Skiing is one of those things one should learn early in life, as in shortly after walking. I didn't have that chance since people just didn't do that sort of thing where I grew up. We were more into riding ad signs and pieces of abandoned cars down a set of hills near the railroad station. Fun, painful, but little skill and no money required. In case you're wondering, the signs need to be fresh (when they rotated the ads they used to toss them underneath the platform) and you curl up the font and ride glossy side down. Car parts hurt a bit more when you slam into trees but the extra speed gained by the metal surface is worth it. The piece just above the front wheel works best and seats 3.

Anyway, I got my first chance in high school which turned out to be more about being 16 and less about skiing. At MIT, there was a skiing PE for credit so I took that in 1987. We went to Nashoba twice a week for a month and I got good enough to bullet down the hill without injuring myself and that was that. In 1991 the bug woke up and began to bite.

I must have inhaled some gas president's day weekend that made me go to the nearest ski area (Blue Hills). I learned how to stand up all over again. Then the next day I drove to New Hampshire and spent the rest of the weekend at Loon which at the time was a very formidable mountain to me. When I got back to work I was labelled skiier although this was a great exaggeration. As such I got sent to a meeting at Novell because no one else wanted to go and they figured I would want to get some skiing in. I didn't even know Utah had snow let alone where Provo was.

We ended up at Alta the second day because they didn't publish trails on their trail map and as it turns out, there really aren't any. Blue skies, freshies (the softness cushions the falling when you don't know how to turn in it) and the openness hooked me immediately. Novell became my best friend (although we didn't buy much from them).

One trip per year turned into 2 then 3 and so on. Whenever I'm travelling now I always make sure to make a pitstop to get my fix. I aksed someone when the best time to come out was (he was a doctor I think) and he said november, december, january, february, march and april. I've been trying to get some variety in more recent years and as such I've been one some of the most random air and road trips. I found myself a decent powder and crud skiier and lately I've been trying to get some more northeast expsoure to round out a bit even though it is easier to go to the airport then to drive up north (I suppose I could buy a car and fix that). The weather in new england this season has been most helpful. I hate ice.

The point, in case you missed it, is learn young. It's much harder when your tall and awkward though you can make up for some of it by just doing it as often as you can. A few days a year doesn't cut it. I try to do at least 20 (I failed last year) but I'd like to crank that up which will require some career adjustments (requires illumination at end of tunnel). And if you're old like me, take up running so you don't spend those precious days catching your breath.