Apres - The other part of skiing

I don't think I would be doing justice to the skiing world if I didn't talk about the other half of skiing - Apres. Apres literally means after in French and it means exactly what is sounds like, what you do after skiing. In most cases this involves cheap wings, nachos and beer.
The ski bum life usually doesn't attract the conservative, academic type so it is easy to find friends who will share in this joy most days. Apres usually happens when the day is over, but if there is bad weather or poor conditions on the hill apres can begin earlier. When there is no fresh powder, it is not strange to start talking about it around noon and make it to the bar around 2 p.m.
Last year when we were working on the hill, we would start talking about it around lunch and tell everyone by making a small, medium or large "A" with our hands and arms similar to doing hand motions in "YMCA." Little A's might mean a couple beers, but often a little "A" would turn into a big one and apres would end at 2 a.m.
Once I was skiing with a couple Austrian girls in New Zealand at the Remarkables and I lost them around noon. When I saw them again at 4 p.m., they said the conditions weren't good so they went in for Jagertee. Similar to how North Americans eat wings and drink beer, Austrians drink some mixture of tea and rum for apres. This was something they started talking about at 8 a.m. The food and drink may be different but the spirit is the same around the world.
People sit around and tell exaggerated stories about what they skied that day. A five foot cliff that someone jumped can easily be 20 feet during apres. It is also a way to not feel bad about leaving a friend or loved one at the beginning of the day because you didn't want to ski with them. If you ditch someone during the first run because they are slowing you down, you can always say, "I'll meet you for apres." Then you will still spend time with them and they won't slow you down.
The key for someone in their 20's to a good apres is finding good and cheap wings, nachos and beer.
Next week I will share my favourite spots and why.