Patience

I write a lot about anticipation. It’s not that I’m incapable of living in the moment; it’s just that I feel like life is better when you’re looking forward to something. But one thing I don’t enjoy is the griping around this time of year about terrain options (or, more specifically, lack of terrain options). Sure, I’ve definitely complained in the past. But since then I’ve realized that, instead of spending all your time waiting for an enjoyable payoff, it’s better to enjoy the time leading up to the payoff. Patience, it turns out, is a virtue.

So, after skiing on Saturday, I went mountain biking on Sunday, then watched football, drank beers, and took a nap. Sometimes a little decompression is good. I know that the snow is going to be there in February, March, and April, there’s no need to go crazy. Or is there? Here’s a story about a bunch of people who’ve been skiing on crushed rocks:

The daredevils carved their way down a steep slope in the western Austrian village of Haiming, producing clouds of dust and at least one face-down tumble.

Among reports that a mild winter has left sportsmen with a lack of the white stuff in Europe, the skiers obviously decided to take matters into their own hands.

I’m not going to be doing that anytime soon. I mean, maybe if it was grass or dirt, but talus slope does not scream “Number One Option” to me. A real option when you're going number one is this new urinal game in Britain that incorporates skiing:

Drinkers can enjoy a spot of simulated skiing or extinguish some virtual flames while relieving themselves at The Exhibit bar in Balham, south London.

High-tech sensors detect the direction of urine and translate it into action on a 12-inch screen above every urinal.

By aiming carefully while spending a penny, users can guide a skier off piste or put out a raging inferno during their 60-second toilet trip.

I think I can be patient for a little longer.

In fact, I’ve tried to incorporate this theory of patience into my entire life, and I think it’s finally starting to pay dividends. Just this week I learned that Lindsey Vonn is getting divorced. I’d like to throw my name into the hat for a rebound relationship. I wouldn’t be all overbearing and domineering like her former husband/coach/trainer/career adviser. I’d be content to just travel to exotic destinations, lounge around in expensive hotels, and support her during all of her races (unless it was a powder day, in which case, I’m sure I could just catch the highlights later). I think that that Lindsey and I have a lot in common and if she needs it, I could totally be her shoulder to cry on (and if not, I was always more of a Julia Mancuso guy anyway).

Really, anything would be better than 65 degrees and raining. But if you do like this weather, Yahoo has been busy coming up with places to ski in ridiculous states like Connecticut and Tennessee. Say what you will about skiing in NY, at least we have legitimate mountains. And mountains are important, as it seems like cross country skiing is becoming increasingly dangerous, according to this story from Sweden:

The trial against the hunter who fired a single shot that passed through an elk before hitting and killing a cross-country skier, opens on Monday in Sweden.

I know some people who are patient enough to wait until after Hunting season to begin skiing. That idea is looking better and better.

Winter's Coming

Sorry I've been a little lax on the blog lately. I've been dealing with some stuff. You can follow me on Twitter @mattchuck2, or on my twitter feed that appears on the right, and I have been posting a lot of cool links, internet videos, and other interesting stuff on there.

I just really haven't been able to get out anywhere lately. That'll change soon, though, as I finally got my mountain bike light back. That means I'll be able to start night riding again (which is awesome). And, as you can see from this picture of my street, winter is right around the corner:

Don't think it's quite enough for a early season turn earning session (I'll leave that to FIS), but it's definitely getting near that time. I can't freaking wait . . . If there was ever a year that I need skiing, this is it. Let's do this.

Serenity NOW!

Well, it didn't take very long for me to get off of Island Time.  This time of year is always hectic.  There's more traffic, more people, and more money on my credit card.  People are angry, lines are long, and everyone is on edge.  It's like New York City, 3 hours north.

There's a reason I don't live in NYC: I'm not very good at blocking things out.  When someone around me is angry, I get angry.  When someone cuts me off in traffic, I feel like I should cut him off.  When someone starts yelling at a cashier or a waitress, I have to fight the urge not to yell at him.  I don't have the patience, calm, or empathy level that is necessary to deal with stressful situations (especially around Christmas).

So, I'm trying to relax, take it easy, and slow everything down.  It's not the end of the world if everything doesn't go according to plan.  So what if other places have tons of snow, and Gore has grams of snow? Who cares if other people are out getting after it, and I'm headed to the office again tomorrow?

Me! I care!! I can't relax, because I want too much and I want it now.  I want powder.  I want to ski trees.  I want to get some video footage that's worth a damn (instead of a bunch of GS turns down groomers).  And not only that, I want to go on exotic ski trips.  I want to go heliskiing.  I want to ski the Haute Route.  I want to bag some peaks and drink some celebratory beers.  Is there anything wrong with that?

