So I know, I know, a blog update is loooong overdue. My apologies. In my haste to absorb into mountain life I have neglected well, anything outside the mountains. In that spirit I'll use this outlet to tell everyone I know and love, happy holidays. I celebrate Christmas, purely for the nostalgic and historical significance it holds for me. I don't like to think of the holidays as the time of year where you have to spend a bunch of money to fill someone's happiness quota. I confess I do hold certain expectations for my mood during the holiday season and therefore the true spirit of the season is lost a bit but thats ok. I tend to think of friends and family that are far away. I think of what they are probably doing christmas morning.
I've been working a lot lately, six 10.5 hour days in a row. I have the next two days off and they are reserved for, skiing and snowboarding. I have a friend that is loaning me his board and bindings and my roommate Cesar has given me a pair of boots. I get two free lessons from Vail ski school per month so I'll take advantage and learn to board. Skiing has been the main source of my pleasure out here. Going in I figured I would just be comfortable with casually strolling down ridges and viewing the landscapes but I have found that combined with my enjoyment of the freedom out here and the equipment I'm riding on I have found myself enjoying the speed and agility granted with 5 feet of snow. Powder is like a magical word out here. Everyone dreams of it. I work chair 15 at Vail right now. It is a mostly beginner chair which suits me because I get to work with kids all day. The crew I have been placed on has been coined "The Brown Crew" on account of 80% of us being from Peru. This has sparked a desire in me to visit South America. As of now my next destination options are, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Peru, Argentina, Montana, Tenessee and New Zealand as a long shot. I am trying to learn Spanish the right way, through people that speak it. I have picked up the guitar as a hobby and have found it to be a welcomed companion. The harmonica always brings smiles when I play it at work in the lifthouse. Work has been long but good. I typically just shovel a lot and make sure people are loading and unloading the lifts correctly while also monitoring the lift mechanics, engine, tension systems and such. Really quite easy work once you figure it out. The best part of the job is the skiing that is necesarry and encouraged throughout the day. Somedays I'll be skiing for a good 3 hour total on the job just getting from place to place. I also get to make first tracks on ungroomed runs in the morning. This is pretty amazing. Skiing a freshly snowed on mountain slope as the sun is coming up. Definitely one of the perks of the job. In my free time I mostly hang out with my roommates and some southern boys that are also lifties. Anyway, I'm getting tired of writing for now. I hope this finds you all well. Life out here is good. I work a lot but work doesn't feel like the same word it used to be these days.
Byron
