44, 45...that's a wrap?

do I stay, or do I go now, then,
to there. to there once more.
one. more. time. more time,
more time. weigh the options,
not ready yet, not ready in the
head, not ready for Cupcake
spring reunion ride. Ski,
celebrate spring, ski, again.

ski

harvest corn and Luau it up
for the day at T'line, blasting
about around and down the
mountain. Retaining passages
from Skiing Zen, don't overthink
it, don't examine it, just turn and
have fun, and have fun and have
fun and just turn and be anonymous
on a mtn I've never skied. Oh, got
pinched by ski patrol on that first
run, ooops...blah blah, closed, blah..

Closed? what? rope? where?

"We don't use ropes here..."

oh sorry, now I know...
I'm not from around here.


more blah blah blah, can I ski now?

Hard early bumps with some
fast skiing to find our edges,
I'm glad Sarah likes to let 'em
rip now and then. Mix it up
with plenty of glades, open
Cherry zipper pickin's and a
bit of combat styley thru 'why
are we in here??' lines...

Another late afternoon double
beer/Bailey the Dog break and
hook up w/ Chipper, Chaga
and the Chase boys and have
a hella good time chasing the
Evo shod wvunder skiers around
the hill, riding it out until last lift.
Spectate the torch light w/ Bailey,
drunken firework & flare silliness,
then back to WG for insane mouth
melting Chef Curtis cafe' leftovers,
quizzing him about whitewater,
listening in on Tibeten medicine
conversation before slumming
back to midnight IceBox.

Out. Cold.

no alarm, no nothing, just peaceful
slumber arrising, man, that damn
blue Icebox 'bed', a simple sheet
of plywood w/ egg crate foam is
about the most comfortable thing
I've ever slept on. No traffic, no
noise, layzzeee ski morning routine
is dialed, coffee, amazing local
newspaper news...what's going on
in Whitmer? "Jake Hubbard spotted
200 geese flying north over the
North Fork on Tuesday evening,
a sure sign of Spring..."

To WhiteGrass, Sarah on the same
tour prospectus wavelength, she
grabs an Evo setup,rocking the nnn
bar and we hook up with the crew...
Chipper, Stro, Sue, Gisella, the good
Dr, puppies Melly, Bailey and Ruby,
and and and, Justin caught us and
joined in, and then Chaga & Leslie
couldn't resist the springtime ski
party over off Baldy..seriously, it
was a freakin' ski freak party on
skis, man...we just sucked in skiers
like a vortex, or something, ya know?

I mean, talk about just skiin' to just
ski and to try to 'capture the madness!'
Chip is an inspiration to be out on
the mountain with, first full Chipper
tour I've been on, what a blast, what
a way to wrap it up. Humbled now
and then by the leathers, inspired by
those rocking the bar, amazing what
you can pull off soft shoe style when
you trust yourself, trust that ninja
instinct...when the groove is there,
when it's there, it's there, there in
there, now, there and now for now,
those moments that you see as there,
but are there, an instinctual puppeteer
now...the puppy dogs know, they know,
that's for sure, look how freakin' happy
they are, all. the. time...ski around and
down most of Baldy, into Springer to
FlatRock and hucking grass bare spots
with plenty of lightweight nord repeats
and qwik hits for shits n giggles until
one more blasting run down down the
main slope into a laid back outside apres'
chillout and refuel, consisting, of course,
of one more plate of nachos, IPA in a
pitcher, wine tastings & other elixers
before season ending hugs all around,
punch out of the log book in Barry's Wurld.....

then, yeah, one more zoned commute,
letting it all. soak. in. It still is, will be,
whew, yeah, wow.

that's one hell of a season, thanks,
thanks, thank you. thank you to
everybody who shared it, amazing,
amazing times. and now I will pedal,
maybe go for an unintentional
swim or two..



Ski boots muddy,
as they should be,
long winter's splendor.