Snow

People can do the same activity and have different goals. This last week was a case in point. My partner and I both like back country skiing, but…

I like good snow, and trying to figure out where the best descent is to be found. I watch the weather, and read reports, and try to find either good powder or spring conditions, when the top layer of a snowfield is just the right amount of melted. If I go to the top of a peak, I want there to be good weather and a lovely view, because otherwise I don’t see the point.

My partner also likes good snow and a great view, but that’s secondary to getting to the top of a peak. He’ll want to get to the top even if the skiing down is awful, or the weather has closed in and there’s no view.

I just find it interesting (i.e. annoying 😇) that suddenly some peak that two days ago he’d never heard of becomes the goal of the century, and if we don’t go all the the way to the summit, his life is ruined. This means that I spent most of the last week sometimes really enjoying myself, but sometimes somewhere between colossally uncomfortable or just plain scared: uncomfortable when there was too much wind or it was cold or it had started snowing and all I could see was white to the point that I wanted to vomit, or scared when I just wasn’t sure that my crampons would stay put on that tiny little bit of rock I was trying to climb on.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that he wants to share these things with me, and I often wind up being able to do much more than I think I can. We go to beautiful spots and sometimes the skiing was absolutely wonderful. The downside is that after a week of “vacation”, I’m exhausted. My fingers hurt from cracking in the cold. I smell. I’m also getting home rather late and I have to work tomorrow. I’ll have to get home, dry everything out, seriously bathe, wash clothes, cook for the week (my Monday night activity) and I’m tired.

I have some nice photos, though!