Of course, the problem comes when I get upset at what I can't control.  I can take steps towards the ski trips (saving money, buying more bc gear, reading guidebooks, planning, etc.).  But I can't do anything about the lack of snowfall at my local mountain.  So, with that in mind, I present the modified Serenity Prayer:

Ullr, grant us the...
Serenity to accept things we cannot change,
Courage to change the things we can, and the
Wisdom to know the difference
Patience for the base depth to reach acceptable levels
Appreciation for the fact that it's winter and we're skiing, and
Tolerance for those who know not the joys of sliding on snow
Freedom to live beyond the limitations of our desk jobs and work obligations, the
Ability to feel the powder billow around us and our love for our bros and the
Strength to get up, brush off the snow, and try again in hopes that tomorrow will be even better than today.

Pray for (Natural) Snow?

This past Saturday kicked off my instructing duties for the year (two level 1’s).  And Sunday marked the first time that I’ve skied natural snow since October 16^th.  Vive la différence.

I have always said that natural snow is better.  It looks better, it skis better, and it melts better (spring corn instead of degraded ice chunks).  I tried to look up some hard statistics to back up my feelings, but all I found were scientific journal entries like this:

A theory is developed to explain the transition from regular plates to dendritic stellar crystals; the corners sprout when material from the vapour phase arrives at corners more rapidly than it can be carried away by surface diffusion and occurs only when the diameter of the plate exceeds a critical value d_c, ∝ D_s, /D_v, = x²_p, /D_v, where D_s, D_v, are the coefficients of surface and volume diffusion and x_p, is the surface migration distance on the (prism) edge of the plate. The predictions of the theory are compared with observations on natural snow crystals. Equations are derived for the growth rates of snow crystals as they fall through the atmosphere. The predicted maximum attainable diameters of the various shapes are in good agreement with observations

 Which is cool (if you like reading scientific journals), but it doesn’t really explain why natural snow feels so different.  Investigating further, I found this from the Wyoming Climate Atlas:

Mountain ski resorts augment natural snow cover with man made snow, especially during meteorological droughts. 28° F is the "magic number" for snowmaking. When the temperatures drop below this mark, snow production is greatly enhanced. Ten inches of natural snow, when packed, usually adds only one inch of snow to the ski slope’s base while 10 inches of man-made snow adds seven inches of base. Man-made snow is usually more dense and durable

 Okay, so now we’re getting somewhere.  Using a rough estimation, that means that normal Wyoming snow is about 10% water, but man made snow can approach 70% water.  Even if you consider that Eastern Snow has a slightly greater water content than Wyoming Snow (Wikipedia puts it at 15%), that’s still an enormous difference.  Imagine walking through a McDonald’s ball pit where 10% of the space was taken up by balls (and somehow they were floating all around you).  Then imagine a McDonald’s ball pit with 70% of the space taken up by balls.  Movement would be harder, you’d have to use more energy to get through, and the dynamic of how the balls interacted with each other would be completely changed.

That’s the problem with man made snow.  Every single man-made snowflake is heavier, denser, and more watery than its natural counterpart.  And since the number of snowflakes that fall in the world (naturally) is approximately 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, that means that you are skiing through an awful lot of dense snowflakes.

But, I suppose it’s an early season sacrifice that we all have to live with.  This article on Syracuse.com does point out that man-made snow is good for one thing – base buildup:

Harris said man-made snow is more dense and durable. It will hold up better to the abuses of thaws and skis. At the same time, skiers love the natural pow[d]er. Its softer and more fun, Harris said. The idea is to lay down a heavy base of the man-made snow and let the natural snow top it off.

“Then you’ve got the best of both worlds,” Harris said

Can’t argue with that.  Ski areas have to strike the right balance between natural and man-made.  And every mountain is different.  What works for Mad River Glen won’t necessarily work for Hunter.  I guess when it comes to snow, I’d prefer that Gore would heed the words of Saint Augustine:

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you." 

The Decision

While the life of a ski bum is difficult, the life of the “weekend warrior” is agonizing, especially around this time of year.  It was one thing when the trip reports came from out west.  But now, they’re hitting pretty close to home.  December is when I first start tossing ideas around in my mind, planning adventures, and plotting escapes.  And it usually comes down The Decision: what I should do vs. what I want to do.

Sure, I should just stay in the office; banking time, getting things done, and saving my vacation days for February, March, and April (when the snowpack will be deeper, the days will be warmer, and my skiing muscles will be stronger).  But that’s not what I want to do.  I want to drive up to Stowe or Jay, strap on some skins, and start climbing.  My adventure itch hasn’t been scratched yet, and Saturdays on people packed groomers just aren’t doing it for me.  I want to get out.  I want to live my life.

