“This is going to hurt.”
Foreboding feelings of pain were strong going into this weekend. I am in the worst shape of my life. An honest self assessment suggested I could get the job done but only at the cost of several days of pain. But even in the worst shape of my life, I’m still more capable than I give myself credit for and I’ll need to remember that as I start rebuilding my body and, perhaps more importantly, the rest of my life.
When I got home from Jay, I dejectedly flopped down into my chair and started flipping through trip reports. I quickly found myself at the NY Ski Blog reading Harvey’s latest post on ski touring right outside his backdoor. And the thought occurred to me that I could keep reading about other people skiing or I could head outside my own backdoor and earn some turns myself. There was only an hour and a half of daylight left but I could just barely squeeze it in.
I quickly ran through the house and gathered up my touring gear. Much to my chagrin, I later discovered that I had been too hasty in gathering my gear. While applying my skins in the howling wind, I cried out in dismay as I realized that I had the wrong pair of skins! I applied a quick fix that worked and commenced skinning on skins that were 3cm short of full width coverage and 10cm short in the tail.
What is a Jay Day? It is one of those days when everything goes right. When you change your plans after assessing the situation and score some great turns. It doesn’t have to be the deepest day. It doesn’t have to be a foot of blower. It is one of those days at Jay that you don’t easily forget.
I left home this morning looking for more than a ski day. I was looking for perspective and I wasn’t expecting to find it. Halfway through a stay-cation intended to refresh and rejuvenate, I was feeling deep ennui. Something wasn’t right, my mind was out of sorts. Given that the previous two ski days didn’t help, I assumed this trip to Jay was just going through the motions. What else would I do all day?
After two false starts, my season finally begins. The allure of an epic 26 hour road trip to West Virginia was considerable (especially after seeing the incredible reports). But with snow on the way, guns prepped to blow, and a potential storm on the horizon, I decided to stay put. Driving halfway to Florida for skiing would have been quite an adventure but I couldn’t justify it with things looking so good locally.
Instead of driving all day Saturday to ski Sunday, I drove on Sunday to ski on Sunday, returning to my own bed at night. And tomorrow, I’ll do the same but with lift assistance. The next day, I’ll recuperate and watch the storm come in and then repeat the process with better results.
One of my best posts last year was uncharacteristically direct. Coincidentally, that was also a report from Jay in May. I’ll follow suit for this report. It felt incredible to be hiking and skiing today. “I love it” would be an understatement.
