at dinner last winter between two guests meeting for the first time. “What do you do for a living?” asked the first. Thinking for a moment, the other guest slowly put his wine glass down and softly answered, “You’re asking the wrong question. You really should ask, ‘Who am I?’” There was an awkward pause. “OK then, who are you?” After another sip of wine, he replied, “I’m a skier. I’ve earned a living at a few different things, but deep down, I’ve always been a skier.”
Oddly enough, it made sense. Because there is a bond, a connection, a common denominator—call it what you will—among those of us who share this passion for skiing. We are proud to say we are skiers first. What we do for a living is simply a logistical detail.
Skiing is, always has been, and always will be, an adventure in lifestyle. The experiences we have, the people we have them with, and the memories we create—be they on the glaciers, in the trees, in the lodge, around a bonfire at night, or standing at the landing looking out at the top of the world—these are the suns around which our universe revolves.
At CMH we came from humble beginnings. A guide, a group of skiers, a hut high in the mountains, a cook and hut-keeper—that is our history and our shared experience. Over time, huts have become lodges, cooks turned into chefs and hut-keepers evolved into extraordinarily welcoming hosts. There’s an Austrian word that captures this spirit: HÜttenzauber, which, in English simply means “Hut Magic.” With that guiding notion, plus a good dose of humility, we awake each day eager to recapture the magic.
This journal is but a small piece of our story, which in a larger dimension is the story of our guests and our staff, and the thousands of memorable interactions which make a season at CMH what it is. As another glorious chapter looms before us, we hope you enjoy our celebration of moments past, and moments yet to come.
As a tribe we get to share a magical feeling: floating, weightless, blessed with speed and the benefit of gravity, flying with only a surface of untracked snow ahead of us, surrounded by beauty. In this sense, skiing is not recreation. It is re-creation.
We can be whomever we choose. And for us, “skier” sounds just about right.
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