This is the problem: I have to work.  I have bills to pay, my house needs repairs, and I need to put money towards retirement.  But I want to be able to get up and go at any moment, spend all my money on gas and gear, and take full advantage of every single second of daylight so that each night I can look back and say, “Damn.  That was a good freakin’ day.”

This is the kind of thing that people struggle with for their entire lives, I guess.  A recent study found that people are increasingly dissatisfied with their work/life balance:

According to the APA study, 39 percent of those surveyed expressed satisfaction with their work-life balance, compared to 42 percent in 2009. Furthermore, for the third year in a row, money, work and the economy topped Americans' list of worries. 

We need money to live The Life, and we need jobs to get money.  But then the jobs get in the way of The Life.  And that’s why some people will never be satisfied with their work-life mix.  People will always have to balance their needs and their wants, their responsibilities and their desires, their present and their future.  

All I can ask for is a situation like I have: A fulfilling job, a solid amount of time off, a decent salary, and the chance that, at the end of some of my work days, I can dust off my hands and say “Damn.  That was a good freakin’ day.”

It doesn’t save me from having to make The Decision, but it does make The Decision harder.

(I guess there are worse problems to have).

In a somewhat related note, I was thinking about these types of job-related issues earlier this year, and I wrote a short article for the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) Eastern Division Newsletter that some people might be interested in.  It’s mainly written for ski instructors, but it goes into some of the attributes that make one job better than another.  It can be found on the PSIA-E website here (PDF, scroll down to page 22 and look for "Lessons from The Economist")

In The Moment

As the first few trip reports of the season float in, I want to try and reset a little bit.  I’ve been feeling a little down lately.  It’s nothing particular, but November (for some reason), always inspires a general feeling of sadness and self doubt.  Am I doing the right things with my life?  Am I where I want to be with my career, my family, and my goals?  Am I happy?  Every other time of year, the answer to these questions is almost always a resounding “Yes”.  But for some reason, November is different.  Maybe it’s the Squaw Valley trip reports that I read, maybe it’s the financial crush of the holidays, or maybe it’s the dreary gray days, but I always question whether I live in the “right” place, have the “right” job, or feel the “right” way.  It’s not that I plunge myself into a deep depression, I just start to question myself.  And whenever questions are asked, I feel compelled to come up with a definitive answer (even if a lot of things have no correct “answer”).  Sometimes, this gets me into trouble.  Because I’m always questioning and researching and generating future scenarios in my mind, I lose the ability to back up, relax, take a deep breath, and just be content with the present.     

But this all changes with the first ski day.  Skiing, more than any other sport, puts me in a perfect, zen like state of mind.  When I’m riding my road bike, I still think of bills I have to pay, people I have to talk to, or meetings I have to attend.  On skis it’s different.  I’m paying attention, I'm alert, and I'm focused on the task at hand.  I’m not thinking about my job, thinking about my life, or thinking about other places that I could be.  I’m centered.

I don’t know too much about Buddhism (or any religion, for that matter), but I found a list of quotes relating to the concept of living in the present.  This one stuck out:

Miss the present and you live in boredom. BE in the present and you will be surprised that there is no boredom at all. Start by looking around a little more like a child. Be a child again! That’s what meditation is all about: being a child again — a rebirth, being innocent again, not-knowing.

Maybe that’s why skiing is so great for me.  It really allows me to be a child again.  I do the same things now that I always did on skis.  I find fun lines, I go fast, I jump, I fall down, I get back up, and I do it again.  I look around, I explore new terrain, I follow tracks into the trees, and I try new things.  And I am happy.

Obviously, the concept of living in the present is nothing new.  But this article from the Guardian (UK) is.  Money quote:

Psychologists at Harvard University collected information on the daily activities, thoughts and feelings of 2,250 volunteers to find out how often they were focused on what they were doing, and what made them most happy.

They found that people were happiest when having sex, exercising or in conversation, and least happy when working, resting or using a home computer. And although subjects' minds were wandering nearly half of the time, this consistently made them less happy.

The team conclude[d] that reminiscing, thinking ahead or daydreaming tends to make people more miserable, even when they are thinking about something pleasant.

Even the most engaging tasks failed to hold people's full attention. Volunteers admitted to thinking about something else at least 30% of the time while performing these tasks, except when they were having sex, when people typically had their mind on the job around 90% of the time

So skiing, for me, is like sex.  I’m totally focused and into it, I’m completely involved in the moment, and afterwards, I’m ready for a beer.  But seriously, living in the moment, no matter what you’re doing, seems to make you happier.

I was thinking about this today, and I was also thinking about a guy on a snowboard that I saw on Sunday.  He was coming down Sunway, right under the Gondola, carrying both gloves in one hand and staring into his phone.  He was actually text messaging while he was riding!  We joked about it for a little while, that this guy was so important, and that message was so critical that he couldn’t possibly wait until he got to the bottom (or at least stopped on the side of the trail).  But I guess that isn’t really the most important point.

