I wrote this a while back and now that it's the end of the season I thought I would share.
Skiing is kind of like mining; you
want virgin ground.
I don’t know why they call it
skiing into powder. It should be called melting into powder. It’s quite
contradictory if you think about. Melting into something even though it is more
than 20 degrees below freezing; yet, it somehow all makes sense. If you’ve ever
taken a closer look at butter melting on a simple piece of toast, you’ll find
that it slowly fuses into it, until it simultaneously seems to become one in
the same. That is how it feels to be skiing in fresh untouched powder. You start
to become lost, not all at once, but fluently like butter on toast. Your
worries soon leave you and you are transfigured into a world that can only be
found on slopes of a mountain peak. You are waist deep in such a simple
substance: a snowflake. So light and easily destroyed, but gathered in millions
and hundreds of millions they become a child’s playground.
Some people cower at the sight of a
blizzard, but I thrive on them. Why would I depart upon the sight of more snow?
I revel having snow grace me on the lift ride up. It’s just another reminder
that I’m doing the thing I love. You can barely see 15 feet in front of
yourself, but that’s what makes it a challenge. People will come into and out
of view like ghosts, fading away and being encompassed by the snow. It is like
a movie where you enter your suspension of disbelief, but somehow it is real. As
the blanket of snow thickens, it begins to obscure the light. Soon you are
unable to distinguish ridges and drops. You’re perception has been tarnished,
and you must rely solely on your experience now. It is a true test of skill and
gut reaction. It is Mother Nature’s ultimate challenge, and it is not to be taken
lightly, but instead attacked head-on
Being on the lift is like watching a trailer for
the best movie that ever existed. You get to preview the landscape and start to
plan out your next run while suspended 40 feet off the ground. You start to compare
yourself to other skiers, “I’m a better skier than him, but maybe not as good
as that guy.” Then you finally touchdown on mother earth again, as the wind is
rushing over the backside of the mountain and over the peak, testifying to you
that you’re not the most powerful thing out there. Finally, the movie begins. You
get to customize it and make it as relaxed or exhilarating as you want. You get
to carve up the mountain try new things each time. And the best part is, the
movie starts over and over and over again.
