Hakuna Matata. Even if your favorite Disney animated feature is Cars, Toy Story, or perhaps the old masterpiece Fantasia, you’re probably still familiar with this famous maxim. It means no worries. For one young man with whom I had the pleasure to ski recently, there was no comparison to the movie that originated this proverb, The Lion King. This was no casual fandom, however. On the contrary, his fervor for the Disney classic permeated our daily outings. For almost two weeks we were no longer ski buddy and participant, but rather Zazu, Timon, and Pumbaa. If you’re a little rusty on the cast, they’re the parrot, meerkat, and warthog that befriend Simba during his guilt-ridden exile from Pride Rock. As soon as we clicked into our bindings each day, my ski participant transformed into Zazu, while I assumed the identities of Timon and Pumbaa. Needless to say, I felt honored that such a Lion King aficionado found me worthy of playing two characters! After an evening of reviewing crucial scenes courtesy of YouTube, I was ready to join our touring musical. Venues included the Big Burn and Elk Camp lifts, along with a couple of lunchtime matinees at the Ullrhoff lodge. Several of our chair mates were roped into rounding out the case of characters: a skier named Bill quickly learned that he was actually Bill Mufasa, while other unwitting lift companions were assigned their own roles. Though perhaps a bit perplexing at first, our reenactments brought smiles to the faces of everyone that rode the lifts with us. People giddily recounted their own affinity for the movie, and though my own singing almost sent a few people to ski patrol, each rendition of that famous “problem-free, philosophy” seemed to bring a degree of levity to the folks around us, many of who were no doubt preoccupied with vacation hubbub – flight status, the whereabouts of their kids, or how they paid that much for chicken fingers. So, the next time you ding the bases of those new Rossignols or spill coffee on that beautiful Helly Hansen shell, just remember – there’s a saying for that. Hakuna Matata.
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Davin Burek is originally from New York and has a background in social work. He is one of Challenge Aspen’s 2013-2014 winter interns.
