September 11, 2009 There are few things that I can think of that beat being in the mountains. In fact, right now, I can only think of two that even come close, lying in a field in New Zealand, and swimming in the frigid ocean.
I say New Zealand because when I was at school at Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont our team went to New Zealand for a training camp in August. We took two days off from skiing at the Snowfarm one year and drove to the West coast of the South island to stay in a cabin on the ocean for a couple of nights (the best night’s sleep I have ever had). It was a beautiful drive, taking us from the snow to rivers, to the rainforest, and through a mountain, and when we popped out on the other side we drove to the bottom of the pass and burst into this golden field. It was literally golden, so of course, we stopped, you had to, it was just too unreal to pass by. We all careened out of the van and spent our energy frolicking and posing as statues in random positions for the rare passing car. Then, worn out and exhausted we all collapsed together and fell asleep. I remember waking up and seeing the golden grass all around me, so relieved it hadn’t been a dream.
I say frigid ocean because every time I go to the ocean, it is like that – frigid. I have been to Hawaii once, and it was great, you could be in the water all day and not get cold. Instead of coming out of the water screaming and utterly chilled to the bone, you feel incredibly refreshed, worked and chaffed (from the surf board), and sticky. Well, I guess I was pretty happy too, but it was a different sort of happy than what cold ocean water gives you.
My point is simply that I am a very luck person because so much of my time is spent doing what I love most. Yesterday Pat Casey and I hit the trails, with a simple goal of getting up and over a ridge that was in sight to another trail beyond it. So, we left the beaten path and began beating one of our own, through scrub oak, along the ridge, up and down a scree field (which is the equivalent walking in sand going uphill and surfing on land heading downhill), through more bushes and brambles, across a river, and finally up a bank to the trail again. We emerged a bit scratched up and dusty, but smiling like champs.
As cross-country skiers, I believe we are some of the luckiest people in the world, or perhaps, I should just say athletes in general – 95% of the time that we spend “working”, we are doing what we love to do, and that is train. I am in the mountains almost daily, seeing things some people will never see. What could be better than that? So go and find your golden field, jump in your cold water ocean, lake or stream, and explore your mountains, because when you do these things, your mind thrives.