Ode to the Snow Ghost Express

Please don’t tell my boss, but I spent two hours Friday having big fun on the Big Mountain. It was some of the best skiing I’ve had in a long time and it set my spirits soaring again.

Over the past three years, we’ve all been presented with improbable challenges. We’ve endured isolation and a prevalent, heavy feeling of unease. I was also dealt a couple sports injuries that set me back dramatically.

When one part is broken, all the other parts are affected. Not only is the ankle bone connected to the knee bone which is, in turn, connected to the hip bone, they are all connected to muscles, the heart and the brain. 

What’s more, weight gain tends to happen when one’s typical training is curbed. This unexpected reality piles on to an already burgeoning feeling of depression. Therefore, healing requires mental recuperation in addition to physical work.

So, while I’ve plugged away at tedious physical therapy exercises and slowly ramped up my physicality to regain range of motion and strength, I’ve worked on an attitude adjustment.

Those two hours of skiing on Friday signaled a turning point for me. It isn’t that the conditions were epic, they were just very good. Visibility was clear. There were no crowds. My body was working adequately and was without pain.

As I tore down the mountain, I found myself thanking the groomers and everyone else who makes skiing on our hill possible. I was also moved to say a few kind words about our nascent Chair 4. 

Sure, it had a rocky beginning, working in fits and starts and requiring more care than some would have liked. Restless riders lost patience with Chair 4 while several stoics took to referring to it, affectionately, as The Gambler.

Here’s what we haven’t heard: you will not find a smoother chair ride.

The chair is padded and each rider has a delineated spot which reduces the likelihood of some space-hogging stranger plopping down on your leg. Yes, this does happen. More than once I have spent the seven-minute ride on Chair 1 smushed against the metal bars at the far end of the lift.

The motor's hum is low and velvety like Barry White’s voice

Chair 4’s padded back and its complete lack of vibrations make one believe a brief nap might be possible. The backs of other chairs can chatter and shake like shady motel mattresses in the 1970s.

Most other chairlift chairs pass through the grooved wheels on the towers, produce a noisy clickety-clack and shudder jarringly.  Chair 4 glides past the towers so fluidly, I'm convinced riders could pour champagne into flutes during the ride without spilling a drop. 

I say Chair 4 is a delight.

Still, I do love Chair 1. It's speedy, it's a workhorse, it is the go-to chair. It holds memories and serves up wonderful rides.

If you are feeling low and you don’t ski or snowboard, buy a ticket for Chair 1 and visit the summit when the visibility is clear. Enjoy the ride. Take in the view and breathe in the air. Get a treat at the summit house and relish the chair ride down. 

I bet it’ll lift your spirits.