April 2, 2022, Altitunes

The crisp evening air buzzed with an energy unseen and unfelt in over two years. It pulsed into the night air. 

Music.

And the crowd standing in front of the stage at Big White Ski Resort was alive with it. Four thousand people danced with the energy of it all. 

732 days earlier the band was supposed to be there on the stage. The Arkells were the headliners and the show was at 5700 feet. Then covid came to shut down the world. Concerts were one of the first things canceled in the wake of the pandemic that struck in March 2020. 

Now there we were April 2, 2022, and we were lifted by the energy of the music.

It was a connection so many of us have yearned for. My friend Brett came from Calgary to share the joy of sliding in the snow at 7500 feet. 

The concert was a bonus.

So was the powder that morning.

We began the day on the chair at 8:32 – one of these days I will make it to the chair before 8:30, But not this day. There was a wonderful coating of fresh snow on the ground and as we rode the chair skywards more snow began to fall.

Would the concert be subject to the wild whims of mother nature? We didn’t know and in those moments of powder turns, we didn’t care. 

The mountain was filling with fresh lines of snow and my ski buddy was invigorated by the coating of silky smooth wonder. The groomed snow was layered with untouched powder, we laughed with every turn of the chair. We met up with more friends and skied hard, lap after glorious lap. What more could I ask for? It was my birthday weekend after all and Ulr the snow god was smiling down at me. We rode the last chair to the top of the mountain, by then the sun had come out, and we were optimistic about a nice evening.

Satiated by our day on the slopes we sat with mixed emotions as we prepared to go to the show. I barely knew any of the songs by the Arkells, why were we spending over eighty dollars to stand outside and watch a band we barely knew? Wouldn’t a hot tub and a few beers be just as good?

But it was an event.

And it was on our home mountain. We couldn’t miss it… could we?

After a good home-cooked meal we were ready to wander down to the show. We didn’t know what to expect.

But we knew it would be big. At least as far as Big White standards went. We heard they were expecting around 5000 people. When we stepped off the gondola and saw the stage we could feel the electricity in the air. 

Who cares if we didn’t know the band, who cares about the cost of the tickets… It was the first big event in the interior in over two years. I could feel the base of my hair tingle and my fingers pulsed with excitement. We stood in line and watched the people ask for their vaccine passports. We’re not quite a dome with the restrictions on our lives,

The end of covid can’t come soon enough.

After the passports were shown we edged into the venue. It was very well organized, and I was pleased to see a large number of fast-moving lines for people to get refreshments. People were dancing and singing all around us. The magic of the moment built with more anticipation as we waited for the headliners to appear.

It didn’t matter I didn’t know their songs. Their excitement at being in the moment infected us all. I felt my heart fill with joy as the first notes rang out into the mountain air. 

Standing in the middle of 4000 cheering people lifted my soul to a place it has not been In over two years. I have seen music in the bars and small clubs. The level of energy we all experienced on that fresh mountain top was beyond compare. We connected with each other and the music.

At 10:30 they were supposed to be done. But the band played on. I could sense they didn’t want the night to end. None of us did.

As we rode the gondola back towards our mountain home we rejoiced in the moment. Thankful for powder turns in the morning, good friends all day long, and topped off with a joyful event in the Happy Valley Parking lot. 

I look forward to many more days of powder skiing and hope we can do Altitunes part 2 a year from now.