Earning the Early Turns

Day 1, 6:30am, November 10, 2007, Sterling Mountain

Ah…The first day of a new season. It’s like a rebirth...a renaissance.

I was so psyched that I had trouble getting to sleep. I was late to bed anyway because somehow over the summer I forgot how to pack my winter pack. I laid in bed with visions of deep pow dancing in my head.

Of course, I knew the turns weren’t going to be epic. It was the first day…thin pickin’s. Plus I was coming off an injury, a badly sprained ankle acquired while mountain biking over the summer. I hiked slowly, but made it to the top by 9:00. We hung out in Top Notch, snacked, geared up and headed out to ride Smuggler’s Alley, a steep diamond all the way to skier’s right.

How was it? There were 8 inches to a foot at the top. The first ten turns were creamy and smooth as butter. Then I continued my descent amidst rocks, sticks, grass, and ice and loved every minute of it. At one point there were these crazy ice stalagmites rising from the trail in front of me. Art…ice sculptures. Finally I made my way to some nicer snow to conclude my first run of the season. I found my center beneath the heavy pack, got my tired legs firmly under me, and carved those last ten turns into extremely edgeable hard pack. (Thank you to my friend, Tim, who hooked up my edges at the end of last winter.) It was a solid finish.

Soaking wet from the snow guns and running late for physical therapy, I slapped the boys five for a good day on the hill, the first of many.