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Why We're All Bros When We're On The Slopes

DENVER (CBS4) - Maybe it's the friendly attitude of the West. Maybe it's the understanding that traversing a mountain is dangerous. Or maybe it's the unavoidable happiness one feels when sliding down a snowy mountainside.

Whatever it may be, I'm constantly delighted by and appreciative of the comradery among skiers.

I'm a recent transplant of Colorado and have happily adapted to the snow bunny life. I don't know many people in the state, but my schedule allows for free afternoons. So when the fresh powder dropped in the mountains this week, I couldn't resist.

Yesterday, I went skiing alone. And I had a blast.

I laughed aloud to myself while bouncing through piles of snow, and glided through trees with a smile on my face the whole time. On my second lift ride up, I met a friend. He was snowboarding alone, so we decided to tear through the back bowl together -- a safer venture than navigating a steep, dense forest alone.

Naturally, I lost him in the trees, but it wasn't long before I met another crowd of happy skiers. They helped find my ski and pull me out of what felt like 3 feet of powder. We skied to the bottom then got on separate lifts.

There I met a lovely lady with a harsh lisp who talked about ski technology for 20 minutes. I started the conversation by saying I liked her skis, and that was all it took.

Every time I go skiing it's charming how friendly people are to one another. A complete stranger stopped their momentum on a catwalk to help me out of a hole.

Even if you're just taking a break, lying in the snow (and eating some of it), people stop to make sure you're okay. It's the kind of understanding you get in a hostel when backpacking through Europe, meeting fellow travelers, learning everyone's story, and accepting the lack of privacy. You're in it together.

And on a fresh powder day, with wide open slopes and winter wonderland in every direction, it's impossible not to be happy!

Every person feels the goodness of fresh air, mountains, and freedom. When you put them all together, it's darn well one of the happiest places to be on this earth.

Ski Report

Check the status of trails & lifts at Colorado ski resorts in the CBSDenver.com Ski Report section.

CBS4 social media and website producer Heather Sadusky writes about trending topics on social media and across the Internet on her What's Trending Blog. Share a story idea with Heather by clicking here.

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