Anonymous Turns

I ski a lot. In common parlance, "I make a lot of turns." I ski more than eight months of the year, virtually all of it on the clock, doing my job. I'm not complaining, mind you, but sometimes those of us who focus so much time and energy on other people's skiing or on the technical aspects of the sport need to recharge our love it. It becomes harder to see the forest for the trees and to appreciate why we're here if we don't remind ourselves. The best way to do this is by simply skiing for the heck of it, without a uniform or a name tag, for fun, for a little release, or for no reason at all other than because we can. It's a reminder just how great skiing can be.

Given the nature of my role at Treble Cone, it's very hard for me to escape for a 'free ski' at TC, to say nothing of skiing elsewhere. Treble Cone is an awesome place to spend my time – literally inspiring awe – but it is also where I work so it's hard for me to disappear for even a couple of runs. I am obviously confident in my skiing skills, but there also is significant pressure for me to perform at the highest level when anyone is watching, and at TC (whether real or imagined) someone is always watching. So, what's a ski pro to do? How can I find and isolate what brings me back to the hill every day? How can I find a moment of un-self-conscious joy, making turns in great snow? Two words: road trip.

I've just returned from Ohau, one of several smaller "ski fields" to the north of Wanaka about an hour-and-a-half away, sitting on the peaks above Lake Ohau. A good friend from home and I spent the night at the very cool Lake Ohau Lodge (see "Gemutlichkeit"), and skied yesterday in the most uncrowded place one can imagine, making fresh tracks in deep snow on every run despite it being several days since the prior storm. The terrain was steep and gnarly, the snow was dry, there was no pressure whatsoever, and my buddy and I were smiling like idiots all day because it was just that good. It was like a skiing transfusion, shaking out the cobwebs, leaving all the pollutants of work, stress, and life behind for a little while to share in the joys so unique to our sport. It's been a long time since I had a great road trip purely for the sake of a road trip, it was absolutely what I needed, and it more than served its purpose. The catch phrase at Ohau, found on innumerable bumper stickers here in New Zealand, is "Ohau I love to ski". How true it is, and thank you Ohau for the reminder.