The guy was taking himself out of the moment.  He could have been enjoying the rush of snowboarding, looking around for a fun feature to play with, or working on a skill to improve his riding.  But he wasn’t doing any of that.  He was staring at a little glowing box with words on it, and occasionally looking up to make sure he didn’t hit anyone.  It was ridiculous!

I guess everyone is free to enjoy the mountain as they see fit.  And maybe that guy had an awesome time and I’m just making a big deal out of something that seems to be an increasingly common sight on the slopes.  But for me, I’m happiest when I’m not connected to the outside world.  I’m happiest when the only things in my vision are trees and powder.  I’m happiest when I’m skiing. 

Posting

I took a little bit of a break from posting while I've been riding my mountain bike and doing yard work (freaking leaves are the worst part of home ownership).  And today, I'm going to do some more mountain biking.  Plus, I've got a party to go to.  But not just any party.  This is the annual right of passage known as the Pray for Snow Party.  The folks at Backcountry Beacon did a pretty good write up of what it takes to make such a party successful, so I'll direct you there.  Here's the gist:

Every autumn, snow worshippers around the nation—nay, around the world—unite and engage in a sacred ritual called the Pray for Snow party. Anthropologists note that this ritual often includes multiple kegs of frothy beverages and bonfires large enough to be seen from outer space.

So, if you're looking for me tonight, that's where I'll be.  I've got a few blog posts in the pipeline, though, so stay tuned for posts about equipment, cliques, and opening day shenanigans.  Peace.

Skiing and Nudity

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The period between now and the first turns of the season is the hardest time of the year to be a skier. It starts to get too cold to do things outside, but not cold enough to get enough snow in the mountains. It’s dark outside when you get up, and (after November 7th), dark when you drive home. There are only so many ski movies you can watch, magazines you can read, and gear sites you can browse before your brain devolves into a gray sludge that won’t become normal again until you feel cold wind in your face and fresh snow beneath your feet. Adding frustration to the general malaise, my mountain bike has been in the shop for the past three weeks. What part on a mountain bike could possibly take three weeks to fix, you ask? Exactly my point. So I’ve been resigned to riding my road bike, scanning internet sites, and dreaming about winter.

One site that caught my attention was Unofficialsquaw.com. Like the Famous Internet Skiers, these guys are addicted to snow, and their site is a collection of trip reports, information, and video that is virtually guaranteed to pump you up. In addition to the weather reports, resort news and gear reviews, the site boasts its own freeride team. Sick!

Because the site is “Unofficial”, they don’t always hem closely to the resort’s party line (although they do like to party, and they definitely rip rowdy lines). You may have heard of their recent incident involving the game of G.N.A.R.. If not, here’s some detail:

McConkey and Gaffney created G.N.A.R. — short for “Gaffney’s Numerical Assessment of Radness” — as a point-based system for determining who was the “raddest” skier at Squaw within a given time frame, be it a week or an entire season. G.N.A.R. points are awarded based on the discomfort a situation presents and your attitude towards conquering it. Following that formula, stomping a big cliff air might get you 500 points — but skiing that same line naked after shouting at the top of your lungs that you were “about to rip the s--t out of it!” would earn you over double the points. G.N.A.R. points are also won or lost for random acts as defined in the rulebook: Losing your goggles in a crash costs you 1,000 points, while skiing into the High Camp hot tub fully clothed earns you 10,000…
…
The Unofficial Game of G.N.A.R. commenced on Tuesday March 9, at about 4:30 a.m., or at least that’s when the first contestant arrived at the KT-22 lift line to claim his 5,000 points for first chair. What transpired once the lifts spun is unlike anything the Valley had seen in many, many years.

Not only did every skiable line get ripped, but the zany competition pushed the athletes to up the ante and toss tricks or look for other means of scoring extra-credit points. One skier tossed an inverted Lincoln Loop off the Fingers to earn a 1,000-point trick bonus. Dozens of skiers dropped technical “BN” lines — BN being short for Butt Naked — and earned even more.

The freak freeskiing fun showed no signs of stopping until about 2:30 p.m. when a BN run went sour. Squaw Valley General Manager Mike Livak personally caught one of the contestants skiing naked after a Palisades lap. Livak was not amused. He pulled the skier's pass (5,000 point penalty) and asked to speak with Unofficial. Despite attempts, Unofficial was unable to contact Squaw management that Tuesday evening.

The G.N.A.R. negotiations began unexpectedly the next morning when Squaw Mountain Manager Jimmy King met up with the crew as they waited in line for KT-22 to open. He immediately told them the game was over until further notice, pulled their passes, and asked to hold a meeting with everyone involved that morning.

