 10:13 AM

Wayne Wong - back in the early 80's at Labrador mtn. in CNY.

**Vitamin I** · 10-05-2018, 02:16 PM

Last winter, my 1-on-1 lift ride with Eric Pehota seemed strikingly genuine and "maximally right". Hard to put into words. I was skiing solo, he was skiing solo. Plenty of silent passages, but he was very open and interested in conversation---he just seemed to preserve the "right" mountain vibe for our upcoming separate solo laps. It seems so effortless for him to be an effective Ski Ambassador without even trying...or maybe he's more of a general Mountain-Man Ambassador...

Last winter, I also had a 6-person gondola ride with Keegan-Michael Key & his wife (or maybe fiancee at the time?). Nothing too interesting about it, except that he was a regular down-to-earth guy just being a normal American tourist in Canada, somewhat hoping to remain unrecognized, and he seemed way way nicer than the average person. I was the only person in the gondola with ski gear---everyone else was just doing a scenic gondola ride at Whistler. The other 3 people were from Asia and had no idea he was a famous person.

.

**PNWbrit** · 10-05-2018, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by Vitamin I

Keegan-Michael Key

The other 3 people were from Asia and had no idea he was a famous person.

.

I had to Google him. Calling "famous" is something of a stretch.

I'm the least Asian person you could ever fucking meet

**hawkgt** · 10-05-2018, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by PNWbrit

I had to Google him. Calling "famous" is something of a stretch.

I'm the least Asian person you could ever fucking meet

**DougW** · 10-05-2018, 08:08 PM

I had to look it up too but if it had been "Key from Key and Peele" that I would know.

**white_wolf** · 10-09-2018, 01:23 AM

Crazy Karl at Targhee last season - about as chill and "above it all" as you would expect him to be. Basically just said oh damn you're crazy karl and then skiied off in opposite directions. Good ass skier, glad to have shared a chair with him

**PNWbrit** · 10-09-2018, 01:15 PM

Google didn't help with that one ^

**One (+) Sentence** · 10-09-2018, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by hawkgt

That one is the classic, but I’ve always preferred Little Homie
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pSDTmJtE-Bc

**One (+) Sentence** · 10-09-2018, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by PNWbrit

Google didn't help with that one ^

Stop incriminating yourself...

**AdironRider** · 10-09-2018, 03:42 PM

I had a pass to Whiteface back in college and used to ski primarily midweek. Tuesdays I never could get anyone to go with me so usually rode solo.

Im riding the summit lift when this grizzled old Adk guy gets on, and asks if "I want a pole". I look at him strangely and he proceeds to unscrew his grip and take a rip of whiskey. If I recall Canadian Mist was his favorite. We share a couple pulls then he proceeds to tell me he was the third alternate for the US in the downhill and never left, had skied every single day Whiteface was open since. He had a radar gun on him and was clocking people down Skyward.

He was also on snowblades. He was not terrible at it.

This guy was full of so much shit, but man, he sure made for an entertaining lift ride. This happened a couple times that year. He never remembered me. Wonder if he is still kicking it around Wilmington.

**::: :::** · 10-09-2018, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by PNWbrit

Calling "famous" is something of a stretch.

maybe not world famous, but def an american celebrity

key & peele was hilarious
this one sticks in my head

he's currently doing ESPN ads

https://ispot.tv/a/dKQc

**plugboots** · 10-09-2018, 04:02 PM

I went on a ski trip w/ future Mrs. Plugboots to Lake Louise in March '91. I didn't know about it, and didn't plan for it, but there was a WC DH race going on there at the same time. I was off skiing by myself, and completely serendipitously, Tommie Moe and Kyle Rasmussen got on the chair with me as they were training on the race course. Maybe even racing that day, I forget. It was really low key. Anyway, they were quiet, and I generally don't chat up celebrities/famous people. About a 1/4 of the way up, Tommie leans over Kyle, (who was sitting between us), and says: "Don't short skis suck?!"

