N EW S | OPENING DAYS

FIRSTTRACKS

OPENING DAYS

If you want to earn points in the G am e of G .N .A .R . , don’t m iss opening day.

Mad River Glen’s opening day on Dec. 7, 2019 coincided with powder so deep Brooks Curran got face shots (above). That same year, Brian Smuda (first on left), nabbed Mt. Snow’s first chair.

Opening day. First chair. If those words don’t get your blood running, you’re not a skier. Whether it’s a mid-October day at Killington with glitter flying and breakfast burritos going to the early birds, or a surprise December dump at Pico (our cover shot) or Mad River Glen (photo at left), that first day of ski season is a party that shouldn’t be missed— no matter how long the line is. And there’s some serious status to getting first chair of the season.

Pro skiing legend Shane McConkey immortalized the status behind “first chair.” In his Game of G.N.A.R., (developed with his buddy Rob Gaffney), you could earn 3,000 points for getting first chair on KT22 at Squaw Valley (recently named Palisades), according to Gaffney’s Numerical Assessment of Radness. McConkey was so known for his first chair frenzy that an ad for Volante’s Machete ski showed him using the ski as a weapon to massacre a crowd lined up ahead of him.

Liftline antics like McConkey’s don’t (usually) happen in Vermont. But there’s still a competition to get the first run of the season. Just ask Mount Snow legend Brian Smuda. Smuda has been making the day trek to Mount Snow from his home in Enfield, Ct. for most of his 35 years. Seven years ago, he came up the night before.

“It all started the year I quit drinking,” he says. “I was out in Dover with friends at OMT towards the bar’s close and knew my sobriety would work to my advantage to try for first chair.” He did and got it. In subsequent years, he became so determined to keep the streak going he camped out overnight. “I got my sleeping bag and lawn chair and set up right next to the lift,” he says.

“Mount Snow has been my family and opening day is like a reunion,” Smuda says. Skiing has also helped him conquer some of the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia, a condition which causes involuntary movements. “It helps me focus and keeps me in control of my body,” he says. In 2018 he underwent Deep Brain Stimulation surgery. “Eighty-six days later, I was back for first chair,” he says.

You can’t miss Smuda. “I usually wear my mullet wig with a purpleand-teal women’s one-piece fart bag I got at thrift shop,” he says. His fanny pack carries Bluetooth speakers and blares ‘80s pop. “I figure, hey why not have fun,” he explains. “At times people will ask me if I’m on drugs but I simply smile, and say: ‘Nope, I’m 100% sober.’”

For that we give him 10,000 G.N.A.R. points. —L.L.