Skiing's Three Dimensions

Whenever I read an article on ski instruction, I'm always struck by the absence or the lesser role of speed, a fundamental component of that sport. In fact, alpine skiing is the product of just three essential components:

1. Speed and gravity, the essential part of alpine skiing. Not only do they create the necessary momentum critical to gliding on the snow, but also provides most of the thrill skiers come to enjoy. 
2. Body positioning, involving mostly feet, legs and to a lesser degree the upper-body and arms. This sets the stage for changes of direction and speed control. This is also the foundation of the ski technique. 
3. Muscular output, mostly from a passive type. That essential effort is calling for the thighs and the abdominal muscles to sustain and oppose pressures brought forth by centrifugal forces, terrain jolts and varying effects that call for muscular resistance. 

Of these three elements, speed is the most important as long as the skier has mastered the minimum amount of technique required from the sport.

This is why I can't help but wonder, why speed has to be the looming elephant inside the ski room?

I voted!

Yesterday, I dropped two ballots at City Hall for the November 6 mid-term election.

Beyond being a nod to people we thought were worthy of our confidence, our vote was AGAINST Trump and his Republican enablers.

The man's chief skills are to divide in order to rule, inflame extremists to help him advance his agenda and turn the USA into a dictatorship.

We're proud to be rejecting him and what he stands for.

Counting skiers...

In the current issue of Skiing History, John Fry is attempting to take a count of U.S. skiers.

From his thorough analysis, we're reading that his final number for alpine skiers and snowboarders is around 10 to 11 millions. This numbers seem to agree with the “2018 International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism” published by Laurent Vanat in Switzerland.

While these figures are extrapolated from annual skier-days, one may question the ways we get to that ratio. I might be reasonable to expect that both Vail Resorts and Alterra, with their huge database, could shed a more precise light on our ski/snowboard population.

Sure, smaller, independent ski areas that aren't part of these conglomerates might have a different story to tell, since most of them don't rely on destination visitors.

While snow remains the key element that makes or breaks a season, over a quarter of a century, the number of skiers-days has stagnated in the US, averaging 55 million with a low of 50 and a high of 60.

This happened when the average length-of-stay dropped considerably at destination resorts, from about a week, some 50 years ago, to just 3 to 4 days today.

Game changers like the Epic-Ikon passes, fluctuating ski visits and shrinking length-of-stay have become a moving target for any algorithm designed to crunch these numbers.

John will probably have to make a few adjustments...

Road Art

Original art can simply be created by the right circumstances and a good timing. While we were away, one of the streets close to our home had “winterized” by covering its cracked asphalt with strips of tar.

As the job was underway, aspen leaves were falling, landed on the road, but got stuck on the strip, forming a design resembling a fossil form.

This unexpected natural and random occurrence created an original art form that was as good, if not better, as if it had been developed by some renowned artist.

Thanks, Mother Nature!

Financial Independence revisited...

There isn't a day that the subject of FIRA (Financial Independence Retire Early) is thrown at us as the new desirable lifestyle.

While we applaud frugality and appreciate a relatively early retirement, we remain skeptical about retiring at 40 or even earlier. This must feel terribly devaluating and boring to cut oneself from the productive side of society.

We simply don't believe that around $1 million stashed away can possibly last a lifetime as life expectancy keeps on growing; this is a very dangerous proposition with no margin of safety. 

We also don't like the fact that to survive on a limited income, young retirees must scheme and somehow take shortcuts that are costly to certain elements of society; there's a sense that this strategy of financial independence somehow cheats society.

Finally, if everyone adopted this way of living, it would collapse our economy as we know it, since 70% of our GDP is made of consumption of goods and services.

Skipping a beat?

Usually, we receive a notice in the mail urging us to renew our cars registration, but this year we didn't receive one for my wife's Mini, which registration was to expire at the end of this month.

Since we were absent for a good portion of October, I assumed the notice got lost in the bunch of mail we had put on hold and manage to slip through the cracks. So, today, I paid a visit to our local DMV and asked why I had not received a notice and also notifying them I wanted to renew that car's registration.

The lady on duty told me I failed to receive a renewal notice simply because the registration wasn't renewed last year. She turned her computer screen towards me and said it had not been paid for.

I replied “Impossible! I'm certain the current sticker on the license plate says 18 (for 2018), and I'll be glad to bring it and show it you when I've affixed the new one for 2019...” 

