Peak Experience February 4, 2009 – Head iM78 Skis

It has been one of those days.

I had an interesting and productive meeting from 10h00 am until 11h30 am, and then headed up to Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain for 3 hours of skiing on an almost warm and mostly high&light-sparse-clouds-so-basically-sunny day.

I turned 55 a few weeks ago .. a month or so before that I found an absolutely excellent deal on a new pair of skis that I had been watching for almost two years (waiting for the price to go down .. I am good at that, a very disciplined and well-informed shopper).  I paid about 30% of the original price for the skis with new bindings.

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I’ve been skiing for about 30 years on and off, with greater frequency (averaging maybe 15 days per season over the last decade) during the past decade due to being so close to one of the world’s finest and largest alpine ski resorts … Whistler-Blackcomb.  The early preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics has brought a spectacular peak-to-peak gondola ride to Whistler, which I suspect may help make it THE premier ski resort on the planet.

I have gradually worked my way up to high-level intermediate or low-level expert ability.  The appearance of parabolic or “shaped” skis over the past decade has helped, as has having a pair of excellent ski boots that have been custom-fitted to my feet.

Today was my third session on the new Head iM78’s.  What a frickin’ amazing set of skis !  

It took the first two sessions to get used to them and get back into the skiing groove for this season.  Today my skiing capabilities took a clear leap up to the next level of ability (and enjoyment).  There is now coherence all the way from my shoulders down through my torso and pelvis through the large gluteal and quadriceps muscles, down through the insides of my legs to the inside edge of my foot and finally the ski edges.  Paying such close attention to what your body is doing while breathing slowly and regularly and concentrating on staying relaxed in my shoulders and torso brings me completely into the present, which can be an eerie (and peak) experience.  When you are fully in the present, you are right here, right now.

I could feel the action of  my muscles and breathing and the terrain all working together in flow, hoping and carving my way down a steep set of bumps, then widening out into a high-speed cruise down the bottom half of the part of the (Grouse Mountain) ski hill.

I am certain that it has also helped that I have been back into the gym for the last two weeks, adding leg and torso strength training to my regular swimming regime.

Grouse Mountain looks out over the City of Vancouver, the bays and straits that stretch over to Vancouver Island, and south to Washington’s State’s Cascade Mountain Range and the massive Mount Baker.  On sunny days like today it is always and tirelessly breathtaking.

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I skiied so well and so effortlessly that I felt 15 – 20 years younger (which is why I mentioned my advanced age up above 😉

I was skiing with two buddies who are high-level expert skiers.  I kept up with them all day long, and my good buddy Ean mentioned several times today that I was skiing much better and with more confidence than two weeks ago.  I replied that I thought I had finally found just the right skis for me !

The Grouse Mountain ski hill is only a 20-minute drive from home and I have a season’s pass that I paid for last year, so going skiing only involves paying a buck or two’s worth of gas to get there.  I am anticipating a few more peak experiences this ski season !