I enjoy both skiing with friends and skiing alone. The latter is more frequent because I just can't find many people my age who want to do what I want to do and I am a drag on younger stronger skiers. This is not such a bad thing; I have always enjoyed solitude and quiet in the outdoors.

A couple days ago at Discovery in Anaconda, MT I asked an old guy where the lockers were, never having been there before. He said he'd walk me there and then asked did I fish. I said yes, but not nearly as much as I should. In HS I was a very passionate fly fisherman, tying my own flies and bicycling 15 miles each way to fish the Ipswich River, at the time a very good stream. He said, wait a minute, I have something for you, went to his locker and gave me a 10 lb. beautifully illustrated book and said, I had 10 more of these to give away so now I only have 9. The title, "Montana's Last Best River, The Big Hole and its People." Then he skied with me all day, giving the grand and scenic tour of the area. He is a very good skier who puts in 100 days a year. He gets a free pass. He asked what kind of skiing I liked and I said powder in the trees. He took me to a place he calls the Clandestine Trail which he hadn't skied for 5 years. In truth it was pretty nasty with breakable crust covered with a few inches of sun baked powder with some steep short rolls and drops in tight trees and big cliffs that you pass under. It was too low on the mountain for the days conditions. But we both agreed it would be magnificent under 2 feet of new powder. I bought him lunch and reeb and will make a contribution to the Big Hole River Foundation, a non profit that receives all the proceeds from sale of the book. The Big Hole is one of America's most famous trout streams and I have dreamed of fishing there since those HS days.

Yesterday I skied Lost Trail again. It was Powder Thursday. Once again there was new powder from the closed days of M, T, W. I met Jay on the lift and his buddies Tom, Peter and Jerry, who is 80. The others were my age, all retired, local, and 100 day per year skiers. We skied the Sac Jac trees (Sacajawea). Later, after I could no longer ski their pace, I skied alone in the Two Dot trees.

Another day of powder in paradise.

there are no "friends" on powder days - only people that you get in front of and let them eat your spray lol.

Denis, if you recall I made several older friends on my western ski travels earlier this year. The tours they provided really enriched my visits to their ski areas and they seemed enjoy showing a tourist their personal ski paradise. This happened often enough that I was beginning to think of myself as an "old guy magnet", maybe you are one too.
Have fun, be safe.

Ski friends bring you back to elementary school. Punch each other in the arm and you are friends for life!

Good story Denis.

I have met and skied with some interesting characters from all over the world when I stay at Alta, and I learned that sitting at the community table for dinner is the gateway to some great skiing friendships. I'm generally happy skiing by myself about 95% of the time, but it is definitely more enjoyable with some company, especially someplace where I am new.