Ski Season The Best Thing I Can Think Of

                Every year summer is good.   Hot temps and cool activities make it a good time to be in Colorado.  However it is when summer fades into fall colors and falling temps  that I start to get excited.  This change means it is only a matter of time until, ski season.  During summer I try to keep occupied but with the coming of fall I allow myself to get the powder skis out put a fresh coat of blue swix on them and reflect on past seasons of crushing pow day after glorious day.

                Ski season for me is like Christmas morning every day.  You wake up bright and early and see what you have been given.  Sometimes if you are lucky you wake up and it has showed a great deal of inches to cushion your ridiculous feats and slow you decent through the trees just enough you can pick a super harry “death line” without the unfortunate side effect of a tree to the dome.  When it is deep it is truly the best thing I can think of even though very little thought is actually produced when shralping a filthy deep freshey pow line.  All that runs through my mind during the good days is just an echoing since of wellbeing along with a repeated stoak like fraze like “fresh dope dope dope fresh ill”  and that is if anything but the sound of snow hissing up as it hits the goggles is even present in your head.  On the deepest days of the ski season I walk away with a near post traumatic stress like state from a good event.  It’s like it is such a good experience that regular life seams pale in comparison.   Days afterword I’ll be at work and someone will ask me how my week was and I will start to say something like alright, then I think about it and all I can say is so good. 

                Sometimes you don’t get feet of snow but on some 3 or 4 inch days you are reminded than even when it’s not epic out, it is still well epic.  When the 3 inches overnight is just sticky enough to provide ample speed control to allow you to really pick aggressive lines and ski trees like a boss ninja pimp that is once again when I am happy to be alive and have the good fortune to partake in what is generally a sport for the rich even though I am by all conventional standards pour. 

  I was once several or more years ago riding the gondola at steamboat with some friends of mine and some old dudes who I didn’t know.   We were all talking and for some reason the topic shifted to college and careers.  One of the old dudes said something to the effect of what about money?  My response without even thinking was look I have bills to pay and they demand face shots and 360’s as payment  If I don’t get out here and at least try to slay it every day I am doing my self my friends and my country a great disservice.  He shook his head and to my surprise instead of some sort of well thought out retort he said damn straight kid.
Sometimes you don’t get any new snow but that’s ok too.  Because as we all know the best day of work “unless you get to ski at work” isn’t as good as the worst day skiing.  Me and a friend of mine used to say just make it to snow and everything will be ok.  This eluded to the fact that some mornings things don’t go smoothly perhaps you lock your keys in your car or forget your snowboard or skis at home.  It doesn’t matter once you make it to snow and take that first glorious straight-line down a groomer at near impending doom esk speed you will have a better day.   It doesn’t matter if you are in hella debt or fighting with your girlfriend after 3 pow turns and a downed tree olie you are like “what was I concerned with again” 

Some people measure wealth in a traditional since like houses and net worth.  I however measure wealth in free time and fat skis.  Snow tires and mornings off offer the ability to do what I love to do and do it allot.  I sometimes go into the locker room to frantically pee or something and I see people sitting in there eating lunch instead of riding on their lunch break.  All I can do is shake my head because what are they doing making 9 bucks an hour to work at a ski resort if they aren’t in it to win it.  I will ask these people why they are sitting inside and they will reply it’s too cold or it’s not that good out.  I think and reply well I got to go shred the gnar because it doesn’t shred itself.  GNARMY…
By Mike Ham