A Saturday Afternoon in the Mountains

I was slow to wake up Saturday morning. Slept well.

I notice it feels a little cold over by the edge of the bed. Who told the dog he could sleep right across some part of bed I need? I shifted around a bit. It feels a little chilly. Wait a minute, is my nose running?

Then I hear it.

“It’s minus 11 outside right now”. Ouch.

Coffee, food and a fire later it was too warm and comfortable to be going anywhere. On the couch reading with others around me doing the same I couldn’t imagine moving. But the dog needs a walk. Oh gawd, not the dog again.

I start to put on long johns thinking, if I am going to put all this ski gear on, I should probably go skiing. So I rationalize the whole thing by telling myself I need the exercise. I ditch the dog, and miss the others who end up walking him, then bolt outside. I left so quickly I had to go back for my phone which wasn’t there when I needed it to make a reservation on the walk to the Gondola.

Got to the base at 145pm. Short lineup and I was up and beyond Mid Station 20min or so later. Not bad. Looked for the nearest skiing and cannot resist the Peak Chair so headed there first but stumbled upon the T-Bar along the way. Hmmm. A couple of laps here and then I can catch the last ride up the Peak. 14km or so top to bottom on Peak to Creek in the sunshine might be a good idea.

Started doing laps on the T-Bar. The first four turns were in the sunshine and then it was open throttle on a wide open groomer right to the bottom. On my 3rd ride up I asked the guy what time the lift closes.
He says “2:30”
I said “What time is it now?”
He says “2:40”
I ripped through the next lap and came back around to get one more ride. I was literally the last person up when the liftee drew the rope across right behind me.

Got to the Red Chair next and realized I was working my way down the mountain to the lifts that were still open. Skied right on and felt like I was lapping quick enough for this to qualify as exercise. My legs were definitely burning. The next lap was Pale Face and Wild Card followed by a wicked tuck to the Mid Station without stopping – I hope Strava is getting all this…

When I got to the Red Chair the rope was up. Closed. Brutal.

A few people were still milling around and filtering through the lineup to the chair so I got up near the front and asked “Is it closed?” when it was so clearly closed I had nearly tripped over the Closed sign.

The liftee says “Yeah, closed”.

“Oh no, I’ve got to meet my son at the light board up top” I tell the guy stationed there to keep people like me out.

“You’ve got to meet your son at the top?” He repeats a little weirdly, like he was making sure others heard him. Then lifts the rope and ushers me onto the lift.

Three lads pull up right behind me and the liftee shakes his head “Sorry, the lift is closed.”
One of them gestures to me and the liftee says “Oh, he has to meet his son at the top.”
Without missing a beat the kid says “We have to meet my Dad at the top.”
The liftee smiles as he raises the rope for them to proceed.

I was working hard and staying warm but it was still pretty cold out. My fingers felt like they were made of wood. My first attempt to turn on Strava to check exactly how quick these laps were made my phone shut down. The moment I got it open and turned it on, the phone died. It had plenty of charge but minus 11 weighs heavily on batteries. Damn, couldn’t take a photo or do anything other than sit back and enjoy the spectacular view down the Valley. Frozen lakes and snow-capped peaks as far as the eye could see.

Not every day can be like this. Otherwise we would have nothing to look forward to.