She didn't seem to believe me, so I paid next year's fee, went to the car and realized that the sticker said 17, not 18 as I believed it did.

Bottom line, my wife had been driving her car all year with an expired registration and neither her nor I had any idea about it. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss!

Take-away from Japan

I've known Japan since the seventies, traveled there a dozen times and done quite a bit of business with Japanese during my career.

We also had a Japanese foreign-exchange student for one year, with us, in Park City.

Through my general experience, I've also become a "Japanophile".

Sure, I'm no expert on Japan, but today, I'd like to submit to you all the positive elements I see today, about that country (from the serious to the trivial):

• Very nice, polite people 
• Collective vs. Individual 
• Honesty 
• Timeliness 
• Cleanliness 
• Beauty without superfluity 
• Wonderful children
• Great food 
• Impressive infrastructure (buildings, highways, bridges and tunnel)
• Fabulous public transportation 
• Excellent, common-sense based, educational system 
• Good health care and social programs 
• Low birth rate (counter-intuitive, but what the world really needs)
• Smart toilets 
• Tiny cars

On the other hand, there are the not-so-good elements I've observed and believe about Japan:

•  Impossibly complex language
• Communication difficulties 
• Crowded environment 
• Lack of space 
• Extreme regimentation
• Excessive urbanization
• Male-dominated society 
• Lack of business effectiveness 
• Frequent, bad weather 
• Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Typhoons 
• The Japanese breakfast menu 

Hard to tell if Japan is the ideal place on the planet, but it certainly has nothing to envy to North America or Europe. If you happen to know or have experienced Japan, do you agree with my analysis?

Japan trip, Day 10

On Tuesday, we left Osaka with the almost certainty that we'd get back home at about the same time we left ! The benefit of crossing the dateline eastbound, I guess.

Of course that wasn't meant to be. I wasn't counting on the usual airline delay that added some five hours to our arrival time.

With a beautiful weather throughout our entire stay, we got rather lucky on that count and all in all, had a terrific time.

We found the Japanese so hospitable that I strongly feel that they should be running all hospitality schools the world over.

This said, Japan is a rather complicated country starting with its complex language, focus on perfection and stiff discipline. It might be a text book case into what not to do in order to innovate.

There seems to be no doubt that regimentation kills creativity and, at term, fosters stagnation. Is this one reason that Japan can't seem to find its footing back after the crisis of 1990?

Now, the opposite argument could be made against innovating, improving just for the sake of it, and screwing up a planet that could do without that...

Japan trip, Day 9

Monday was the last day of our tour. After breakfast, we continued our journey to Oboke Gorge, one of three hidden mountain regions of Japan.

Oboke is the valley located upstream of the Yoshino-gawa River. "Boke" means "dangerous to walk along," and Oboke (big "boke") was named for its jagged V-shaped rocks and narrow path which, no matter how carefully or slowly one, makes walking dangerous. We enjoyed a boat ride and took in the unique view of the gorge.

That was before Evelyne and I were the only people in our remaining group of 20 to climb the 1,368 stone steps to the Kotohira-gu Shrine, a Shinto shrine. We rushed through as we didn't want to be late for the tour bus.

In Takamatsu we visited the Ritsurin Park, a masterpiece of Japanese landscape 100 years in the making and just a bit nicer than our own garden ! This sprawling park features beautiful ponds and pavilions, with Mt. Shiun as the perfect backdrop.

From there, our private coach takes us across Awaji Island through a series of spectacular bridges. In the evening we continued to Kobe, where we enjoyed a Wagyu beef dinner...

Japan trip, Day 8

On Sunday, we took a short ferry ride to the island of Miyajima. At high tide, the famed vermilion torii gate of the Itsukushima Shrine looks like it is floating in the middle of the sea. 

The shrine complex is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Miyajima has been selected as one of Japan's three most scenic places.

After an unusual but delicious okonomiyaki lunch, we went back to Hiroshima and visited the Peace Memorial Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum.

This entire area and the museum made a deep, emotional impact on all of us, and should be a mandatory destination to every Head of State, the world over, especially with insane leaders like Putin and Trump with their hands on the nuclear levers.

In the afternoon, we will drive through the Shimanami Kaido to Shikoku Island. The Shimanami Kaido is a 60 kilometer long toll road that connects Japan's main island of Honshu to the island of Shikoku, passing over six small islands in the Seto Inland Sea.

