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November 9, 2009

skiingneedspeople

yesterday was the first day to ski for the season. rather early if you ask any local, though no complaints here on that. i need all the practice i can get. we got picked up early and headed for Keystone, one of five mountains that we are able to ski at endlessly for the winter.

so, as i was steeping my green tea this morning i nonchalantly noted to someone at work who had asked about my weekend that i went skiing yesterday. no big deal, just a light response. soon after i realized, what a great way to fill a sunday morning and afternoon. up early, drive off into the mountains, locate some snowy hill, elevate ourselves on a whole new kind of public transportation, objectively fly down and try not to die. good news is i didn't die or launch myself over the edge, hip hip hooray. i probably should have gotten out of control at least once and had a tumultuous fall. maybe next time.

it's funny if you think about the whole process of skiing. and just to clarify: skiing also means snowboarding. it's just silly to write out both and since skiing is an older pastime than snowboarding it thus gets the privilege of being used. maybe we could make up a new word, our few options would be skiboarding or snowing [um,no] or i guess boardski. i kinda like boardski, but it sounds more like a frat boys nickname. well, you get the picture. oh gosh! wait a hot second, i did see one dangerous soul going down the slick mountains on a skateboard. no joke, this boy was on a skateboard minus the wheels and boots not even strapped in. we can call that snowskating or deathskating. anyways, back to the matter at hand, skiing. tons of people come, pile on too many clothes and entertain themselves by making a constant loop up and down the mountain. i could probably say that basketball is about a silly of a sport as it gets, or football, or even tennis even though tennis is a huge part of my childhood, most of these sports all have the same thing in common. it is all about containment and people are really trying to get after each other whether by physical beating or nailing balls at the other. kinda fun, if that's what you're into. skiing is not about any of that stuff. one of the beautiful things about skiing is that a mass of people are attempting to conquer the mountain and the natural conditions that she emits. helping each other out with technique, skillz, balance, an understanding and so on. skiing needs people, the mountain is activated when people are blazing down it, and no one would want to ski for more than 20 minutes all by themselves. so is this just a theme "to see and be seen"? not quite sure, but i do know that this great activity operates with a community of people, and all are welcome.
some words to live by when in any given week [you or i] might be climbing, playing soccer, running or skiing, understand that "the human body does not wear out with use. on the contrary, it wears down when it is not used."

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