Joe and I were the most unlikely friends you could have imagined. The Odd Couple of KB. Me the old school, knuckle dragging snowboarder and Joe the classic example of an aging ski dad. Joe spent much of his life on the slopes at Kissing Bridge and rued the day they allowed us degenerates slide on his slopes.

I worked, rode and taught at Kissing Bridge and knew the legend of Holly Joe but never met him personally until 2006. I had been running Sliders for 3 years at this point and was in a position where I could go snowboarding most mornings. I would show up first thing and be the youngest and only guy with both feet strapped to one board. I think the retired folks in the bunch would get mad when I would beat them to first chair especially when I should have been at work, in their minds.

One morning when the snow was exceptionally rip-able, I laid a big old euro carve down at the bottom of Holly and skidded to a stop at base of the Quad. For you non-skiers, Holly is the main run at Kissing Bridge and Joe’s favorite. Thus the nickname Holly Joe. Anyway, while I was unstrapping my back foot from the board, I heard someone say “Hey Sliders Guy.” I looked up and it was Joe. “Hey you want to take a lift ride with me?” he said. “Sure I responded and slid up to the red line with him. You could tell he was a little nervous cause he made sure there was plenty of room between us while loading the chair. Last thing he needed was to be taken out by a heathen snowboarder.

Once safely on the chair and heading up “his” run. He asked “Do you know who I am?” I answered back immediately “Holly Joe.” He smirked and let out a little laugh. He proceeded to tell me that he really didn’t like snowboarders and that I was the first one he’d ever ridden the lift with. Then he told me that he had been watching me ride “that thing” every morning and that was impressed at the way I could carve and that I made it look fun. From there the conversation turned to the similarities but definite differences between our two choices in weapons. In later conversations Joe told me about his family and how long he had been skiing. It was great to hear his stories and we quickly became good friends.

Most mornings we would meet at the bottom of Holly and start our morning together talking about how screwed up the world was and how the two of us could fix it all. Kb was always part of the conversation and we both agreed they could do much better. For any of you who really knew Joe, you know that he was not one to sugar coat anything. I think that’s what I liked about him most. He said it the way he felt and if you didn’t like, then tough. I feel like when you get to a certain point in your years you almost earn that right.  A few years passed by and our morning meetings were something I always looked forward to. I would follow him down Holly and try to stay in his tracks. Joe laid down some of the most pretty and technically correct turns I’ve ever seen and was hard to stay with him. I would usually leave a little earlier then he so could go open the shop. Some mornings were so nice I would get to the shop late and there would be people waiting for me at the door. “One more” he’d say and I gave in almost every time. When he was finished with his turns for the day, he would often swing by the shop and hang out.

One year I signed him and Stefan up to go to the On-Snow Demo at Stratton as representatives of Sliders, shopping for new ski brands. It was partially the truth but mostly I just wanted to hook a brother up. He thanked me so many times. I’m pretty sure he had fun. My only regret is that I couldn’t go with them.

Shortly after that, one morning I was the one running a little late. I was late because I was fitting myself at the shop for some skis. When I finally got there and was making my way up to the lift, there was Joe, tapping his wrist and yelling at me for being late. Once he realized that those were skis slung over my shoulder, he grabbed his chest and said “Oh man, this is the big one.” The world must be ending because I was going to ski. After a few runs and some great advice, I was making some pretty sweet turns and got that feeling. The feeling that hooks you for life. It was then that we both realized that no matter what you slid on, that sensation was what we were both addicted to. Making sweet turns.

Later we met Dennis, another snowboarder and the 3 of us would share lift rides and compare our theories on life, women, politics and anything else we could factitiously fix in the universe. The last couple of years that Joe and I had our morning meetings at KB I noticed he was getting there later and not lasting as long. I would be waiting at the bottom and when he finally made his way up towards the lift I would be tapping my wrist and throwing my hands up to say “let’s go old man, you’re late! He would babble some cuss words at me and call me a name or two as we loaded the chair.

He wasn’t an old man in my eyes. Not ever. He was Joe and he was going to live forever and be my skiing buddy until days ended. I now realize that he may have been sick way before he let any of us know. After I closed Sliders, we always stayed in touch and skied together whenever we had the chance. I even got him to veer off Holly every now and again. (His second favorite hill was Coal Chute, but that would have made a stupid nickname.) He made a point to come see me at my new jobs and supported me in all my moves. We emailed each other almost every other day and I saved each one. I’m really going to miss my friend but I’m comforted knowing he’s watching and waiting till we can ski together again.