It is also known as the Nishiseto Expressway. We stopped by Kirosan Observatory where we could see the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridges standing among hundreds of islands beautifully scattered over the Seto Inland Sea. 

The modern observation deck was cleverly designed and well integrated halfway into the hillside to minimize its impact of the natural surroundings.

Japan trip, Day, 7

On Saturday, our group shrunk from 20 to 13 and we went from a large, modern bus, including WiFi, too a much smaller vehicle both cramped and uncomfortable.

To make matters worst, its GPS didn't work and the poor driver had to rely, with limited success, on a traditional road map while Kim our guide, had to prompt his directions from her smart phone.

The first thing we did that day was visiting the Himeji Castle, aka the "White Egret Castle" and "White Heron Castle" because of its brilliant white exterior, resembling a bird taking flight.

The Himeji Castle is the largest and most visited castle in Japan. It is also one of the few remaining original castles in Japan. This splendid example of traditional architecture was the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in Japan.

Including beautiful timbers, the castle was populated by scary ninjas, waiting for us around its corners, to add a bit of spice to the visit.

This was followed by a visit to Kurashiki. In merchant days, this scenic town thrived as a port for rice shipments.

Several old rice granaries and examples of historic architecture still remain, in addition to the stone lined canal.

In the afternoon, we took a very uncomfortable (remember the small bus) as well as scenic drive to Hiroshima.

Japan trip, Day 6

On Friday, we started the day with a visit in the scenic and historic Fushimi district, one of the brewing capitals of Japan. First, we paid a visit to the stunning vermilion colored Fushimi Inari Shrine and its 4 km long tunnel of scarlet torii gates was featured in the “Memoirs of a Geisha” movie.

This complex wraps around a bamboo wilderness that includes mountains, streams, and ponds, a perfect backdrop for a scenic hike. At the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum, we saw a great collection of traditional brewing tools, learned about the facinating history of sake brewing with its old buildings, complete with a tasting experience.

We continued our tour to Uji where we experienced a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, had a terrible time sitting down and couldn't get back up again.

From there, we continued to Nara, the oldest capital city of Japan. I had been there before, in 1984, I believe. We saw the Todaiji Temple, the largest wooden building in Japan that also houses the largest bronze statue of Buddha at 16.3 meters high. The surrounding park is filled with over 1,000 Sika Deer that are continuously begging for food.

In the afternoon we traveled to Osaka where we concluded the day by visiting the Dodonbori, which runs parallel to the Dotonbori canal. This is a crazy, crowded shopping, entertainment, and food district.

Besides that, Dodonbori is known for the hundreds of neon and mechanized signs that line the street, including the famous Glico Running Man and Kani Doraku Crab signs.

Japan trip, Day 5

Thursday began with a visit to the Nijo Castle, built in the early 17th century. Ninomaru- goten, renovated in 1626, is a building representative of the architectural style of that period.

At the Nishijin Textile Center, we viewed displays of kimonos and watched a kimono fashion show.

We also visited the Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion) covered with 18 carat gold leaf. This three story structure was originally built by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1397.

Next, we went to Arashiyama to see the Tenryuji Temple where we had a glimpse of traditional Zen landscape garden design, before ambling through a dense bamboo grove, passing several small shrines, tea shops and private houses before arriving at the Togetsukyo Bridge over the Hozu River.

For fun, we toured Gion, the old Geisha Quarter, and Pontocho, but I personally missed a bunch of Geishas, as I was inside a pub, having a beer with my new found friend Dave!

Japan trip, Day 4

On Wednesday, we began the day visiting the Sagawa Art Museum that didn't have much going on, except an exhibit of water colors on the “Silk Road” theme, a bunch of of bronze nude sculptures and some whimsical painting, to which I was able to contribute by posting my own drawings.

We then continued to Kyoto. This historical city was spared from the American air raids and saved from the atomic bomb during World War II thanks to its cultural and historical character.

We visited the famous Kiyomizu Temple, best known for its wooden stage that juts out from its main hall, 13 meters above the hillside below. The stage affords visitors a nice view of the city of Kyoto in the distance.

That night, we were able to unpack a bit as we stayed two nights in Kyoto.

Japan trip, Day 3

On October 16, the weather cleared up as we traveled to the top road and fifth station, at Mt. Fuji, that I had first visited with my friend Gérard Bouvier, back in October, 1972.

