When buying a ski pass made me smile!

As time goes on, things keep on changing, and among many things, I remember when I was excited to get a ski season pass in September, date at which they were available at the greatest discount possible. These days are long gone!

Today, I do not like the ski resort company I have to ski on. Sure, we’re blessed to have two competing ski resorts in Park City, with one bearing that name and Deer Valley. Skiing the later has become prohibitive, it would cost me $1,995 to get a discounted Senior Pass while Park City Mountain is just $859. 

I prefer the ski in Park City, even though the company is despicable, but that’s where the compromise get in the mix and turn what to use my big seasonal smile into a permanent frown (until I’m back on skis, of course)...

Perfect morning routine!

All my mornings might seem boring to some, but after waking up and meditating, I go and turn on my phone and my PC, then prepare coffee and, at about the same time, crush a pair of bananas for breakfast. 

We love to eat bananas this way and have been doing so for more than a quarter century. So this daily routine goes on, unchanged, except when we get on the road and stay in hotels. 

If we are lucky enough to be in a condo or a house, it can seamlessly continue and I find it a lot easier on my morning brain that’s slowly waking up to another day filled with surprises and learning opportunities. 

Vail Resorts’ slippery slope

On Saturday, I reluctantly purchased a couple of season passes from Vail Resorts to ski at Park City. I said reluctantly, because I deeply dislike Vail Resorts. Calling is extremely difficult as phone numbers are hard to locate and Vail Resorts want customers to only use its website. 

After successfully locating that number though, I spoke to a nice sounding customer agent called Heather who guided me through the process that wasn’t very user-friendly for me, through the company’s unwieldy website. When we came to the total amount, it didn’t quite add up as I realized that I was charged an extra $4.95 per pass as an alleged “shipping charge”. 

The next day I called again and got Jane on the phone, all the way in the Philippines that confirmed that the $4.95 amount was indeed for each pass purchased. We are not talking about much money but if one computes the 2.1 million Epic passes sold by Vail Resorts in 2021-22, that charge could mushroom into more than $10 million extra revenues! 

The day before I couldn’t see that charge anywhere on the Vail Resorts website, so when I vehemently protested she said “Okay, just pick up your passes at the resort ticket counter and I’ll waive these charges. I told her to mention to her superiors that Vail Resorts’ way of doing business was sneaky and dishonest. 

Then, according to Heather, my card didn’t go through, yet, at the same time America Express emailed me its usual “Large Purchase Approved” notice for the full, correct amount. I told her this was proof the card had been accepted. She couldn’t comprehend it and she struggled for another 20 minutes leaving me on hold and finally saying, “I’ll call you tomorrow (she eventually sent me the message below). 

The next day, I checked my American Express account and saw the transaction amount had been charged four times in addition to a lesser amount. Eventually after spending two or three more hours on the phone between Boulder, Park City and the Philippines, I received an email confirmation thanks to the Philippines’ customer service reps who was better than their western counterparts. 

To add humor to the whole situation, the Park City customer service agent emailed me that “We are unable to purchase your Epic passes through our reservation system for you at this time”, at the exact same time I received the confirmation! This entire sitcom simply confirms Vail Resorts’ squirrelly reputation, sticky fingers, poor infrastructure and terrible business practices.

Seeking the ideal place...

You see the one I mean, the real end of the proverbial rainbow! 

Yet, there’s hardly a month that goes by without seeing another ranking of the “best places to live” in the US, any country, continent or in the whole wide world and with it, rankings of all kinds scattered all over the map, with plenty of room for discussion and some fiery debates.

In fact the more I think about it, the more I believe that this ideal place is now just a figment of our imagination or the by-product of our most distorted fantasies. It might be nowhere to be found, because all of these iconic, idealized places that sometimes jump out from our creative and restless brains don’t exist anymore or might simply have never been,

They’re all tremendously affected by a sneaking, consistent and relentless virus called change, and since change is no longer always for the best, there’s probably nothing we can do to change that somber reality.

Another high altitude danger!

I know about about the grave dangers posed by being in high-altitude, like pulmonary edema or cerebral edema suffered, more notably by mountain climbers in the Himalayas. 

What I didn’t know much about though, was the parallel effect of high altitude on flatulence, more commonly known as "passing wind", or "farting". Evidently, it seems that the higher one gets (on the mountain), the more one will be likely to fart. I recently read an article on SnowBrains that opened up my mind and my nostrils to that eminent and unpleasant danger. 

According to the article, the syndrome, to use a more scientific term, is known as High Altitude Flatus Expulsion or HAFE. Yes, you are reading correctly, high mountain living can make people fart more and could be a handy excuse when climbing with other folks in a social setting. One just needs to remember that article.

Unlike its debilitating pulmonary version, this syndrome is mostly a benign inconvenience, unless you are following very closely a serial farter. Further, informal studies have shown that skiers prefer Park City to most Colorado resorts located at a higher altitude, not just because they can breathe easier, but the air smells much, much better. 

Sure, if one happens to pass wind, we’re not talking about an exculpatory evidence if it happens at low altitude, like anything below 11,000 feet as the research results assert, but it’s always good to keep that powerful, scientific excuse in mind next time it could be needed!

Disruption? An opportunity to learn!

It’s already past diner time, I prepare some lamb and a couple of corn on the cob, bring everything on the deck by my gas barbeque, attempt to light up the machine and nothing starts. Still, there’s plenty of propane in the bottle and when I reach out to see what’s going with my gas connections everything looks okay. 

Yet, after half a dozen unsuccessful attempts, I give up and my wife has to cook everything in her kitchen, I’m frustrated, so what’s next? While diner is getting ready, I go on YouTube, find a trouble-shooting video about that particular barbecue brand, and, as I chill out, I realize that a small incident is giving me an opportunity to learn something new and big by (hopefully) fixing my grill. 

Yesterday, I followed the procedure for cleaning the burners and I had a working grill! In the future, I’ll do my best to avoid the frustration part and immediately switch to anticipate the extra knowledge or expertise I will be gaining by solving the problem. That’s right, problem solved! 

Striking photos, symbols of life and death

For years and since 1935, a small cabin, stood as a high altitude refuge at 12,057 feet (3 675 meters) at the col de la Fourche, on the Küffner ridge, on the French-Italian border near Mont-Blanc. It stood there in perfect defiance of its precarious look and fragile setting, hanging about 1,000 feet (300 meters) over the Brenva glacier below. 

 

This refuge (also called Bivouac de la Fourche) was a key shelter for climbers attempting the Mont Maudit or the Mont Blanc. On August 24 the small structure ceased to exist as melting permafrost unsettled the structure’s frail foundations and sent it tumbling down and scattering its construction materials on the glacier below. 

 

Thank god, no one was inside and no victim were reported. To me these pictures and that story remind me of human life and death and on how we cling on some brittle foundations in defiance of danger and stand on a perilous setting for a lifetime, often times fulfilling a sound purpose or a mission, with its share of joy, suffering futility and memorable events. 

Then, with very little warning, tumble and disappear to leave almost nothing behind, but a few scattered remnant and just a few fierce memories linger on.

In keeping these images in mind, let’s be grateful to be given the privilege to live, as precarious as it maybe and in defiance of all odds!