I think the real story here (besides the fact that Rob Gaffney and his brother Scott grew up skiing at Big Tupper), is the increased corporatization of Ski Areas and the resulting blandness of the skiing experience. The naked ski days at Crested Butte are gone and panty trees all over the country are sporting old, faded bras that haven’t been in style since the 80’s. And speaking of the 80’s, where are all the hijinks that seemed to occur so regularly in my cheesy movie collection? I haven’t seen a crazy prank or on-slope ski-off in years (it’s possible that the dearth of over-the-top antics means that there’s a shortage of smarmy Austrian antagonists, which may be related to the recession). Resorts are being groomed, corporatized, and childproofed to death. And now, it looks like you have to travel to Europe to see a decent bikini race.

Really, I just want to see ski areas retain their individual identities. Not every area has to be Stratton. The Starbucks/Helly Hanson/Faux European Clock Tower-filled base village doesn’t have to be at the bottom of every mountain. Some resorts should be developed with the family market in mind, but others should retain the wild atmosphere that dominated the earlier days of skiing, the 70’s freestyle era, and the early 90’s “extreme” movement. So, a few guys and girls are skiing naked for a G.N.A.R. competition . . . Big Deal. And a few people want to get naked at the end of a long ski year . . . Who cares? At the heart of it, I guess I just want to see more nudity. Perhaps my brain has already turned into gray sludge.

Complacency or True Happiness?

I think a lot of things depend on one's frame of reference.  Whenever a skier from out west comes to the east, everything is icy.  When someone switches to shaped skis (or fat skis, or rockered skis), they wonder how they could have gone so long without trying the new technology.  And the 60 or so days a year that I get are pittance to a 120 day skier, but enviable to a 20 day skier.  But really, is the guy who skis the east, on straight skinny skis, about 20 days a year that bad off?  He still has a pretty big smile on his face.

In that vein, I wonder if I am asking for too much.  I mean, shouldn’t I be happy with what I have going?  I have a house.  I have a great job, with plenty of vacation time, a decent salary, and great benefits.  I have a great wife who loves skiing (and biking) as much as I do.  We live in a great area.  Gore is an hour away, Whiteface is 2:15.  My parents’ lakehouse is 2:45 away, with a boat and a jet ski. Ace’s parents’ condo is 45 minutes away and 20 minutes from Gore.  Mountain Biking at SMBA is about 25 minutes away, at Luther Forest about 15 minutes away.  Any number of Road Bike Rides are available right out my front door.  We have a lot of friends in the area for the summer, and we have a lot of friends at the mountain for the winter.  Our families live close.  And I love Gore.  It’s definitely top 5 in the East for trees (Stowe, Smuggs, Jay, MRG), which is what I like to ski most.

Really, if I was to pick up and move west, it would be for the following reasons:

1. Change of Scenery – I’ve lived in this area for (pretty much) my entire life.  I took 3.5 years off to go to school in Maine, and half a year to do a semester in New Zealand.  Other than that, I’ve lived in Upstate NY.
2. Snow – As much as I like Gore (and most of the East), the lack of natural snowfall is a killer.  It’s great when we have it, but sometimes we seem to spend weeks waiting for it.  I don’t really know how much snow I want (I don’t necessarily need Alta’s 500 inches, but Crested Butte’s 240 inches doesn’t sound like enough)
3. Terrain – As much as I like Gore, there’s no doubt that the terrain of a western resort is far superior in both acreage and variety.
4. Ski Town Vibe – I hate to dis where I grew up (because it worked out well for me), but Clifton Park, NY is a suburban wasteland.  The town is overcome with raised ranches (one of which is mine) and contains every single fast food restaurant, Friday’s/Chili’s type joint, and big box store known to man.  A proper ski town isn’t like that.  I picture Victorian houses and quaint streets.  And for me, there’s a certain feel to a ski town, where everyone is on vacation, and you can’t help but have your mood lifted.

 And that’s about it.  Let’s look at the list, and see what would be different. 

#1 is a weak reason.  It doesn’t take too long to adapt to a new place, and once I settle in and find my favorite spots, would I move again just for a “change of scenery?” 

#2 is big, but how big?  We get about 3 to 5 Powder Days at Gore per year.  By driving around a little bit, I might be able to squeeze another 3 to 5 out of other parts of the East Coast.   That’s 6 to 10 pretty good (5-7” +) powder days.  Granted, we hardly ever get the 12-24 inches that pile up overnight at western resorts.  I’m thinking the average western resort gets more like 18-30 awesome powder days a year . . . 3 times as much.  But the other thing is that, with all the natural snow, even the “droughts” are really good.  20 day old natural snow is a lot better than 20 day old manmade snow (that’s why I like “natural” trails in the east – no ice pellets to screw up the consistency).  Finally, we almost never see the rare and fantastic blue sky powder day that you always see in ski pictures.  So that’s a really big driver.