Colors were changing at the 8,000 feet level and after the usual picture taking, we continued to Hakone, and its popular hot-spring resorts, home to the Hakone National Park.

We took a 20 minute, quite forgetable gondola ride from Togendai to Owakundani surrounded by sulfurous fumes as one would see around Yellowstone National Park.

Most of the area is still an active volcanic zone and through the cloudes we could catch a few good views of Mount Fuji.

We were finally treated to a Shinkansen bullet train ride for 15 minutes and reached a speed of 275 km/hr on the short sample ride, before checking-in at the Onsen Hotel at Hamanako Kanzaiji, where we were able to soak in the therapeutic waters after feasting on a traditional Japanese Kaiseki banquet dinner.

Japan trip, Day 2

Yesterday, we left our Narita hotel, picked up the rest of our participants in Tokyo and started our tour with the Asakusa Kannon Temple, an active place of worship featuring the largest paper lantern in Japan.

Our group was quite diverse. It was made of Filipinos, Indians, Japanese, Caucasians, British, Singaporeans, Canadians, Americans and... French, of course!

At the same time, we began our never ending shopping at the Nakamise Market, located right next to that temple.

The fun part of the day began when we had the chance to try our hands at making sushi with a congenial sushi chef and ate our own food! For digestion, we strolled through the Tsukiji Outer Market and its many restaurants and shops.

This was followed with a visit to the Imperial Palace, former site of Edo Castle and current residence of Japan's Imperial Family where we took countless pictures.

Our busy day concluded by visiting the Tokyo Tower, a 333 meter high replica of the Eiffel Tower, 13 meter taller, but definitely not nearly as charming!

Gérard Rubaud, 1941-2018

I never was very close to Gérard this savoyard from Aix-les-Bains, France, who held key jobs at Rossignol, first with the company's race department and later on as the president and head of marketing and sales in the USA from 1979 to 1982, under Jean Pierre Rosso, the head of Dynastar and Rossignol's joint American operations.

We first met in Tignes in November of 1974 and I found him rather intimidating, if not condescending. True, I was just beginning with Look at the time, didn't know much about the business, and we shared a World Pro Team with Rossignol where the ski company seemed to be calling the shots.

Later on I had a subsequent meeting with him about doing some joint advertising and still found him quite distant and a bit imperious. Yet, I must say that Rubaud was skilled in navigating a difficult, seasonal industry while working for a company that glorified its people one day and put them down harshly the next.

In spite of that, Gérard Rubaud was able to reinvent himself and go from executive, to entrepreneur and then to traditional French baker in a country that doesn't know much about good bread.

He deserves full credit for that and it's just unfortunate that he had to go while he only was 77, after a protracted heart disease. He'll be missed.

Welcome back to Japan!

I had not set foot in Japan for 24 years when we finally landed in Tokyo Narita, this past Sunday. I had been to Japan a dozen time before, but mostly on business.

This time I was delighted to take my wife along for her first trip to a country that I'm a fan of. All had gone well, until after clearing customs we realized that our Tour Operator contact person wasn't there.

A moment of panic set at the busy arrival area. I had not inserted my Japanese SIM card in my phone and couldn't reach the emergency contact person. I caught the airport WiFi, but for some reasons, couldn't make my Skype call.

Eventually, we found Kim, our guide for the trip, or rather she found us, in the process we also met two tour buddies and together, we got into the bus that took us to our airport hotel. Everything got back into place...

Trading isn't for the faint of heart!

Whether you are trading stocks in small or large amounts, expect a lot of stress, a myriad of second-thoughts and many regrets. Sometimes, there will be rewards too, but, by an large, trading stocks isn't easy and demands a tough skin and large dose of self-reliance.

The key thing is that you never know what the future will hold in store for you. Only insight can explain things, validate or condemn moves, and build up some useful experience. And boy, it does takes a lot of it to survive that extreme sport!

I've done it consistently since the beginning of this century, have seen my game change a lot, and by any measure, have been quite lucky at it.

I've also learned many important things, like it's a lot easier to sell than buy, nobody knows anything and at the end of the day, you can only count on yourself to get a pat on the back or to take the appropriate blame.

If you haven't started it yet, begin with small amounts of money you own (never, ever borrow), observe, be open, honest, absorb and before you know it, you'll become good at it!

As a last resort, hit it!

