Columnist Susan Snyder: Las Vegans feeling a bit adrift

Friday, March 16, 2001 | 9:02 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

When snow and freezing temperatures creep across the nation's midsection, chilly residents scurry to Las Vegas for some sunshine, palm trees and ...

Oh, for pity's sake. Who are we kidding? They come for craps and cards.

And many of us, in turn, head for the snow-packed mountains of such places as Brian Head, Utah, where we lash boards to our feet and throw ourselves at the mercy of gravity.

"You walk through the parking lot on a Saturday and 75 percent of the cars are from Nevada," said Craig McCarthy, spokesman for Brian Head Ski Resort.

As it turns out, a fair number of Brian Head's ski and snowboard instructors are, too. Depending on the day, anywhere from 10 to 15 of the 71 instructors are from the Las Vegas Valley, said Tom "Hap" Hazard, ski school director.

Most, he said, were longtime Brian Head skiers who asked themselves, "Wouldn't it be great to work here?"

Larry Bradley thought so.

The retired North Las Vegas Police officer traded his badge for a small ranch in Parowan, Utah, in 1997. Parowan is the tiny town that sits 12 miles down-canyon from Brian Head.

"It's beautiful," he said. "We even have bald eagles. I saw one today."

Bradley skied a few times over the years, but he and his wife bought season passes when they moved to Parowan, and their 10-year-old son joined the local ski team and club. Bradley was spending so much time at the resort, the manager said he might as well teach.

He's been onboard for a year.

"It's just fun," Bradley said. "I enjoy meeting the people -- especially the ones who have never, ever skied.

"I consider myself successful if after three hours nobody quits and they're still smiling at the end."

Snowboard instructor Matt Young pretty much smiles all the time. He lives here part of the year -- the hot part. From about the end of April through the first days of November Young works for a Las Vegas plumbing contractor.

The rest of the time he lives in Cedar City and teaches at Brian Head.

Young was born in Utah but raised in Caliente, which is in Lincoln County about 100 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

He describes his family as a church-going one, but says he's found salvation elsewhere.

"Snowboarding is my church now," he said.

Young has lived the life of a topsy-turvy snowbird for two years.

He used to drive up to Brian Head every weekend and teach, but it was a pretty hefty commute. He has found it's easier to just shove the works into his car and move a couple of times a year.

The drawbacks? Well, there aren't many for a 23-year-old who lives in Las Vegas or on a ski mountain, depending on the month.

Young did admit he seems to get a cold every time he changes climates.

Poor baby.

It's a hard life, but someone has to live it.

"It's fun, and I'm making my money," Young says. "It's easy. All I think about is after seven months I get to come up here and snowboard and see all the young, cute girls."

And likely a few big, humorless fathers.