March 16, One year in…

Barrman awoke to a feeling of anxiety and uncertainty. The world he was living in seemed to be crumbling around him. Time was running out and the world just entered a new vocabulary into everyday life. Social distancing was one of the new terms being used. It all seemed so weird.

Pandemic. That’s what they kept saying.

What the hell was going on? His wife K-Dee and a few of their friends went to watch Jon Bos the day before and half the chairs were gone from Happy Valley Day Lodge. The whole thing felt surreal, everyone was talking about it. Big White kept saying they would remain open. They told everyone it was outdoors, everyone had masks anyway.

Then Whistler Blackcomb and the entire Vail Resorts Corp. started to close. All bets were off.

Barrman was going to ski as much as possible, it was St. Patrick’s day tomorrow and it was going to be a great party on the patio of the Blarney Stone Irish Pub.

“It’s Eight-fifteen hon, we should get moving.” K-Dee woke Barrman from his thoughts and the two adventurous skiers headed out the door and to the Ridge Rocket Express. The Ridge wasn’t lined up too much and they spotted their friends JD and Anny waiting in their usual spot right at the front of the line.

“Hey guys, the chair’s still spinning, looks like another great day in paradise.” JD smiled at the couple as they rode into line.

“Sure does, there’s a little dusting of new snow to coat the slopes. The groomers should be pretty sweet.” Barrman stuck his poles into the snow. The four friends had been skiing much of the winter and Barrman knew he would see JD in his usual spot. His ski buddy had made every day that season and was shooting for a perfect year. Barrman chuckled to himself. A perfect season would be quite the feat.

“Sure hope they stay open like they say they will.” K-Dee looked over at Anny and shrugged. The look on her face showed how much faith she had in that statement.

“One day at a time, one run at a time, even.” JD smiled as the gates swung open on what would turn out to be the last day of the ski season for 2019-2020. Little did they know at the time.

The day started with the freshly groomed turns of Born Too Run and progressed across the hill. Time crawled as it flowed by in the carving of untracked corduroy. It progressed for the snow-riders. The outside world didn’t matter.

Lunchtime came when Barrman and K-Dee cruised back into their condo to get ready to head back to town. The tension felt in the village could be cut with a knife. Rumours swirled about this strange new coronavirus that was spreading across the world.

“Hey, honey do you think we should pack up the skis and bring them down with us?” Barrman looked over at his wife. He felt glad people were coming to the mountain to use the condo, but what if it closed? Then what?

“What time do the guests arrive?” K-Dee started sorting her gear and tidying up. “I hope we get to use our skis again, they say the hill will remain open.”

“I know but they just closed all the bars in BC so who knows what could happen.” The mid-aged man felt every one of his approaching fifty years as he grabbed his skis and put them up on the shelf. “I think I will leave them here, I don’t see us going anywhere else until the renters leave on Saturday.”

Barrman looked down at his wife, amazed at how beautiful she remained. Her hair was still a deep black colour with no grey hairs showing yet. Despite being married to him for the last five years she still kept looking better all the time.

He was sweeping the last of the season’s debris from the garage when he got the text. They are closing the hill at 3:30 today!

What the fff..? Michael J, promised… that meant nothing really, the poor guy is dealing with the craziest shit of his career…

Barrman finished loading his car when the SUV pulled up in front of his mountain home.

Out stepped an excited Asian gentleman, “ Hello my name is Jason Chan, we are here to stay in this condo.”

“Hi Jason, I’m Vic, Vic Barrman. Welcome to Big White.” Barrman gulped deep, he wasn’t sure how to break the news. He just pushed down his fear and voiced his regrets. “Sorry to tell you this Jason but they are closing the ski hill as we speak. If you’re quick you may get one run in.” They both looked up at the plaza chair carrying skiers over their heads.

“I’m not surprised, we just wanted to escape Vancouver. We are happy to be here.” The thirtysomething renter turned to his group inside the car, “They are closing the hill, anyone wants a run better move.”

The garage was emptied and Barrman finished loading his car. K-Dee grabbed Snowbee and Gabby, their faithful cats. They settled into their Subaru Forrester, it was time to say goodbye to their mountain home. When would they return to ski again?

Barrman felt empty inside. He had a strange feeling in his heart as they drove away from their mountain home. Why couldn’t they ski, what was covid 19? What the heck was being spread, was it lies, death, or a warning.

One year later Barrman sat and strapped on his brand new boards. Satisfaction and excitement flowed through his veins. It was a year later in the coronaverse and Big White was wide open, life was good…