about the path that got me here. To being a ski bum I mean. Surely the happiest time in my life.
I started in 1997. Went to Keystone and gaped at high speed. Man, was that fun. Shaped skis right from the getgo, so I was an intermediate skier within a couple of days. :rolleyes: But I was getting cold on the blue runs and found out that flailing down a black was a good way to warm up. Many days were spent on the North Peak moguls. And when I skied the Outback, I learned the magic of getting off a trail and surrounding myself with trees and solitude. Pure joy. And the mandatory turns were helping my skiing immensely.
Then I went to Breckenridge and saw all those people hiking up past the tow. What's up with that? So I tried it. Could only walk about thirty steps without stopping to rest. But I was warm. Even at the top of Breck, which is saying something. And the skiing - wide open wind-groomed bowls. I loved the speed, big turns, and feeling of momentary weightlessness between turns. Good stuff.
One day I went to Aspen Highlands with Billow. Powder day. I skied the main steep bumps, I guess it was Steeplechase. Got pounded by moguls that I couldn't see. I wanted it to be fun, but I was just getting worked. Meanwhile, Billow is skiing 15-20 feet inside the trees next to the run. Skiing fast and smooth in untracked powder. Pretty much blew my mind. And when we hiked up to Ozone, he showed me how that should/could be skied as well. Totally opened my eyes.
So I skied and hiked inbounds even harder, on my own. And I joined Loveland's patrol last year in order to become more involved on the hill, and to get first tracks. ;) Got to meet so many great skiers that weren't part of the Vail machine. Learned that high speed quads are not something you really want on your hill. Skied plenty of powder, and sometimes got that loving feeling of making my turns just right.
Skied with duff a few times at Loveland late last season and the talk turned to the East Wall at Arapahoe Basin. There were slots open that hadn't been before that season and maybe not the one before. But you had to hike up and then downlimb some slippery shite to get to the runs. All I had ever done was bootpack up from the lower traverse. People had told me it was super sketch to come in from the top. But Duff said I could do it and I trusted him. And he was right. I had to be very careful, but the reward of getting to the couloirs and skiing them was more than worth it.
And I followed him one day under a rope at Loveland. Into Dave's Ditch trees. Completely untracked and deep, deep powder. Forbidden candy and it tasted soooo good. And he took me up onto Loveland Pass and we laid down tracks side by side that weren't skied over for a while. I became so infatuated with looking at my own turns on that mountainside. There they were, mine all mine. I was so annoyed the next day when I saw some idiot had cut across and ruined the picture.
So I kept skiing with him, trying to follow his lines. Ski the way he did. I'm still doing that now. Trying. Thought I could ski ok, until he took me into Chicken Alley trees. Tighter and steeper than anything I'd been on before. I couldn't link turns in there, it was all about survival, one turn at a time. Duff just charged it and waited for me at the bottom. Patiently. I hope I can ski thoise trees better this season.
And we started going into the backcountry for real. All day trips to places without chairs or buildings or cars or anything but us, the earth turned sideways, and the big blue sky. Wow. This is it. Found out I could do things that I had never even imagined. You've read the reports. Now I look at the mountains around me with a greedy eye - I want that one and that one and that one. And I guess I'll get me some.
So now I'm trying to show that to others. Took a girlfriend to Jones Pass last Saturday. But it was too much for a first trip into the bc. The skin up is really far and she wasn't in physical shape for it. Made it about halfway, with me begging her each step just to have a look around the next switchback. Finally sat down, exhausted, and I was just looking for a decent tree line to take so I didn't have to ski down the cat track after all that work. Fortunately our buddy comes down the hill with a couple of snowmobiles so we got to do laps off the top after all.
I'm going to keep trying to show my friends what I love, just like duph, et al, did with me. I hope you guys do the same. And I'm going to keep skiing on the tails of my betters, as long as they'll have me.
I'm thinking about skiing some of the competitive lines at Snowmass and maybe other places, just for fun. I hear a girl's got to do a couple of 10-15 foot drops, in rhythm, to be successful. Sounds doable. And I wonder if I can invert off Supernova cornice. Will it kill me to land on my head?
Fat skis, phat bowls, and Pali terrain to all of you. And to your friends, known and unknown. Cheers. :)
