This seemingly obscure Vaudeville routine had become a daily ritual. Funny how quickly a ritual can be created. We'd only been at Steamboat for two days, and yet, each day after ski school, when we'd ski a run or two with kids, they'd insist on skiing Why Not, and we'd wonder why.

I mean, Steamboat holds so much terrain, so many routes to follow. Why pick a skinny, serpentine green run that did little more than turn back on itself?

We knew these kids had been skiing the whole mountain. Their instructor, one whirlwind bundle of energy named Barb, had them zipping down on all kinds of runs. Each evening we'd hear the stories, related with growing excitement, degenerating coherency and some argument over the details (Well, what do you want from five year-olds?), about how they'd skied blues like Buddy's Run or blacks like Vertigo. So, why Why Not?

We'd first come to Steamboat because they offered a "Kids Ski Free" program. Simple enough. Whatever mom and pop do, the kids do for free - lift tickets, lodging, lessons, rentals; a great incentive. It worked for us.

Each morning we'd ski a run or two together, then we'd drop them off at ski school. We adults would then take to the woods. Literally. We'd discovered a run called The Shadows. It's marked on the map as a run, but it's more like a region. We'd floundered into it quite by accident, actually. But, once in there, we knew we'd found Nirvana. The powder was still light and fluffy, the trees - first evergreens that gave way to beautiful stands of aspen - stood close enough together to challenge us, yet far enough apart to let us pass confidently.

We'd never skied trees before, you must realize. This discovery changed our skiing forever.

But, that's not all that changed us.

After two days of prevailing during the after-ski-school ritual, we finally gave in. We followed our youthful troop to Why Not. Well, why not? It rolled easily in a westerly direction for a short distance, then executed a u-turn, crossed a pair of wide, blue-rated trails, then headed downhill. But, quickly it leaned right, turned sharply left and passed by another greenie called So What.

All the while, we wondered, why Why Not?

After So What, we found out. The mildly pitched, white ribbon of snow led us into a series of switchbacks that could almost make you dizzy. After we steered through each sharp twist in the path, the uphill side presented a snow wall that stretched well above our heads. Up those walls the kids went, pointing their skis into single tracks that had been cut in the walls. Some etched tracks sat high on the wall, some low, but they all featured an endless series of roller-coaster whoop-dee-doos, that had the kids flopping like rag dolls and giggling like a feather was working the soles of their feet.

Up we went, following their lead. Bunga-bunga-bunga-BOUNCE! Whoosh - off the wall we flew, and around the next switchback to launch into the next wall.

Hey. Guess what? These squiggles in the flats were not only a riot, but they made you loosen your knees, maintain your balance and (can you believe it?) improve your technique

Four years later, we were back. The kids, no longer small, were black diamond skiers now, keeping apace in The Shadows. But, the ritual remained. Each day we ran that serpentine track for our Grand Finale. A kids'-eye view had changed our skiing forever. You didn't need black-diamond challenges, trees and bumps to have a good time. Just an impish attitude and the guts and high-spirited frivolity to say, "Why Not?"

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