#3 is pretty important, because even when we do get a big power day (Valentine’s Day storm a couple of years ago), you need a mountain that can deliver the goods.  Let’s face it, some of the runs on the lower mountain don’t have enough pitch to keep you going on a really deep day.  They’re great cruisers in a snow drought, but just not cutting it when there’s 36” of fresh on the ground.  The top of the mountain, however, rocked on that day (and the day after . . . and the day after that . . . and the following weekend).  A lot of mountains out west have serious vertical right down to the base (I would just have to be careful when I choose).

#4 is really more of an image, I think, than a want.  Life in a ski town, while it looks glamorous, is not as cool as I’m making it out to be.  Great Jobs are few and far between, and there’s probably not going to be any health insurance.  There’s not even any guarantee that I will get to ski on those epic blue sky powder days.  Everything is expensive, the paycheck probably won’t be consistent, and I’d have to hustle to make things happen for myself (which may cut into my ski time).

So, I have to decide if the good (all that stuff in #2 and #3) outweighs the bad (all that stuff I mentioned in #4).  And right now, I just don’t see it.  Better Snow and Better Terrain seem like a reason to vacation there, but the negatives I listed in #4 prevent me from moving there (at this point in my life).  Things will happen, though, over the next few years.  People will move away, global warming might destroy eastern snowfall totals, and I might win the lottery.  For now, I’m just going to keep on keepin’ on.  And hopefully, I’ll learn to appreciate the things that I do have . . . Right after I buy myself some sweet rockered skis.    

Television, etc.

I try not to watch too much TV.  There are a lot of shows that are stupid (Real Housewives of Wherever), annoying (everything on during the day), or not funny at all (almost every network sitcom).  Sure, there are some good shows.  In particular, I like Family Guy, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Tosh.0, and this new series on HBO called Boardwalk Empire.  Generally, though, if I’m not watching sports or the Ski Channel, I’m not watching TV.

That might change, however with the recent announcement of A$pen: The Series.  From what I gather, it’s a scripted sitcom about the making of a (fictional) reality show in Aspen, Colorado.  It’s aimed at the 18-34 year old demographic, and it includes cameos from Paris Hilton, Carmen Electra, and Bode Miller.  Wow.  In addition, the article promises that “Scenes shot in Aspen include EXTREME SPORTS at one of the planet’s greatest ski resorts” (my uppercase, but it would’ve been a lot cooler if they wrote it like that).  The producers say that the actors and actresses (who are playing the roles of reality show contestants, I assume) “are shown as wealthy spoiled brats loving HARD, skiing HARD, and having HUGE bank accounts” (my uppercase again . . . sorry).

Maybe I’m being a little bit of a curmudgeon, but do we really need more “spoiled brats” on television?  We already have the Kardashians, the Housewives, and The Hills (ended, but somehow surviving in syndication).  At some point, don’t people get tired of watching rich people whine about trivial problems?  There’s an opportunity, I guess, to use the format of the show to take the piss out of these types of “stars”, and maybe that’s what they are going to do.  Maybe the $ in the title means that they recognize the ridiculousness of the culture, and they are going to savagely knock people down as hilarity ensues.  I’ll definitely be watching, so I’m hoping that it’s more Joe Shmo and less The Mountain.

Really, though, isn’t it time that we expected a little more from our televisions?  And shouldn’t we expect more from our internet, too?  Here’s a post from Onthesnow.com:

The work also involved building an Interconnect between North Pole and Gore, and a new quad chairlift at Gore.

Wow.  North Pole and Gore??  Sweet!!  Coca-cola for All!!!

But just when I thought all was lost, I found this solid internet post, about a sick early season backcountry excursion in Montana’s Bridger Mountains.  A guy went out skiing on September 12^th after an early season storm dropped a few inches on some of his favorite lines.  Unfortunately, it appears as though someone beat him to the goods:

I hoped to get first tracks but two people beat me to it, probably the day before.  The top half was great thick pow that sloughed while I skied down.  The second half was tight due to lack of snow, but skiable until the top of the apron. Pretty much the best September turns I”ve ever got.  Cheers to who ever beat me to the Great One, nice work.

Probably those spoiled brats from A$pen.  I heard they were EXTREME.

Anticipation

One more note on that New York Times article. I remembered this paragraph when someone on the Harvey Road Forum said that their Powder Magazine was delivered:

In fact, scholars have found that anticipation increases happiness. Considering buying an iPad? You might want to think about it as long as possible before taking one home. Likewise about a Caribbean escape: you’ll get more pleasure if you book a flight in advance than if you book it at the last minute.

