There are two things that are certain about the break of morning at Canyons Village: the sunrise and the Orange Bubble first chair crew. For the last 12 years, people have gathered to watch the mountain open and ride the first chair at the Orange Bubble Express lift every day of the season. The morn ing ritual is spearheaded by Kenny Groman, who has connected with hundreds of skiers and riders over the years to motivate each other to make great turns and friendships on snow. The group of more than 40 people gathered for an end of season dinner celebration at the Tarahumara Restaurant on Tuesday evening, an annual tradition that began three years ago. “Well this started when my condo wasn’t big enough to do it anymore. We used to bring food in when we only had 12 to 15 people many years ago. The group just exploded to anybody who wanted to come this year,” said Groman. For members of this morning crew, Kenny’s leadership is a hallmark of their winter season. “It’s like in the Grateful Dead how we’re all Jerry’s Kids. In this crew, we’re all Kenny’s kids,” said Dave Shank, who first met the group in 2022. Angel Ruiz, co-owner of Tarahumara and group leader of eight years, said, “Kenny is my best ski buddy and best friend.”Ruiz and Groman met almost 10 years ago through the Epic app, which used to allow riders to meet each other in friendly competition. The application used to track the vertical feet everyone skied and placed individuals on a leaderboard. “That’s how we started all meeting each other, and creating this great group of 40 to 50 people,” said Ruiz. “We have a very fun group of people and we all challenge each other to the most we can. Every person here probably averages more than 100 days skied per year.” Ruiz and Groman have skied more than 120 days this season, with Ruiz missing only three days all winter. Groman lives part time in New Jersey, but he spends his winter and summer months in Park City, meeting Ruiz on the hill for days of skiing and mountain biking year-round. “I’ve been coming out for 13 years, and met Angel then and convinced him to come to the canyon’s side. I taught him to do powder and now he’s 20 years younger than I am, so I can hardly keep up with him,” said Groman. “On 9990, I’m still faster though. Angel’s the best ski buddy I could ask for.”Even for people who have been skiing together for decades, the dinner was a funny guessing game of “who’s who” without their ski gear on to identify them. Every new addition to the dining table was met with a chorus of playful questions, “Who are you?” or “Is that you, Paul?” “We hardly know each other without our helmets on. Every morning we meet up on the orange bubble at 7:45 or 8 a.m. We’ve been doing it for years, and people come and go. It’s not always good every morning, but we’re still out there. And we’re out there when it’s a good morning too,” said Bill Schneider, who visits every season from Arizona. Schneider was there with his ski partner, Paul Thomas, who lives in the Salt Lake area year round. Both Schneider and Thomas are part of the dedicated few present every single morning for the pre-Orange Bubble celebration. “Why do I do this every single day? Well, I want to ski with Bill!” said Thomas. The group has forged countless unforgettable and unlikely friendships between people from all different walks of life, said Brent Robbins, who has been skiing with the group since its beginning. “I’ve been skiing here forever. We were all sat around waiting for first chair and we all met and just really liked each other so we started skiing together,” said Robbins. The group of skiers gathered for an end of season dinner celebration at the Tarahumara Restaurant on Tuesday evening. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordRobbins was at the dinner with longtime friend, Hugo Tobar, who has come to Park City every winter from Australia for the last 12 years. “You show up and from one year to the next, it’s like seeing an old friend. You don’t really know much about them outside of their skiing side and you get about 30 or 40 minutes with them a few days a week and that’s more than most people get with each other,” said Mike Darley, who joined the club four years ago with wife Susan. The space is very welcoming to newcomers, said Susan, and the group returns every year to remember years past and check in on each other. “It’s especially great to meet these people who come from all different kinds of backgrounds, but the one thing we have in common is loving the mountains and getting up early together to ski,” said Mike.The Darleys’ daughters had returned home from school over spring break and joined the crew for an early morning on Tuesday. “We’ve been calling this group of guys the ski fraternity, and they always make Mike feel welcome and with the group of older guys, everyone is looking out for each other and keeping track of them. It’s sweet that they remember meeting our daughters year to year,” said Susan.“The group seriously shreds,” said Mike. “Angel is the fastest skier I’ve ever known, he’s just an absolutely legendary dude.” Tarahumara offered a Mexican dinner buffet with drinks and dessert at $25 per person, with a specially made cake by Ruiz himself. Though the group has said goodbye to a few vital members as they head back to their home states for the summer months, Groman and Ruiz are sure to be at the Orange Bubble Express every morning until Park City Mountain’s closing, currently slated for Apr. 21. The post First chair fanatics gather to celebrate a season of fun appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less