We've had this Sharp atomic clock on our kitchen wall for just a dozen years, and for the most part, it's worked fine, except when the clock or the outside sensor batteries were dead, or the two were out of synch. On Thursday, that old clock suddenly beeped to announce that it had ceased to work.

I thought it might have been the batteries that needed replacement and immediately took care of it, but to my dismay, the display stayed stubbornly blank. I checked the polarities, tried another set of batteries, to absolutely no avail, and finally decided that after having a good life, that old clock had counted enough hours.

Since I'm not someone to procrastinate, I immediately began to shop for a replacement, from Amazon, to Home Depot, Walmart and Bed Bath & Beyond, I looked for the same product or an updated version.

Well, for one thing, the Sharp brand, in that category, seemed to be no longer available, and I looked for other makes on all these sites, called the local shops, but couldn't find what I wanted.

Later on, as saw that clock still sitting dead on the counter, I decided to dump it into the garbage, but as a last-ditch gut-feeling I shook it, hit it hard and suddenly the screen when from blank to filled up with its default setting numbers. The atomic timekeeper had resurrected!

The take-away from that technological miracle is that in case of breakdown, following attempts to repair and replacement and search on the internet, it always pays to hit the failing product before ditching it. It might resurrect.

Now, I'm beginning to understand why so many men beat their wives!

Wilson vs. Romney

On Tuesday night we watched the only televised debate opposing Mitt Romney to Jenny Wilson for Utah's Senate seat vacated by Orrin Hatch.

We don't like Romney, won't vote for him as we feel he's an opportunist and a hypocrite, but felt her opponent was ill-equipped and ill-prepared to make a significant dent in the current polls that give 55 to 64% for Romney against 26 to 29% for Wilson.

The former Massachusetts Governor was well dressed, had presence and was pretty skillful at dodging challenging questions, like most seasoned politicians are.

In contrast, the at-large member of the Salt Lake County Council was dressed like a housewife (a sober business suit would have been nice), had very little charisma, and at times, was deferential to her opponent.

The only way she would have stood a chance was by taking a strong aggressive and dogged demeanor. She didn't and probably was not capable of doing so. Who is to blame? Jenny Wilson? No; quite simply the Utah Democratic Party that just wanted to participate and go through the motions with no real intention of winning.

I'm convinced there must have been some male or female iconoclasts able and willing to take on Romney, but they didn't show on the Utah Democratic Party's radar, or were judged to be “too much”.

The money spent on behalf of Ms. Wilson would definitely have been better invested buttressing the candidacy of McAdam vs. Love, among other Democratic candidates standing a chance to prevail in the November elections...

Colors at their peak

Fall colors in Utah are always spectacular, especially this years.

First, we were in town (usually we're somewhere else, on vacation) and second, they concluded in unison with our first snowfalls, which created the best of both worlds, by blending both unusual and natural colors in what resembled the perfect impressionist masterpiece!

Too bad these visual treats are so fleeting and may have have to wait a long, long time before we're treated to such a wonderful palette of colors!

Sad sign of the times in Park City?

Many large Park City homes are adorned with larger than life animal sculptures, most often representing of moose or elk in various materials and styles.

Our favorite one, though, until recently, was that cute bear sipping coffee from a mug, sitting on a big rock and glancing at the nearby mountains. It had been there for almost a decade, minding his own business.

This whimsical creature, named Oliver, and weighing some 70 lbs (pres de 32 kilos) was unbolted and stolen during the night of Monday, October 1.

Judy Epstein, his owner, evidently mortified, was reminiscing that passer-by enjoyed seeing him, to the point she said in a radio interview: "Almost every Christmas, unbeknownst to us who it is, somebody always leaves a pound of coffee right by his cup. We don’t know who does it but somebody every Christmas leaves him coffee...”

Ms. Esptein is pleading with the thief to return her bear back; how could one re-sell such a unique piece?

Up until now these things never happened in Park City, a town where you can leave your skis or your bike outside your home and not worry too much about them being stolen.

This seems to be changing now and it's very sad.

Killy's pricey photo-biography

Recently, Jean-Claude cleaned up his attic and found a trove of old photographs he had gathered over the years.

From these, many of them unpublished, he selected 351 pictures that were compiled into two volumes of 616 pages, packaged in a ponderous, 31 lbs (14 kg) box-set, made available as a 1,000 copy limited issue, and sold for just under $1,000 (850 €) each.

The publication theme is “Learning” and “Enterprising”, the two founding elements of Killy's life. The proceeds will be given to charities (we're not told which).

