First Turns of the Season. Skiing Copper Mountain

The incomperable Franz Fuchsberger , The Fuxi, in his shop at the base of Copper Mountain.

YEAH! Today was the first day I've been on my skis since way late last spring. Melissa and I went out to Copper Mountain with our friends Mary Catherine, Denny, and Will, and we spent the day skiing pretty darn awesome early season conditions!

Everyone was nervous, as usual, about their skiing, about being judged;  thinking things like "I really normally ski much better than this! Don't watch yet!" 

We were talking on the chair lift, and it reminded me of something that I said to Michael a while back. He is learning to write songs, and I told him, you are going to have to write a bunch of really crappy songs before you write a good one. You might as well get to work getting the crappy ones out of the way so that you can get to the good ones sooner than later!

Embracing the fact that now is the time for learning, now is the time for letting our bodies listen to the skis, deciding that today is a sensory input day rather than a day to get as good as you were on the last day of the season last year, let a lot of pressure off of all of us.

All in all it was a great day, we gave each other minimal feedback (we tried not to give any at all!) and just spent time sliding around and having fun.

I am laying here in a hotel room in Vail, because tomorrow morning I get Transforamenal Cervical Epidural injections for my neck to try and relieve some of the symptoms in my left arm from my car accident, and I'm thinking about how much more sense my life makes when I'm on a chair lift, talking about skiing, or on the slopes feeling my feet work in the snow, listening to my skis, feeling the sun and the cold air. Watching my friends ski all around me, in and out of the pine trees and through the bumps... it was bliss.

As usual, I ran into people from all over, it is such a small community! Fuxi was there, and we went and saw his store at the base of Copper, it was doing really well, and he now has flannels, pjs and awesome Fuxi hoodies. As usual, he was happy and psyched, and his killer crew put on "Danger Zone" on the cd player for us while we shopped. It was so good to get a shot of Fuxi's infectious enthusiasm and to see his enterprise really doing well!

We also ran into Joe and Abby, old friends from Hood and Academy. Joe and I skied together at Mt. Hood at Dave Lyon's awesome race camp three years ago, and he told me that our friend Frank as made the Eastern Alpine team! I am so proud of him! I'm not surprised, he was skiing so incredibly well the last time I saw him. And I guess now, we'll see him at National tryouts next year! Congratulations, Frank! That is WICKED inspiring!

I feel calm in my heart and happy, this is my world, and I am so grateful to have found the place that resonates clarity in my life. Ski season has begun!