I go back and forth on this all the time. Sometimes I think that the amount of time that I spend anticipating something (ski season, vacation, the weekend) would be better spent elsewhere. I feel like I build things up so much, when they actually occur, I feel let down that they weren’t as awesome as I anticipated. If I decide, 4 months in advance, that the upcoming ski season will be the best ever, I will inevitably be disappointed when the snowfall amounts are down, my favorite runs aren’t open, and work obligations are preventing me from skiing anywhere new. You hear this all the time around Late December/Early January. People ask why the mountain isn’t opening quicker. Why does Okemo have so many more trails open? Why hasn’t there been any natural snow? I don’t know if it’s the fast food culture, internet shopping, or just the hectic pace of daily life, but everything has to be perfect, and it has to be perfect now.

But there’s also another side, the one that loves to plan. Sometimes the best part of a vacation is the time I spend before the vacation finding out about where I’m going. I search the internet for trip reports, talk to people who’ve gone, and develop all sorts of options in my head. And travel isn’t the only time I do this. Earlier this year, it wasn’t enough for me to walk into a bike store and buy a mountain bike. I poured over mtbr.com. I talked with anyone remotely connected to mountain bikes. I read all sorts of buyer’s guides. In fact, I buy lottery tickets not because I think I’ll win the lottery, but because I like to spend the days before the drawing planning what I would do if I won. The happiness I get from planning is easily equal to the $1 that the ticket cost me.

So, really, I’m in agreement with the article, and I’m not going to feel bad about getting my hopes up. So what if there might be disappointment along the way? A little bump in the trail never forced me to give up skiing (in fact, eventually, it made skiing more fun). This ski season is going to be the best ever. We’re going to get a ton of snow, everything will be open by early January, and we’ll be loving life in the Tannery, raising beers to sick lines, deep pow, and good friends.

And I’m going to win the lottery.

Waiting

Does anyone find that life is a series of waits?  Everyone seems to be waiting for something: waiting for the weekend, waiting for snow, wating for vacation, waiting for someone to get home so I can start making dinner . . .  Waits can be short term (tomorrow's Friday!) or long term (I wish I had enough equity in my house so that I could sell this sucker and move out west).  But we don't really realize that, while we're sitting around staring at our watches, all sorts of stuff is going on around us.  Life is happening, and it's happening to other people.  Here's something from Skiing in the Shower, one of the blogs I read (listed at the right):

A lot of us thin[k] that once the house is clean, we can sit down and write that story we've always meant to, or once the lawn is mowed, we can spend some time playing with the kids, or once the laundry is done, we can finally read that book that's been gathering dust on the side table.

And that once we make our money, and we have enough in savings, we can do the thing we were meant to do. I don't think that life is meant to be like that. I think that life is passing us by at warp speed. And I think that how you reach for the things you wish for in life, every day, is what living life is about.

Truth.

The author of that blog (Kate Howe) is basically living the dream.  She recently moved to Aspen, works as a ski instructor/massage therapist, and writes articles for several ski publications.  And since she's a skier, she's able to work in sweet skiing analogies:

I think about this when I think of skiing as well... we search for the perfect turn, and sometimes, we hang on to our old turn because we love the safety and security of it so much... we are so sure that the next one will be the good one if we can just hang on to this one long enough and get ready, be totally and completely prepared for that next turn, and by the time we've triple checked everything, we've missed our opportunity, the next turn has come and gone, there's a tree in the way and its time to make a drastic, quick move to avoid catastrophe.

What if, in life, as in skiing, we let each "should have" go as the turn passes us, what if we kept moving into the future, reaching for what was working, and letting the ski glide under our bodies, letting the snow spray, letting the sun hit our faces [. . . ] in the most inopportune moments, because we don't care about the time and place being right, we care more about living[?]

Exactly.  Life shouldn't be about waiting, it should be about . . . ummmm . . . Living.  Maybe it's time to let go of that old turn, turn the page in your life and move on to something else.  What are you waiting for?

 

Ugh . . .

Well, this officially sucks.  There's nothing to talk about.  Thanksgiving went well, I guess.  I ate way too much food blah blah blah.  Went to a spin class on Friday, went for a short walk in the Albany Pine Bush yesterday.  I'm having trouble coming up with good things to write.  I feel like if I was out west, I'd be ripping it up, and able to report on all my adventures.  Here's some shots from random resorts that I just typed into the web browser:

 Pic from Squaw Valley Website

 Pic from Snowbird Website

Why not me?!!?  I mean, it's not like it looks that great (to be completely honest), but at this point, ANY skiing is preferable to what I have now (no skiing, and not a very good chance of skiing until MAYBE this weekend).  I'm starting to get a little depressed.  Some new rules at Gore are adding to the general feeling of malaise as well.  I don't really want to get into it, but let's just say that it will make everything a lot more of a pain in the ass than it already is.  Add in the parking situation (which doesn't really affect me because I'm forced to park in east bumblefuck anyway to make more room for the "guests"), and I'm thinking that the entire Gore experience this year might not be so fantastic.  If only I could win some sort of contest and move out west . . .