In my opinion, only a few super-rich or very large corporations may be able purchase a copy to grace their coffee table or reception area, and even fewer common folks will ever have a chance to browse through it, reinforcing skiing's image as an exclusive and uppity activity.

As to the proceeds I only hope the won't go to the KGB Widows Association or something along these lines!

Just kidding...

Never forget the honey!

Last week, I had to plant 150 bulbs in the hope of gracing our house garden with even more flowers next spring.

After the drought we suffered this summer, the soil was hard as concrete, the job close to impossible as I had to use a long, heavy steel rod to bore holes deep enough to accommodate the large narcissus bulbs.

In so doing, I got a huge blister next to my thumb that, unbeknownst to me, got infected and woke me up in the middle of that night. The pain was excruciating, but I was so tired that I managed to fall back asleep only to wake up an hour later hounded by an even worst pain.

That's only when I thought “Honey!” the miracle drug, got up and ran to the kitchen. There, I got some honey, put it on the wound, covered it with a band-aid and went back to sleep as pain began to fade away.

Thirty-six hour later, not only pain was long gone, but the spot was fully healed. Thanks, honey, I need to think of you much more often!

Is Park City still a mountain-town?

Just today, I read a rather virulent guest editorial in our local Park City newspaper. In a nutshell, the angry author was complaining about the seemingly unstoppable growth that today, may have become the new normal in Park City.

What the author of that editorial fails to realize is that growth in mountain towns is a universal challenge. From Aspen to Whistler and from Avoriaz to Zermatt in Europe, the trend is pretty much universal.

It used to be that only these mountain-town residents who could find a tourist-related local job lived there, but today, with modern technology, many more folks can live where they please, and more often than not, where quality of life has the most to offer.

The other unique aspect of Park City is that it sits smack in the middle of a sea of private land that can be developed, unlike the majority of North American mountain resorts that are for, the most part, landlocked into Federal land, with extremely limited room for expansion.

Sure, with about 27,000 people sharing a Park City address, we're no longer talking about a small town; yet, in Oregon, Bend counts upward of 90,000 people, Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada, 60,000, and the Vail Valley, around 45,000!

Also, what has hoisted Park City at the top of American mountain towns is the convenience of being located 35 minutes away from a major airport and a large metro area offering every necessary resources. In the future, we sure are likely to see even more growth for these same reason.

It's true that we're facing some big problems, like water availability and traffic, and our local government will have to work hard at mitigating these issues. We'll simply have to be more creative, disciplined and able to remain content, as these problems pale in comparison with the wonderful quality of life still available today.

I've lived more than 33 years in Park City and, while there are local aspects that I miss, there are also many more new additions that I greatly appreciate, I still find the place quite livable and most importantly, I still fully enjoy living here with no exit plan in mind.

Yes, before I forget, for the malcontents, there's always Red Lodge in Montana as the perfectly sized mountain town to seek refuge to...

Ready for skiing?

Yesterday, the snow has showed up on the upper crests of Park City and the first thing people I know ask me, is whether I'm ready or anxious for skiing.

My short answer is a resounding “No”.

Even though I'm a ski-addict, I enjoy the seasons outside of winter and all of the months that are not snow-covered.

I'll be ready when the snow come, when the depth will be decent enough to cover all the rocks and that's about it. I live in the moment.

There will be plenty of time to glide, have fun and feel the cold. For now, I can use all of the autumn weather that nature is allotting me!

Abusing “Handicap Parking” tags...

Like in most mountain resorts, finding a spot for a car is often at a premium in Park City.

This explains why so many able-bodied locals are abusing the use of automobile tags for persons with disabilities, without thinking twice about their blatant display of selfishness and disrespect towards the real handicapped motorists.

We know many of them that are living in our neighborhood, that got these special tags they've obtained from friends or relatives, and are constantly keeping conveniently hanging on their mirror.

Now, whenever these perfectly mobile individuals can park into a handicap spot, they won't hesitate one second, and, in so doing, will deny a truly disabled motorist the space they're entitled to.

Frequently, these are younger, active people with no apparent physical disability, except for their obviously degenerate and deeply sick minds.

Nobel Prize of what?

If you live in the American West and win a Nobel Prize, expect to receive a phone call smack in the middle of the night.

