Fernie man fends off competition to snag first chair 15 years running

Greg (G-Money) Barrow says it sure would be nice if someone would dethrone him already — it would take the pressure off being first up Fernie Alpine Resort's Elk Chair every single year.

But 2015 will not be the year of his ouster as first-chair king. 

Barrow along with three other powder chasers were the first ones in line at the British Columbia Rocky Mountain resort Friday. For Barrow, a North Carolina native, it's his 15th year running. The others? First chair rookies. 

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The race for first chair started innocently enough, Barrow says. He just wanted to raise the profile of the ski hill and he thought adding this competitive edge would do that. 

"Opening day is always good, because no one's been up there yet and it's fresh powder. So that's the first reason. The second reason is just to do something dumb," Barrow told CBC's The Calgary Eyeopener. 

A decade and a half later, he is still setting up his tent at the bottom of the hill at 5 p.m. the night before the resort opens for the season.  

"Once you start, then everyone starts talking about it, so then you have to keep doing it I guess. But it's fun, I really enjoy it. I like winter camping anyway, so it's a good excuse to winter camp," he said. 

A great way to wake up in the morning

The arrival of the lifties and the sound of the groomer plowing snow beside his tent act as his wake up call.

"They come real close, they come within about a foot of my tent. I talked to the groomer yesterday afternoon and I said, 'Don't run over me.' And he said, 'Well I'll get close to you, I'll try to scare you,'" Barrow said. 

Fernie opened Friday with a 70 cm base and with 4 cm of fresh powder in the 24 hours before opening, and G-Money was there to shred it all. 

"Everybody's always talking really big about how they're going to beat me, and then they don't," Barrow laughed. 

He doesn't camp every year, only on years he suspects the competition will be a bit stiffer. This year, the threat of a six-person family moving in was enough to make him set up his tent. But most years he is safe just getting there by 7 a.m., two hours before first chair. 

Barrow said he imagines this practice will continue until he is beat, fair and square. 

"Every year I say, 'Man, I hope someone beats me this year.'"

So until the competition wises up, Barrow will keep riding chair number one.