Front row (L->R) Weems Westfeldt, Rick Pabst, Scott Reeves, Hap Ridgway, Susan Ridgway, Peter Emmel, Jim Lawrie, Gerry Bell

Sitting (L->R) Julia Griffith, Larry Griffith, Bob Wagner, John Blair, Chris Blair, Paul Fitzgerald, Rusty Martin, Rich duMoulin

Standing (L->R) Laurie Noyes, Jim Noyes, Dave Dibelius, Bev Lawrie, Steve Schwager, Mark duMoulin, Charlotte Irving, Kathy Fitzgerald, Martin Cole, Diane Wagner, Peter Fahey, Doug Hercher

Dave Dibelius Reports

Bluebird skies, fresh snow, and great people to ski and hang with. It doesn’t get any better than that.  From March 2 through March 9, classmates and guests crushed the cruisers, frolicked in the powder, gathered by the fire to defy frost and storm, and raised a cup to the lip in a pledge of fellowship.  Zum zum zum … .  Anybody remember that?

Anyway, Aspen/Snowmass in Colorado was the site of the 2018 western ski trip for classmates and spouses Hap and Susan Ridgway, Jim and Laurie Noyes, John and Chris Blair, Jim and Bev Lawrie, Larry and Julia Griffith, Paul and Kathryn Fitzgerald, Rusty Martin, Peter Emmel, Scott Reeves, Rick Pabst, Rich du Moulin, Peter Fahey, Gerry Bell, Dave Dibelius, and Steve Schwager.  We were joined by guests Bob and Diane Wagner, Martin Cole, Doug Hercher, Mark du Moulin, and Charlotte Irving.

Jim and Laurie secured two beautiful houses right across the street from one another and just a short walk from a ski trail.  As always, the casual friendliness of communal living was one of the best parts of the trip.  Delicious group dinners were prepared by the Lawrie, Ridgway, Noyes and Blair cooks showing off their skills, we ate too much and loved it.

Other highlights included a terrific dinner at famous Krabloonik restaurant (also home to a large dog sled racing operation, and no, that really was elk that we ate), a cross country ski and snowshoe expedition to Ashcroft, and for a lucky few at Snowmass a hike up the ridge (breathtaking at 11,000 feet) to ski fresh powder on Long Shot, one of the best ski trails in the country. After the cross-country/snowshoeing adventure all of the participants were found sitting on benches in Aspen eating ice cream and listening to an old guy (guess that could have been us) tune his guitar and play his dulcimer.

We were joined by classmate Weems Westfeldt for a grand tour of Snowmass Mountain and an amazing morning of ski instruction. Weem's reputation as one of the best ski instructors in the U. S. is well deserved!

Look for an announcement about western ski trip 2019, scheduled for Beaver Creek and c’mon along!  The search for houses has begun and trip details will be announced on the class website, the newsletter and DAM ’68 column.