The long-lost ski pole

On December 27, 2019 as I was skiing with my daughter and grandson, I dropped my left pole just before tower #6 while riding the Iron Mountain Express lift at Park City. 

For some odd reason this was our last run of the day and we had to catch a gondola to get to the other side of the resort where our car was parked, so we couldn’t go back and retrieve it right away. 

I returned to the spot the following day, but even though the shaft and the handle were red, I could no longer locate it as fresh snow had fallen overnight. I hate dropping a pole or just losing ski gear for that matter, so I remained obsessed with finding that damned pole for the past two ski seasons. 

Towards the end of this past winter as snow was melting fast, I caught a glimpse of my missing in the same spot I remember losing it, but the following day more new snow had hidden it from view. 

This is how this past Wednesday, in order to get some closure, I decided to hike to that spot. About eighteen month later, a 6 mile, 3 hour work-out into some impenetrable brush, I recovered the old pole that had turned from red into pale rose after two summer and fall exposed under the fierce Utah sun. 

My wife thought I was silly to go through that expense of time and energy for a lone ski pole, but for me it was well worth the effort!