anarfea

So today my afternoon lesson didn't show and I got to free ski with a couple other adaptive instructors. I went ass over tea kettle twice an conked my head pretty good on the first one. But man, was it worth it. They were both from Albuquerque and not that familiar with the mountain, so they let me pick all the runs. And I took them to all my favorite "secret" places--off piste areas where only the locals go. I love tree skiing. It's my favorite kind of skiing and there are some truly great places for it at Ski Santa Fe. I like it when it's not too steep and there's enough spaces between the trees that you can get a good rhythm going. The trees force you to turn, which makes great for practicing. I tend to "shop" for my turns in the moguls (ski until I find a place that looks easier to turn) and tree skiing makes that difficult. It's also just nice to be in nature. The best glades for skiing are old growth, since you want to be skiing in tall trunks without a bunch of branches sticking everywhere. And there's something so peaceful about just making your way through these old trees. Especially when it's snowing, which it wasn't, today, but the point stands. Anyway, I had an amazing time.

Here's a video of some guys skiing one of the runs we did today. Admittedly there's rather a lot more snow in this video than there was today, but it gives you an idea of how magical tree skiing can be. It captures the whisper quietness of it, where all you hear is your own path through the snow and your breath. So many ski videos put music in them, which IMO defeats the point.