What a Difference a Day–or Hour–Makes

One fascinating part of riding is the changing nature of the experience. Consider two days I went riding this month.

Day one was during the week. It was hard to imagine more perfect weather conditions. The air was warm, the snow was soft, and looking up, you could see a bluebird sky.

So did I have to wait in long lines and deal with lots of people on the green circles? Not on your life.

Oh, five or school buses did pull into the parking lot at one point. But the kids spent a long time in the rental shop. Then folks got them organized into learning stations–at the base of, but not actually using the lifts I was using.

After a while some of them did graduate to the lifts. But then I simply rode over to another side of the ski area. And even though we’re not talking about a large facility, the distance was enough. In 90 minutes I shared the lift with, perhaps, 10 people.

I could have used the occasion to ride switch all the time, doing some ground 180 jumps, or try heading off some little kickers, or something like that. Instead, I simply enjoyed cruising down each of the runs. Only longer runs–impossible here in the Midwest–would have made the day better.

Then a few days after that, I went to the same area, on a Saturday. Wow. Though the sky was not overcast, it wasn’t bluebird, either. The air temperature was significantly lower: no opening the pit zips that day. The snow was much harder, though still not ice.

And the crowds! No, I did not have to wait in line very long. (My wife remembers her childhood ski trips as little more than very long waits in lift lines.) But I did have to dodge amateurs (kids who pointed their “pizza wedge” straight down the ski) and more advanced riders who were bombing it down the hill.