realskiers

When are you able to dip your boards into the pearly snow?

Believe it or not, Gary, I don't worry about first days too much.  Seems like expectations usually result in disappointment, but unexpected opportunities to ski are always a pleasant surprise.  Local resorts are usually challenged to get open by Christmas (and that is their target) and the season only runs through February, but my son and I found out one year that a local resort was opening for Thanksgiving, so we decided to spend the 2 hours driving and see what they had.  They didn't quite make it (we sat there and watched the final grooming from 8AM to 10AM but it was still a pleasant surprise and a great time together (with almost no one around).  I still hope to do a last minute quick trip to Utah sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but if other things don't allow it then that's just the way it is.

It helped a few years back when I read something about how excited people get for the beginning of ski season, but are ready to move on to golf by the end of March when the snow is actually much better than it was in November.  It helped me to develop a full-season perspective.  Seems we are all too frequently in a hurry to get started rather than accepting what life offers.  End of waxing philosophical, but when I look back there have been a lot of good experiences and most of them just happened; few were because I was running to get to a certain place.  But you also have to be ready to step through the door of opportunity when it opens.