Boredom

You know, having every other Monday off is awesome . . . Unless there's nothing to do.  Continued warm weather in the east is making this "skiing" blog awful hard to write.  Sample post: "Instead of skiing today, I raked leaves.  That is all."  Once again, I feel compelled to post a video of how life could be (if I was living in Whistler, BC):





Ugh.

Snowmaking at Gore has begun . . .

Photo From Gore Mountain Website

Sick . . .

I haven't been feeling too well lately (some type of flu), so I haven't been posting as much as I should.  It's just a general body shutdown . . . I probably deserve it because I haven't been doing anything lately but sitting on my ass, eating too much, and drinking beer.  Ugh. . .

There is a teeny tiny bit of good news. . .  Gore has posted a Facebook message that reads:

We WILL open Black Friday

 So, hopefully they can follow through.  Looking at the weather, though, it doesn't look so good.  I feel like "climate change" is mostly going to lop off the beginning and the end of the ski season (during my lifetime), and it might actually be worse out west than it is here (I feel like there will be less precipitation in the west, more in the east - though a lot of the precip in the east will come down as rain because of the warming).  But out west, they have a lot more of a cushion with regard to how much they can lose.  If we lose 20% of our snowfall, Gore will get 130 inches next year.  If Alta loses 20%, they still have 540 inches.  So I'm still thinking the future of skiing (and hopefully my life) is out west.

Almost here . . .

I feel like it's getting close (never mind that today was 65 degrees).  I was driving by Hunter Mountain the other day for my real job, and I snapped this pic of some snow that had fallen on Thursday night:

Then, after a day of being hungover on Saturday (ugh . . . I should stop drinking so much), we hiked Prospect Mountain on Sunday with Ace's brother:

Then,  we cruised over to Hickory, where they were having an open house/brewfest.  I don't know if I'm going to get up there too much this year (Gore always seems to call my name on Powder Days - free ticket, I know the mountain really well, and I always seem to find someone to ski with).  But Hickory looked pretty decent:

Then, Ace and I took advantage of the nice weather today to go on a 30 mile road bike ride on the Mohawk-Hudson Bike Trail (beautiful).  So it's all pumping me up for ski season.  I'm putting my new ski boots now to further break them in.  I might ski Killington next week (if my job doesn't get in the way).  Let's do this! 

Season of Waiting

Okay, first things first.  Ace worked out a part time schedule with her job, and she's pumped.  They can't dick her around anymore (they routinely expected her to work 50-60 hours a week and not get paid for it), and she only has to deal with that noxious work environment for 28 hours a week.  The downside is that she's losing her health insurance, so I have to put her on my plan (an extra $100 or so a month).  She had a meeting with the Ski Team and the parents yesterday and she loved it.  She seems a lot happier these days, and if you are to believe what everyone says, happy wife = happy life.

I'm still waiting for some snow to start falling.  That Sunday River opening was a tease, and no other mountains look to be opening in the immediate future.  Too bad, because I have a few days off coming up around Veteran's day, and Ace has the days off too (she has to use up all of her comp time before she switches to the part time schedule).  We were thinking of skiing, but if we can't, maybe we'll do a short little trip to the Finger Lakes and go to some wineries.

I want snow, though!!!  This is definitely the worst time of year to live in the east.  Even though I know it's going to be a sweet season coming up, I always think of how much better the season would be if I lived in Jackson (or somewhere similar).  It ruins my good thoughts!!  Also, if I lived out west, I would already be skiing.  Look at these shots:

Photo from A-Basin website (look at the Mountain Goats!)

 

Photo from Silverton Mountain website

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Ugh.

I hate this time of year.  Too cold to do anything outside, but no snow on the ground (yet) for skiing.  It's freaking depressing.  Picking up leaves, waking up in the dark, cold rain . . . Forget it.  I mean, maybe if the Mets were in the baseball playoffs, it would be a different story.  But who do we have this year?  The Yankees and Phillies?  Ugh.  If I ever plan a sweet Caribbean sailing vacation (I suddenly have the urge to do this after reading this series of posts on Slate), remind me to schedule it for around this time of year.  It will be perfect.  Leave here around October 20, get back around November 10th (after Daylight Savings time gives us an extra hour), and start skiing the following weekend.  Now if I could only get someone to pick up all my leaves . . .