“Can everyone please look around you for Sean Pettit and if you see him, tell him we need him on stage?” came the futile request from the podium. But Sean had already left the building. Carrying his shiny blue ‘Powder Magazine Full Throttle’ award which is awarded to the skier with the most intense video part each year, Sean was under the false impression that the awards show was over.

Award presenters Tanner Hall, Tom Wallisch, and Eric Hjorleifson stood on stage as patiently as possible while Pettit’s agent frantically phoned him. Here he was to be awarded the most prestigious award in all of freeskiing, Powder Magazine Skier of the Year and he was nowhere to be found.

A packed house which had erupted into celebration upon hearing Pettit’s name announced now began to stir nervously. Would this be the 2nd award to go unaccepted this evening (Shane McConkey was post-humously awarded a Readers’ Choice award)?

Sean answered his phone from a surprisingly quiet setting. Was he in the crapper? Seemed like a distinct possibility.

“Yo, dog” he said casually.

“Seanny, where are you, man?” replied his agent (JK).

“I’m down the street.”

“What? Bro, we need you here right away!”

“Where?”

“On stage! Dude, you just won Skier of the Year! Hurry up!”

“Oh no way! Hahaha. OK, man. I’m on my way.”

The agent held the phone up and attempted to tell the room that Sean would be back shortly, desperate to ensure that the crowd would hold. But the minutes were long as the collective room’s patience was tested. Some even frowned. And many took healthy sips from their cocktails.

For Tanner’s part, the opportunity for redemption was too attractive to pass up. The freeskiing legend who had earlier been given the hook on a speech – before it could even begin – now began, “I remember being with Sean when he was 16, looking down a huge cliff drop in AK…” Sensing Tanner’s affection for his young protege, the audience focused on him. Minutes later, as Sean stepped onto the stage with a giant smile and pointed his fingers around the room, Tanner finished, “…You are the best skier in the world!”