Gary's Glade

Short Story — A pair of snowboarders exploring the backcountry around Visage Resort, reminisce about a famed skier who went missing years prior

“Over here!” I pointed at a gap in the trees along the edge of the trail. I heard the scrape of Mark’s board behind me, cutting across the well-groomed snow. We zipped through the edge of the tree line, continuing up the gradual slope until powder bogged down our boards, forcing us to walk.

“Do you know the way?” I asked. “I’m a little fuzzy.”

“Sure do.” Mark smiled. He led us deeper into the pines, where the boughs and snow-pack swallowed almost all sound, save for our soft crunching footsteps.

“Glad I met you on the lift,” Mark said. “It’s tough finding people to ride in here. Most are scared. Someone vanishes every odd year since the blizzard. You’d never catch me here alone.”

“Can’t blame you,” I said. “Were you here when it happened?”

“Oh, yeah.” The crunching continued. “Part of the search party.”