How Snow Can You Go?

August 25th, 2006 at 06:46am Michael Conniff 2

The air. That’s what people talk about—the air. As if there’s something in it. On my radio show, I heard a man called Patrick Spears say people from his tribe in South Dakota could smell the buffalo before civilization stunk things up. I believe him. His people believe that the wind is a spirit, and when the Intertribal Council needed permission for a wind farm they went to the spiritual leaders of the tribe and asked for a blessing—and the blessing of more jobs.

If fall is in the air then snow is in the air, too. You can almost see it, smell it. Falling leaves are in the air—you can see them. But I say snow is always in the air you breathe.

Do you ever stop seeing it, smelling it, knowing that summer will soon get gone? Do you love the colors that mean snow is coming—and soon. I do. If you are part of this tribe you can smell it, too.

Preparations must be made. Equipment. Gear. Plans. Replace the replaceable if you can and live for just one more season in the boots that are just perfect for you and yours. Patch the holes in your skiing life with duct tape. Put out the gloves and the gear you have found in the off-season for a song. You can almost taste it.

Everything is different when you ski. Everything. The calendar takes on its own shape with periods of exhaustion and waiting. Will you hold up? Will the knee go this time? Will the next knock on your noggin be the last?

We skiers should all ask for a blessing, but what would we ask for?

Snow. And more snow. Powder and more pow. A lift ticket paid for. A chance to love what is close to home and the opportunity to take our dreams on the road.

Skiing is in the air—so close you can feel it—and that’s a blessing in itself.

Entry Filed under: Boots, Colorado, Snowmass