Our last night in London we were invited to a photo exhibition by photographer Tim Hall. It was in an Austrian/German themed restaurant next to Kennsington Gardens called Bodo’s Schloss and was put on by Lech and Zurs Tourism.  Upon arriving, I met up with the amazing Arnie Wilson who was chatting with top SNOW writer Leslie Woit. Arnie has published numerous books about skiing and top ski resorts. He is the editor of  the UK’s Ski and Board Magazine. He has won numerous awards for excellence in journalism. In 1994 he skied every day of the year going to 240 resorts in 13 countries. He even had the openness of mind to hire me as a writer to do a story on skiing in Alaska’s Chugach with the team from Tordrillo Mountain Lodge.

It was great to re connect with Arnie. His passion for the sport of skiing is contagious. As I circulated around the room I found myself face to face with Sage Cattabriga Alosa. Big Mountain skier, film star, and all around great guy. I’ve voted him the big mountain skier you’d most like to take to meet your grandmother. He is that nice. He’s always got a big smile and his manner is unassuming. I remember meeting him for the first time and watching him ski. It was in Portillo more than 10 years ago. We’d never seen anything like it. To put it simply, he brought “Park Skiing” to the big mountain playground. It was so exciting to watch him play with the the mountain and explore its every nook and cranny. He was happy to go skiing with all of us on the staff and it was a joy to try and follow him, emphasis on “try”. Sage was in London at this event doing some work with his ski sponsor Atomic. Before leaving I felt compelled to tell him that he seemed to be an old soul, someone wise beyond his years. He said, “well, thus my name”! And there you have it.