America tipping tactics

On Thursday, we went skiing in record breaking crowds my daughter and her boyfriend. To avoid the typical congestion at our mountain restaurants, we decided to break for lunch just before noon. 

This was a self-serve restaurant at the ski resort in which we just had to fight for ourselves and by ourselves to find a rare table and aside for ordering our food at the counter and paying it at the cashier, the interaction with the personnel wasn’t much and wasn’t there. 

The food was abundant but just okay in quality, and when I paid the bill with my card, I was presented with the terminal asking me to leave a tip of various importance and also not to leave one at all.

I didn’t like this kind of options that as become generalized everywhere I go, as I felt pressured to leave something in exchange for no great service or nothing fabulous in terms of experience, so, I finally choose to leave nothing. 

To conclude, when I asked the cashier for a receipt, she said that her terminal wasn’t able to deliver one. I thought “Thank you for nothing!” and left not feeling guilty.

Skiing in the rain!

While dancing in the rain made Fred Astaire famous there’s nothing exciting in doing this for real. The same of course holds true for skiing. 

I’ve taught skiing in the rain while I was in Australia and, trust me, it wasn’t fun. Winter rain used to be extremely rare in Park City, but more recently it’s been poking its head and reminded us that global warming is no fake news and is being played in a theater closer to us. 

It’s absolutely true that the snow limit is steadily rising and the best proof of this is to witness what is happening in the French Alps this Holiday season, with half of the ski resorts being closed because of mild weather. The terrible conditions are messing up the lives of 400,000 French people who make a living through skiing. 

The video below is from today in Les Gets, a resort close to my hometown situated at 3,845 high (1170 meters) where skiers are sliding down remnant of ski slopes under a pouring rain. 

This scene makes me fear terribly for the future of skiing and reminds me that I need to ski this afternoon at Park City before it’s too late!

Ski-anonymity?

Have you noticed how hard it can be to spot a friend, a neighbor or a celebrity skiing anywhere on the slopes? 

Since today (at least in America) most mountain visitors wear a helmet, goggles and a mask, it’s virtually impossible to know who is behind the attire, unless you’ve followed, heard or know extremely well the person either by their ski style or the color combination and originality of the clothes they wear.

That’s when you come to the evidence that if one needs to exercise incognito, skiing or snowboarding might be the best activities for that! Nothing says this better than Michelle Obama, our former First Lady who hated the both her fishbowl-like and security-heavy existence at the White House. 

She wrote: “The most liberating activity of all turned out to be downhill skiing, a sport with which I had little experience but that quickly became a passion,” She paid multiple visits to Liberty Mountain, a small Pennsylvania ski area where, with her friends, she could “don helmets, scarves, and goggles and blend into any crowd.” 

So, if you too famous or too easily recognized, winter-sports might be your activity of choice!

Getting to 75

Since I was born at the end of the year, I’ve had plenty of time to get used to my new three-quarter of a century birthday. 

Five years ago in going through the 70 years threshold, I already considered that I had entered old age and since that time, I have warmed up to the thought that I soon would be old, which might be a fitting attribute given my new age. 

This is now time to take stock of what I have to carry on into advanced age and make the very best out of a unique and challenging opportunity. First, fear that has mobilized and poisoned my youth is quickly fading away and making room for an increased appreciation for appreciation, discovery, love and passion. 

All this blends wonderfully well with a reduced time span that amplifies the need for making the best of every single minute and stop squandering precious moments. 

Then, there’s the need for saving everything that still work in our bodies and maintain it in good condition and if the physical is mostly in maintenance mode, focus on the mental for continued improvement by debating more, reading more quality material and embracing modernity to keep up with the world and learn at the same time. 

In short, depending on how we set the scene, advancing in age is bringing us a precious and varied life that can only enrich us!

Healing at 75

Twelve days after my ski collision, I’ve been healing a lot, but I’m still hurting and it’s taking more time than I had anticipated. 

The very worst has been for me to find the right spot in bed and also to buckle my ski boots and get out of them when I hit the slopes, but with the help of my daughter and current ski companion, the latter has been much easier, particularly when the temperature are warmer. 

Of course, I realize that as I continue to age, many of my body functions become less efficient—including my ability to heal from injuries. This is associated with reduced muscle stem cell function and decreased quantities of muscle stem cells. This means that healing after injury is much slower, thus good for cultivating patience in general. 

So my take-away at this point in my (still) active career is to refrain from getting hurt and be more prudent, but that a lot easier said than done!

Time to learn something new…

For a while, I had been looking at smartwatches, not that I had some before, but that was before watches paired up with smartphone and those were made by Suunto or Garmin. 

I owned them both, but eventually let them die of a natural death and returned to my cheap, but super accurate atomic Casio. 

So, when my daughter bought me a smartwatch for Christmas I wasn’t totally taken aback or rather surprised. 

I knew it was part of my small “bucket list” but what had unconsciously held me back was the need for learning how to use it. 

Now, that’s it, I have no choice, but learn a new set of skills, so wish me luck!

Choosing between quantity and quality of skiing

When I explained my recent skiing accident to a friend, he brought up an element that I had never suspected. 

Just like me, lots of skiers are now obsessed by the amount of vertical drop they can accumulate on the slopes and, as a result, ski faster than they should to accumulate an increasingly larger number and, I guess brag about it. 

I realized I might be a bit like this and instead of falling into that quantitative trap I might be better advised in producing some higher-quality skiing. 

How can I do this? Well this will be the topic of an upcoming blog…