None of that has anything to do with this blog post other than that I decided to spend ten minutes looking through Aaron's blog and found the photo below from his May 5th, 2010 post Best. May Day. Ever. He describes a day of skiing in which none of the participants wanted to stop. They wanted to continue, lap after lap, knowing it was probably the last time they'd get to ski powder until the fall, some months away.
The photo exhibits a certain quality to me. The old jeep parked aside a muddy road. Snow melting around the men as they quietly and methodically put on warm, dry gear all the while calmly sipping a bottle of what is most certainly a local Northwest craft brew. Both look content in an environment that 90% of the world would consider to be cold, wet, and unpleasant. I tip my hat to people like these that capture the essence of why we backcountry ski.
Photo © Aaron Teasdale from Best. May Day. Ever.
