More from Ira Riklis:
Vail Mountain officially opens for skiers at 8:30 am. The lift lines will open at 8:00 am and the first skiers will be allowed onto the lifts at 8:15 am. This is generally referred to as “first chair”.
Officially, all the chairs are first chairs until the first person to get on the lift at 8:15 am reaches the top of the lift and would have the time to ski back down to the “feeder” lift. So all the chairs from 8:15 am to about 8:45 am are considered “first chair”.
As for me, I consider being on the lift, skis on feet and tushy on the frozen cushion of the chair, at 8:15 am to be the only true first chair. My friends and family consider me to be a little crazy this way, but it works really well.
[In addition to his skiing interest, read about Ira Riklis' Charities.]