CULTURE~ Why We Show Up: The Ritual of Opening Day

Perfect conditions? No. But it's still skiing, opening day will always hold a place in every season.

The moment the lifts start spinning at Olympic Valley, I’m already clipped in—posted at the turn tables, chasing that first turn. Ok, fine, maybe not first chair status, but still.

Opening day isn’t about perfect conditions. It’s ceremonial. A single lift, a ribbon of manmade snow, maybe a green and a blue if we’re lucky. It’s not the stuff of dreams, but it is skiing. And for those of us who’ve spent all summer chasing the memory of glide—of edge meeting snowpack—it’s everything.

Yeah, some of us who still recall from AIARE I know the drill—snow forms when water vapor freezes around a particle, creating ice crystals that bond into the snowpack. It’s science, sure. But it’s also the stuff our turns are made of.

We show up for the feeling.

That first carve. That moment when gravity meets memory and the mountain welcomes you back. You can’t blame us for being desperate for it. We’ve missed the chairlift conversations, the community, the ritual, an escape. Most of all, we’ve missed the connection—to terrain, to each other, to ourselves.

Opening day feels like the first day back at school—sophomore year (college). No one’s trying to prove anything. We’re just happy to be here. Grateful. Stoked. Knowing the best days are ahead. Conditions will improve. Favorite runs will reopen. New ones will be discovered. Friends will be made. Turns will be earned.

Opening day last year at Palisades Tahoe 2024.

Sure, it’s not the deepest day.

But it’s a day on snow. And for a ski bum, can you really ask for much more?

At Palisades Tahoe, the lift system can move over 53,000 skiers per hour, but opening day is more intimate—often just a few thousand riders sharing the stoke. Some come for the first turns. Others come for the free cookies (at some resorts). All of us come for the feeling.

I’ll see you out there—stickers in hand, clipped in, and chasing that first turn.

Are you going to your opening day at your home mountain? Tell us below why or why you're not going to opening day.