Once I got a little better and understood how to sit back and ride it, I became a powder snob. I hated skiing on hard pack and ice because I was so used to the powder my form was stuck in the back seat and I could never catch an edge.
This season has been a tough one. Coming off of injuries and with a constant fear of getting hurt again I went back to being a very cautious skier. The lack of snow in the early season not only took away from the local skiers morale but also from my rehab. Being able to ski regularly was expected to be my best therapy as that was the area I lost the most strength from. It has been slippery and icy and every little slip of my ski has me tensing my whole body and beating myself up. I have only been out for 5 days of personal skiing for fun and just a few more than that as a volunteer working with adaptive skiers. Last year I had 30+ days in by now.
Yesterday it all changed. I woke up to a grouchy dog barking...barking at the plow trucks outside. I looked out the window to see most of the cars in my parking lot buried in feet of snow. I kissed that genius dog and called the ski report. 27" in the past 24 hours, she said! HOLY COW! I sent a message out to the usual suspects and made a plan to pick up some fat powder skis and get on that fluffy stuff as soon as possible.
After a quick breakfast my best girl J came to pick me up. We ran to the ski shop down the street and picked up some fat demo skis for the day. We made a call to a friend with ski in/ski out access and got permission to park at his house for easy access to an upper lift. After a sketchy park job in his un-plowed driveway we hopped on the lift with most of Steamboat and hundreds of out-of-towners visiting for Presidents Day. The snowfall was said to have broken a record for a single days snowfall in almost twenty years and we felt it. Groomers had to carve paths on some flat surfaces just so people could ski through without getting stuck - I've never been more thankful to see a groomed trail through powder in my life!
Truly the most fun I've ever had skiing, we would make a plan on the lift ride up for our next run and something else would catch our eye while unloading and plans would suddenly change. Like kids in a candy store our eyes were darting from one option to another and we couldn't decide so we just kept going from one cloud of snow to the next! My favorite part of these days are the giggles, hoots and hollers you can hear coming from every skier on the mountain. We can't help ourselves but to shout out our extreme happiness to give thanks to Mother Nature for the gift she has given us! (mine were silenced by laryngitis but that didn't stop me from getting out to enjoy it)
As the saying goes "there are no friends on a powder day" meaning as much as we value our friendships we don't wait around for anyone and enjoy the incredible snow at our own pace. What I realized on this EPIC Champagne Powder day is that while there are no friends on a powder day it is also the case that everyone is your friend on a powder day. Skiers and boarders, snowbikes and sit-skis, everyone is having an epic day and we are all psyched to share in the joy the snow brings. We love hearing eachother's Yahooooos and Wheeeeeeees and watching eachother crash into a cloud knowing it didn't hurt and was entirely caused by one's letting go and just living!
Yesterday, in that record-breaking snow with one of my best friends, I skied hard, I laughed harder, I lived the life of a local in a town where that is a sign of status, and I felt alive!
This is living!