This is exactly what I thought happened to me last Monday night when my phone rang as I was lost into a bottomless slumber. I fumbled around my night table trying to reach for the phone, but only managed to hang it up in an awkward and zombie-like attempt to see who was calling.

Since it's the season, I thought it might be the Nobel Committee, alerting me that I had won one their prizes for, perhaps, common sense, since I haven't done much lately in physics, chemistry, literature or even peace.

I felt sorry I missed the call, but as the voice-message light began to blink, I had no choice but turn on my lamp, and check what all the fuss was about.

When I got there, I heard this: “This is an alert from the Park City Municipal Corporation. A mountain lion has been sighted at the 3000 block of Park Meadows Drive, please keep your pets indoors or supervise them when going outdoors...” Or something to that effect.

Just a pesky interruption and, as you might have guessed it, no Nobel Prize!

Garibaldi Whistler Mountain

Since I was a child, I always dreamed about America; not just the United States, but Canada as well. In the late sixties, my friend Michel Duret was passing along to me, issues of the U.S. Ski and Skiing magazines after he had read them, and as an aspiring ski instructor, I always thought that teaching skiing might the key to ushering me into North America.

From the ads and articles that I found in these publications, I wrote to a bunch of “ski school directors” at some of the resorts that impressed me the most; that was in 1968. As best as I can remember, only got two responses.

One, from Curt Chase, from Aspen, was negative, while the other was more hopeful. It came from Jim McConkey, father of the late ski-movie hero Shane McConkey, and newly appointed director of the ski school at “Garibaldi Whistler Mountain”.

Back in these days that was the name of what would become Whistler Blackcomb. Prior to 1965, it was called London Mountain but was changed to Garibaldi Whistler Mountain because of the whistling sound marmots made in the summer.

In his letter, McConkey was letting me know that there indeed was an opening for an aspiring ski instructor like me, as long as was proficient in “crud”. I thought I'd qualify, skiing crud has always been my forte. Too bad I've lost that wonderful letter!

The problem was that I still was in the midst of my military service and couldn't show any ski instructing certification. Short of deserting the French Army and without proper credentials, I had little choice, but let this ground-floor opportunity go by. I only hoped there would be another chance.

I was right.

Our insecurities...

Sunday night, on the news show “60 Minutes”, Sharyn Alfonsi was interviewing Paul McCartney and towards the end, she asked him: “What's the biggest misconception about you?” 

Sir Paul responded: “I don't know really. I don't-- I don't hear about them. I don't know what people think about me. I can-- I can try and guess. I'll-- I'll-- I'll tell you what, 'You must have no insecurities.' Just like anyone else, you have insecurities. 'Cause everyone has them. And no matter how high and great and wonderful you get, there's still something will make you worry.”

This was a telling moment in the sense that the surviving Beatle hit the nail on the head and dealt a big blow to that elusive, moving target that our sense of security often is. Haven't we all wished for the day “we would graduate”, or “have a great career” or achieve this, that or the rest, always thinking that it would unlock true-security-forever?

I haven't, I went through this exercise countless times, only to find out that there is no such thing as living insecurity-free or worry-free. Somehow, we always seem to have some sword hanging upon us, ready to fall and hit us at any moment. And what's more remarkable is that these insecurities or worries are more often than not, trivial, poorly substantiated and short-lived.

Now, how can we deal with them without driving ourselves crazy? Here is how I try to handle these threats; I begin by identifying them, seizing them, looking at them straight in the eyes and, in the process, realizing that they are not so deadly and that, like anything else, they'll too pass...

The art of remembering

A lifelong worth of memories should be impressive and should be huge in terms of the actual quantity of information it contains, but in reality, this doesn't seem to be the case.

Again, I'm talking about long-term memories, not the short-term kind that starts playing tricks on us as soon as we enter our sixties.

One thing is certain; long-term memory isn't improving with age either and seems to be decaying fast if we fail to make a constant effort to maintaining or refreshing it regularly.

Today, since I'm a visual guy, when I think of my life, from the moment I could recall anything, my memories are like a movie badly damaged in which only a few isolated, single frame remains intact and most of the time somehow legible. From them, I can connect the dots and recreate the gist of the story, but it remains largely an exercise in imprecision.

The only element that helps in that endeavor is the vast photo archives I've kept, as well as testimonies from friends and relative, have been invaluable in triggering or refreshing some of my past remembrances.

That's exactly when I regret so much not having kept a daily journal of what happened to me ever since I could write...