Yes, I was kinda digging the fact that I was skiing my 215 Dynamic Super G's that day. I said: "Yes they do."
So I've prolly shared chairs with more interesting people, (I even shared a chair with Tommie much later when he was doing steeps camps at JH), but this was my best story anyway.

**BFD** · 10-09-2018, 04:23 PM

37 years ago I rode a chair with my cousin a holocaust survivor. It was my first time meeting him. He asked about camping in snow caves. He survived as a boy by burying himself in the snow.

**mcski** · 10-09-2018, 06:19 PM

A real Survivor

https://youtu.be/r5erQW0i5Ps

**skifishbum** · 11-05-2018, 06:36 AM

i didnt share a lift but i did get to tail gun jimmies sit ski for a run
which is cooler imo
and spend a day with Mr. Heuga for he passed

dude was a class act inspirational hero

**FLS** · 11-05-2018, 08:14 AM

Ha, one of our favorite little runs at Hunter, Jimmy Heuga Express, very cool that you got to meet and ski with the man.

**willywhit** · 11-05-2018, 08:30 AM

Peter Jennings at Sugarbush, mid 90's. I commented on the sweet gloves he had on( he got them at the olympics or something) and did a double take when I looked at himand realized.... Hey, you're Peter Jennings, big fan, sir. He had his kid with him and was super nice and genuine. Talked about skiing in Canada( since he's Canadian )I'll never forget it. No cell phones back then,so no pic just a cool memory. Didn't know about this. RIP https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/pete...y-legacy/17514

also met plenty of pro snowboarders on the chair at Stratton when they still did the US Open there. We got credentials for the athlete's tent, too. Met a bunch of cool people

**XXX-er** · 11-05-2018, 11:09 AM

probably the most famous would be Nancy Greene,she used to ski with average folks at sunpeaks one afterneoon a week

**nutmegchoi** · 11-05-2018, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by willywhit

Peter Jennings at Sugarbush, mid 90's. I commented on the sweet gloves he had on( he got them at the olympics or something) and did a double take when I looked at himand realized.... Hey, you're Peter Jennings, big fan, sir. He had his kid with him and was super nice and genuine. Talked about skiing in Canada( since he's Canadian )I'll never forget it. No cell phones back then,so no pic just a cool memory. Didn't know about this. RIP https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/pete...y-legacy/17514

also met plenty of pro snowboarders on the chair at Stratton when they still did the US Open there. We got credentials for the athlete's tent, too. Met a bunch of cool people

Loved his relaxed and very personal broadcasting style.
Over the course of 9/11, his sympathy and empathy was a small comfort out of the horrible time.
Miss Peter Jennings.

**detrusor** · 11-05-2018, 01:47 PM

Not me but kids road the lift w Lyndsey Vonn this morning....

Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

**dan_pdx** · 11-06-2018, 01:10 AM

Maybe this guy: https://www.bendbulletin.com/news/15...ger-and-faster

We had an interesting conversation about geometry for very fucking long boards, aka "here's why I don't have a sane sidecut on my 252 cm snowboard".

**MMMSKI** · 11-07-2018, 07:51 PM

for "interesting" that would be ski man at loon mtn in nh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff40...&frags=pl%2Cwn

**4matic** · 11-07-2018, 08:44 PM

Originally Posted by dan_pdx

Maybe this guy: https://www.bendbulletin.com/news/15...ger-and-faster

We had an interesting conversation about geometry for very fucking long boards, aka "here's why I don't have a sane sidecut on my 252 cm snowboard".

You need a gimmick for those flat groomers at batch.

**Dromond** · 11-07-2018, 09:41 PM

Not my personal story, but: Last run on opening day at Revelstoke a few years ago, my wife decides she's going to download on the gondy rather than ski the crowded WROD. I say "turns are turns" and ski down. Turns out another guy hopped in and they chatted on the ride down. He said something like "no way I'm skiing that bullshit" and they both agreed that the WROD to the bottom was for losers. So that's one skiing preference my wife shares with Ian McIntosh....