Once upon a time, a group of college buddies sat atop the aptly named Doghouse. With graduation a couple of days off, these young men declared that the bonds formed over the past four years must remain intact. And thus, circulated a piece of paper declaring that they all must gather once a year, every year, to rekindle friendships, relive stories and renew the bonds they had formed those past four years. This decree became known as The Commitment.

The 20th-Annual Commitment will take place at Vail, Colorado. That's right, the 20th, which means we've reached a monumental milestone, or that we're just getting plain old. Rick Schmitz retakes the reins again, and instead of steering us elsewhere, he's booked us in the village. Which means that twelve years later we'll, once again, ski the Ox. Rick can be reached at rschmitz1@hotmail.com (his new leisure tour email address).

Many of The Commitment attendees lived in The Animal House, just a half-block from The Commitment's instigator, the University of Santa Clara.