As I was saying…
Crazy day. Reminded me why I needed to take yesterday off. But that crisp, cold air is still in my lungs, and there’s a little bit of weariness in my quads, so I can feel like I still have some of the mountain with me.
I only started skiing two years ago. I had done it a few times in high school, with a few Exploring friends up at Oak Mountain in Speculator. I was decently good at it, but it was hellishly expensive (for instance, if I recall, the lift ticket and rental together were $12. Well, that was about 6 hours work at the time.) Then I moved to sunny Syracuse, home of plenty of snow but inadequate hills, and I much preferred to blow my money on alcohol and rock ‘n’ roll than on skiing. Did a little cross-country now and then, but that was about it. Then we moved back here, and there was much more of a ski culture around, and the Nagano Olympics piqued my interest. Then, after several winters stuck inside with little children in various stages of sickness, resulting in raging cabin fever for me, I decided that Hannah and I were going to take ski lessons and be forced to get outside on a regular basis. So we looked at all the programs around and picked the one that was cheapest and closest, over at Bousquet in Pittsfield. Small mountain, very friendly, and enough steep terrain to terrify a beginner. Then last year, Bekah and Lee started in, too, and we’ll do it again this year. We’ve added some occasional runs to Jiminy Peak or, more often, Gore, and now I’m really coming to enjoy Mount Snow. I’ve gotten good enough to get in over my head, and I’ve got skis that are too fast for my own good.
Let’s see, started skiing AND running at 40, re-started biking at 42 . . . starting to look like a midlife crisis? Only to the untrained eye. I think that when the average guy turns 40, he gains an unprecedented interest in running and the Civil War. Not sure why, but it’s happened to many people I know, including me. Besides, it’s not like I started shopping for sports cars….
I’ve been doing in-line skating since I was 34, so that’s in no way implicated in this discussion.