On Losing Skis

Story #1
I went skiing in Mammoth, CA with a group of friends this past weekend. I just got back home last night and oh my goodness I am exhausted. The weather, the snow, the friends were all fantastic. We couldn't leave Mammoth though without a bit of mini drama, of course.

We managed to get 11 out of 12 of our group all together at 12:30 for lunch at one of the main lodges. (The 12th was having a beer on the other side of the mountain). After lunch we decided break off into groups and ski for a bit more together in the afternoon. I went over to the ski rack to grab my skis to hit the slopes and noticed that my friend, Matt was frantically pacing up and down the ski rack aisles looking for his skis. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he couldn't find his skis...anywhere. Nick and I felt awful for him because our group was waiting for him by the lift and his skis were missing. He told us they were K2 rentals from the mountain and they were red. The three of us walked up and down the ski rack aisles and every red pair of K2 rentals that I found I would show him and they were not his. We told him to retrace his steps and imagine in his head exactly where he thought he left them. He walked over to this one section of the racks and pointed to a pair of green K2 skis and said "They were right here. I swear right here. I know someone took them." I said "Are you sure these green ones are not them?" He said "No, they were red." With that, Matt's girlfriend comes over to help and Matt explains that he can't find his skis. His girlfriend points to the green skis and says "They're right here." Matt says "No, my skis are red." She says, "No, they're green! Your poles are red." Matt says "Oh yeah... they are green!" And there went 10 minutes of my life out the window. We walked to the lift and Matt says "See what happens when you panic? Your brain stops working."

Story #2:
The slopes at Mammoth close at 4:00pm and I was ready to call it a day around 3:45. Nick decided to do one more run and I decided that my bod needed a rest and that I was finished for the day but I REALLY wanted a cup of hot chocolate from the lodge. I told him to enjoy one more run while I grab my much anticipated hot chocolate. I headed down to the lodge and put my skis up on the ski rack and was totally pumped to finish my day with my fabulous beverage. As I was leaning my skis up to the ski rack, I noticed this girl is panting and frantically pacing back and forth the ski rack aisles obviously looking for her skis. Her panic seemed to escalate quickly and she was clearly alone.

So then I had that ethical moment that we all have where you ask yourself "Act like I don't hear her and go get my hot chocolate? Or offer to help?" The shoulder angel beat the shoulder devil and I reluctantly said "Are you looking for your skis?" She looked at me almost in tears, "Yes! I know someone took them. I am supposed to meet my friends at lift 12 so that we can ski back to our condo and I can't get stuck here because the lifts close in 15 minutes and my cell phone is dead." Yikes, girlfriend's gots some problems.

I felt pretty badly for her and asked her what color her skis were so I can help. She told me they were purple Atomic skis and she left them "RIGHT HERE" as she pointed to an empty area on the ski rack. I then went through each row of skis and snowboards looking for purple Atomic skis. Every time I got to any color Atomic skis I would ask her if these were hers. Every time I got to any brand of purple skis and asked if they were hers. Each time she said no, and my craving for my hot chocolate deepened. My feet were killing me in my boots and I so badly wanted to sit down. I told her to retrace her steps and she did and pointed to that empty spot on the ski rack and said "I put them RIGHT HERE." After about 10 minutes of no good luck I looked over to my left and on the far side of the lodge I noticed another large area of ski racks. I asked her if they she could have put them there instead. She looked at me and didn't say a word. She then smiles and let out a long laugh and said "Oh my Gosh! I did leave them over there! I am so embarrassed. Thank you so much for the help!" I watched her run over to the ski rack and grab her purple Atomic skis and make her way to the chair lift. Although I was happy that the search was over and that I could finally make my way to the hot chocolate machine that awaited me so patiently, I thought wow people drive me crazy.

Highlight the text after the star to reveal which story is true * The true story is story number 1. Although I would have helped a frantic girl with lost skis, it was indeed my friend Matt who lost his skis and mistakenly mixed up red and green. Colorblind?