Today, I had one of my favorite ski days of my life: my sister is a great ski buddy, the conditions here were quite good, and skiing my fifth day in a row (never have I ever done that before) meant I am skiing about as well as I ever have and challenged myself pretty well. So, to celebrate, I thought I would rank my fave ski days, which is distinct from my fave ski places (there is some overlap, of course).
Today with my sister Susan. Recency bias? Maybe. We had great snow here a few days ago, but a bad experience with a ski instructor put a damper on that day. Today? My sister who is a bit less
The highest we could go without hiking--there
was a long line of folks hiking from a nearby lift
to get to the top, but we were not so compulsive.
confident and much less experienced was quite willing to travel far and wide across the mountain today. Willing to go in the trees--as long as they met my preferences of being wide apart and not on a steep slope. Plus many of them were more like shrubbery, and I have always been wanting to meet the Knights who say Ni! We played in a gully that had fun stuff on both sides, we went down some steeps, we went to the top of the mountain which was finally opened after several windy days. My skiing is peaking after so many days in a row plus three days at Alta last month.
Last year with JC and his family at Lake Louise. JC and his family are also great ski buddies. I love Lake Louise, and was able to show them around the mountain. The only bump in the road ended up being a bump on my face as I face planted on a flat part, leading to more blood loss than any other Steve ski experience
My only medical interaction
with the ski patrol was
receiving an off the record bandaid.
Oran and Arthur are super fun to
ski with. JC? Hmmm. :)
A couple of years ago at Whistler with Susan. Each time at Whistler seems to be better than the last. This one led to my exploring the Blackcomb side, which, yes, may be better than the Whistler side. We had super blue skies and good conditions on the ground.
I have had some amazing bluebird days.
At this time, Susan really hated
traverses, so this ridge run was not
much fun for her. It was for me, one of my
very favorite trails'
A pre-book promotion trip to Copper with Cullen Hendrix. Cullen was a great host, directing us all around the mountain, avoiding moguls neatly. I loved the place, and then he took me into the back bowls, which were awesome.
Cullen isn't there anymore, but to quote Jack
from Lost: "We need to go back!!!"- So many times with my daughter, it is hard to figure out which one but probably one of our trips to Sutton or Orford in the Eastern Townships or Tremblant. It was great watching her improve and then seeking out small bumps so that she could get a few inches of air.
Honorable mentions: my two hours at Whistler due to my daughter having sore legs; skiing in Chile during a research trip, Alta this winter with my sister and one of her pals, Smugs/Jay Peak with my family and my wife's pals, various Lake Louise trips on my own, a half day with Roland Paris at Sunshine.
Least favorite ski days: Hunter Mountain with my brother as I slid for 100s of meters after falling on a very icy trail, Hunter Mountain during the senior class trip as it rained on us and I had to waste time waiting to be tested to see if I could ski on my own, the day my wife and I hurt our knees in separate accidents at Mount Sutton (one of my fave places near Montreal).
How is my skiing better? Partly I am less fussed about the snow--I am less concerned with skiing the snow immediately in front of me (maybe a function of how great the snow is, east coast skiing means trying to avoid ice and ice nodules). I am more pointed downhill with my upper body thanks to a lesson a few years ago. The first lesson of the week at Rusutsku emphasized going up and down to unweight the skis, and that is working nicely. Oh, and thanks to skiing with my generous sister, I have gotten more lessons the past few years than in the previous 20. Even the subpotimal lesson here at Niseko (she took us immediately into deep powder on the first run rather than building up to it and took a while to provide some specific suggestions, some that conflicted with other lessons) had some useful info. I have also been trying to reverse an old age trend--getting nervous about speed. I have had some thrilling runs this week.
Oh, and my fave ski places are now:
- Whistler and it remains not so close
- Niseko---just so much fun terrain including widely spaced trees and shrubs and a great gully and fun steeps.
- Lake Louise
- Copper
- Alta
- Sunshine
- Rusutsu
- Jay Peak
- Tremblant
- Sutton
I may be changing this listing as I hope to hit the Austrian Alps this winter during my time in Europe. I am very lucky, as my body has held up for this sport, unlike for ultimate. Good thing I don't need to cut hard in this sport.
So lucky to have these opportunities, so very grateful.
No comments:
Post a Comment