At my local hill, there is a new upcoming breed of tourists that honestly have no idea what they are doing. It's a ski town that is being overrun by rich people, and a resort that is changing the whole mountain. But if you truly look deep down inside you can find the heart of a ski town. A town of people that at the end of the day simply love to ski. "Local legends" is what they are called, all different but all have some kind of nickname. And they all share the same love for the ski town they have lived in for over half their lives.

It's honestly pretty hard for me to write this, I am way younger than all of these guys and I don't even know half their stories. But here is what I do know. Local legends aren't just ordinary people, they are the characters and their skiing shows it. If you ever get the chance to take a run with a local legend, watch closely. They have skied the same mountain for 20, 30, 40, maybe even 50 years. They have just about seen it all. From what I have observed, most of the local legends at my home mountain have some kind of "claim to fame" even if some are crazier than others. For example, one local legend is over 50 years old and he doesn't own a season pass. Instead, he gets up at 4 in the morning at least 4 times a week and hikes up in the resort he then goes into the backcountry. He skis multiple laps in the backcountry and skis down at the end of the day just in time to grab a beer at the mountain's bar with all of his buddies.

There are stories of a guy who will be in the bars talking to everyone about climbing peaks and some how it comes up if he can go climb whatever peak they are talking about and make it back before last call. Sounds crazy right? Well, it gets crazier. This guy will drive to the trailhead at like 10:30 at night run up the peak in the dark and make it just in time for last call. Some would call him reckless, some would call him crazy and some would call him downright stupid. But regardless he cemented his name as a "local legend". There are many other stories and many other people. I hope that in this new generation of skiers that there will still be "Local Legends".