Waiting for First Chair?

An amazing lift service miracle happened today

1. The Lifts Opened at 8am because of the Holiday.
2. I didn't have to be at work until 9am
3. The Merchant Pass was not blacked out.
4. I got in a few laps on the Superstar Quad before work today!!

It's a feeling I haven't felt in a long time...rushing to the mountain to get that first chair, knowing that I only have so many minutes to get in as many runs as I can...and the feeling of desperation - would there still be fresh tracks for me?

Waiting for the lift to open, I was obviously intruding on the morning gang, all decked out with their race skis, dperate for some turns on the perfectly groomed trails before "the public" arrived and brushed off all the groomer lines. They were friendly and jovial, not enthusiastic persay, but definitely stoked to get their few hours of skiing in. Wonderment for some because others we sleeping in, a shrug of their shoulders as they uphold the motto of early bird gets the worm - and no friends on a bluebird groomer day.

And then the rope drops - and we all get down to business.

And me with my only pair of skis - bases beat from rocky adventures and edges fairly non-existant - and I'm excited for one thing: the guns on SkyeLark. As I rode the lift upward, I could feel the lift service bull inside me rearing up and getting ready to go. I had to fast, I had to go hard, I hard to go before everybody else. As I got off the lift, I realized I needed to take a deep breathe before I turned into a torpedo, so took a little detour around the top of Ovation and back around Launchpad to just kind of get my bearings. I could feel I was missing something, I wasn't calm, I wasn't in control...the staggering difference between riding the lift and earning y turns was slapping me in the face as I made the final turn down lower Skye Hawke into the guns. Rushing, rushing, rushing...I go to pull my hood up and ovey my head, only to get caught in all my other hoods. Are you kidding me? I'm gonna miss the freshies! Other Skiers are gonna steal them from me...holy crap...
I stopped. I regrouped. I fixed my damn hoods.
Took a deep breathe.
Released my edges,
and headed downhilll into the wonderfulness that was silky smooth man-made freshies all the way down a bumped up SkyeLark.
And I got my freshies.
Phew.

Oh crap, I gotta get another lap in before they ski it all off!!!!!!!!

May You Find the Spirit of the Mountains Within You,
FemaleSkiBum