Looking into my Ski Crystal Ball

When I contemplate this brand new ski season, I often have a hard time seeing clearly into my "Ski Crystal Ball." Skiing is for me something that happens, not an event or a succession of situations that can be planned, guessed or predicted like you would plan an outing, a family celebration or of course, a career. I guess there's not much planning that goes into my skiing. That's right, I've never looked at one single season thinking that I will be accomplishing this, that or achieve some other things.

Even though I'm extremely goal-oriented for all the other areas of my life, this approach has never permeated into my skiing outlook. I probably am a fatalistic skier who wait for the snow crystals to randomly and gracefully align themselves and provide me with some heavenly snow experiences. It is true though that when I'm skiing, my competitive spirit – not my planning mind - eventually comes alive and takes hold of me.

For example if its already 2 pm and I am enjoying the runs that crisscross the Lady Morgan Chairlift in Deer Valley, I will think, "...let's do six more of them!" This mere thought pushes me and I end up having ridden Lady Morgan seven more times in that sixty minute time span! The performance wasn't planned, it simply happened... I have never promised myself to ski 100 days per season, but I generally end up close to that round number, so while it's hard to say that I'm not planning these kinds of minute details, they just seem to happen...

As a perennial late-bloomer, I must have reached my peak performance on skis in my early sixties (yes, dear reader, there is plenty of hope!) and one day, as I happened to boast a bit too much about some of my ski exploits, a slightly older and wiser friend of mine told me in no uncertain terms: “Silly you, at your age, what do you have to prove?” These words of wisdom were not lost on me, the skier, that always looked at performing better and faster, whenever possible.

This competitive approach of mine was colliding with certain issues that develop as one gets further into the years and as physical strength begins plateauing, if not declining, but is certainly no longer improving. Over the past couple of seasons, I have found that I was getting a bit less nimble, less powerful and considerably slower. You might say that I was finally growing up as I had implicitly understood that speeding and risk-taking might finally prove to be harmful to me.

This, in part, is the reason why, from that point forward, my goals on skis won't be measured so much in speed, quickness or slaloming through a tight grove of aspen trees. Instead, they will be qualitative in nature and are likely to consist of skiing much more often, but when I will do it, I will also concentrate on being that much smoother and my focus will be on saving all of my resources to enjoy a longer, fun-filled day on the slopes.

Another new measuring stick for me would be the amount of time there's a grin on my face and this should at least be in the 90% range, to make each day of winter another great moment on skis. Sure, I'll still go fast when I can and when it can make me more efficient, but never again at the expense of my own safety. I'll think more about being lighter on my skis, on better using the terrain to check my speed and to my mechanical advantage, to make my turns effortlessly and remain "one" with the terrain.

That's about right, less brute force and more “caresses” on the snow, this is how my skiing will be looking like, this season and beyond! With this in mind, when I review what's inside my Snow Crystal Bowl, I seen more slow fun, more perfect turns, more time to enjoy the whole experience, more seizing of the moment and with all that, always the surprise that comes with the never-ending adventure that skiing really is!